#i ran most of it with somebody who just got out of hospital and she was insulting me the whole time for being unfit and saying she would’ve

[fingertipsmp3]

Feel like locating my secondary school PE teacher and sending him some kind of hate message tbh

[sourrpatched]

𓉸ྀི l.mk LIKE A VIRGIN

Pairing > Yandere!Lee Mark x Fem!Reader

Genre > Horror (slasher type), Murder Mystery, College frat AU, smut (MDNI), loosely based in late 90s (there may be minor inconsistencies)

Sypnosis > As the fifth year anniversary of what the public coined the 'Vestal Murders' approaches, strange occurrences begin to happen. Leaving the public frightened there may be a copycat killer on the loose, and you worried that he might be there to finish the job.

Warnings > Cursing, drinking, smoking, death, Major character death (but also not really?), SMUT (MDNI), Dry humping, oral sex (f recieving), protected sex (wrap it up yall come on), stalking, Mark is actually crazy just an FYI

Word Count > 13.6k

A/N > This is the first to a series i’m working on for halloween so i hope if u enjoy this you enjoy the others! This is also my first time writing such a long fic and smut so bear with me please.

playlist > Like a Virgin- Madonna, Oblivion- Grimes, Somebody’s watching me- Rockwell

Lucville, October 12th

October was a fun month for most people. There was the official start of fall and of course halloween season. There was no one happier than your friends, you on the other hand were not a fan.

Something about Halloween just gave you the creeps. Which, yes may be its exact purpose, but that didn’t mean you had to like it. Besides, you preferred Spring anyway.

You sat on your desk chair next to your bed, head hanging back as your body laid limp on the seat. Your friend, Yuqi, was sorting through your closet. Well what was left of the clothes in your closet. She had thrown half of your wardrobe onto the floor, searching for the perfect outfit for tonight.

“Do I have to go?” You groaned, “Like really?”

It wasn’t like you to want to go out and party and your friends knew that, which is why tonight was a special occasion.

“Your parents aren’t going to let you stay home alone, considering recent events.”

“I’d say five years ago is hardly recent.”

There was a series of disappearances that led up to Halloween when you were in your early years of high school. It was three different people who happened to live within your town, some even attended the same school as you. It was a small town, yet you wouldn’t have considered yourself close to any of the students, except for one.

Jihoon was one of your older brother, Inhyuk’s longest and closest friends. You remember how they’d always hang out at your house after school playing video games. Jihoon was always so sweet to you, inviting you into their hangouts so you wouldn’t be alone. Even with the four year age gap you couldn’t help but develop a puppy crush on him.

A week had passed since his disappearance, everyone expected that the kids were playing a senior prank and would return shortly, your brother knew differently. He grew more distressed as the days passed. You remember how annoying it was that he wouldn’t allow you to go anywhere without him right by your side.

That protectiveness only got worse when the bodies had been discovered. The TV was playing a re run of IT in honor of Halloween when an emergency news broadcast appeared.

“It appears the bodies of multiple missing persons have been discovered after police received an anonymous report leading to an investigation of Velvet Lake.”

Chills ran down your spine as the names of the kids appeared on screen, Jihoon being one of the three. Your brother had taken it badly, he couldn’t leave his room for months. That’s why as soon as he graduated he took a scholarship across the globe and never came back.

It only made the house emptier. Your father was always traveling abroad on business so he was hardly ever around, and your mother who was a surgeon at S.E.S, the towns local hospital, was working overtime. That left you alone most of the time when you weren’t with your friends.

“I’m not talking about that Virgin killer, i’m talking about those people who were mauled by a bear or something in Melody.”

Melody was the neighboring town to yours closer to the city, and as far as you knew, there wasn’t much wildlife there.

“A bear? How would a bear even be there?”

“How would I know. My dad just said what he saw on today’s paper.” She shrugged pulling a shirt from your closet and bringing it up to your chest.

“It’s not Virgin Killer by the way, it’s Vestal.”

“Same difference. I think this is it by the way.” She motioned her head to the mirror behind you. It was a green and brown tube top with a turtleneck she had chosen for you to wear. It was cropped, exposing your waist down. You’d argue it wasn’t exactly appropriate for the weather but Yuqi never took that into account.

“Perfect.” She smiled and headed back to your closet. “Now we gotta find matching pants.”

“Isn’t it kind of stupid that they’re hosting a party already. Halloween isn’t even til three weeks from now.”

“Y/N you should know already they will throw a party for any reason.” Her voice comes out muffled. You roll your eyes knowing she’s searching the deep depths of your closet.

“What’s the point in that, aren’t parties supposed to be special?”

“Y/N, college parties are an excuse for us to get drunk and have fun. What’s more special than that?”

You trace out the words ‘HELP ME’ on the desk with your finger, whining. “Nothing for me, so do I have to go?”

You’re suddenly hit on the side of your head. You look down at a the floor where a juniper maxi skirt lays on the floor.

“You play this same game every time and end up dragged to the party anyway,” Yuqi bursts, “We’re going. So put those on and stop your bitching.”

You sigh in defeat, grabbing the skirt and beginning to change into the clothes before the sound of the doorbell goes off.

Yuqi lets a breath out. “That’s probably Minnie I’ll go get her. Stay here and don’t try and get away.” She pleads with emphases on ‘ don’t ‘ before leaving your room.

You change into your clothes, staring at yourself in the mirror. The amount of skin showing makes you a bit uncomfortable so you reach for a black leather jacket on the floor from Yuqi’s assault on your closet. You put it on feeling much more content hearing the approaching voices of your friends.

“You should really learn to stop popping up out of nowhere and call before you’re coming over.”

“I paged you guys.” Minnie spoke evidently.

You snicker, “You still carrying yours around?“

She rolls her eyes, “Okay you’re just lucky your mom and dad can afford to get you a cell.”

You shrug.

“It’s getting late, we should get going.” Yuqi says putting her own jacket on. You grab onto her before she can slip out the door.

“And this mess?”

The entire room looked as if it was part of the titanic wreckage. You could hardly see the floor with the piles of clothing covering it. She looks around then at you with an innocent smile. “I’ll help later.”

You take a breath knowing that was a lie, but following your friends out of the house nonetheless.

This better be worth it.

The frat house is about as messy as you would’ve expected. Red solo cups are left on every surface of the house, and you were sure not a single one of them was filled with water. There was a crowd in the living room surrounding a game of foosball between two guys you were sure were on the football team.

At some point your group separated to go meet up with other people. This was exactly why you hated coming to parties. Within a minute of walking through the front door, Yuqi would met up with her drama club friends and Minnie left with some group of stoners. You walked around hoping to find something to drink to pass time.

You walked into the kitchen finding a small trio of familiar faces hovering around the fridge. Two of the three idiots were taunting the youngest while he stood confused. You slowly sneak up and approach them startling them at the sound of your voice.

“You guys some sort of watch dogs for the drinks or?”

“Jesus fuck when did you get here?”

You shrug, gesturing your hands for them to move from the fridge. “Like twenty minutes ago.” You grab a coke out of the fridge and crack it open taking a sip.

“You came alone little fox, or in your usual set?”

You cringed at the nickname used. Johnny, the eldest of the frat, loved to call you that because of how sneaky you were. It wasn’t ever purposely, you just happened to ‘pop up out of nowhere’ sometimes according to others.

“Yuqi and Minnie went to go find their own cliques.”

“And left you to fend for yourself? That’s not good manners.” Yuta was the second eldest although he acted far from it. He and Johnny had been underclass men to your brother when they were in high school so you guys were pretty close.

“Stealing one of Kun’s cokes isn’t well mannered either.” Johnny teased.

“He’ll live.” You say taking another sip.

“You really shouldn’t be wandering around all by yourself y/n, it’s not very safe.” Mark, the youngest chimes in. Mark was in a grade higher than you, you had never been very close with him until a year ago though, seeing as he began to spend time more with your friend group.

He was a quiet type, kept to himself a lot of the time, and was usually the victim of a joke. He was very sweet though. Minnie pointed out that the last frat party you couldn’t attend, he wouldn’t stop asking her about you.

When she told him you were sick he seemed concerned and gave her shit for just leaving you behind. You felt a blush creeping in at the thought of him carrying so much about you.

“Awww why do you care so much about y/n?” Yuta says squeezing the younger’s cheeks. He slaps his hand off of him and Yuta only bursts out laughing.

“He’s right little fox,” Johnny says directed to you. He was always trying to sound wise. “I mean didn’t you notice the way Sungchan has been eyeing you all night?”

You didn’t. Sungchan had hit on you at the last frat party your friends attended in which you respectfully declined. The way the guys were talking though was as if he was some stalker, your skin crawled at the thought.

“You’re just saying that.”

“It’s true. His attention is always on you, even when you’re not paying attention.”

“Let’s face it, she’s never paying attention.” Yuta adds.

“And that’s exactly why you gotta be careful. College men can’t be trusted.”

You scoff, “You do realize you are included in that generalization. College man.”

Yuta pokes Johnny, putting him on the spot. “She got you there.” The eldest only rolls his eyes. Yuta might seem drunk to most people, and maybe he was, but you and your friends knew he was just the playful type.

“I think Johnny is right, especially around this season. You never know what could happen.” Mark’s sentence trails off.

“Oh chills,” Yuta says raising his arm, “You gave me chills Mark. You’re talking about that Virgin taker right?”

Johnny’s eyebrows furrow, “I don’t think that’s the name.”

“Whatever you know what I mean. He slaughtered all those puritans didn’t he?”

“A little insensitive don’t you think?”

“What? You mad he couldn’t take yours too?” He replies with a wink and sip of his beer. You take it back, he was definitely drunk.

This time you let out a giggle, it was always fun being around these idiots. “Vestal. Can’t believe i’ve had to correct two people on that today.” You shake your head.

“Who was the first?” Mark asks curiously.

“Yuqi, speaking of, I should probably start looking for her. I’m ready to bounce.”

“I thought I saw she left out earlier with some girl with short hair?”

“Great. So she left me and Minnie to get laid.” You say sarcastically.

Johnny clicks his tongue. “You must’ve broken a mirror, little fox. Minnie left out with the boys to go get some food. Munchies, you know.”

You groan, sinking your head into your hand. “They drag me here for no reason. Okay i’m leaving now, i’ll see you guys when I do.”

“You walking alone?” Mark‘s voice comes out full of concern.

You shrug. “Seems like it.”

“I can walk you home if you don’t mind?” He suggests.

“Thank you, but really It’s okay.” You’re already heading towards the door, throwing your empty can in the trash when you hear Yuta’s voice.

“Careful Y/N, don’t let the virgin killer get ya.”

You keep your sight forward, flicking him off as you leave.

You walk through your front door, sliding the locks on instantly. Your shoulders drop, the stress leaving your body. Walking home alone was what you did regularly, only this time it felt different. It felt like someone was accompanying you, even if it was only you walking your regular route home.

The fifteen minutes felt longer than usual but that could’ve rang true since you stopped a few times to look around swearing you could feel eyes on you. That’s why as soon as you got home you turned on all of the lights in your home.

Stupid Yuta. He was always saying something to put you on edge.

You turn on the TV and are shocked to find that the news is still on.

“Due to a power outage the following locations have been left with no power over sixty percent of people are left with no clue on when it will be repaired. Schools and Universities have decided to postpone classes for the time being. People are outraged, some believing this upcoming blood moon could be the reasoning for the power outages.”

The list of cities and towns comes up. Melody, Lucville, Graze town , and 0 mile.

Lucville. That couldn’t be right, you had power right now. The phone rings loudly from the kitchen, pulling you from your thoughts. You get up to check, walking to the counter and pulling the phone to your ear.

“Hell–”

“Did you hear??? The campus closed down cause of some weird power thing, it’s not coming back til November.” Yuqi’s voice cuts yours off.

“I did yeah but that doesn’t make any sense,” You object, “my power’s working.”

“Yeah it’s only effecting places like the police stations and schools, some hospitals too. Don’t read too much into it just be happy we have no classes.”

“Yeah I guess you’re right.”

“I gotta go now, my bed calls me. I only called to make sure you got home. Minnie told me you left alone.”

“The bed or the person in it,” You hear her squeak like she’d been caught. “Don’t forget you owe me a clean room.”

“I’ll get to it tomorrow, promise.”

“Whatever.” You hang up.

At that moment you hear a knock at the front door. You check the time. 1:40am. Weird, your mom was held up at work and your father was still out of town. You walk over to the front door checking the peep hole and seeing nothing.

That’s strange.

You unlock the door and open it, looking around the area. It was just an empty street, not a single light was on from any house. You close the door guessing it could’ve been from the TV, when the phone rings again.

You walk over to the kitchen grabbing the phone. “Hello?”

You’re met with silence.

You scoff, “Yuta? If this is your idea of a prank you should really move on. Everyone’s seen Scream by now.” You hang up.

Even though you were very sure it was just Yuta who was prank calling, you can’t help but feel a shiver run down your spine. You reach up over the counter opening the cabinet to grab a glass when the phone rings again.

You jump, the glass dropping from your finger tips and crashing into the ground. You groan, carefully crossing the glass without stepping in it and reaching for the phone.

“Yuta I swear to god the next time I see you, you better have a jockstrap on!” You shout before being cut off.

“Woah y/n are you okay?”

You sigh in relief. “Mark?”

“Yeah, I was calling to make sure you got home safe. Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing, just got a bit spooked with a call earlier.”

“I’m guessing Yuta?”

“Ding Ding Ding. Guess i’m victim to his little halloween pranks.”

“I’ll talk to him about it.”

“Don’t bother, I can handle him.”

“I’m sure you can,” He chuckles, “Jockstrap?”

“It’s a clear warning in case he does want kids in the future.”

You can hear his smile through the phone, it helps ease your mind. “Assuming he doesn’t already have some running around?”

You let out a chuckle. “You’re right. He’ll be fine without any more.”

The laugh he lets out is contagious. “I gotta clean up a bit here, i’m glad you called though.” You meant it.

“Of course, wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. Who else would keep the guys in check?”

You can’t help the blush that fills your cheeks. “Bye, Mark.”

“I’ll see you later y/n.” The call ends.

You quickly clean up the mess before heading back into your brother’s old room to sleep. It was completely empty save for the TV left on a counter and a loan poster of Madonna on the wall.

You turn off the lights hoping to god you will make tomorrow’s morning shift at the diner.

It was about thirty minutes left of your shift before you were finally free. You rubbed your face to keep yourself awake. It was Monday morning shift and usually they weren’t that busy, but since classes were all canceled for the next week, you noticed a lot more students came to the diner.

You worked at Salty & Sweet Diner for over a year already. It gave you something to do when you weren’t at school so you wouldn’t have to spend all your time at home by yourself. It also gave you money you could use to go out with friends instead of depending on your parents.

“Looking terrible y/n.” The man who is next in line looks up at you with a mocking smile.

“As do you, What can I get for you today YangYang? Same as usual?”

He nodded, “Extra whipped cream don’t forget it.”

You write down his order on a notepad. “And you?”

“Are you on the menu?” Jaehyun jokes.

“Limited time only and you just missed it.”

Jaehyun and YangYang were usually in the frat basement getting high when they weren’t attending classes, so their presence today was surprising.

“The guys should be getting here soon.” Jaehyun comments, “Something about it being your shift so we should come over to annoy you?”

“I thought I mentioned if i see any of you in here i’ll have my manager ban you guys.”

“Nice try, Your manager was busy last night getting high with us.” YangYang points his finger at Minnie, who’s counting the register behind you.

The diner was owned by Minnie’s parents which is how you landed the job in the first place. You were great full most times, but not now. At that moment the door rings signaling another customer coming. You can spot the idiot from miles away.

“Y/N, how are you did you miss me?” He says enthusiastically. You roll your eyes.

“I wouldn’t even miss you if you died.”

“Ouch.” He grabs at his chest dramatically. Before you can berate him you’re cut off by the familiar, comforting voice.

“Hey y/n, how’s your shift going?” Mark says, his attention fixed onto you.

“It’s fine. What are you doing here?” You respond shyly.

“The guys wanted to annoy you but I only came to make sure you were alright.”

“I’m okay.” You could feel the awkwardness radiating off of your body.

“That’s good,” He clears his throat. “So, the guys were actually going to host another party this weekend. I was wondering if It’ll be okay if i keep my hopes up to see you.”

You wait a second before responding. “I can’t confirm whether you will be disappointed or not.” He nods at your answer when a voice cuts into your conversation.

“You won’t be. She will be there.” Minnie’s voice rings out.

You look at her, eyes wide. She only gives a tight smile. It’s her signature ‘Don’t even try it’ look.

Yuta speaks this time, “Great, so i’m guessing you will all three be there?”

“You guessed correctly.” She grins, “I’ll let Yuqi know about it. Y/N you can go now.”

“My shift isn’t over?”

“Yeah well I’m sure Hyungseo has no problem covering your shift for you.”

“Who‘s Hyungseo?” Yuta asks teasingly.

“The chef who can’t keep his eyes off of our little Y/N here,” Minnie winks at you. “Go on now Y/n, you can go.”

You give her a look before heading to the back to change out of your apron. Before you’re completely out of sight you can hear the group tease the youngest.

“You’re as red as Minnie’s old wash cloth right now.”

“Hey man knock it off.” Minnie replies.

Mark can only turn away, “I’m heading to the restroom.”

On your way out, a voice stops you in your tracks. Sungchan sits in his seat, a milkshake in front of him.

“Sungchan, i’m off the clock if you needed something I could let Minnie know.”

“Huh?” He turns his head to his drink realizing what it looks like to you, “No actually I just wanted to ask you.” He trails off his sentence. You stand there confused waiting for him to continue. “You’re going to be at Yuta’s party right?”

“I don’t really have a choice.”

His laughter is strained, “Well I was wondering if I see you there, would you want to–“

His voice is cut off by the yelling coming from where your group of friends stand. You see that two of the boys have decided to try and race to see who can finish their milkshake first, glad you clocked out before having to deal with that.

“Yeah i’ll see you there,” You say to Sungchan, leaving him to his drink. “I gotta go, enjoy your food.”

He nods giving you a small smile, “Bye Y/N.”

Once you’re home you can’t wait but head straight to the shower. You set the water to warm before stripping and standing directly under the stream of water. The warmth hits you and you let out a sigh, letting the water run down your body and soak into your hair.

Minutes pass of silence, the only sound being the running water. Your eyes are closed as you begin rinsing the remaining shampoo in your hair. You hear the faintest tap of the door, opening your eyes in an instant.

You turn the facet off stepping out of the shower and grabbing your towel, only now realizing your clothes weren’t there.

I swear I brought clothes?

Your heart drops as you begin to hear muffled voices coming from your house. You stand frozen in front of the bathroom door. You can hear your heart thumping as if it’s directly in your ears.

After moments of contemplating you choose to open the door. You follow the voices that are coming from the living room. The TV is on.

“Parents stand here today at the memorial sight with flowers and candles to honor the upcoming five year anniversary of the Vestal Murderer’s victims. The victims–“

You turn off the TV, deciding to ignore it and head back into your room to change into a pajama set.

October 19th

This party is boring. You had chosen to stick by Minnie’s side after experiencing the weirdest phenomenons for the past week. You had about three other times items had been misplaced in your home. You were slowly growing more agitated than anything, so when Minnie suggested you join them in their smoke session you didn’t decline.

You sat in between Minnie and YangYang, opting out of smoking after a single rotation. You weren’t a smoker so three puffs and one coughing fit later you were done for the night.

Your friends sat in a circle, recounting stories to one another. You couldn’t really focus on anything but keeping your eyes open though.

There’s a knock at the door, pulling your attention from the cup in your hands and towards the sound. Jaehyun gets up to get the door, speaking to the man on the other side with a hushed voice. It’s only when you lean to the side that you notice it’s Mark.

You turn over to Minnie by your side, tapping her shoulder to get her attention.

“I want to go get another drink.” Minnie nods her head, letting YangYang know she’s gonna be right back. You both sit up heading towards the door where Jaehyun looks annoyed.

“Is something wrong?” Minnie asks, inserting herself into their conversation.

“Just Johnny stealing our room for the night. He needs some ‘privacy’ for that girl he brought over.” He says rolling his eyes.

You couldn’t help but let out a giggle, it was funny that he was so bothered by something you knew for a fact he was very guilty of.

“You mad you couldn’t book it first?” Minnie jokes.

“Y/N, I thought you left?” Mark questions.

“No, well I was but then Minnie invited me up so,” You let out a breath motioning your hands to the room. “I’m here.”

You can hear laughter from Jaehyun and Minnie who find your current condition hilarious. It only makes you join their cackling. Mark stays watching the three of you very confused.

“Right,” He says slowly. “You guys are leaving now?”

“Just getting a refill.” Minnie brings her cup up showing the emptiness of it.

“You guys getting more drinks? Get me a–“

“Get it yourself.” You knock down Jaehyun before he can finish his sentence. He frowns. “Come on Minnie.” She follows you out the door, leaving the two boys to their own conversation.

You and Minnie stand in the kitchen, well Minnie stands. You’re sat on the counter as she searches the cabinets for more booze. You look over to the living room where you see a mix of unfamiliar and familiar faces engage in a game of Cup Pong.

“Here,” Minnie grabs your attention, handing your cup back to you. You grab it and take a sip, frowning at the taste. “It’s water. God knows you need it.”

You take another sip, setting it down on the counter afterwards. “Thanks.”

“You heard earlier right?” She says, taking a drink out of her own. You cock your head to the side, not picking up what she’s saying. “Siwon was asking what I was doing later tonight and if i wanted to ‘hang’.” She adds quotation marks with her fingers.

If you had the water in your hands you were very sure it would’ve spilled everywhere. “You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was.” Her face full of disgust.

“I too, wish you were.” Yuqi adds from behind you. You jump at her sudden appearance. “When did you get here?”

“Just now. Which reminds me,” She brings herself up onto the counter leaning in to the two of you. “You know that high school kid I told you guys about who joined our club, Minjae?” You both nodded. “He tried putting moves on me.”

Minnie chokes on her drink. Yuqi immediately hitting her back to help her catch her breath. “What the hell is wrong with you.”

“Right now?” You question in disbelief.

“While you two were busy getting stoned.”

Minnie lets out one last cough, “What did you say?”

“Of course not. That’s a kid, I want nothing to do with that.” Yuqi says almost offended that Minnie even had to ask.

“You were a high schooler when you hit on Soyeon.”

“Well yeah, but that’s different. Me and Soyeon were only a year apart. He’s like two years younger.”

Minnie shrugs, “You’re just scared he’s going to get attached if you take his V-Card like you did with Soyeon.”

“Hey,” She hits Minnie’s shoulder, “Next time i’ll let you choke.”

“You remember how you were, puppy eyes always following her around.” Minnie says bringing fists to her cheeks. “You were so cute before you chose to become a heartbreaker.”

Yuqi hits Minnie’s hands off of her. “Do you have a death wish?”

“Ah you’re so mean now.” Minnie whines, “Y/N, when you finally get to bed don’t become like Yuqi.”

“As if that would happen any time soon, guys aren’t exactly all over me. Besides, I want it to be special.” You say bringing your arms to your chest.

Yuqi makes a face at Minnie. The girls sharing a glance you aren’t able to understand.

“What?” You press.

“Don’t worry about guys not being interested in you, worry about the guard dog of yours keeping them from approaching.” Minnie speaks as if it’s an obvious answer.

“What do you mean?”

Before you can press any further a figure approaches your circle. “You guys okay?”

“Never better.” Yuqi smiles, hopping off of the counter.

You face where mark stands. You weren’t able to really take in his appearance earlier but now that he was leaning on the counter, you were able to dissect him as if he were a test subject on a science lab table.

You thought the water was helping sober you up but apparently not enough with the way your brain was making up horrible comparisons.

You couldn’t help the blush on your face as you noticed the outline of muscles on the man’s forearms. He wasn’t even flexing and they were still apparent.

His plain white tee didn’t stop your brain from what your friends would call ‘eye fucking’ the man in front of you. It fit him like a glove, capturing his broad shoulders and his chest the way you wish you could.

“You okay y/n?” He spoke, pulling you out of your trance.

“Uhh, yeah.” You turn to where your friends are smirking at you, reading you easily. “What were we talking about?”

“How it’s pretty late and you should get home soon.”

“And how Mark should probably take you back home.” Minnie adds smoothly.

“Would you be okay with that?” Mark looks over to you.

There’s a brief silence as everyone waits for your answer. You give a tight smile, “Sure.”

“Great, well we have to go.” Yuqi says pulling Minnie with her out of the kitchen, “See you tomorrow Y/N!”

You were lucky the man in front of you was so oblivious to your friend’s actions. You put your arms down to help get you off of the counter the way Yuqi did earlier. A pair of hands find their way around your waist before you can.

“Here let me help you.” Mark pulls you off the counter with no struggle. You can’t help the warmth creeping in your stomach from his grip around you.

“Thanks.” You say, his hands leaving your waist as you stand steady on your own feet. You hope he doesn’t notice the way you can’t look him in the eye. “Let’s go.”

The cool autumn air was enough to sober you up if only by a little. Mark walked silently beside you noticing the way you wrapped your arms around yourself trying to keep warm. You’re too busy thinking about how much longer this walk will be when you feel hands wrapping around your shoulder.

“You were shivering.” He says leaving his jacket on you.

“Thanks.” You mumble, feeling instant relief from the cool air.

You can smell a hint of vanilla on it, his signature cologne. You smile silently to yourself bringing your hands to your mouth to warm them, and to keep him from noticing the faint pink in your cheeks.

“I’m glad I can walk you home, I was a bit worried last time you answered the call sounding panicked.”

You recall the memory. He did sound a bit startled through the phone. “I’m okay, i’m glad you get to walk me home anyway.”

There’s another round of silence. You notice your street in the distance, trying to come up with what to say. He speaks before you’re able to utter a word.

“You look really pretty tonight by the way.”

Your eyebrows shoot up. He realizes how his sentence came off, backtracking his earlier statement. “You always look pretty I mean. I just– You really suit my jacket.”

“I don’t know if I should thank you for the jacket or the compliment.”

“You don’t have to thank me at all, i’m only stating the obvious.”

You look up smiling at him which feels so easy to do whenever he’s around. You notice the beauty marks all over his face and neck, wishing you could analyze them closer.

“That’s my place over there.” You break the silence pointing over to your house. He looks to you, “I’m glad you have arrived safely.”

“I’m glad you could bring me.”

You both are standing face to face for a moment, observing each other and waiting for someone to make the first move. He speaks first.

“I don’t want to hold you in the cold for any longer.”

You reach to take off his jacket, “Oh, here’s your–“

“No need,” he cuts you off. “You pull it off better than I ever have.”

“I beg to differ.” You’re hoping he can take a hint. “But I guess once I wear another clothing item of yours we can see who pulls off your clothes better.”

“Feel free to invite yourself over anytime for access to my wardrobe.”

“Or I can pull this one off you now?” You joke, pulling him closer by his shirt. You’re unsure where your sudden boldness is coming from, perhaps you weren’t completely sober after all.

He leans in closer, staring into your eyes and shifting his gaze to your lips. He was definitely not as dense as you thought. You lean in closer, his fingers grazing your lips.

A sudden noise pulls you guys apart from each other. You look to the ground, embarrassed by how brazen you came off. He reaches into his pocket, grabbing his pager and reading off a message.

“Do you need to go already?”

He lets out heavy sigh as if he was disappointed in the distraction, “Yeah, that was Yuta he wants for me to stay over the night.”

You’re shocked, always having assumed he had stayed with the rest of the frat members. “Oh, I thought you lived there?”

“No, My parents actually got me a place here for my studies so it’s just me.”

“I see, it’s the same for me.” You point again at your home. “Thank you for walking me, please make sure you get back safely.”

“My pleasure, have a nice night Y/N.” He waves his hand as you begin walking towards your home.

“Ditto.” You shout out loud enough for him to hear you as you walk up to your home pulling your key out.

“What did you do!” You let out a gut wrenching scream. The entire floor was painted red, you look down and notice your hands full of blood.

You jump out of your nightmare, sweat lining your body. The house is silent, your alarm clock emitting a red gleam. It reads 4:26am.

You sit in bed rubbing the last of the tiredness in your eyes deciding it’d better to keep yourself awake for a while longer. You get up heading towards your kitchen to grab a glass of water.

As you reach the kitchen you decide to turn the TV on to calm your nerves for the time being. The news is on again. You take a sip out of your water paying half a mind to what is being reported.

“It’s been 48 hours since the disappearance of Jung Sungchan, his parents report he was last seen on October 17.”

Sungchan? He had said he would go to the party when you last saw him just a few days ago. You think back realizing you hadn’t seen him at all tonight. You feel your heart sink, placing your glass down and running to your house phone.

“Hello?” Minnie’s voice comes out hoarse. You can tell you’d just woken her from her sleep but you’re too startled to apologize.

“Sungchan is missing.”

“Huh?”

“He’s gone I just saw on the news they said it’s been days. I’m freaking out I just talked to him on Monday this has to be a joke right?”

“Y/N–“ You can barely hear her over your panicked thoughts.

“This is happening all over again, they’re saying it’s him again.”

You feel your eyes begin to water, “There’s been weird things happening, I hear knocks and my TV turns on all the time for no reason.” “Y/N.”

“Minnie, He was so close before,” You take a breath, “What if I’m next?”

“Y/N!” She yells out causing you to jump. “Relax, you’re okay. Nothing is going to happen.”

You don’t say anything so she continues, “I’m pretty sure I saw Sungchan after you left with Mark okay? Also, those knocks are probably just neighborhood kids. Remember when you said they’d always egg your neighbors around halloween?”

You let out a breath, “Yeah, you’re right.”

“See so there’s nothing to worry about, it’s all in your head cause Yuta kept saying shit. You’re okay and nothing going to happen.”

You realize how stupid you might’ve sounded now. Minnie was right, nothing was wrong until Yuta put all of that into your head. You’re just overthinking it.

“Thank you.” You let out softly.

She gives a sound of acknowledgment, “You know if you ever feel scared, my house is always open to you.”

“It’s fine I think I was just paranoid but i’m okay now.”

“Well just letting you know. Do you want to stay on the phone?”

“No it’s okay, i’ll let you get back to sleep.”

“Make sure you’re getting some sleep too alright?” She yawns. “God knows we need it for tomorrow.”

“Oh crap.” You had forgotten about the annual fundraiser held at the frat house. It was meant to raise money for the victims families of the Vestal Murders. You and your friends had promised to be there. “It totally slipped my mind.”

“If you can’t go don’t sweat it, you have a lot on your plate anyway.”

“No, i’ll be there.”

“Okay well I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight Y/N.”

“Night.”

October 20th

After a day of setting up different games for the fundraiser you were able to sit and relax. Yuqi, who’s sitting beside you passes a bottle of coke to you.

“Thanks.” You reply, taking a sip of the drink and setting it down.

“Can’t believe we had to help set up, i just want to go home.”

You give a wry smile, “Yeah i’m pretty exhausted, had a tough time sleeping.” She’s about to respond when someone calls her from the distance. “I’m going!” She turns to face you, “Go, we’re done here anyway.”

She walks away meeting with YangYang at the steps of the house. You close your eyes lying back against the couch you’re on. You can hear voices around you but don’t try enough to make out what they’re all talking about. Footsteps approach you, you open your eyes to see who it is.

“The games haven’t even began and you’re tired already?”

Mark is standing above you, you take in the fitted black shirt he has on. You admire the turtleneck he has on, it really fits him even though it covered his neck moles you loved to stare at.

“I’m only resting, it’s been a long day.”

He hums, taking a seat beside you. “Then i’ll join you, you can use me as a pillow if you’d like.”

You take his offer, lying your head on his shoulder which is much more comfortable than the couch if you were being honest. You close your eyes and feel his hand start to play with your hair, purring at the feeling.

“Yo, you guys gonna just sit there or you wanna join?” Johnny shouts to you and Mark.

You look up at him, still resting your head on him. His face is so close you pull away and get up. “We’re going.” He follows behind you.

You can see a few of your friends lined up to play apple bobbing. You remember how you played once when you were younger, you freaked out and inhaled the water. Inhyuk had to pull you out to stop you from choking.

“You wanna play?” Yuta says, smirking at the two of you.

“Uh I’m good.” You say, looking up at Mark.

“Come on, show them how you use that mouth of yours.” Minnie winks at you from in line.

You shove into her with your forearm, she laughs it off. “Really I’m okay, Mark?”

“Actually mind if I show you something instead?”

“Ohhh, he’s going to show you what his mouth can do.” Yuta mocks, this time he earns a shove from Mark.

You give her a scornful look, “Sure let’s go.”

He holds your hand pulling you from behind him, leading the way. You guys walk past the crowds of people, making your way through the house. You realize he’s taking you to the basement so you speak up.

“Didn’t know you were a smoker, Lee.”

He chuckles, “Not quite.” You both are still hand in hand when he takes you to a corner room in the basement that you hadn’t noticed before.

“What’s this?”

“You’ll see,” He opens the door revealing a room filled with Halloween candy and a blanket on the floor. You look around noticing the TV in the room with VHS tapes of different movies laid out on the floor. “Do you like it?”

You look up at Mark seeing how he’s awaiting your answer. You pull him in for a hug, squealing in delight.

“This is so sweet.”

“Minnie told me you had been having a rough time, thought this might cheer you up.” He smiles, “Did it work?”

“It did more than work. Mark, thank you.” You look up at him, holding his gaze for a moment. You’re both only an inch from each other, you look at his lips wondering how soft they’d feel on yours.

His voice comes out rough, “We should watch a movie, yeah?” though he makes no effort to step away from you.

You take a look at him, his eyes won’t leave your mouth so you move in closer. “We can always watch later.”

He lets out a chuckle before pulling you in for a kiss. His lips feel so soft on yours, it’s everything and more than you had imagined. It’s rough and possessive, stealing your breath right from your mouth.

He bites onto your lip earning a moan from your lips, you pull away embarrassed by the noise you’d let out. “I’m sorry I don’t know why I did that.”

He lets out a breathless laugh, “Don’t apologize, I love those sounds from you.” He pulls you in again, the kiss becoming even heavier than before.

You can feel his tongue trace the bottom of your lips asking permission to deepen the kiss. You accept, beginning to explore his own mouth. You bite his lip, earning a groan from him, you thought that might be the sexiest noise you’d ever heard before.

He grabs onto your cheek with one hand and your waist with the other. “Fuck, Y/N. You’re so perfect you know that?” You can barely respond before he begins to pull you in once more.

“Mark,” You plead breathlessly, pulling away from him. “I need to tell you something.”

He hums, beginning to kiss down your neck. You squirm at the feeling. “I haven’t– Fuck. I’ve never done this before.”

He slowly pulls away from you, confusion evident on his face. “Oh.” He can tell how embarrassed you feel admitting it so he adds promptly. “We don’t have to do anything. I’m not going to force you to do anything I just thought a movie would be nice.”

You find his distressed state amusing, “I– yeah that’s fine.”

He smiles, about to put a movie in when you hear a knock from the door.

“Y/N, we gotta go. Yuqi’s parents want her home already.” Minnie appears at the door.

You nod remembering the plans you guys had made to hang out after the fundraiser. Fuck, you wished you could stay with Mark for longer, especially considering how much effort he’d put into spending time with you.

“Yeah, okay i’ll be right there.” You say a little breathlessly, hoping she doesn’t notice it. She gives you an all knowing smile as she closes the door, “Be quick.”

You frown at the fact that you have to leave early, Mark quickly comes to your defense. “Hey it’s okay, we can save it for next time.” He puts his hands on your shoulder pulling you for a hug.

“I wish I didn’t have to leave.” You pout.

He laughs, finding you adorable. “I wish you didn’t have to go either, but we have plenty of time together, right?”

You nod, “Right. I’ll see you next time okay?”

“Get home safely y/n.” You head for the door before stopping in your tracks and turning around. Mark looks confused until you pull him in once more for a short and sweet kiss.

“Goodbye Mark.” You say pulling away and leaving out the door.

“Naughty naughty girl, y/n.” Minnie tsks, tapping her finger over your head.

You push her hand away. “Shut up, let’s go.”

She laughs following you close behind.

“I still don’t know why my parents felt the need to be party poopers, they could’ve asked the neighbor to feed that damn dog.” Yuqi complains.

Minnie gasps, “I love Haku!”

“Whatever, Oh there it is!” Yuqi, says pointing down at Phantom Halloween Store.

Your friends race down to get there first, you choose to continue walking instead. There’s a TV store to the right showing a news report.

“There’s been yet another disappearance reported since a body was discovered earlier today. Police have not made a comment on the identity of the individual or what another disappearance could mean for the town of Lucville. The public demands answers. Could it be possible that the Vestal Murderer is back for another halloween or a copy cat killer has taken his place?”

“Y/N!” Yuqi’s voice calls after you from ahead. “You coming?”

You choose to ignore the rest of the report, “Im going!”

“I think this would look great on you.”

“Cat Woman?” Minnie raises her eyebrow.

“You’d look really sexy, that’s what halloweens all about, right y/n!”

“Exactly, come on Minnie, you gonna finally try and get the attention of Yuta?”

She scowls at the both of you, snatching the suit out of Yuqi’s hands. “I’m trying it on, that’s all. No promises.”

“Yesh right, you’ll rock it anyway.” You both tease her as she steps into the dressing room.

“So y/n, what are you dressing as?” Yuqi asks.

“I don’t know i’ll probably just dress as is.”

She looks as if you ate her dog, “It’s halloween. A costume is a must. No ifs or buts!”

“You think rhyming is going to help me change my mind?” You raise an eyebrow at her, minding your business looking through the masks.

“What about Mark,” You stop in your tracks, feigning a cough. “What about him?”

“Don’t you wanna do more than just make out in the basement of a frat house?”

You roll your eyes, “Minnie told you.”

“Yeah well i’m offended you didn’t!” She retorts. “If you want to impress him then you have got to dress up.”

You sigh, halloween costumes weren’t really your thing, but you didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb being the only one not dressed up.

Yuqi smirks knowing she’s got to you. “Who knows,” she shrugs, “Maybe he will end up killing your virginity.”

Your ears go red, “Yuqi!” Her eyes go wide, stepping away from you. “Why are you so loud! Do you know how embarrassing you are?”

“Please spare me okay!” She yelps as you grab onto her shirt.

“Wow y/n I didn’t take you for a bully.” Johnny’s deep voice sounds from behind you both. You let go of Yuqi, allowing for her to fix her shirt.

“You make it a habit of stalking us?”

“Ah yes, cause we came here purely to track your group of friends down.” Yuta remarks sarcastically, “A halloween store, when it’s is less than a week away.”

“We came here to look for some last minute decorations.” Mark comments before you and Yuta can begin your bickering.

“We’re here for costumes, Y/N here has got the perfect one planned.” Yuqi states, her arm sneaking around your shoulder.

“Really? What is it?” Mark looks to you.

“It’s a surprise!” Yuqi squeaks out. You’re thankful for it because you wouldn’t have known what to say at all.

“Good, you should show us at the Halloween party we’re throwing this weekend.” Johnny utters, reaching into his pocket. He pulls an invitation flier to the party, passing it to you. “It’s a costume party so make sure you’re all there.”

“All of you.” Yuta adds, “Speaking of, where’s your third?”

At that moment Minnie walks out of the dressing room. The latex suit wraps around her body hugging her figure, the mask is on too bringing out her natural cat eyes, and in her hand she grips a whip as a signature weapon.

“So do you guys think–“ the words die on her tongue. She freezes looking at the group in front of her, one of them being Yuta.

“You wanna be my dominatrix Minnie?” Yuta jests.

She turns red at his comment and closes the dressing room door, hiding behind it.

“We’ll be there.” You say.

October 30th

It felt like Halloween had came early, there were piles of candies and treats left all over the kitchen counter as well as a punch bowl you were eighty percent sure was spiked. The blood moon stood bright in the night and true its name, painting the dark sky red.

You had just arrived no longer than ten minutes ago and your friends had already happened to disappear out of sight. You made your way to the counter grabbing a red solo cup to serve yourself the blood colored punch.

“You actually want to drink that?” Mark’s voice startles you, causing you to drop the ladle back into the punch.

“Well I guess not.”

“Sorry, I didn’t think you’d get scared.” He says, his hands going up in defense.

“It’s fine, i’ll just take a beer.” You reach for the refrigerator.

“You look beautiful,” He states, “Carrie right?”

You look down at the silk champagne colored dress you have on. “Yeah, did the crown give it away?”

“More so the blood on the costume but the crown too.”

You let out a giggle, “And you, Michael Myers?” You say almost as a question.

“Ding Ding Ding! I had my mask earlier but Yuta insisted on letting him borrow it for the time being, something about prancing the neighborhood kids?”

“Wow, he really is a menace. Is it bad i’m glad i’m not the target of his pranks though?”

He laughs, “I mean it is trick or treat right? The kids shouldn’t be that mad.”

You smile at him, he was always so playful with his words. You felt as if he understood you in ways not any other person could. You couldn’t stop your mind from remembering the kiss you both shared not too long ago.

He opened his mouth but no words came out. You felt a surge of boldness in the moment so you decided to speak for him.

“So Mark Myers, you wanna head back to the basement and finish what we started?”

You never could get used to the way he kissed you. He was always so quiet it was shocking to see this side of him. The one that was almost starving for your lips.

You sat on his lap, legs wrapped around his waist, his hands gripping your hips on him. You pulled away to take a breath, his lips attaching themselves to your throat.

“Fuck– Mark.” You groan, his mouth beginning to sprinkle bruises all over your neck. He kisses behind your ear, causing you to involuntarily grind your hips down.

He gasps at the sudden contact, “You’re driving me crazy.”

You let out a moan, continuing to grind your hips down.

You whine, the fabric in between you both making it hard for you to feel relief.

“Y/N baby,” He stops your movements with his hands on your hips. “ I don’t want to push you to do anything but you’re really making it hard.”

“You’re not pushing anything. I want this, I want you.”

“Fuck– I can’t hold you back.”

“Then don’t.” You say, pulling him in for another deep kiss. He kisses into your mouth, his tongue exploring you. You moan into the kiss beginning to build up the pace of your hips, his bulge growing as you continue to work yourself onto him.

“I feel so close.” You let out eagerly.

“Come on baby, come for me.” He begins to force your hips down, building more friction to your heat.

You can feel your high approaching rapidly, gripping onto his shoulders tight, your nails digging into his skin. He hisses at the feeling, you let out a weak apology.

“It’s okay, just be a good girl and finish, yeah?”

His words are enough to bring you to the edge. You feel your legs shake as your orgasm takes over your entire body. You bite down on his shoulder, trying to keep from screaming at the euphoric sensation.

He helps you ride out your orgasm until your body begins shaking with aftershocks. He lifts your face to look at him, his features soft. “How are you feeling?”

You can’t help but pull him in for another kiss, he’s shocked but returns it. You pull away looking up at him, pupils dilated and your voice coming out shy, “I want more.”

“Are you sure?” He asks slowly.

You nod your head, “Please.”

He hums, lifting you off of him so he can get up to check his counter for protection. You sit on the mattress waiting for him to find it, growing shyer as the seconds pass.

“I’ll go check upstairs for one, I’m sure Yuta’s got some lying around.” He states, “I’ll be back quickly okay?”

You nod your head, he steps out of the room to go look. You lift the blanket to cover your face, realization of the events hitting you. You were glad nobody was in the room so you could have time to blush over how good you felt.

You heard foot steps approach the door, assuming Mark had found Yuta’s pack of condoms. “Come in!”

Mark opens the door, looking tense. “We gotta go, police showed up crashing the party. Everyone has to leave.”

You both make it to your front door, out of breath for semi running the entire trip home. His hand never left yours throughout the trip and it doesn’t leave yours now. You can’t help but fidget with his fingers that you’ve only now noticed are so much bigger than yours.

“I wonder what tipped them off.” You say referring to the way the police had shut down the party.

“Something about a curfew, no parties for the time being.” He shrugs. “Listen y/n.”

Your fingers don’t stop tracing his palm as you await his sentence. “How about we hang out soon like a date?”

“Oh!” Your hands stop, taken aback by his unabashed state.

He continues, linking his hand into your own. “I’m more than just interested in you, and i’d like to show you that.”

You offer a measly smile. “I’d really like that.”

His answer’s coy. “Great, I’ll see you next time then yeah?”

You nod, he releases your hand beginning to walk away. “Bye Mark.”

“Goodnight Y/N.”

You ran into your home closing the door behind you hoping he didn’t notice your bashfulness as you bid him farewell. You bite your lip to calm yourself down, letting out a squeal of excitement.

A ring coming from the kitchen pulls you out of your cheerful state. You head towards the phone picking it up as it’s on the last ring.

“Yuqi? Minnie? DId you guys get home safe?”

The line is silent until you make out a strangled scream through the phone. You instantly drop it, beginning to panic. You hear muffled wheezing through the phone, choosing to pick it up again.

“Who the fuck is this? Is this the same number as before?” Your voice comes out horror-struck. “What the fuck do you want.”

The voice comes out restrained, “You.”

The line goes dead. You hear a knock on the door, grabbing a knife from the counter top and hugging it to your chest. The knocking gets louder, the doorknob twisting.

“Please just leave me alone!” You cry out.

“Y/N, it’s me. Please just open the door.” Marks voice rings out.

You run towards the door unlocking it and letting him in. He picks the knife out of your hands tossing it to the side and pulling you into his arms. You aren’t sure when you began hysterically crying but his embrace helped soothe you.

“What happened baby, talk to me.” You take in a breath, looking over to the phone.

“They won’t stop calling. I don’t know who it is or what they want from me.” You struggle to speak.

“Hey hey it’s okay.” He holds onto you tighter, “I’m here okay?”

Your sobs dwindle, your breathing becoming more steady.

“Do you want me to stay?” He asks.

You shake your head, “I don’t want to be here, not right now.”

He contemplates for a moment, “Would you want to stay at my place for tonight then?”

You nod your head, wiping your tears from your face.

“Please.”

You take in the place, it’s empty besides the couch and TV in the living room and a few plants scattered around. The house smells oddly clean, which wasn’t something you expected from a college man but you weren’t going to complain.

“You can take a seat i’ll get you a water.” He says pointing at the velvet couch in the corner of the living room.

“Thank you.” You smile, taking a seat. It’s pretty comfortable for being a living room couch, you decide you can stick to sleeping there tonight. Leaving early tomorrow so you won’t cause any disturbance.

You look to the wall, a clock hangs on it reading 2:30am. You wonder if Yuqi or Minnie made it home earlier, hoping that none of them ended up in a jail cell tonight.

Mark appears in front of you, a glass of water in his hand. “Here you go,” He offers. You accept the glass taking it out of his hands.

He takes a seat next to you, offering some distance so you can sit comfortably. You chug down half of the water, setting it down beside you onto the floor.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” He asks with a soft tone as if to not scare you.

“It’s everything I said before, I just feel very paranoid these days.” You shake your head, “I keep getting this weird feeling, I feel like someone’s been stalking me.”

His eyes go wide, “Do you know who?”

You let out a sigh, “I haven’t seen anyone, I just feel in my gut like something bad is going to happen if it hasn’t already.” He remains silent allowing you space to explain.

“I never told anyone this, but I keep having like a weird sense of deja vu. I remember so clearly that around this time five years back there was always this same feeling, like I was being followed or watched in every corner.”

You release a shaky breath, “I don’t know why but I think this person whoever he is. I feel like he wants me next.”

Mark breaks his silence, “The Vestal killer?”

“I think so.”

“That can’t be the case right? The police said he must’ve disappeared when he could after the murders right?”

You shrug, “I don’t know if that’s true. All I know is someone has been using me as a pawn in their game for the past weeks.”

“You’re right,” He responds. “Do you want to talk to Yuqi or Minnie maybe? Maybe they might have had the same feeling?”

You nod in agreement, “Yeah okay, can I borrow your phone please?”

“Of course, it’s in my room first door to your left.” You thank him before heading through the hallway into his room.

You pick up the phone beginning to dial in Yuqi’s number, there’s no answer. You try giving another attempt this time to Minnie’s number, she doesn’t pick up. You opt for sending a message to Minnie’s pager, glad you happened to remember to carry yours with you tonight.

911.

You hear Mark’s footsteps approaching, opening the door to check on you.

“None of them picked up, i’m hoping they’re not in jail or something.”

Mark chuckles, “I doubt it, I got a call from Yuta. He ran out with Minnie before the cops showed up.”

“Wow, glad to know they were having fun while shit hit the fan.” You reply sarcastically.

“They wouldn’t be the only ones.” Mark teases, referring to the events that took place between the two of you moments before the party was crashed.

You blush at the memory. “I don’t believe I recall, mind reminding me?”

He offers a coy smile, approaching you slowly. “You sure you don’t remember?” He closes the distance between you two, his arms locking you in between him and the counter.

Like muscle memory, you wrap your legs around his waist, pulling him closer. “Not at all, You going to try and jog my memory?”

He contemplates for a moment, “I’ll make sure you don’t forget again.” He says before leaning in for a brutal kiss.

His mouth tastes sweet, youd guess it’s from the halloween candy you noticed on his counter earlier. You grip his arms pulling him closer to lick and taste all over his mouth.

His arms find their way around your waist pulling you even closer to him if that’s possible. You begin to feel the growing bulge against you, disconnecting yourself from the kiss to suck on his neck instead.

He lets out a gasp, feeling your hands find their way down to his bulge and palming it through his pants.

“Fuck– I thought you said you’d never done this before.”

“I haven’t.”

He pulls in closer to your neck, whispering directly into your ear. “Then how is it that you’re already so perfect for me.”

You suck in a breath, your neck sensitive to his touch. He takes advantage of your position, biting down into your neck. It’s not enough to draw blood but enough to get you to release a moan.

He pulls your dress from off of you, your body shivering from the exposed air. “You’re beautiful.” He says, pulling you in for another kiss.

Your body feels on fire, the pleasure is only building up making you want more. You undo his belt, your hand pushing into his pants to grab onto his dick.

He lets out a groan, pulling you up from the counter and onto his bed instead. He pulls away, lying you down on the flat surface. “Tell me now if you don’t want to go any further.”

There’s no way in hell you were going to stop anytime soon. “Let’s finish what we started.”

He took his shirt off, and you took in a breath. His body was toned, his chest and collarbones looked perfect to leave bruises and bites all over.

“Take them off.” He growled. You began to unclasp your bra, your chest falling free. He falls to his knees, tugging your legs closer to him. His head in between your thighs.

You can feel his breath on your cunt, “Fuck baby your pussy is soaking already.”

You gasp, feeling his knuckle begin to trace your slit. “Markie please.” You plead for him to touch.

“Please what baby? Use your words.”

“Please touch me.”

The second the words leave your lips, you feel his mouth on you. You yelp, his mouth connecting straight to your clit, sucking onto it roughly. He eats you out with the same harshness he kisses you with. You can’t complain though, not when his mouth makes you feel like you’ve reached the gates of heaven.

The wet sound of him eating you out only adds to your arousal. You can’t help but squirm, his arms keep you from moving too much though. “Careful baby, i’m trying to feed here.”

His tongue begins fuck into your pussy, pulling a loud moan from you. You cover your mouth to muffle the sounds as much as possible. He pulls away, you whine at the loss of contact.

“Don’t hide your noises, I want to hear how loud you get when I make you cum.” You uncover your mouth as he gets back to work, this time focusing on sucking your clit. Your hips roll feeling your orgasm fast approaching.

“Markie please don’t stop” You beg.

You feel two fingers slide into your pussy, the stretch feels so good. You roll your hips chasing your climax. The stimulation from his fingers penetrating you leave you breathless. You repeat his name over and over like a mantra.

“Markie please I want to cum. Please let me cum.”

With one last thrust of his fingers and a suck on your clit you reach your high, your eyes seeing white. He draws out your orgasm, stopping only when you hiss at the overstimulation.

You let out a breath, looking him in his eyes as he begins to undresses himself. He grabs the condom from the drawer and pulls his cock out of his boxers.

You can’t help but stare right at him, your mouth watering at the sight of his long and thick cock. There was a large vein that ran through it, his tip glowing red. You weren’t experienced but you’d seen films before, and his looked like one straight out of a porno.

He gives it a few pumps before tearing open the packaging and wrapping it around his shaft. “We’re not done yet.”

You feel him lay over you, lining his cock with your entrance. He looks to you before pushing inside, “Are you ready?” You nod. “Yes.”

He pushes himself into you, taking breaks in between to help you catch your breath. “Relax baby, god you’re so fucking tight.”

His dick looked big, but it felt even larger. You felt a slight pain as he slowly pushed himself fully in. “Fuck– Mark you’re so big.”

“It’s okay baby, it’s almost fully inside.” You nod your head, your eyes closing wishing for him to just get on with it.

His dick pushes inside you once again pulling a gasp from you. You swear you can feel it in your stomach.

“That’s it baby.” You open your eye to look down and see his hips connecting to yours, he’s bottomed out. He tests a small thrust and you let out a moan.

“Markie, you can fuck me already.” Your words are enough to snap him back into his lustful self. He starts a slow and steady pace, thrusting into you.

You let out a few noises, tears beginning to line your eyes. He notices, wiping your face with his hand. “Please kiss me.” He leans into you, kissing you gently.

You close your eyes into the kiss, feeling his lips suck your own. You pull away, a moan escaping your lips once he hits your sweet spot. “There– right there.”

He quickens his pace, pistoling his cock attacking your g-spot. Your legs wrapping around his waist, to keep him from pulling any further away from you.

“I’m close–“ You let out, his thrusts getting quicker and stronger.

“Me too.” He groans. His fingers slipping to your sensitive bud, rubbing circles making you scream in pleasure. With the next few thrusts you feel your body convulse, clenching down on him. Your nails scratch down his arms, he hisses at the sting. You reach your second climax of the night, your legs shaking from the aftershocks.

He lets out growl, the feeling of your climax triggering his own. With one last thrust, he’s finishing into the condom. He pulls out of you, you let out a whine at the feeling.

He disposes of the condom, pulling a blanket over the both of you and wrapping his arms around your body.

“I don’t think I can work my legs anymore.” You joke, closing your eyes and catching your breath.

He laughs and pulls you in closer, “That’s okay, you’re all mine now so you have no use for them anyway.”

You let out an awkward laugh. His joke coming out a bit empty. You have no time to comment on it before you feel your eyes begin to shut on their own.

You wake up the next morning bed empty. You remember the events of last night, pulling the covers over your head to hide your embarrassment. The shower is running from what sounds like the room over.

Mark is showering, I should probably go join him.

You smile to yourself and try getting up from the bed, your legs wobbly.

Oh fuck.

You slowly and carefully try walking out of the room, finding the TV on from the living room.

“After days of searching, two bodies have been found early this morning by Velvet lake. No suspects have been identified as of now, though police have said a mask was found at the crime scene.” You inhale sharply at the mask on the TV.

No, it can’t be.

“Halloween festivities have began despite police efforts to ensure proper curfew. The mask found, one of Michael Myers, will be hard to trace back, as the costume happens to be a popular one.”

You stand frozen, hearing the words repeat in your head.

There’s no way it was Mark, he was here the whole time last night.

“This just in, the bodies are presumed to be missing persons Jung Sungchan and Choi Minjae. They were discovered only an hour ago, police reporting it’s possible they could’ve just missed the killer.”

Your breath catches in your throat. Mark woke earlier than you, is it possible he’s showering now to get rid of the evidence. You begin to slowly make your way towards the bedroom to make a phone call.

You dial Minnie, praying to any god that she picks up. There’s no answer. You let out a frustrated sigh, redialing to try and see if it’ll work this time.

Come on Minnie, pick up.

The shower stops. You panic, leaving the phone on the counter and slowly stepping out of the room to leave the house. It’s as you turn the corner that you hear a click from another room.

You turn to the room on the right, finding the door slightly ajar and squeezing through it. You hear another sound of clicking coming from below the steps.

You tiptoe down the steps, finding the room filled with field tools and rope scattered everywhere. It isn’t until you turn the corner that your eyes are filled with horror.

You spot a familiar figure tied to a chair, repeatedly hitting his watch against the seat making a clicking noise. You let out a gasp, his eyes finding your own in pure terror.

Hyungseo? What the fuck was he doing here tied up.

You head over to him pulling the rope from his mouth. “Y/N you have to leave now.”

“What are you talking about.” You whisper, beginning to untie his hands.

“He is insane. You have to leave now it’s not safe.”

“I’m not going to leave you here for yourself.” You dismiss his words. “Come on we’re going.”

His hands are tied with a rope, you lean down to try and undo the knot, not finding success in tugging. “Y/N?” You hear from upstairs. Your eyes go wide at his voice calling you.

You stand, putting a finger over your mouth gesturing for Hyungseo to keep silent. In the corner of your eye you notice the wall of tools again, grabbing a sickle from off of it.

You can hear Mark’s footsteps closely approaching. You cover your mouth and hold in your breath hoping he doesn’t notice you. The door closes from up the stairs. You take in a breath before standing from your hiding place.

“There you are.” His voice comes out from behind you. You jump walking backwards as he steps forward. “Was looking all over for you little fox.”

You can barely let out any words, “What the fuck is this. Why is Hyungseo here.”

He looks genuinely appalled at your question, “What do you mean what is this? It’s all for you.”

“What?” You speak in a whisper.

“I did this for you.” He says stepping closer. “These guys are nothing compared to you, their perverted minds thinking they could ever please you the way you need.”

You hit the wall, sucking in a breath as his hand cups your face. “You’re so pure y/n I had to make sure they wouldn’t get in the way of that.”

His thumb traces your lips, you turn your face away. “That’s not what I want. You’re hurting innocent people.”

“It’s what you need y/n. It’s a shame you can’t see that.”

He pulls away, grabbing onto your wrist that’s holding the sickle. He takes it from your grip throwing it off to the side. “Was that for me? You think i’d let that happen?”

“Leave me alone,” You feel a tear roll down your cheek. “Please.”

“Hey,” He wipes your face. “I’m not going to hurt you baby. I’m protecting you.”

He walks over to where Hyungseo sits, “From him.” He pulls a knife from his pocket, “These fuckers.”

“Don’t hurt him please. Come on let’s talk about this.” You step to the side, closer to the tools on the wall.

“There’s nothing to talk about y/n. He doesn’t deserve to even breathe your air.” He drags the knife against Hyungseo’s throat. You hear the man cry out from fear.

“These men surround themselves around you hoping for a chance to take you for themselves.” He punctures his arm, Hyungseo screaming from the injury.

“Mark stop.” You grab a screwdriver from the wall, hiding it behind your back. “Please just let him go, I’ll stay with you just don’t hurt anyone else.”

He stops, looking into your eye. “I’m not asking for you to stay with me forever, that’d be unfair to you.” He frowns stepping closer to you, “I love you y/n. I’m doing this for your own good.”

You shake your head, “You’re doing this because you’re fucking insane.” He lets out a cold laugh, “If that’s what you think so be it, but I know what you need.”

“You don’t know shit.” You say, grabbing the screwdriver from your pocket and shoving it through his abdomen.

“Fuck–“ He grips his side, you push him away running to where Hyungseo sits, cutting him free from the rope. “You want to play it like this? Really babe.”

“Fuck you, i’m not your babe.” He grabs onto your hair pulling you closer to him with one hand. “I already did.”

You knock your elbow into his wound, escaping from his hold as soon as his hand lets you go. “Hurry.” Hyungseo says from up the stairs, grabbing onto your hand and helping you run up further.

You both run through the hallway, Mark close behind. “You have to go. I’ll call for help.”

“I’m not going to leave you here.”

“Go,” You warn him sternly, “I’ll hold him back.”

“I’ll look for help.” He says before running out of the door. You pick up the phone from his room dialing 911. The phone line is dead.

“You really think i’m that stupid to leave the phone connected?” You jolt from his sudden appearance. “Just leave it alone y/n if we leave now we will catch him in time. His leg is pretty bruised he won’t be able to make it so far.”

“Don’t do this please.”

“I think i’ve told you already, I’m doing this for your own good.”

His hands smoother your face, the blood left on them transferring to your face. “That’s exactly why I got rid of Sungchan, he strayed too close. He knew you were mine and yet he couldn’t hold himself back so I had to take him out.”

“No.” You cry.

“And Jihoon, he was all you ever looked at. You were falling right into his trap, into his temptations.”

“Then what about Minjae, huh?” You yell out, “He never wanted me he wanted Yuqi.”

His smile was deranged, “Honestly he was just fucking annoying.”

You shake your head, tears streaming down your face. Your body shaking in fear. “You’re evil.”

“I’m your executioner.” He looks into your eyes. There’s no more of that sweet Mark you knew before. His entire being is unhinged. He hears a sound coming from the front door, becoming distracted for a second.

You take that moment to reach for the lamp on the desk and breaking it on his head, setting yourself free from his hold. He’s stunned for a moment as you run towards the kitchen grabbing a knife from the counter.

“Get away from me!” You scream out, he stands in front of you, his head bleeding from the hit he took. “Put the knife down.”

You shake your head, “I said get away!” He puts his hands up. “Y/n you’re acting crazy, put the knife down.”

“I’m crazy?” You scream, “You’ve killed people.”

He ignores you, stepping closer. “Which is exactly why I know, you don’t have it in you. So just drop the knife.”

You pause for a moment, frozen in fear. He takes that chance to reach for your hand and grab the knife out of it. What he doesn’t realize is that you are quicker than you seem, you dodge his movement stabbing the knife through his back.

He turns slowly, blood dripping from his mouth. “Fuck, you always were smarter than anyone ever took you for.” He drops to the floor, unconscious giving you the time to run out of the house.

You’re running with blood all over your clothes. The knife is still in your hand, piercing through your palms but even the sting isn’t enough to shake off the adrenaline in your body. You can hear voices calling out to you but you can’t stop running.

It isn’t til you feel a pair of hands grabbing onto you that you stop running. “Y/N.” You break out of your thoughts, your brother’s voice stopping you in your tracks.

“Inhyuk,” You let out a shaky breath. “What are you doing here.”

“I came here as soon as I heard, you need to calm down okay? We’re here to help you.”

You look around noticing the police and paramedics parked outside of the house. Some making their way towards you already. You look at your brother finally caving into his hold and sobbing into his shoulder.

“It’s okay, I’m here.”

“Did he mention any other victims?” You shake your head, the officer had been asking you questions for the past fifteen minutes but you could barely answer. You sat on the back of the ambulance, the paramedics checking you to make sure you had no major injuries.

Hyungseo was rushed to the hospital already, they said his injuries could be fatal if not treated quickly. You had a feeling he was going to be okay though.

There was no word on the state of Mark, and you weren’t sure if you even wanted to know. It was hard enough to face the officer right now. “Can you give her a moment, she can always head to the station if she had any more details.” You hear your brother’s voice interject the officer.

“Oh yes, of course.” He steps away from the two of you walking over to where the sheriff stands. You were thankful for Inhyuk’s help, the last thing you needed was to be reminded of the amount of victims Mark had killed all for you.

“Mom just got here, i’m going to go talk to her okay?” You nod, “I’ll be right back.” He says, still very worried about your condition.

“You’re okay. You might experience some soreness and pain but your blood pressure is fine.” The paramedic says while removing the cuff around your arm. “I’ll give you a moment to yourself.”

He walks always leaving you alone. Your breaths become less frantic, you look up from your hands and into the house in front of you. You remember the way you’d fought Mark off, the police wondering how it was that you’d been able to escape with little to no injuries.

You didn’t have it in you to explain everything. Not the way he had told you that you were his motive for killing, or the way you’d had to stab him multiple times before running out successfully.

There’d be a time for when you’d come clean about everything, and you were fine with that. Except for one.

You had felt a rush the moment you stabbed him with the screwdriver. It was different from any adrenaline rush, no this was a rush of excitement. Then the second time, when you saw him drop to the floor, his eyes rolling into his head unconscious, you’d felt it again.

You enjoyed the way his warm blood dripped down your hands, the way he let in a sharp inhale the second you punctured his back. You loved the way it felt to see him half dead on the ground, and that was something you’d be taking to the grave.

[countrymusiclover]

11 - Must Answer the Call

Part 12

Dr. Redheaded Neighbor

Comment your thoughts down below or in a reblog post

Tag list - send an ask to be added @annieradcliff @watermeezer @zaidatorcuatomorgado @kmc1989

One Year Later

Running as fast as my feet could carry me I abandoned the building that was on fire falling down onto the ground tripping on some wood that had fallen off the house because of the fire. I groaned blinking my eyes seeing Casey rushing to my aid where he yanked me up before our bodies got thrown forward by an explosion of flames. “Easton! Ugh – are you alright?”

“Yeah. I – I think so. How are you?” I forced myself to my feet as best as I could offering him my hand helping him off the ground. Brett and Dawson had already left in their ambulance with the patients that needed o go to East Mercy hospital.

Casey removed his firefighter helmet from his head running a gloved hand through his hair. “I’m okay. I’ve been in tougher situations than what we had today.”

“Hey chatty Kathy’s let’s get back to the house. Mill’s has food going in the oven and I’m hungry!” We turned our heads in the direction of the fire truck that Kelly was climbing in the backseat.

Casey and I made our way back over to the fire truck where we made our way back to the house. Climbing out of the passenger seat my boots hit the stone concrete floor. I hung up my firefighter gear just walking around in a fire house 51 shirt, some blue jeans and my brown boots about to go get some food until my phone rang off inside my locker when I walked past it. “Hey, Halstead. I wasn’t expecting to hear a call from you this early in the day.”

“Are you Ms. Mallory Easton?” A computer operator voice responded through the phone.

“Yes. This is she. Who is this?”

“You’re call is now being transferred.” The operator answered back.

“Ms. Easton, this is Lieutenant Griffin. I have been trying to reach you for a while now.”

I ran a hand through my hair nervous to hear his voice after all this time. “I apologize for that, sir. I have gotten a new job with Firehouse 51. So, I haven’t been seeing your phone calls recently. Um, what exactly do you need to tell me about?”

“I must inform you that we need you and Maxon back for deployment.”

Slowly lowering myself down onto the wooden bench in front of my open locker I couldn’t believe what he had just said to me. “Sir, I - I have no clue what to say. I thought I was done – that I had finished my tour.”

“When Dr. Owen sent you home we believed that we had cleared everything from here. Unfortunately we had some new information come in from one of our guys. Somebody is planning on attacking the US soil.”

Sucking in a breath I felt like I was frozen in some sort of nightmare. I was finally with my best friend. I had found some more friends and gotten a new job that I was beginning to enjoy here. Now it might all get taken away from me. “Sir, how soon would I have to be deployed out?”

“I’d give it would be three to four months at the most.” He responded through the phone with a very heavy sigh meaning he didn’t care for the answer he had given me either.

“Lieutenant Griffin, when do I need to let you know that I have everything squared away on my end?”

He corrected my statement. “You have to remember Ms. Easton. This is the military you don’t have to give us notice. If we need you you’ll just have to follow the orders you’ve been assigned.”

“Yes, I understand sir. I’ll figure this out.”

He hung up the phone without another word. “I’ll be in touch. Good day.”

Sitting my phone down beside me I hit the lock button on my phone then turned it back on to show the lock screen that Will and I had taken with Maxon on our one month anniversary where we had went and done the tilt at the John Hancock Building.

“Two tickets for the 360 tilt.” Will handed asked the cashier woman at the front desk the money.

I was standing behind Will and Maxon was sitting beside me while I held his leash attached to the collar loosely in my hands. “Oh, I’m sorry ma’am. But he can’t be up there unless he is a service dog.”

“He’s actually a former Army veteran K-9. I think he meets that criteria.” I corrected her statement with a smile.

She nodded seeing Maxon wagging his tail happily at her. “Ah I see. Have a good time.”

The three of us entered the elevator with a few other people who were going up with us. Once the doors opened I led Maxon forward until we reached one of the windows and he put his paws on the glass wagging his tail happily. “Pretty neat isn’t it, Max?” He barked in response to me.

Will joined us looking out the window seeing all the city buildings from this high up. “And here I thought the hospital balcony had a view.” He chuckled in awe never being up this high.

“This is the second time I have been able to enjoy being this high off the ground. When you look out the side of a helicopter it’s not the same since you’re going off to war.” I held my mouth opened just living in the moment with the building lights shining all over the nightly windy city.

An idea popped inside the ED doc’s head where he took out his phone nudging my arm. “Let’s do a picture up here.”

“Yeah but you’re getting in it too.” I told him bending down on a knee to be level with Maxon.

Will held the phone up wrapping one arm over my shoulder. “One, two, three. Got it.” He hit the camera button a few times showing me the picture of the three of us.

“We’re pretty good together. Happy anniversary, Mal.” Will leaned down kissing me softly on the lips with a smile.

I smiled into the kiss leaning up on my toes, wrapping my fingers around the tea shirt he was wearing. “Happy anniversary, Will.”

Hearing footsteps entering the locker room I bent my head down into my knees trying to still process that phone call. I wasn’t prepared to get deployed out after getting the leg brace. And now Will and I were in a really good place, so what was he going to think now. “Hey Mallory, Mills wants to know what type of pizza you want. Woah, hey what’s wrong?”

“Huh – oh it’s nothing Brett.” I attempted to lie hoping she wouldn’t pick up on it.

She slowly came and sat down to me. “If you’re crying then it’s clearly not fine. I’m you’re friend you can tell me anything.”

“I got deployed, Sylvie.”

She covered a hand over her mouth in shock. “I’m sorry. Are you going to tell Will?”

“I don’t have much of a choice in the matter. I just know I need to tell the truth of something we’re gonna have to deal with together.” I responded to my friend.

She noticed me slowly getting up and grabbing my normal gear to go home for the evening. “Where are you going, Mallory?”

“In case the Chief or Casey ask where I went. Just say I had an emergency come up but I’ll be back tomorrow.” Shrugging on my jacket I bolted out of the room and to my car needing to see my boyfriend sooner rather than later.

[auroragehenna]

AI-less Whumptober

Day 28 - Medical Monday (Internal bleeding, needles and stitches, “I didn’t think the wound was that bad…”)

Continuation of this, @greatkittencloud, Ai-Less Whumptober crossover let's go!

TW/CW: Near-death experience whump, controlling whumper, blackmail, hospital setting without medical stuff, very out of it whumpee, captivity whump, carewhumper, creepy/intimate Whumper Word count: 666

"Lyra! Lyra! Fuck, wake up!"

A dampened voice reached Lyra's mind finally. She had no idea who it belonged to or what was going on, only that she knew the voice. WIth great effort she managed to open her eyes and when they finally focused she was looking at Adam. Was she dead? Or still alive?

"Fuck, Lyra, finally!"

He sounded panicked.

"You're awake, you're going to be fine, just don't pass out again. Help is on their way."

Slowly Lyra's mind cleared and she remembered what happened, unnerved she tried to check what was going on but even the slightest of movements sent spikes of dizziness into her brain.

"Wow, how about no. Lyra if you ever listened to me, let it be today."

Lyra heard the urgency in his voice and out of it as she was, she complied.

"I've called for help, they're going to be here very soon. Now I'm going to need you to say that you got jumped, you understand me? You didn't see the attackers and it all went too fast for you to get any crucial information. I'm gonna appeal to the godness of your heart and common sense here but I'm also going to dissapear before they get here and get a hostage. If you try to sell me out to anybody or dissapear they're going to pay the price, do you understand me?"

Lyra's eyes widened more and more during their conversation. When Adam explained his conditions she gulped but didn't dare to look away. "Yes. I understand."

"You don't have any identifying information on you and you're not going to be taken to a hospital near your old home so I expect you to lie. You're an adult and legally allowed to check yourself out of the hospital even against doctor's orders. As soon as you're healthy enough I expect you to do that too. Do you understand me, Lyra? Otherwise an innocent person will have to live through my frustration."

"I got it!", Lyra snapped weakly. She couldn't stand it any longer, not this. "I got it, Adam...What happened?"

"You nearly bled to death without telling me, that's what happened." He ran a hand through his red dyed hair. “I didn’t think the wounds were that bad…By the time I returned to the basin you were pale as paper. And now you have to be taken to a hospital."

He was very good at guiltripping and even if usually Lyra didn't fall for it, in her unbalanced state she did. "I'm sorry."

Adam sighed deeply. "Its alright, just make sure it never happens again. I don't wanna lose you, alright."

Then the all too well known horn of an ambulace sounded close by and Adam stood up. "I'll find you after you've released yourself."

Between getting carried into the ambulance, weakly answering questions and getting droven to an unknown hospital Lyra drifted in and out of dissociation. Not fully passing out though, holding onto consciousness with determination.

In the hospital she was treated for severe blood loss and infected cuts. The doctors asked many questions but Lyra managed to avoid most of them. The police only got called for her "getting jumped".

When Lyra for the first time looked into a mirror at the hospital she could understood. She herself wasn't sure if she would have recognized herself. Like this.

But she enjoyed being in the hospital nevertheless. Somebody caring for her without a catch, sleeping in an actual bed. A break. But the thought of an innocent person having to suffer Adam's actual wrath never left her mind. And what would she even have to say? He surely as hell wasn't waiting for her back in the pool building so...

With suspicion already brewing so high Lyra decided not to officially release herself and instead just ran. And truly, by seeking out the most likely places where Adam could be waiting for her they found each other...For better or for worse. And Lyra never actually got to know if there truly had been an innocent person chained up or not.

Taglist: @ailesswhumptober, @yourlocalgaefae33, @princessofhe11, @greatkittencloud, @bisexuawolfsalt

@shattermind-8

[vvatchword]

Brother Jack

Delta knew right away that he couldn’t afford to stick to the forest behind the house. Eleanor would always find him. She could just appear at his side. He didn’t dare look at her mind straight-on, but he could feel her fury radiating out of the house. It was directed at the others now. She wasn’t thinking about him.

He had to take a chance.

He didn’t run for the woods, but for the road. He kept to a deer path in the trees until he got to the road—he didn’t want to chance the girls seeing him go, only to alert Eleanor—then turned toward town and ran for it.

He could run like hell. The sun beat down on him. He hadn’t gotten very far when he hit another small group of Sisters. These were Tenenbaum’s youngest. They shouted altogether when they saw him, but he didn’t stop. He just plunged past them at a full sprint.

He’d been engineered to carry a suit that weighed a full ton. He’d been given ungodly endurance. Every breath utilized oxygen more efficiently than a normal human being; every ounce of food he ate, more energy. He was a freight train given flesh and he flew.

He could tell that Eleanor was too far to suss him out by about the sixth mile. He only slowed down by the tenth, and by that time, he’d hit town.

He immediately felt like he’d made a mistake. Cars kept stopping in the street to gawk at him. Pedestrians crossed the road when they saw him, sometimes at a jog. He looked in a window at himself and shuddered. He was filthy from working in the yard all day, and he was wearing his old shoes with the holes in the sides. He was so tall, and he didn’t look right. There was a way to look and he didn’t have it anymore.

A black-and-white car marked with a seal drifted to a stop across the street, then pulled a U-turn and rolled up beside him. Delta hunched his shoulders, kept his eyes forward.

“Hey,” a man said. “You. Big guy.”

Delta looked over his shoulder. A man in a dark uniform and sunglasses was stepping out of the car. Another man in dark glasses sat at the steering wheel, holding a radio.

“Yeah, you,” the policeman said. “Come here.”

Delta shook his head.

“You keep walking, and I can arrest you for resistance,” said the cop. His hand rested on his weapon.

Delta hesitated. He wasn’t afraid of the policeman or his gun. For the first time in a long time, he thought about what it would mean to kill somebody. He could cross that gap between them in a second, and he could twist the cop’s head off in the next.

His hands twitched. He turned to face him, drawing upright. At his full height, he stood eight and a half feet tall. To the cop’s credit, he didn’t flinch, but he did unbutton his holster.

“You better not cause trouble,” said the cop. “I put in a call to the state hospital. They’ll pick you up in 30 minutes.”

“There you are,” a man said in a colorless voice. “Hey, thanks officer. I’ve been looking for this guy.”

Delta scanned the street. A big white guy in a Panama hat, long-sleeved shirt, and slacks was strolling up the sidewalk toward him. He wore aviator glasses. And hell, he was a lot bigger than most people. Delta’s eyes locked on him, wondering.

“This guy’s yours?” asked the cop. “I don’t recognize you. Are you from out of town?”

“Yep,” said the stranger.

Delta brought his hands up and started signing, hoping against hope. He didn’t dare make sounds. Making sounds would make it worse.

“Who are you?” he asked.

To his shock, the big guy signed back.

“A friend,” he said. “Hold still. Don’t scare the guy.”

“Okay.”

The cop relaxed and buttoned his gun. “Oh, I see. Deaf mute?”

“Just mute.” The guy’s voice was rough and grumbly like from cigarettes. “Don’t worry, his bark is worse than his bite.” He turned to Delta. A white man, probably. Looked old, perhaps in his sixties. “Come here, will you, buddy? You’re scaring the people out here.”

He also signed at him: “Don’t worry. We have to get you off the street.”

“What do you want?” Delta asked.

“I’ll tell you once I deal with the fuzz.”

“What’s he saying?” the cop said.

“That he got lost,” said the stranger. “He wondered where I’d gotten to.”

“Okay, okay. Just get that guy off the street,” the cop said, sliding back into the car. “He’s scaring people.”

With that, the stranger walked up to him—Delta had backed up under the awning of a sub shop—and held out his hand. There was a gap between cuff and arm. It was an old, wrinkled arm, liver spots on the hands. But once this close, Delta could see the faint traces of Plasmid scarring across the knuckles, down the arm, across the palms, like jags of lightning.

Delta rolled his arm and looked down. He had the same scarring, faint and shining in the sun. Suddenly he felt cold.

Delta shook his head “no.”

“Please go away,” he signed. “I don’t need help.”

“You’re going to get shot without me. Trust me.” The stranger set a hand on his wrist. His palm was rough.

“You’re from there,” Delta signed.

“Same as you,” the stranger signed back. “Come on. I’ve got a place for you to stay.”

“I already have a place,” Delta said.

“So why did you leave it?” asked the stranger, taking him by the elbow. He wasn’t signing anymore, but speaking aloud.

Delta found himself following. What else could he do? The idea of going back to the farmhouse closed his throat. He didn’t want to see Eleanor. He didn’t want to see anyone. He wanted to disappear.

It was astonishing for him to realize that he hadn’t suffered from an intrusive memory once since fleeing the house. He held himself a little straighter. He had a clearer head than he could remember since… well, the beginning. Thoughts seemed to be coming to him faster. That was a good sign, right?

“So where were you going?” asked the stranger. He directed him down a quiet side street. Delta followed.

“I don’t know.”

“A guy like you stands out. You aren’t safe here. Maybe you’d be safe in a big city. Maybe.” The stranger looked up at him, unsmiling. “There are people looking for you and your girls, you know. Powerful people.”

Delta stared down, eyes wide.

“Who?” he asked. “Why?”

“Can you imagine a whole military filled with people like you?” asked the man. “Big, powerful, always following orders?”

Delta shuddered. “But that would hurt them.”

“They don’t care.” The man smiled grimly. “Look, I need something from Dr. Tenenbaum.”

With that, the man whistled. From a side street, two skinny guys in bib overalls came running, both holding paper bags filled with groceries. They wore faded ballcaps and shoes that were just a little too big. Delta’s first thought was that they were mechanics.

They pattered up on either side, staring up unabashedly into Delta’s face, and the smell of them hit him like a brick. He stared back in shock. These weren’t guys—these were Sisters. There was the unnatural height, the unnatural slenderness, the strange eyes. Both were dark-skinned—one probably had parents from India; the other’s might have been from Mexico. They were cured Sisters, too. No fingers picked at his thoughts.

“Tell me,” said the stranger. “How close is too close for your Sister?”

“Six, maybe seven miles,” Delta said. “I need to get out of town.”

He couldn’t believe how easily it came out of his hands. The idea of leaving Eleanor filled him with an overwhelming relief.

“You want to leave your Sister?” asked one of the girls. Her eyes were huge.

“Yes.” Delta glanced aside into a storefront. “She…”

He couldn’t think of what to say. She told his secret to everybody? She wouldn’t listen to him when he said no? She didn’t care about his feelings? It all sounded so silly when he thought about it.

“Don’t know much about Alpha series,” said the stranger. “I never met one. But I heard they each only had one Sister. I’m guessing your Sister is the, ah… possessive type?”

It felt horrible to think it. Possessive—Eleanor, possessive. Admitting to it felt like name-calling, so Delta said nothing. He looked away.

“We have to assume she’s headed this way,” said the stranger. “So we do one of two things: we jump on a train or we get on a bus. What do you feel like doing, Mr. B?”

Delta rubbed his arms. “What’s fastest?”

“John Barton, there you are,” a familiar voice drawled out. “Now I know you aren’t heading off somewhere with strangers.”

Delta whirled. So did the stranger and the Sisters. Sinclair leaned out the window of his car, rolling a cigarette in his mouth.

“Augustus Sinclair,” said the stranger in a wondering voice. “I knew you were around here.”

“Who’s he?” asked one of the girls, signing.

“Oh, I’m just the friend of this big lug here,” said Sinclair, jerking his chin up at Delta. “Come on, big hoss. You’re coming back with me.”

Delta shook his head, backing into the wall.

Sinclair laughed.

“Some things never change,” he said. “Chief, what on Earth could possess you to come all the way out here? Those girls back home called me cryin’ up a storm.”

Sinclair was talking like they hadn’t kissed at all! Delta burned. Could no one hear him? Would no one take him seriously at all? Was he cursed to be shunted from one person to another for the rest of eternity?

“Looks like the big guy’s made up his mind,” said the stranger. “Gotta say I understand the sentiment.”

“I must admit, I’m at a bit of a loss,” said Sinclair, swinging his door open. “You know who I am, but I haven’t got a clue about you.” He pushed himself upright, balanced on the car. “Do give me the pleasure of your introduction.”

“Oh, we’ve never met.” The man took off his glasses and his hat and shook his hair out. He was gray-headed, had a short, scruffy beard. When he raised his head, he smiled. His irises glowed faintly gold. “The name is Jack Wynand. You knew my father.”

Sinclair’s smile never broke. He laughed and leaned back against his car.

“Well, well, well,” he said. “Must say, never thought I’d see you in the flesh. Tell me, what use do you have for an old Alpha model, anyway?”

Delta bristled. Sinclair wasn’t looking at him. Sinclair’s eyes were locked on Jack’s.

Jack bent his head. “It’s less about him and more about Tenenbaum,” he said. “If she can revert Big Daddies…”

“Now how’d you figure that out?” Sinclair asked.

“���then she can revert me.” Jack bent his head. “I want ADAM stripped from me. I don’t care what it does.”

The Sisters shrank at his sides, faces full of misgiving.

“With your luck, it’d shrink you to a fetus,” said Sinclair.

“Then that’s what I want,” Jack said.

“Well, son, you’re too late,” Sinclair said. “No ADAM left. Not a drop. Takes gallons for something like that, from what I understand.”

“And you?” asked Jack.

“Me?” Sinclair asked.

A car stopped behind Sinclair’s, honked, and then slowly pulled around them. Sinclair waved at them, gave them an apologetic grimace, turned back to Jack.

Jack spoke again. “So they saved you, and they saved Dr. Porter, but they didn’t save this man here.” Jack jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

Delta glanced down at the thumb, then at Sinclair. Sinclair didn’t skip a beat. His brows rose and he gave Jack a brilliant smile.

“I see you’ve done your homework!” he said.

“Answer me,” said Jack. “Why did they save one of the biggest sharks of Rapture before one of his victims?”

Sinclair’s smile was finally cooling. “Well, son, if you don’t know, then I don’t think you ought to.”

Delta felt the flicker at the edge of his mind a second too late.

The air shuddered. There was a tearing, popping sound. Suddenly Eleanor was directly behind him, pressed up against his back. Delta closed his eyes, shoulders sinking. The two Sisters whirled to face her, mouths agape. Jack turned slowly, fingers flexing. He dropped his cigarette. It fell from his fingers like he’d forgotten it.

“Oh, Eleanor,” said Sinclair. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. Your boy’s made a hell of a friend today.”

Big Sisters slowly stepped out of the alleys on either side of them, eyes locked on Jack. They were wearing slacks and jeans and what Tenenbaum called their “garden shoes.” Their fingers were curled into claws. There was a heaviness in the air that could not be explained by the weather.

“I think you better get moving, son,” said Sinclair, leaning back against the car.

“I’m going with him,” Delta signed.

Finally, a reaction. One of the Sisters gasped. Eleanor’s hand tightened on his wrist. Sinclair went white.

“Honey, you don’t want to do that,” he said.

“Nobody cares what I want,” Delta said.

“That’s not true!” Eleanor said. The words poured out of her so fast that at first they weren’t comprehensible.

“There are only two people here who know what it’s like to be us,” Jack said softly. His fingers were twitching, twitching, twitching. “Don’t you agree, Subject Delta?”

“I don’t want to fight,” Delta said quickly. “I just want to leave. I’ll go anywhere.”

“Daddy!” Eleanor said. “Don’t!”

Her voice was panicky. Delta savored it—until she pushed into his mind. She was simply there, effortlessly, and she could see everything, and she was crying, but he couldn’t push her out, he wasn’t equipped to push her out, they’d never made him as anything other than a gun she summoned at a whim.

He roared and twisted out of her grip. The Sisters all jumped, Sinclair twitched, and even Jack sprang back. Delta thrilled to it. Yes, jump! Good old Subject Delta! Good old chief! He’ll do anything you ask for a smile and a pat on the back!

“You all think I’m a child!” Delta said. “You all think I’m an idiot!”

“I don’t think that at all!” Eleanor said.

“Stop telling me what to do!” Delta said. “I’m tired!”

“Eleanor,” Sinclair said. “Maybe I should take over.”

She whirled on him, her mouth opening and shutting. Sinclair was white, and he was no longer smiling. His eyes locked on Delta’s.

“You know what you need, honey?” he asked. He held up a hand. “You need out of this sun.” He extended a finger. “You need a sit.” A second finger rose. “You need a cold drink.” A third finger. “And more than that, you need to get out of this little town before the sheriff shows up. Come on. I’ll take you to my place.”

Eleanor shook her head over and over, but the Sisters were moving in. One grabbed her arm. The others kept a healthy distance from Jack and his Sisters, both of whom had set their bags of groceries against the wall and shoved their hands into their pockets.

Jack hadn’t moved at all. He had watched. He had listened. His eyes were unnaturally bright.

“Delta,” he said, “if you come with me, I promise I’ll treat you like a person deserves.”

Eleanor sputtered, frozen between taking complete control of his body—forcing him back to the house—and letting go. Jack waited, only watching, only listening. Who knew what he wanted? But Delta was staring at Sinclair, swaying in place like one hypnotized.

Suddenly all of his memories seemed so foolish. How long ago had they been, anyway? Sinclair probably had a new boyfriend already. He probably got over Delta back when he died the first time. He’d locked him up in a room. What kind of guy locked people up in rooms?

“Are you going to lock me up?” Delta asked.

Now it was Sinclair’s turn to flinch. His eyes were wet.

“Oh, John,” he said.

He said it in such a defeated, quiet way.

Delta sighed. He sank down.

“I’m going with Sinclair,” he said. “Thanks, Jack.”

The Sisters relaxed. Eleanor’s mind grudgingly lifted from his. She rubbed her arm across her face.

Jack glanced up at him. “You’re making a mistake,” he said.

“I know,” Delta said, and stepped into the street.

UPRISING: BLACK SCRAPBOOK HUB

[peknie]

CAT Car (1)

Summary;

Tommy is an invisible attendant on the Cross-Atlantic Train Carriage- also know as the CAT Car. It was a train that ran across the Atlantic Ocean, making headlines before it was even built. He's only there for the money, but it seems he's not the only one. Suspicious guests aboard its first trip accidentally reveal secrets to their invisible attendant that he can't get out of his head. A detective, a thief, an actor, a billionaire, two attendants and their boss walk into a train carriage... And not all of them will walk out when the journey ends.

Playlist:

CAT Car - Spotify

Notes:

I know my drawings aren't flawless, but they sure are colorful. They just help me with how I visualize the story, ignoring them does not change the story at all!

     Thomas Innes was always one to stand out amongst a crowd. He was loud, annoying, and clingy. Not  unlike  most children, but definitely more so than his peers. Tommy had learned to cling to his mother at any moment, to laugh and yell despite how much their neighbors complained about the noise. 

     Clara Innes was a wonderful mother. She struggled to make ends meet with another mouth to feed, but that didn't matter. They had been happy.

     But good things don't last. One moment, Tommy was getting up in the morning. Next, he was in a hospital bed with a wound in his back. Doctor Nihachu told him that, while following his mom's car to a restaurant for his eighteenth birthday, somebody veered off and knocked their vehicles into one another. His mom died instantly, but he survived with a scar and newfound issues.

      Tommy doesn't like to think about it, nor about how  dull  the world had become. 

      Most of his days are filled with grueling shifts at the corner store and forming partial bonds with coworkers that don't last more than a month. 

       While walking down to the bus station, Tommy hugs his arms around himself, shivering. It was cold, the sun having set, and the buildings around him made of concrete. His only jacket had been destroyed by moths, though. Weaving through the city's constant crowd, he spared a glance to stand he normally would ignore. A paperboy waved a roll of white newspaper around, shouting something Tommy couldn't make out.

     Figuring that he didn't have much better to do (Tommy couldn't go out, and he didn't have a television- all for lack of money), he sidestepped out of the way, slyly picking up one of the papers. He cringed as he walked off without being noticed. He didn't  like  taking things, but Tommy caught the expensive watch and shoes the paperboy wore and decided he wouldn't miss it much. He must not feel bad either way, though. Tommy often 'borrowed' small items. It was a habit now, and he hated himself more each time.

     Once he turned to the subway stairs, he unfurled the paper and scanned it-  specifically  the for-hire side. Halfway through, Tommy's eyes caught by the edge of a photo on another page. He lazily flipped it, using his other hand to pass the gate.

      A photo of an extravagant, colorful train over the deep, blue ocean took up half the page. Tommy took a while to look at each cart, painted in a different color than the last. He hummed, smiling. It was about  time  trains got some flair.

     Tommy wasn't going to read the article, but he's rather good at seeing what he wants to see. He saw the word  hiring  and immediately opted to read that paragraph.

       CAT Car-  (Tommy looks up to find out it was the Cross-Atlantic-Train-Carriage, CAT Car for short)  -is said to be ready by the end of August. The engineer and architect behind it all is Sam Warden, who said, "[It's] been a difficult year, but all worth it. Unfortunately, the building crew can't act as the staff for the journey, so we're hiring maintenance and hands-on workers for the Cross Atlantic Train Carriage. After that, roughly by [the] end of August, we'll have an exclusive ride to and from Greenland."

     Tommy, struck with an idea, nearly trips as he attempts to step into the subway. It's fate that when he looks up, he sees an electronic ad for the CAT Car's hiring number. Tommy, unsure about his qualifications, jotted down the number in his newspaper. 

     Of course, he was using somebody else's pen.

     By some miracle (lying on his application and initial meeting), Tommy got past the first round of interviews. The second interview was actually  on  the CAT Car. Now, Tommy lived in New York City. He had ever since he was sixteen. The CAT Car was in Connecticut. It took a while, but Tommy made it to the station an hour early.

      He was in a formerly white button-down, now grey, and wrinkled pants. The only other person there dressed far better than he did, making Tommy flush in embarrassment. Still, he tried to ready himself. This job paid far more than his old job, so he'd need it to have any money.

     Slowly, more and more applicants entered the cool room. Tommy sighed, knowing now that this was a group interview. He wasn't going to stand out, and he knew that much. Ever since his mom died, his ability to  exist  happily, to be loud and boisterous, had gone. He had his moments, but overall, his reality had become dull. That was in stark contrast to the colors of the train cart.

     Thirty minutes before the official interview, a familiar face entered from the staff door. Sam Warden smiled at the applicants.

     A few of them freaked out, aw-ing and asking if he was the  real  Sam Warden. Tommy's eyebrow drew down. Was he supposed to be  that  excited? He noticed as Sam's eyes narrowed in the direction of the louder few. His expression shifted back to normal, but Tommy had already seen it.

      "I do commend your earliness, all of you. It's a quality I admire. That said, you have all passed your first test." A few applicants gasped, chattering as Sam ushered them into the next room. It was large and empty, except for a table with a suitcase on it. The room was dull, posters washed of most color.

      "I'm a tad unconventional in my hiring strategies," Mr. Warden started, nabbing some papers from a shelf and shuffling through them. Tommy caught sight of the edge of one- an application. He was picking out which hadn't arrived early. "You'll laugh to know that I hired engineers based on how well they built a bridge out of popsicles."

      "We did that in my elementary class," Someone said from the side. Sam looked them up and down as though noting them in his mind. "Yes, it is one of those things. Also- it came with the added benefit of picking engineers who could humor ridiculous ideas." Sam 

     Tommy bit his tongue, waiting for instruction. He probably should've spoken up more, but he was afraid he would speak out instead. Sam put the papers aside and moved onto the briefcase. "We're going to start with balance. I want each of you to balance on one foot, holding one of those bats along the back. Hold them by the bottom, straight toward the ceiling, and please do so with one hand."

      Confusedly, Tommy obeyed. A few others asked questions about the how or whys, but Tommy gathered that Sam didn't like that by the way his eyes narrowed again.

      There were confusing tasks after this, as well. The balancing act wasn't too bad- only a fifth of them were sent home. The next part was lying to Sam Warden's face. The more believable the lie would be to a clueless moron, the better Mr. Warden's reaction. Tommy lied, with a completely straight face, and told him that the sky was red. It happened once a year. That way, it could rain and replenish blood all over the Earth. He had  no  clue how he didn't crack, but Tommy was glad he didn't.

      A larger portion got sent back after that one.

      There were a few easier tasks, like serving him without saying anything and cleaning a stain.

      In the end, Sam Warden faced the remaining group. He pointed to several people, waving them to step forward. "You, all of you- you're dismissed."

      "What?" One of them was red in the face. "Why?"

      "Don't worry about the why. You haven't got the job." As they left, Tommy observed each of them. They were the ones that had spoken up or asked questions. He let out a relieved breath, glad to have noticed Mr. Warden's behavior before he also spoke up.

     "Next- I need you all to sign an NDA." Mr. Warden gave each of the remaining applicants a few papers to sign. Tommy tried to read over it but gave up when he realized he didn't know what half of the descriptors meant. Tommy sighed and signed away, potentially giving his soul to a demon. He wasn't sure what he was signing an NDA for, but it wasn't like he'd tell anybody. Who was he going to tell? His  mom ?

      That's a little dead mom joke for all of you out there. Shout out to the dead moms.

      Mr. Warden took up the NDAs with a smile on his face. Finally, he revealed what was inside the briefcase. Twelve vials of cool, blue liquid were laid out for each applicant.

      "I haven't told any of you  exactly  was your new job entails. To put it simply, you are invisible attendants." Mr. Warden smirked to himself. "The distinguished guests aboard the first Cross-Atlantic-Train ride will be under the implied impression that things float due to magnetism and advanced intelligence. This is to enhance the feeling of advanced tech." He turned a vial over in his hand. "That's why I'm left with the quietist of you all. The balancing test was really to see how quiet you can be."

      Holding out his arms for them to grab a vial each, Mr. Warden smiled. "It's not designed to make you pass through other people, though, so you'll need to watch out. You'll be able to see-  very faintly-  your coworkers. This invisibility serum is still in the testing stage, so be careful and understand that you may feel strange after taking it."

       Tommy was the one in front. He stepped up and turned a vial over in his fingers. His only thought was,  'What's the  worst  that could happen? I die?'  Tommy gave a considering grunt, uncorked it, and threw it back like a shot.

      Before he swallowed, he saw Sam Warden's face- contorted in surprise. His eyes hadn't narrowed, unlike those he had sent home, so Tommy supposed it was a good thing.

     Other applicants also took vials and drank them. Tommy waited, feeling something shift slowly. His vision blurred for a moment, returning to him with brighter colors. He felt slightly nauseous, his eyes dancing around the posters on the walls. Colors that had been dull before popped.

      Tommy's awareness skyrocketed.

     Holding his hands out, his hand faded into a glimmer. He gaped, gasping and looking down at his legs. 

     "What the  fuck ?" 

     The thought was whispered. Still shocked, he looked up and around to the others. They all faded, and aside from a glossy color overlaying them like glass, he could see  through  them, clothes included.

      The most interesting part to him was the differing colors of each of them. He suppressed a laugh. Mr. Warden nodded approvingly as the invisibility disappeared. One after another (Tommy being first), the applicants became visible. He hummed. "Wonderful, wonderful... Well, I suppose- since none of you had a bad reaction- you're hired. You can come back and fill out the paperwork tomorrow morning. On Wednesday, you'll start living in the cabins." Mr. Warden paused, glancing over them again. "Actually, since you'll be paired with a cabin-mate, I'll pair you up now.  Before  I forget which of you will probably be best together."

      There was a minute of silence, the applicants remaining impossibly still under Mr. Warden's observation. "Attending to the first train cart, I'll put...  You ," His voice dropped as he pointed to Tommy, who stepped closer. "And  you . You two will attend to cart one, and you will stay in cabin three."

      Tommy looked to his right to see his new cabin mate. Immediately, he felt his face scrunch up in distaste. He hadn't noticed the applicant before, but he was unnecessarily tall.  Unreasonably  so. He's just...

       Too  tall.

      Mr. Warden ruffled through his papers. As he did so, the other applicant looked  down  at Tommy. They awkwardly waved, but Tommy gave no reaction, so they put their hand down.

       "Ranboo Beloved and Thomas Innes," Mr. Warden introduced them to one another. "Please do your best to  get along, " His voice cut in Tommy's direction, making the teen turn his head away from Ranboo. "This is a professional environment, after all."

      Tommy nodded stiffly. Mr. Warden dismissed them and moved on to assigning cart two. As they left, Ranboo cleared his throat, "Ehm- that was... That was  something , right?"

      Tommy raised a brow. "Yeah." He stopped in his tracks. "Do you live in Connecticut?"

      "Uh... Yeah, why?"

      "Do you know any cheap motels?"

      Ranboo blanked, awkwardly fixing the black mask on their face. "Not really? I've never had to think about it. Do you have a phone?" The question was meant to have an obvious answer, but Tommy shook his head no. "You  don't ?" Ranboo's jaw dropped. "Oh, uhm, let me use mine..."

      Ranboo found a nearby motel that went for fifty a night, a little reluctant to leave after. Tommy forcefully said goodbye, hating the pity Ranboo shot at him, and walked in the direction of the motel. The only person he needed comfort from was his mom, and it was a bit late for that. Tommy sighed to himself, already ready for Wednesday. 

[whats-wild-to-you]

Dr. Daredevil (Jay Park AU)

Lee Kangmin

I covered my ears when Chaeyeon squealed, cheerfully chewing on her steak. She reached out, pinching my cheek.

"I can't believe you're here!"

After only one interview, which lasted less than 30 minutes, I was hired.

I stared at Kim Donghyun incredulously. He didn't appear to be joking. I really got the job. Chaeyeon was the first to know, mainly because she was standing outside Director Kim's office, pacing up and down. She jumped in my arms, just like she had done earlier that morning when she greeted me at the door.

I had to admit, I had missed her. We had so much to catch up on.

"So, you're the infamous Lee Kangmin!"

Soojung, her best friend, had joined us for lunch. Apparently they were friends since med school, even though I couldn’t picture the person staring back at me go anywhere near blood. Chaeyeon insisted on taking us to a bistro across the street from the hospital.

I nodded timidly and stuffed my mouth with more steak. Soojung peeled her gaze off me and stared at Chaeyeon. Then her eyes rested on me again. To say that I felt uncomfortable would be an understatement. I felt like I was being interrogated.

"How long have you known each other?" Soojung asked me after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"Four years! Now eat your food!" Chaeyeon chimed in, making her friend scoff.

I winked at Chaeyeon, silently thanking her for stepping in.

Chaeyeon

I had no idea I would get a stomach ache when I suggested having lunch with my two best friends. Soojung was being weird from the moment she met Kangmin, as if he posed a threat to her. Every attempt to kick her leg under the table resulted in her asking Kangmin even more uncomfortable questions.

"I want you two to get along!" I said, while my gaze focused on Soojung.

But then something else caught my attention and from the corner of my eye I saw a familiar figure entering.

He must be a regular here...

For a moment I contemplated asking Kang Hyuntae to join us but I didn't trust Soojung to behave.

He sat down a few tables over, smiling at me. I acknowledged his presence with a nod.

"Who's that?" I heard Soojung whisper in my ear.

"No one."

"He's flirting with you!"

"No, he’s not!"

After we finished our food, I paid and dragged both Soojung and Kangmin out of the bistro. Looking back one last time, I saw Kang Hyuntae talking on the phone with somebody while he looked amusingly at me.

Jaebeom

I ran into Kim Donghyun in the hallway and immediately stopped him. We didn't see each other a lot these days. For the most part he let me be. Something I was very grateful for.

"I see you hired a new doctor?" I baited him, despite already knowing about the new hire.

"Yes. Dr. Baek recommended him and after I interviewed him I must say he's an excellent fit for our hospital."

I had run into him the day he came in for his interview. Hyuntae and I were going to get coffee when we saw Chaeyeon tiptoeing back and forth at the entrance. We stopped and stared at her for a while, until a man walked through the entrance and Chaeyeon met him halfway, jumping in his arms.

Are they dating?

Unlikely.

I immediately looked for Nurse Jung. She knew everything about everyone, the first thing she did when she started working here was to befriend Kim's secretary. Smart girl. Maybe she could tell me who the strange man was.

'Ah, the new doctor? He was Dr. Baek's colleague in Andong. The two of them worked really close together for four years.'

'Anything else?'

She had shook her head but promised to fill me in as soon as she found out more.

"He's really good. I want you to become his mentor, he could learn a lot from you!" Kim added, and I had to suppress a snort.

"Of course." I bowed and excused myself.

Lee Kangmin

I couldn't believe how much more eventful my life had become since I moved to Seoul although it had only been one week.

Every day I got to be in the OR, sometimes I would observe, other times I would operate myself. I was working with a different doctor every day and each one of them praised my abilities. I didn't get to see Chaeyeon a lot, nor did I see her name on the OR board.

I was already 16 hours into my shift when I saw her walk into the break room. Quickly I followed her.

"Hey! You're more elusive than Bigfoot! I came here thinking I would see you every day!" I pouted, plopping down on the couch next to her.

"Same goes for you, mister! But I'm glad you feel comfortable here."

She looked exhausted, but before I could ask her about her day, she beat me to it.

"I saw your name a lot on the OR board today, Dr. Lee!"

"And I didn't see yours anywhere near it! What's going on?"

"Not here!" She whispered when she saw the door spring open.

I recognized the two doctors immediately. Ahn So Hee and Yoon Ahnjong. Both had welcomed me warmly, giving me lots of valuable tips on the way.

"Has anyone of you seen Dr. Park?"

I watched as Chaeyeon shook her head disparagingly. I had only heard of Dr. Park, but I hadn't met him yet. Both, Director Kim and my attending, Dr. Song, sang high praises of him and promised me I would become an excellent surgeon if I stuck to him.

"Oh, well, carry on then."

They disappeared, and Chaeyeon's expression had turned dark and moody when I turned to look at her.

"Wow! That Dr. Park must be really busy."

"Don't get your hopes up. He banned me from his OR. I guess he'll do the same to you!"

I had so many questions, but Chaeyeon got up and walked away without another look.

Chaeyeon

"Get me a spot in Dr. Park's OR."

I had tracked down Kang Hyuntae and dragged him inside a storage room where we could talk freely.

"Dr. Bae-"

"It's Chaeyeon. And no! You listen to me. I'm a good surgeon. I came here to improve, not let my talent go to waste! Dr. Song can't help me either as he gave Dr. Park full control of his service. I need to be in one of his surgeries. I don't need to be cutting anything, I just need to be there!"

I had understood pretty early on that if you wanted to be respected and admired by the doctors working at SNUH, you had to be on Park Jaebeom's good side. I could be saving the lives of one patient after the other, it meant nothing if I didn't have Dr. Park's recognition.

I was sure Kang Hyuntae knew this too.

"It's not that easy."

"Then tell me what I have to do to get on his good side."

"Let me talk to him. I'll persuade him, but it won't happen overnight. You have to give me some time."

Frustrated, I raised my arms, taking a step back. Kang Hyuntae sighed before he smiled at me faintly and slowly walked out of the room.

Kang Hyuntae

Thank God my shift ended early. I didn't want to drag this out any longer. There was only one person who could make Jaebeom change his mind about Baek Chaeyeon.

As I sat across the table from Jaebeom's grandfather, I could feel my heartbeat getting stuck in my throat. I had only met him a couple times and the last time I did had been years ago.

"... if Jaebeom keeps her away from his OR, she'll know something's wrong!"

"Do you trust her to keep his secret? You said yourself you don't know her that well!"

"I don't, but I'd like to think I'm a good judge of character."

"That's not enough!"

I knew exactly what the chairman was alluding to. He wanted a scapegoat. Someone who would take the fall if things went south.

Was I really considering risking my career for someone I barely knew?

"I'm vouching for her, uijangnim."

"Will you also take responsibility if any problems arise?"

There it was!

"Yes, sir!"

That's all he wanted to hear. That his precious grandson’s reputation would remain unharmed.

"Fine, then. I will run a background check on her and let Jaebeom know."

I bowed my head and exited the chairman's ridiculously expensive mansion. Somehow it felt as if I just made a deal with the devil. I needed a drink ASAP.

Jaebeom

I tried to reach Kang Hyuntae, to inform him of some changes in my OR schedule, but he must've turned his phone off.

The next morning I was summoned to my grandfather's mansion. I told him I needed to get to work but the old man was adamant that I had to see him first.

"What is it?" I cried out as soon as I entered his study.

"Let Dr. Baek into your OR."

I was having trouble breathing. The feeling was all too familiar.

A panic attack.

Did he even know what he was asking of me?

"Kang Hyuntae came by last night. He's going to take full responsibility if something goes wrong."

"I- Harabeoji!"

"Don't bother protesting. It's a done deal. If you keep Dr. Baek away from your OR any longer she's going to know something's wrong!"

I nodded demoted and left right away. In the car I tried to call Kang Hyuntae again. I was mad at him. But the confrontation would have to wait. We needed to align our stories before allowing Dr. Baek in our team.

Nurses Jung and Choi were already waiting for me in my office. It was a small but impressive room away from the bustle on the east wing of the hospital. Director Kim insisted on giving it to me, under the condition that I would keep it hidden from other residents. No one needed to know I was getting special treatment. I never used it anyway, it was more of a storage room than anything else. Only Nurses Jung and Choi and Kang Hyuntae knew this room even existed.

"What's the matter? Why did you call us here?" Nurse Jung demanded as I stepped foot into the room. She had informed me of my changed schedule late last night.

I wanted to tell her to be patient, that we needed to wait for Dr. Kang, but the second I opened my mouth he walked through the door.

"I guess you talked to the chairman."

I averted my gaze from him, taking a deep breath before I spoke. "Nurse Jung, please add Dr. Baek's name in one of my upcoming surgeries. Nothing difficult or life-threatening."

I waited for her response but she looked like she misheard me.

"Nurse Jung! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Doctor." She finally said, but I could still hear the surprise in her tone.

"You all know what you have to do!"

I locked eyes with everyone and held their gaze before moving on to the next person.

"Alright. You may go now!"

Chaeyeon

I didn't believe my eyes when I checked the OR board a few days after I had talked to Kang Hyuntae. I remembered clearly him telling me that it would take a while before he would be able to convince Jaebeom. I didn't expect it to only take days.

"Congratulations!" I whirled around, looking in the eyes of Ahn So Hee.

She was surprised, impressed, and dare I say, a little jealous too.

"I've been trying for a while now to get in one of his surgeries."

"I'll be probably just observing. I was being a pain in the ass to Dr. Song lately, and I guess he went and complained to Dr. Park."

My lie couldn't have been further from the truth. But I was uncomfortable sharing that I had approached Dr. Kang, asking for a favor. Several colleagues had seen us when we had lunch the other day and I was afraid some might start crazy rumors about the two of us secretly dating.

"Well, it doesn't really matter how you got in. What matters is that you got in."

I wanted to say something but Ahn So Hee had disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared.

I couldn't afford to lose her as an ally and made a mental note to look for her after the surgery.

After all, it was a simple one. But that was beside the point. All I really wanted to see was Park Jaebeom operate.

Nurse Choi walked past me to take the patient to the OR and prep him for surgery.

I was the last one to enter the OR. Kang Hyuntae nodded when he saw me but Park Jaebeom didn't pay me any attention. I expected nothing else from him.

Intimidated, I stood off to the side, only having partial view of the patient.

Dr. Park made four small incisions in the patient's abdomen for a laparoscopic gallbladder removal and proceeded to insert a tube with a tiny video camera and the surgical tools inside those incisions. I noticed that Nurse Jung stuck to Park Jaebeom like glue, while Kang Hyuntae was standing on the other side. It seemed weird to me that they needed two doctors and two nurses for a routine gallbladder removal.

Dr. Park clipped off the gallbladder in record time and proceeded to remove it when bile leaked out, obstructing his ability to see.

"Crap! We have to open him up!"

Under these circumstances it was impossible to finish the surgery without risk of further injuring other organs.

Dr. Park asked for a scalpel and hovered over the patient's exposed abdomen while Nurse Choi sterilized the field. I noticed that his hand was trembling.

I looked over to Kang Hyuntae who stood there with furrowed eyebrows, looking ready to pounce on Jaebeom at any given moment.

What the hell? It's not even that dire!

I caught Nurse Jung whisper something to Jaebeom and he began making a 6-inch incision below the patient's ribs. He pulled back the muscles and tissue and revealed the liver and gallbladder.

All that needed to be done now was for him to clip the bile duct and perform an endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography but Jaebeom's hand was frozen mid-air.

What's the hold-up?, I wanted to scream but then Dr. Kang leaped forward and took the scalpel from Jaebeom.

"Stand back!" He snapped at Jaebeom and swiftly repaired the damage.

My head was buzzing. This was an easy procedure. Textbook. How could Jaebeom mess it up?

Nurse Jung left, and Nurse Choi assisted Dr. Kang while Jaebeom looked on from a distance. Eventually he left too.

After Dr. Kang sutured the patient and exited the OR, I pulled him to the side, demanding answers.

"What the fuck was that?"

"Shh. Not here!"

He grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the elevators. We got out and walked down a corridor, stopping in front of a closed door. I could hear loud noises coming from the other side.

I saw Park Jaebeom and Nurse Jung arguing as soon as I went in after Kang Hyuntae.

I wasn’t used to this. The secrecy. Everybody was staring at me, then they turned to look at Park Jaebeom.

“It’s been a while since Dr. Park did a gallbladder removal. I took over because I wanted to get it done quickly.”

I nodded cautiously at Kang Hyuntae’s explanation but it wasn’t very convincing.

When I thought back to the look on Jaebeom’s face, all I could see was panic. His hand froze over the patient like he actually didn’t know what came next.

“I see. If that’s all, I’d like to go now.”

No one tried to stop me. While walking towards the elevators I couldn’t get Kang Hyuntae’s picture out of my head. The way he had yelled at Jaebeom to stand back. The sheer agony in his voice, as if Jaebeom could accidentally kill the patient.

There was definitely more to this story.

-> next chapter

[batslime]

How was Till irl? Was he a good kisser (Don't answer this if it's uncomfortable lol). I am hoping I could meet him as well <3

First thing he did when he walked in the room after we were all there was sit on a couch and ask who wanted a drink lol

He was very hospitable but still in a partying mood/ set boundaries- very early a girl took her phone out for something and he got a little upset thinking she was taking pictures so we all put our phones outside but it didnt sour the mood at all (I was surprised when they didn’t ask us for them at first tbh) he was throwing glasses and flipping tables and stuff (i think he was showing off fjdnfjdn) but made sure nobody was in the way and would stop dead in the tracks to playfully shoo somebody, at one point all the water bottles had wither been drunk or gone flying so I started drinking from an ice bucket and he spotted me when he ran out of glasses and smirked at me and made this “give it here” gesture and threw that too fjdnfj

He danced a bit with some of the girls and had some of them put on music and yelled “this is teenager shit!” when somebody played Don’t Stop Believin and chatted with the multilingual people in other languages which I loved even if I couldn’t understand most of it lol. It was pretty loose and relaxed, he was very hospitable without being really formal about it, and I really enjoyed meeting the ladies back there too (there were a few times he had to leave the room briefly and I think me showing my new nipple piercings to the girls was the raunchiest it ever got hfhdj)

It def was nowhere near as crazy as I think ppl may assume, one of the ladies even asked if she could light a joint and the staff said no lmao. The smooches were nothing big, I think more of that kinda of old fashioned European expression than anything bc he also kissed Paul gn when he came in and kissed us all who were left goodbye at the end of the night, just a little peck. I don’t even like kissing. But yes I loved it and desperately pine for more I felt DRUNK on the first one esp since he just kinda did it out of nowhere in front of everyone else and hadn’t done smt like that before fjdnjf

It was a lot of fun! I don’t follow Rammstein like I did in high school anymore but I’ve seen some pretty recent instances of women he’s been in relationships with before say he’s one of the most polite and kind people they know, he just also gets really Sillay and likes bar fights and eating glass and will break people’s noses if they disrespect his friends. I think I heard Paul say once he loves women and women love him. Def got all that from him, he was rly funny and seems rly intelligent too, and did his best to make sure everyone was having a good but safe time (we got escorted out of the venue at the end of the night since we’d all been drinking). I’d love another opportunity to spend time with him again. I’d love a quieter more one on one chance to ask like what kind of music he likes, what he likes to hunt and fish, if he likes mushroom hunting. That’s kinda more of a fantasy tho ig and I def can’t be disappointed in what I got, best night of my life, def sets a high bar for if I ever get to see them live again lol

[lostandfoundbook]

Chapter 25

Read it on AO3

Read it on Wattpad

When Alexandria woke up, she noticed she was alone. The light casting through the windows was minimal as the sun hadn't reached it's peak yet, and most of the buildings blocked it's view from entering the massive hotel. She ran her hand through her hand and attempted to detangle it as best she could before standing up and taking her IV all the way across the room.

She made her way into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror. She had made it a habit of doing this, and the vanity in her bedroom wouldn't do her justice. She needed a full body view of what was happening. She had been getting better meals since she got transferred, and she noticed her curves were slowly being withered away at.

She needed to work out once she got out of this hospital bed. She found the hairbrush on the counter next to the sink and ran it through whatever knots were leftover in her hair from her finger-brushing earlier. It 'clunked' and ripped as she tugged away at her hair, disregarding any notion that she was supposed to be delicate in this situation. 

A couple thoughts ran through her head as she did this. One, was she going to be able to get back into performing soon? That was always where her brain went after a long haul of resting. She had all this energy brimming at her finger tips and nothing to do with it, and it just wanted to be free. She needed to release it into the world somehow, however it's possible. 

She let the air in her lungs rush past her lips as a sigh escaped. She looked tired still, but the bruising around her face was doing much better today. The previous color of amber and Arabian gold bruising had slowly turned into the light colors of brown and squash orange with the tiniest hints of yellow spanning across the bridge of her nose and under her eyes. 

She rubbed her hand across her bandage on her chest and wondered when she would get her stitches removed. In a week? A couple months? How long was she to be confined to one locations? Restricted to specific movements? How long would she be a prisoner in her own body with her mind bursting full of potential? She didn't have an answer to any of these, and it stressed her out.

She cranked her neck side to side in an attempt to crack her neck. Her entire body felt stiff, and she could really use a massage. It sounded like somebody placed rocks in her shoulders as she stretched them out and wriggled underneath herself to get the pressure to release. She eventually stopped and made her way back into the bedroom. 

Not much happened in her day to day life. She woke up; got dressed; brushed her teeth and hair; washed her face; do make up depending on the day; took her medicine; did PT; got back in bed; watched TV all day; wrote in her journal; wrote poetry; and so many other things to pass the time. There was nothing to do all day, but at least she was free from the re-runs from the hospital channels. 

A knock was placed on her door and her head tilted up as Avery made her way into the room. "Hey, girl! How have you been doing since we last talked?" her voice was smooth and welcoming, like it beckoned Alex to come closer and listen. She thought about the last conversation they had, and how emotionally charged it was. 

Alex let a smile draw across her face. "I'm doing better, now. Thank you for talking with me. I really appreciate you being there." Avery shut the door behind her as she stepped inside and made her way across the distance to sit at the stool at the end of Alex's bed. "Of course! I'll always be there for you. I want you to know that people are always looking out for you. Literally. We've had security upped massively since the attack."

Alex's lips formed a line. She didn't like the idea of Oliver expending anymore resources on her than necessary, and upping security sounded... unnecessary. Everette was in custody. He couldn't hurt her anymore. Who else was Oliver worried about? "Well, I don't know if I really need that, you know what I mean?" 

Avery paused. "There was no one downstairs, Alex. They were all busy. I don't even know what they were doing. I don't know why they weren't at the front door. A lot of people got fired, and we're training a lot of new people. I do think its needed." She had a look of seriousness washed over her face. Alex nodded as she spoke. "I know. I was there."

The ginger girl stiffened at Alex's reply. "I'm sorry.. I didn't mean it like that.." a look of regret was pasted onto her face, and it made Alex cringe. "I know, I'm sorry. I just mean... I get it. I just think it's going to restrict me a lot." Alex tore away at her cuticles as she talked. She really needed a mani-pedi, pronto. "I don't like the idea of being controlled all the time." she finished and looked at her bedsheets. 

They were a tan-ish white color, and for some reason, she was really interested in them. It was all she could do to not focus on the conversation at hand. It felt too heavy, too serious, and something like she really had to commit her words towards. She wasn't ready for that. 

"I get that, love. But it's for everyone's safety, not just yours. It also helps the patrons here, as well as the guests showing up to the event next week." Avery spoke. She was wearing a white button up shirt with two of the top buttons undone. Comfortable, but still classy. On her legs she dawned a black pencil skirt with a pair of black square heel shoes. She looked pretty.

Her pair was pulled into a bun, and she had two strands of hair falling out, framing her face. She also wore a pair of glasses, likely for reading, because she didn't wear them often. She must have been busy working before this. 

Alex get excited at the words spoken to her, however. "What kind of event if Oliver putting on? Am I allowed to go?" Her barrage of questions was met with a smile across the ginger girls face. "Of course you can go. You'll probably be off your IV by then." Her voice was still filled with sugar and sweets, and it made Alex feel like she could really connect with her. "I will?" The blonde questioned out.

"Yes. They're talking about getting it out this week, so you should be fine to go a red carpet next week if you want. You can stay in the background and avoid questions, or you could use it as your time to take control of the narrative like you've been talking about. Whichever is easiest for you." 

Alex let the thought settle in her stomach. She would be off of the morphine in a week, and will likely be placed on ibuprofen after that. She knew it would be a big adjustment with her injury and with her process of getting sober, but it's something she had to do if she wanted to get back to normal. 

And, dear god, did she want to get back to normal. It was like a fire was lit within her lungs and she couldn't breath properly. She felt constrained in shackles and every time she tried to run or scream out, nothing happened. Her legs were made of jelly and her voice was stolen away. She was stuck, and she knew she was. She was a rabid animal pacing her cage back and forth daily, plotting her inevitable escape, and her escape would be this event.

"I'm definitely going, there's no question about that. The real question would be how long I stay for. It's going to be my first time getting out of this room and I want it to be a big deal!" Alex felt the words fall out of her mouth as if they weren't her own. She hadn't meant to be that honest about feeling trapped, but she didn't care. Maybe if other people picked up on it, they'd save her from this mess she was in.

Avery didn't even address her statement. "Listen, Al, It's going to be great. It's promoting 'Big Feelings' and Oliver has taken a bunch of submissions and ideas for this play that were submitted by the actors. It's really special and I think it's going to be a hit. Oliver doesn't necessarily agree, but..."

She was excited at the thought. Alex hadn't gotten the chance to just sit down and watch a good musical in a long time. She had been so busy with her album, theatre, and with Everette-- she never had the time to stop and smell the roses. She felt her muscles relax as she melted into the bed. "Yeah. I'm really glad I get to see this one live. Oliver is going to Benji's musical tomorrow and he's gonna FaceTime me, so I wont be missing everything."

Avery seemed to perk up at her comment, placing both on her hands on the bed. "That's really nice of him! You know, he doesn't like it when record performances, so this is a really big deal for him! I think it's really cute."

Cute? Had other people caught on to the little fling happening between them? "Yeah! I thought so, as well." Alex replied. She felt like she could trust Avery with her thoughts, like if she divulged them, they'd stay here in this room. It felt safe between the two. "I really like him, you know?" Alex added on and looked up towards the ceiling. 

It was still early in the morning, and the sun was making its way into her bedroom by this point. It's golden hues bathed over the room and left a yellow glow over everything. It felt magical, like the moment was picked out of her childhood and replayed over again. Something about the way Avery's face twisted into a grin made her own stomach flip into butterflies.

"He talks a lot about you.. like, a lot. I think he likes you, too."

The rest of the day seemed to fly past quickly as 8am slowly turned into 9am, and then 10am. The golden glow of the room seemed to even out into the regular daily lighting of the sun, and Alex could see as it twinkles through her windows. Avery made her way out of the room around 9:30, and Alex was left to her lonesome again. Currently she was doing PT.

She had gotten better at it. She'd gotten into a groove of her reps, the pace-walk-pace-squat method she had figured out to get herself back into working order. It was basically everything she had been taught during PT, she just combined it all together, but she was getting bored. There was only so many reps you can do before you get worn out.

She made her way back over to her bed and sat her IV bag next to it before flopping face first into the bedsheets and pillows. It was an attack of velvet and fleece, and she could feel the comfort envelope her as she relaxed into it. She turned over to face the ceiling, and stared out, lost in thought. What was she supposed to be doing? Just sitting here all day? For weeks?

It was torture. It made her want to claw her skin away from her body to try to find release. It was like something was trapped inside of her, and the only way to get it out was by kicking, screaming, and biting her way through. It felt desperate and needy, and the only thing she could think to do to subside it was weed.

But currently, she was on a break, she told herself. It wasn't good for her lungs. It made her paranoid, and she dissociated when she smoked. These were all the reasons she told herself she didn't need it. She'd never admit to herself that the real reason was because of Everette. Mentally, she tied it to him, and it grasped onto her body like a clingy child. 

She fought hard to suppress the memories of all the times he had gotten her hook on something new. Something foreign to her, but she trusted him. She shouldn't have trusted him. She knew it was all one big mistake, and she wanted to do anything she could to correct it. She fought internally with herself about it.

Weed, good. Weed, bad. Weed, good? Weed, Bad? What's happening in her brain. It fluttered back and forth as she argued, eventually stopping the turmoil by slapping her hands against the bed and sitting up straight. She wanted to do something. Anything. She sought purchase across the bedsheets as she scrambled her hands across the bed and found the laptops plastic cover beneath her fingertips. 

She slid the screen open and scrolled around through her social media before getting back on track and pulling up her voice notes. She wanted to practice something, and get it out of her head before it disappeared. She hit record on the voice notes and started doing a couple scales before finally moving onto the verse in her head.

'Calling them incompetent 'cause I might need control, Recovering perfectionist, I'm learning to let go'

She could imagine the growl in the background behind her voice as she said it. It's how she felt. Releasing control to the universe and letting it to whatever it does. It felt extremely restless, and a real hair pulling process. Every piece of her screamed that it was wrong, she was supposed to be the one who was supreme control over her life.

But currently, she had to let that go. She couldn't control a stab wound and she couldn't control Everette. The only person she can control is herself, and it was one of the hardest things she had to do. To try to accept what happened to her, and move on from it. It felt impossible. It was a constant living nightmare that she couldn't wake up from no matter how hard she tried. 

She recorded a few more words that popped into her head before she stopped recording and pulled the laptop closer to her lap. She pulled up her notes on her iCloud and started to write out some of what she was thinking. She wanted to make some sort of a post on social media, and add a vague reference to the song. 

She knew she would write it. She'd jot it down slowly over the course of a week before she'll have people haul the musical equipment into her room so she can perfect it. She could imagine this song sung over a guitar, with a nice alt beat to her. Something in her had changed recently, and maybe it was just the life altering event she went through, but she felt like she was truly in a new era.

That was why it felt so crushing that she couldn't do anything with it. She couldn't record any visualizers or music videos, and she couldn't do any big red carpet events for it. All the things she had planned previous were taken away, and left before her was nothing, and copious amounts of time to think. 

Thinking about her life, thinking about her past, and thinking about her future. It was her future that scared her the most. She didn't normally stop to think about what was happening next, but after what happened, she found that she couldn't live in the moment anymore. Another thing stolen from her. 

She was stuck thinking about what will be, not what could have been. She didn't care what could have been. Alex almost died. She did die, she told herself. She didn't have time to sit there wondering about all the missed opportunities anymore, and she couldn't focus on the mistakes she made. It felt like they were all so small in comparison to everything else that could one day happen. 

The media events, and press releases. The red carpets, and gala's. The parties, and the people she'd go with. The music she would one day release, and the art that would one day follow it. The relationships she will form with people, and the distances she will go. That's where her mind laid. It rested in the future, in what could one day be a reality if she just tried hard enough. 

She'd have many appointments in the future, and she knew that limited her to the hotel in some sense. She'd always have to stay home for a certain period of time, likely a few months. It'd be two more week of stitches until they get removed, and then Alex wouldn't be limited in her range of motion. She'd still have to be careful, but nothing was stopping her. In one week, she'd be off of the drugs. She could well and truly get clean.

As she was thinking about this, she saw the lights under her doors get darker as if someone were standing here, and then a knock was placed at the door. It's something she never really thought about before, somebody knocking at her door, but currently it filled her with copious amounts of joy. There was nothing stopping her from interacting with people the way she craved. 

Oliver slowly made his way into the room holding a couple of books in one arm, and a plate of food in his other hand. "I brought you stuff" he said out as he meandered over to the couch, sitting down. "Wow, thanks." Alex replied, standing up from her position in the bed. She swung her legs over the soft plush blankets and pushed herself to stand. 

She grabbed ahold of her IV cart and dragged it along with her. "You got me books? I've got a lot of books upstairs." She said out as she approached the man and sat down. He shook his head in amusement before handing her the plate of food. "Eat" 

His eyes had more of a spark to them today. They looked more lively, and less depressed. He seemed happy. The bags under his eyes had worn away from sleep and he was dawned in his usual white button up shirt and tie, with a pair of black pants. Alex took the plate from him and eyed it up. "It's a sandwich. You like sandwiches. Eat it."

She raised an eyebrow at him before taking a bite. It was turkey and swiss with lettuce, and the crust had been removed. It was a simple act of kindness that Alex appreciated. It tasted good and she could feel the leafy greens turning to energy as she swallowed. "There. Happy?"

He nodded in return. "Yes. Now look at these books. They're by a writer I really enjoy and I figured you haven't read any of the ones up there, so they must really suck." He had a sense of joy in his voice as he spoke out, displaying the different book covers as he did so. "That aren't bad, they're just autobiographies and that isn't really my style. I like something with substance." 

Oliver lifted a blue book with yellow wording across it. It said 'When The Days Meet The Night' and it had an author on the title that she didn't recognize. "This one has substance. I mean, they all do, but this ones really lore heavy. You would probably like it." He handed it over to the girl before picking up a different book. "This one is a romance genre which isn't really my taste, but Waverly used to love them"

This was the first time Oliver had mentioned his fiancée to Alex since they had been out to dinner that one night. She grabbed the book and analyzed the cover of it. It was a cartoon art style with two people on the front. There were lines dotted all around them, reminiscent of string theory. She held the book between her hands firmly.

"I'll read them" Alex said out, meeting Oliver's eyes as she did so. It was a passionate moment between the two, and she could feel it in the air. It felt sweet and sugary, but different from the way it is with Avery. It was more carefree and effortless, like there was no question about it. It was beautiful to Alex, and she savored every moment. "Good" Oliver replied. "They're good books."

Alex let the silence fall between the two for a moment. She loved whenever this happened. It was a space for her and Oliver to just exist with each other in peace, with no interruptions coming their way. Nobody broke the silence this time, just a soft gaze between the two. It lasted for minutes before one of them looked away, but Alex couldn't tell who because she was busy lost in her thought.

Oliver was so willing to share a piece of his love life with her, so openly. It made her heart swell and she could feel a tingling in her stomach. The way he's willing to be open about Waverly was sweet, and he didn't have to do that. He could've shut Alex down that night, but he didn't. He also could've shut her down in the hospital, but she didn't. Alex thought it meant something.

There was a small piece of herself that told her that she couldn't allow herself to get close to him, but all the other pieces of her screamed for him. To hold him close, and inhale his scent. Be near him as much as possible. Alex wanted to be in his life, and she didn't know if he felt the same way.

[lindajenni]

sep 8

familiar friday - letter to mum (a repeat daily)

sally jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room. she said: "How is my little boy? is he going to be all right? when can i see him?"

the surgeon said, "i'm sorry. we did all we could, but your boy didn't make it."

sally said, "why do little children get cancer? doesn't God care anymore? where were you, God, when my son needed you?"

the surgeon asked, "would you like some time alone with your son? one of the nurses will be out in a few minutes before he's transported to the university."

sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said good-bye to her son. she ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair. "would you like a lock of his hair?" the nurse asked. sally nodded yes. the nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put it in a plastic bag and handed it to sally. the mother said, "it was jimmy's idea to donate his body to the university for study. he said it might help somebody else. "i said no at first, but Jimmy said, 'mom, i won't be using it after i die. maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his Mom." she went on, "my jimmy had a heart of gold. always thinking of someone else. always wanting to help others if he could.

sally walked out of children's mercy hospital for the last time, after spending most of the last six months there. she put the bag with jimmy's belongings on the seat beside her in the car. the drive home was difficult. it was even harder to enter the empty house. she carried jimmy's belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his hair to her son's room. she started placing the model cars and other personal things back in his room exactly where he had always kept them. she laid down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to sleep.

it was around midnight when sally awoke. laying beside her on the bed was a folded letter. the letter said:

dear mom, i know you're going to miss me; but don't think that i will ever forget you, or stop loving you, just 'cause i'm not around to say love you. i will always love you, mom, even more with each day. someday we will see each other again. until then, if you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay with me. he can have my room and old stuff to play with. but, if you decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things us boys do. you'll have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like, you know.

don't be sad thinking about me. this really is a neat place. grandma and grandpa met me as soon as i got here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see everything. the angels are so cool. i love to watch them fly. and, you know what? Jesus doesn't look like any of His pictures. yet, when i saw Him, i knew it was Him.

Jesus Himself took me to see God! and guess what, mom? i got to sit on God's knee and talk to Him, like i was somebody important! that's when i told Him that i wanted to write you a letter, to tell you good-bye and everything. but i already knew that wasn't allowed. well, you know what mom? God handed me some paper and His own personal pen to write you this letter. i think gabriel is the name of the angel who is going to drop this letter off to you. God said for me to give you the answer to one of the questions you asked Him 'where was He when i needed him?' "God said He was in the same place with me, as when His son Jesus was on the cross. He was right there, as He always is with all His children.

oh, by the way, mom, no one else can see what i've written except you. to everyone else, this is just a blank piece of paper. isn't that cool? i have to give God His pen back now. He needs it to write some more names in the book of life. tonight i get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper. i'm, sure the food will be great. oh, i almost forgot to tell you. i don't hurt anymore. the cancer is all gone. i'm glad because i couldn't stand that pain anymore and God couldn't stand to see me hurt so much, either. that's when He sent the angel of mercy to come get me. the Angel said i was a special delivery! how about that?

signed with love from: God, Jesus & me.

author unknown

you know, God is so much more than we think Him to be. more than our understanding can understand. and so we imagine little stories that we think can begin to express the love, compassion and mercy He feels for us. but we cannot even begin to scratch the surface of His goodness. He was gracious enough to let His goodness pass before moses in exodus 33. that was as much of His glory as moses could handle and still live. even the seraphim had extra wings to hide their face from His glory in isa 6:2.

i don't know all the if's, and's and but's of why things happen. is it the enemies' work or God's mercy? i only know, "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. " james 1:17 but why in the life of some and not in other's? why did my older brother die at a young age while i survived much longer than i deserved? why will some live to see rapture and others not?

we must always strive against the devil and his works, but we must always trust we are in the Father's hand "and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand." john 10:29 the only question for us is: "do you believe that I am able to do this?" matt 9:28

righteousness, holiness - they just keep going over and over in my spirit. i know what we all deserve and that "all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags". isa 64:6 and yet still He urges us to seek His face - a face no man can see and live. "what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" psa 8:4 we are His children … God breathed His breath into us. that makes us special. He has made us special again in His gift of Jesus. He loves us that much. how much do we love Him, i ask? not nearly enough! MARANATHA!

[sierrablogtrp]

CHAPTER 5: A VERY MAGICAL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (1/6/23)

(DISCLAIMER: Some or all of the events detailed below may be falsified, fantasized, fictional, or just straight up untrue)

So today was a lot of fun as usual, plenty of really great experiences!!!!!! Let me tell you about it!!!!!! Firts, Gjeric and I went to the hospital, somehow we both had regular checkups due at the same time. While we were there, we met an off-duty doctor who was also waiting to get seen. We started talking, and she saw my spiky shoes and said that they would be great for climbing a mountain!!! I said I will remember that for when me and Brian eventually climb a mountain together!!!!

So then, we got ahold of some nuggies, me and Gjeric, but we didn't know where to get rolling papers!!!! So I was calling a few people I know, and GUESS WHO PICKED UP THE PHONE??!???1!??!? IT WAS MY VERY FIRST FRIEND I EVER MADE IN THE CITY, RICO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I asked him to show me where to get rolling papers, and he said OK!!!!!!!!!!! So he came to the store where me and Gjeric were hanging out, and weirdly, he had 3 other people with him!!!!! Super weird!!!! THEY WERE DRESSED IN ALL BLACK FROM HEAD TO TOE!!!!!!!!!! AND I COULDN'T EVEN TELL WHO WAS WHO BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL WAERING MASKS OVER THEIR FACES!!!!!!!!!!!!! So they made me get in the trunk, and for some reason didn't want Gjeric to come with us, so he stayed behind. So they took my phone from me for some reason, and then they took me to some store by the beach, I couldn't see where it was on the GPS since one of them had my phone, but it was near some pretty noticable buildings so that's ok (the most noticeable being a large blue building). Then, we were about to leave, but one of the group saw that somebody had posted a PICTURE OF US ON TWITTER!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we went to talk to him, and he was a really nice guy named Hugh Mann. When I got my phone back, I contacted him on twitter and asked for his phone number. (post-posting edit: sadly, I didn't know it then, but that was the last time I would see Rico for a very long time. He and his buddies moved to another city. But, I will always remember the friendship that Rico gave me, and the really great advice that his friend with the sexy-deep voice gave me.)

So after Rico and his friends dropped me back off, Gjeric and I robbed a store, this time dressed in matching outfits. I could have sworn that I put some money from the safe in my pocket, so we went on a really long police chase, and at some point I jumped out of the car and started running. I tried to hide in a bush, but I think the cop knew where I was. She started performing a witchcraft ritual called the wiggly worm song, which is where someone crawls on their belly like a worm, and sings a song about how they are a worm, and if performed correctly, everyone who witnessed the ritual will think that the witch is actually a cute little worm. Luckily for me, I read about this spell in a blog called "10 Crazy Witchcraft Rituals and Spells That I Bet You've Never Heard Of". So, I ran away and hid in a different bush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I don't think she saw me!!!!!!!!! But she had to pee really bad, and for some reason this officer chose THE EXACT BUSH I WAS HIDING IN TO PEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE PISSED RIGHT ON MY FACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE WAS TRYING TO POOP TOO, BUT SHE FORGOT THE POOP SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO THEN SHE LEFT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily for me, this isn't the first time I've been pissed on, so I was able to keep my composure and stay very silent and still until she left. BUT IT WAS STILL REALLY GROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE, I REACHED INTO MY POCKET AND REALIZED THAT IT WAS EMPTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I THOUGHT I GRABBED SOMETHING FROM THE SAFE, BUT I GUESS I DIDN'T AFTER ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO I GOT PISSED ON AND GJERIC GOT ARRESTED FOR NO REASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After Gjeric got out of jail, we decided to roll the joints and sell some of the weed we got. So, we started selling, and for some reason the locals were feeling really violent today, we almost died, but then we didn't. Then the cops showed up, and Gjeric told me to perform my disppearing act again, so I hid in a bush again, and ONCE AGAIN GJERIC GOT ARRESSTED AND I DIDN'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After that, Gjeric got tired and went to bed, so I called a friend of mine who I met at the prison parking lot. His name is Cricket. He told me to meet him at the mech hub, so we met up, I got to meet some of his crazy friends, though I don't remember any of their names, and then we made a plan for robbing a bank!!!!!!!! It was decicded that I would be a plunderer, which means that after the others do the hacking and drilling, I grab the money and run. It was so scary, and I was nervous, and the whole operation felt like it was taking a MILLION YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So once we got in the car, we were driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and driving and then the car crashed so we had to get out and run!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I tried to hide in a bush for the third time today, but the cop saw me jump in there, so I sadly got arrested with all of the money. BUT IT WAS REALLY FUN AT LEAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all for today!!!! If you enjoyed the chapter, be sure to like, follow, subscribe, comment, follow, subscribe, send me some fan mail, like, and follow.

((OOC Author's note: thanks for reading! To watch more crazy events like this unfold LIVE, follow me on twitch! https://www.twitch.tv/blayr2016 ))

[darcyxpalmer]

"Well, that's unfortunately, but hopefully it'll pass sooner rather than later. And I'm going to be honest, it gives me a lot of comfort, knowing she is here. Knowing that there is a doctor among all of us. Hopefully if anything is thrown at us, she can handle it." Of course, Akhila wouldn't be able to make miracles, but in Darcy's mind, she already filed the woman away as being able to help with practically anything.

"I ran into her back on the ship, we helped this woman who was stuck on a ledge on the side of the ship - fractured or broken her ankle, it was not something I thought I would do, if I'm being honest. Then again, none of us actually thought we'd be here."

Darcy tilted her head as she momentarily looked up at Elijah. "You'll live, I've demanded much harder things from you before," she couldn't help the words, the teasing in her tone. It came almost instinctively, just like the way the two of them moved in the kitchen - unfamiliar place, familiar dance between the two of them, even if their time together was brief.

Darcy felt comfortable around the island already, her belief that she knew what was happening made things so much easier and better for her than it was for probably most other people, still, having Elijah there, somebody she knew in the simulation, gave her a kind of comfort she didn't know she needed, and yet she welcomed it anyway.

And when he started telling her where he's been, she forgot about the tea, forgot about everything else for a few moments and just listened. Elijah talked so warmly, so casually about his life, it was a joy to listen to - and yet, even if it was all in the simulation, Darcy felt ting of 'wish it could have been me' that sometimes hit her in the past, too. Wish she could just pick up and go wherever she wanted to, whatever she got into her mind. "Your life still fascinates me and I would love to know every little detail, every sunrise and sunset. But I'll start with this - what was your favorite out of everything you saw after you left my town?" A small little town "hidden" in the middle of nowhere, sometimes Darcy wondered just how Elijah even ended up in her town, in her life, even if momentarily.

She pushed herself up onto the counter while the water was boiling. "My life before all of this has been a lot more boring, a lot more monotonous, than what you got." Hospital. Beeping. Her eyes. "Things have pretty much just been going on the same as you've seen during the time you've been there."

Lies, her brain screamed as her eyes flashed before her, but she didn't want to talk about the last bit she remembered, not with Elijah, for several reasons - she didn't even want to think about it, it didn't matter cause it wasn't real, and if she told him, if she told somebody who actually knew him, it would feel more real and that was the last thing she wanted. She just wanted to stop feeling the pain.

"But I did sign up for a marathon not too long before we woke up here," she added. "I was on a run, actually, as far as I can remember last. And then surprise, cruise ship time. You know, sometimes I wondered what these cruises must be like - not that I ever thought I'd get to be one. Definitely not how I imagined," she chuckled slightly. "Just out of curiosity, do you actually drink in your last memory before waking up? Or were you doing something else before it all went to black?"

"Ah, I've met the doc already, but she was all out of aspirin. I'll unfortunately have to live with the consequences of my actions." Still, he might stop by to see the Akhila later. The conversation had been brief - a little too brief for Elijah's lengthy liking - for understandable reasons. Not now, though. Now, Darcy was in his arms and they had quite a bit of catching up to do.

"Me first? You demand a lot of me." Elijah stayed standing, leaning up against the counter, while she moved with confident strides to rummage through the cupboards. Their relationship had been brief, as were most things in his life, and still, he felt like he was right back in her kitchen after a night spent together, watching her look for that box of cereal that was sure to be somewhere. A small moment of comfortability.

"Even candy? That's quite the service. They really did think of everything." Elijah raised his eyebrows when she pulled out the golden plastic package. "Good question. I can't say I've checked out the cupboards of the other bungalows thoroughly. That extent of their room service might be worth another exploration. I don't mind bringing over whatever we can find in mine." Tea, for now. No kettle, so Elijah grabbed a pot to fill up with water. Mugs were located - simple white ones, no design or color.

"As for stories, quite a bit has happened." Elijah finally responded, when all that was left was waiting for the water to boil. "I took a trip back to Europe, again. You know, as a Georgian, I prefer the heat but I figured I could visit some Scandanavian countries - Sweden was quite beautiful around that time of year. They have banknotes with Nils Holgersson and Pippi Longstocking on them, it's charming. I went just a bit further East, one thing lead to another, and my lust for better weather ended up with me in Bali. Seminyak, to be exact. And then-" He shrugged, and gestured to the bungalow. "I woke up on the ship with a rather sizeable hangover. So- what about you, Ms. Palmer? I did my due diligence and duty."

[stressedemoblackbratz]

unforgiven

pairing: fez x sibling!reader, ashtray x sibling!reader, marie “kitty” o’neill x granddaughter!reader

warnings: swearing, violence, mention of drugs, and child abuse.

request: could you do something with fezco having a sister and either include her to his backstory or make her own backstory for maybe episode 2?

a/n: my second fez request! i’m excited about this one. i hope you enjoy baby!

words: 1,063 + not proofread

daddy, daddy why’d you break your promises to me? daddy, daddy don’t you know you hurt me constantly?

you don’t really remember your first day in the house, you just remember your first memories starting with Fez waving a doll in your face.

grandma kitty, as you liked to call her, used to tell you stories about how you first met. she always told you she beat your dad’s ass in the street before she grabbed you and took off.

that never concerned you though, knowing the life you had been given there was no way your dad was a good person.

the more in depth story Fez would tell you when kitty was too sick to do so.

“you was about 3 or 4 when you rolled up in here.” he said through a cloud of smoke. “you were on the couch eating gummy bears watching some childish ass show. i can’t really remember, but when i turned the corner there you were eating and clutching grandma’s good pillows.” he would laugh. you were so tiny and timid looking. eyes wide with wonder as you stared at the flashing tv colors.

“and then what?” you would always ask.

“i sat beside you and decided we were gonna share your food, that shit was really mines anyways. you weren’t scared of me. you actually climbed in my lap and fell asleep. it was one of the most awkward, but calming experiences i’ve ever had, but i knew from that moment i wasn’t gonna let anybody hurt you.” he explained nodding at you.

“i was a few years older, but i was ready to protect you with my life, i still am. i feel the exact same about Ash.” he said turning to the boy who laid in your lap listening to the story.

“so what the fuck happened to her pops though?” Ash asked waiting for the gory details.

“to be honest dude,” Fez sighed. “her dad was a creep. he hung out with Cal and used to push product. he messed with grandma’s shit. he was already on her list because she don’t like anybody that messes with kids, but him overstepping her boundaries? that shit sped the process along.” you grimaced at the mention of Cal Jacobs. he was a creep who was known for preying on young boys and trans women, your friend Jules being a target.

to know your dad associated with that made your heartache.

“she beat his ass and ran his leg over or something.” Fez finished.

“now Ash, you was collateral damage. somebody didn’t pay up so they dropped you off as one. y/n saw whoever it was that dropped you off, but she was too young to remember shit.” Ash nodded his head at the fact he had just been given away. you brushed your hand across his short hair to try and provide him with some kind of comfort.

Fez suddenly started laughing. “i came home to a baby in the hallway and y/n making you a fucking picture. imagine how fucking confused i was. i was scared i’d come back to more. fucking orphanage for the unfortunate.”

Ash sat up. “and then your accident with grandma happened and then she got sick and now we’re here.” he said finishing the tale you had heard plenty of times before.

you remember Fez dragging her to the backseat before strapping you and Ash both into the passenger seat and attempting to drive to the hospital. it was one of the two times you felt fear as a child. your caregiver limp on the ground, now your big brother swerving frantically through bright lights, and your baby brother crying into your too big shirt.

as you got older you started to get hit with memory’s of your father, one’s you had never been told before.

it was violence. extreme violence to your younger self.

at about the age of 12 you would dream about the man you were told who was your father locking you in closets for hours while you cried, burning you with cigarettes, hitting you and leaving marks, and anything else a dad wasn’t supposed to do to his child.

you never told anybody because you thought it was sick nightmare, but you learned differently a few hours into your 17th birthday.

it was 4 am and you knew Ash was sleeping. Fez left on business a few hours earlier. you sat in the living room shaking from yet another nightmare that plagued your mind for the last 5 years.

you saw your dad about to slam a glass cup at your head before you were grabbed. whoever grabbed you forced you to wake up and jump in fright. nobody was there when your wide eyes searched the area of your still lit room.

you had been on the couch ever since.

when the front door creaked open and a shadowy figure slid into the hall you held your breath.

it was obviously Fez and when you saw him staring at your shaking figure you could finally breathe.

“F-Fezzy please.” you cried your lip trembling. he quickly got to you and held you as you cried in his shirt. your fingers tightly gripping his sweater and his hands held your head to chest.

fingers still in his shirt you pulled back to look him in the eyes.

“did he hurt me?” you asked him.

Fez was confused. he thought somebody had came in and attacked you or your you had relationship problems with some random.

“who? did who the fuck hurt you?” Fez asked pulling your hair out of your puffy face.

“my dad.” you stated with more tears falling at the saddening face of Fez.

so it was true.

you had weird “birth marks”, a fear of the dark in your teens, and flinched at the randomest things and now if all made sense.

“she told me he did. he um…” Fez paused. “listen y/n he was a bad dude, but she stopped it before it went any further. you’re safe with us now sweetheart I promise.” his own eyes watering as he pulled you back into his chest.

“i’m not gonna let shit else happened to you, you hear me? nothing.”

that meant grandma kitty grabbed you.

and there you laid on your big brothers chest crying into your 17th birthday.

[patheticdarling]

Please Don’t Say It

     Summary: Reader and Dustin having to watch as Eddie dies in their arms. And Eddie’s last words to the both of them are nothing short of gut-wrenching. 

     Warnings: s4 spoilers (obvi)/ ANGST/ cussing/ a lot of tears/ mentions of guns/ mentions of death and mourning/ reader and dustin pretty much having the biggest breakdown together

     Word Count: 813

*NOT MY GIF*

   “Who would’ve thought Nancy Wheeler was basically a fucking sniper?” you joked as you, Nancy, Robin, and Steve made your way back to Eddie’s trailer, well the Upside Down version of it. 

   Nancy blushed a bit, “Years of saving all of our asses has got to be tiring,” Steve added. 

   She chuckled, “Eh, it’s not so bad.” 

   “And we all know Steve probably has shit aim,” Robin snickered.

   “Hey!” Steve shot her an irritated look, “I don’t exactly see you knowing your way around a shotgun.”

   “She did have pretty good aim with those bottles though,” you added. 

   “Not helping, Y/N,” Steve muttered. 

   “Sorry, Harrington. But come on, we all know you were worried about setting your pretty hair on fire,” you teased. 

  “Please, your boyfriend has prettier hair than Nancy and Robin,” Steve quipped. 

   “Well, if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought Steve Harrington just called my boyfriend’s hair pretty.” 

   “That’s not what I meant!”

   Nancy interrupted, “Knock it off you two,” she giggled, “Besides Y/N will be able to see her pretty-haired boyfriend soon enough. I can see Eddie’s trailer from here.”

   “Wonder where he and Henderson are?” Steve asked. 

   “HELP!” the cries of your little brother suddenly broke the silence in the air, “SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP US!” 

   You and Steve didn’t hesitate to run towards his cries, Robin and Nancy following suit. 

   “DUSTIN?! EDDIE!?” you called out. 

   “HENDERSON, WHERE ARE YOU KID?” Steve yelled. 

   The four of you continued to call out to them as you ran throughout the trailer park. 

   “Y/N HELP!” you were finally able to pinpoint his voice, a small clearing up ahead. Dustin was crouching on the ground, cradling something in his lap. 

   “DUSTIN!” you cried back, “I’M COMING! HOLD ON!” 

   The four of you ran towards your brother. Until the moment your eyes caught sight of what exactly he was cradling in his lap. Your body froze as your gaze fell onto Eddie, his body limp, near chunks taken out of him and blood pooling through his clothes. 

   “No, no, no please,” you silently begged as you shakily approached them. 

   “W-we have to get him to a hospital, right? They’ll fix him,” your brother was frantic, tears falling down his face. 

  You were silent as you pulled Eddie’s head into your lap, “Y/N,” he gave you a tired smile, blood smeared on his face. 

   “I’m here, Eddie, I’m right here,” your voice trembled. 

   “I didn’t run away this time, right?” he said proudly. 

   You shook your head, “No,” your voice barely audible. 

   “No, you didn’t run,” Dustin reassured him. 

   Eddie’s teary eyes turned to Dustin, “You’re gonna have to look out for those little sheep for me, ok?” 

   “No! You’re gonna do that yourself!” Dustin sobbed.

  “Nah, man,” Eddie denied, “Say you’re gonna look after them.” Dustin just continued to sob, “Say it.”

  He choked on his sobs, “I-I’m gonna look after them.” 

  “Good,” Eddie smiled weakly, his eyes now shifting back to you, “Cause I’m actually gonna graduate. I think it’s my year.”

  “It is,” you reassured him, “It’s finally your year, Eddie.” 

  His gaze met Dustin’s once again, “I love you, man.”

  You let out a shaky breath, “I love you too,” Dustin responded. 

  “And you,” Eddie turned back to you, “I love you the most.” 

  “I love you, Eddie,” you sobbed, “Please don’t go.” 

  “I don’t think I have much say in the matter,” he chuckled, “You know you’re the best thing that ever happened to me, right?” 

   “Eddie, please,” you sobbed. 

   “You’re gonna be great, I know it,” he smiled. 

  “So are you. You just have to hold on a bit longer,” you tried to pull him closer to you. 

  He shook his head, “It’s ok.”

  “No, I can fix you, I can-”

  “Y/N,” his hand fell weakly on yours, “It’s gonna be ok.”

   “Ok,” you cried, nodding your head, “Ok, Eddie.”

   “Take care of yourself and Dustin please.” 

   “I-I will.” 

   Eddie let out of few more heavy breaths before his chest stilled and his once beaming brown eyes fell lifeless, staring off while his body fell limp. 

  “Eddie,” you sobbed quietly, your head falling. 

  “Eddie, come on,” Dustin tried to shake him as if he were just sleeping. 

  “Dustin, stop it,” your voice cracking. 

  “Eddie!” he shook him harder. 

   “I said stop it!” you shoved your brother’s hands off him, “He’s gone.”

   Dustin’s sobs grew harsher and before either of you could say another word, you pulled him to you, both of you crying over the best friend either of you had ever had. 

   “Shhh, it’s ok. I’m here buddy, I’m here,” you held him close to you, trying your hardest to be strong. One of his hands clutching your sweater while the other held onto Eddie. Nancy, Robin, and Steve wiping small tears as they cried silently around the three of you. 

[letarasstuff]

"I don't wanna leave you, Daddy"

(A/N): This was requested by an Anon and it's based on this concept. I hope you are ready for the feels.

Summary: Hotch's daughter is an introvert. A quiet one. But why does she go even quieter after her mother's death?

Warnings: So much hurt. Angst. Fluff. It's bitter sweet.

Wordcount: 2.3k

✨Masterlist✨ _____________________________

(Y/N) never really was an outgoing person. Even since she was able to walk and talk, she still clung to her parents. She refused to play on the playground when other children were there. Socializing was just not her thing. Her parents were sure that she would never be the person to stand up and perform on stage spontaneously. And it is ok.

This doesn’t really change when Jack comes around. Sure, as he grows older and more capable of things (Y/N) plays with him. But it really seems like he is the only one around her age she is not afraid to befriend.

Aaron and Haley reassure themselves that their daughter will find friends in elementary school. After all this is an institution where many children go to and there also are adults trained for helping them coming along. She definitely will find at least one other kid to hang out with regularly and learn how to be a proper child. Because as of right now (Y/N) is more like a little adult, taking responsibilities, like watching over her little brother, she doesn’t need to do voluntarily. Maybe she will be more messy, rebellious, anything but a perfect child.

But this doesn’t exactly happen. (Y/N)’s teachers are really happy with her. Every parent-teacher conference is about how well and polite she is, always behaving good and following the rules. Sadly, they don’t have any good news regarding her social life. It’s not that she doesn’t get along with her classmates, it’s just that she isn’t able to strike up a conversation or is very good at keeping one long enough that a kid is interested in her.

Knowing that (Y/N) is mostly quiet in her school days, Aaron makes it a habit to bring her more often to the office. She surprisingly warms quickly up to his team and whenever she is around them the girl is an unstoppable tornado running loose around the bullpen.

This is kind of how she grows up until the age of middle school. (Y/N) learns some social skills and makes a few friends over the last few years. Unfortunately these friendships are not as deep as the parents wish, still it’s better than nothing.

Things get difficult when Aaron and Haley start to separate. It never is easy when parents fall out of love and it is not only difficult for Jack to see his father not as often as he used to, considering he still is a toddler needing both parents. Especially (Y/N), who is more of a daddy’s girl than a mommy’s girl, suffers from the situation at home.

Of course it’s hard on her to not see her father for a week or two at a time, but ever since her parents are going on parted ways she sees him at most one weekend every three weeks. This also changes her social life dramastically.

“(Y/N), don’t you wanna do something with your friends? You can invite them over for the weekend”, Haley suggests after watching her daughter not going out with somebody outside of school for several days. For the past two weeks the ten year old just comes home, does her homework and puts her nose in one of the books her Uncle Spencer recommended.

The girl only looks up at her mother to shake her head. “Why not, Sweetie? I haven’t seen William and John in so long. Are you still friends with them?” (Y/N) nods again. “So what is it? Are you guys fighting?” Haley sits down next to her on her bed.

“No, they just-just don’t know about this. I don’t want to tell them. And I want to stay home. It’s ok how it is right now”, she admits. Her mother’s heart breaks at that statement.

In this moment she realizes that anything a parent does has immediate consequences for the children. “I’m sorry, Sweetie. I didn’t know this is so hard for you. Maybe you can talk to them over the next few days about it, I think it’ll help you. Do you want to watch a film with me for now? Jack has a sleepover at a friend’s. We can do a girl’s night. We hadn’t had one in a long time.”

(Y/N)’s eyes light up at that. “With all the candy in the world?” Haley smiles at the newfound excitement. “Of course. Anything you want.”

From only seeing Aaron every now and then it suddenly turns to not knowing when she will see him next. After George Foyet ambushes him and makes his family into the next target, (Y/N), her brother and her mother have to go into witness protection.

The goodbye at the hospital is painful and filled with tears. “But Dad, I don’t want to leave you. I’ll miss you too much. I don’t like not seeing you. And what about you? You will be more lonely and-and I can’t leave you”, she confesses, sobbing into him.

Hotch has to hold his own tears back. He doesn’t want to come over as stoic, but as the strong father figure he always tries to be. “Honey, I know I’ll miss you so much. You have to be strong for your mother. This will not be easy and I know it. I promise to do my best to get all of you back as soon as possible, ok? Please be good for your mother and behave. We all need to work together for you to get back fast and safely.”

(Y/N) continues to cry into his hospital gown. Aaron can’t help it and dissolves in tears himself while trying to calm her down. “Shh, Honey. Everything will be fine. I’m so so sorry for all this. I never wanted something like this to happen. Shh, we will see each other real soon. The team and I will do our best. Just please, don’t cry. Please, it all will be better. I can’t let you go without seeing your beautiful laugh for one last time.”

“I don’t wanna leave you, Daddy. I-I wanna stay with you and Uncle Dave and Auntie JJ and Uncle Spencer and Uncle Der and Auntie Penny and Auntie Em. I’m scared you won’t be fine when we come back.”

It’s needless to say that nobody cracked even a smile that day.

Going into witness protection made Haley worry about Jack especially. He is just four years old and she isn’t sure how much he understands about what’s going on. Surprisingly the boy gets accustomed to the situation pretty fast. Of course he misses his father and his people from school, but he is also quick to meet new ones in the town they moved to.

(Y/N) has bigger problems. New school. New kids. New everything.

“Maybe you can see it as a fresh start. Here is nobody you know. You can be whoever you want to be. I can take you shopping and you can try out a new style”, her mother tries to make the situation sound advantageous to her. But the girl dryly answers: “When somebody doesn’t like me how I am now, how will they like an act?”

Sam Kassmeyer regularly reports back to Aaron about his family’s well being. “Jack is thriving. His teachers describe him as a bundle of joy. (Y/N) slowly gets acclimated to the change. Haley told me she started making friends with a girl in their neighborhood. I already ran a background check and the family is clean.”

Hotch lets out a sigh of relief. He turns towards the image on Penelope’s monitor. “Happy fifth birthday, Buddy.”

A few weeks after that it seems like the events overturn each other.

Foyet coming back. Kassmeyer getting tortured. Foyet finding Haley and the children. Them coming back to their house. The call. Working the case with Jack. The gunshot. The fighting noises. Hotch opening the box and hugging both of his children, relieved to see them alive.

The following weeks are difficult for the now smaller family. They mostly consist of watching videos of happy memories and talking about their feelings. Although it’s more like Jack talking about his feelings, (Y/N) went mostly silent ever since their mother’s death. This worries her father more than anything.

Two months have gone by. “Hey Honey, I’m going into the office today. Do you wanna come with me, stay at home or go to school? Anything is fine by me”, he asks her softly, kneeling beside her chair at the table. The girl is munching on her cereal halfheartedly.

“Can I come to the office?” (Y/N) asks in a hoarse voice. It’s actually the first time in four days that Aaron hears her voice. A small smile forms on his face. “Of course, that’s nice. Aunt Penny is asking me after her favorite Hotchner for days on end now. And Uncle Spencer got a stack of books he has for you to read.”

His daughter nods and quickly gets ready. They are soon on their way to Quantico after dropping Jack off at daycare. “How are your classmates? Do you like the new school?” They decided to send (Y/N) to a different school. She couldn’t bear the thought of only being the girl whose Mom died because of a serial killer.

“It’s fine. There are a few girls who are really nice. I think we can be friends. Mo-” She suddenly cuts herself off. Aaron glances over at her. “Continue, Sweetheart. Just tell me what’s on your mind”, he tries to encourage her.

The girl hesitates before following her father’s advice. “Mom would have liked them,” she mumbles. It’s quiet for a few seconds. Hotch is looking for a suitable answer. After all it’s the first time she talked about her mother since her death. “I’m sure of it, Honey. Maybe you can invite them over and I can get to know them. Think about it, no pressure of course.” (Y/N) nods to indicate that she heard him.

Not long later they enter the bullpen. “There she is! My little Hotchner! How you doing, Baby?” Derek asks her and envelopes her into a hug. But she only shrugs her shoulders. This goes on for the rest of the day. Whenever anyone talks to her, the only answer is given by her body language.

Hotch watches helplessly Spencer trying to engage in a conversation with her. His arms and hands are waving around. (Y/N) though just looks at him without being really there mentally. It seems like she is lost in her own thoughts, like it happened so often over the last few months.

“Have you tried talking to her about it?” Dave asks, sitting down on the chair opposite of him. Aaron looks at him funny. “Of course. But (Y/N) is just not ready to talk about Haley and everybody grieves differently. I can’t force her to speak, Dave.”

The older agent leans back in his seat. “I don’t think she needs to talk about her. This probably is too soon. She needs to talk about you. The changes.” After a short pause, in which the other one still doesn’t get the point, Rossi continues. “That little girl just lost her mother. She is scared to lose her father, the one with the high risk job. I think that is enough to talk about.”

This occupies the agent for the remainder of the day. Aaron was so invested in fulfilling both parent roles, that he forgot that he is just a father. The man his children go to when they have a nightmare. The one, who is more lenient than their mother. He can’t be both ones. He can’t be two people in one.

A kid trusts a mother and a father usually. And he can’t be mother and father at once. Hotch has to accept the fact. The fact that (Y/N) and Jack are going to grow up without a mother. But luckily not without mother figures.

Later that day, after tucking Jack in, Aaron knocks on his daughter’s door. A small “Come in!” echoes back to him. He enters her room and spots (Y/N) already in her bed reading a book Spencer gave her today.

“Hey, do you have time before it’s lights out?” He asks, still wanting to give her the upper hand on this. The girl nods and scoots over for her father to take a place. He lays next to her, pulling his daughter into a hug.

“I know I can’t promise it. Coming back to you every time. You know it as much as I do. But I promise you to try anything and everything in the books. You guys keep me going.” Tears roll over both of their faces.

“I-I just”, (Y/N) moves her head onto his chest to sob into it, “Just don’t wanna lose you, too. I-I don’t think I-I can’t be the girl, who doesn’t have a mother AND a father. C-can you stop that from happening?” Hotch has to wipe his eyes before answering.

“I-I try to keep that from happening, Honey. I promise.”

This is how they fall asleep, squished in a twin bed close to each other. In the morning they both are overheated and got a visitor during the night. Jack wakes them up, asking why they had a sleepover without him.

This morning is the first time Aaron sees (Y/N) smiles since day zero.

Taglist:

All works:

@dindjarinsspouse @big-galaxy-chaos

Criminal Minds:

@averyhotchner @mggsprettygirl @herecomesthewriterwitch @ash19871962

[lostbbygorl]

THE LAST PIECE OF YOU: CARMEN X GRAY

Carmen was laying on her bed on a sunny Saturday morning, looking out of her window with a smile on her face. It was a beautiful day. A perfect day to smile. Everything she had worked so hard to achieve worked out perfectly. She took down the world’s biggest crime organization. Now, it was time to be a normal young lady in her early 20s.

Her mother was basically an older version of her with gray streaks in her hair. They got along so well they could pass as sisters with an age gap. The two of them were looking for a good university for her. Knowing Carmen, she’d make it to one of the Ivies, so that’s what they shot for. Life was finally starting to go back to how it was always supposed to be. Carmen’s affection for her friends never died and they met up whenever they could. Player taught her how gaming works. She could let loose again.

She let loose. Just like she did all those years ago with him. When she laughed out loud and her whole face lit up. When she ran not because her life was potentially at stake, but because her young self wanted to win a game of tag. Oh, yes, him. How was he? Did he still remember her? Did he still miss her? Did he hate her for leaving him hanging?

Her train of thoughts came to a stop when she heard knocking from outside her door.

“ Mum?” she called out.

“ Carmen, dear, there’s a letter for you,” Vera Cruz replied.

“ A letter? Who sent it?” Carmen asked, opening the door for her mother. Curiosity laced the older woman’s face as she held a purple envelope.

“ I don’t know. Somebody named Graham Calloway. Do you know any Graham Calloway?” Vera said, handing her daughter the letter. Vera noticed the shift in Carmen’s countenance.

“ Why do you look so puzzled, Carm?”

“ Mom, hold on a second. Give me some time to read this, okay?”.

Carmen practically tore the envelope open to retrieve the letter inside. Her eyes darted from word to word, and her heart didn’t know what rhythm to follow. Should it beat faster or should it stop beating entirely? Tears welled up in her eyes like an overflowing bucket. Her tears streamed down like a waterfall, blurring her vision as well as the words written in blue ink on the ripped out ruled page of a notebook. Carmen’s world went stormy gray in a matter of seconds.

Carmen was numb to everything now. She couldn’t fully process what her mother was saying. She guessed it was a concerned questionnaire she wasn’t in the right state of mind to answer. The letter sat idly on the floor while Carmen sobbed into her mother’s chest, her whole figure shaking.

THE LETTER:

Dear Carmen,

Hey, it’s been a while. This is Gray writing.

Mate, I’m really bummed out about not seeing you one last time at the hospital. I forgive you for everything you’ve ever done. It wasn’t you speaking that night at the museum. That was all in the past, forget it. Move on.

Anyways, I suppose I should get to the point. I should tell you why I’m actually writing this letter. Well, I just love talking to you in general, even if the conversations are one sided. And this one is the most one-sided conversation I’ll ever have. Or had. Carmen, if you’re reading this, it’s because we won’t ever see each other again. That’s impossible. Not because you don’t want to come into my life and complicate it again or something, but because I’m six feet under in a coffin. Toowong Cemetery.

The doctors at the hospital are great, but they couldn’t see this coming. I did recover, but not for long. I was completely fine and ready to go start a fresh new life when my health deteriorated again. The injuries from that night made my heart weaker. The doctors did everything they could to save me, they truly did. They let me know that I probably don’t have much time to live. So I wrote this letter and gave it to Chief Tamara. I told her to give this to you when and if my heart fails me.

Carmen, I died because of heart failure, not because of what you did under technological influence. I DON’T BLAME YOU FOR ANYTHING. YOU ARE NOT AT FAULT.

I’ll tell you everything I never had the balls to say while I was alive. Carmen, I love you. You have no idea how much. Seeing you grow up into the strong woman you are today was a shocking, drastic thing to witness but it was wonderful, even when we were on opposing teams. I’m only human, Carm. Humans are selfish. Even when you returned to VILE and I wanted you to snap back to reality I did nothing about it for 6 months because I just liked having you close to me, beside me, working with me and not against me.

I never knew I could love someone as much as I love you. I want you to be happy. I wish you success in everything you do. Find a person who loves you just as much as I do, but don’t forget me okay. Even they have better looks and more money and a stronger moral compass, think of me fondly. I can handle any electric shock, but I can’t handle it ever if you think of me badly. Not even in death.

Oh, and did I mention I really love you?

Sincerely,

Graham Calloway (yours always)