#same with the white hair streak i think call it a stress thing *finger guns*

[thereignwolf]

the warmup for today

[ashes-and-ashes]

Zombies

Remus scowled at the sky. The sun hurt his eyes, turning everything a striking, harsh white, a sun-bleached bone in the middle of the desert. The air was thick and full of dust; Remus coughed into his sleeve as they created the hill.

“Jesus,” he muttered. “Everything’s really gone to shits hasn’t it?”

James didn’t bother replying.

Remus shook his head, hitching his pack farther up on his already aching shoulders. It was falling apart, the leather worn and shiny, the stitching coming apart at the seams. They had crammed it with everything they could get; a filthy sleeping bag, a water bottle, as many cans as they could find. He had slid a knife through his belt, another one in his tattered hiking boots, the metal cool against his skin. Everyone had used Guns, in the early days of the Virus, had used guns and bullets and bombs. The days had stretched on, though. Pretty much everything was gone now, and those who had bullets wouldn’t waste it on a Zombie.

They weren’t supposed to call them that, zombies. Technically, they were referred to as the Infected. Before humans Fell, there was a death penalty for referring to them as anything different, as the governments fought to retain control of their panicking nations.

Remus shook his head again. He found himself doing it more often, caught in the tangled web of his memories, the dream-like haze of Before and the grim reality of Now. There wasn’t much to do anyways, besides walk and sleep and occasional fight against a couple of Zombies.

They had gotten lucky, him and Peter and James. They had dropped everything, ran away from the city the second the Virus had struck, all the screams and blood and burning buildings. They had been walking now, for years it seemed, hiding from humans and killing zombies and hoping that they could make it just one more day, please one more day.

Remus growls under his breath. His shoulder hurt - everything hurt actually. They had heard from others that the zombies were moving deeper into the forests, in search of the few humans who were left. They had immediately decided to head south, towards the acrid plains where there were next to no settlements, only ghost towns remaining.

He regretted it now, though, the dusty dirt and the relentless sun. His bottle was almost empty - they had filled it up at a river almost 2 days ago and hadn’t found anything since. Their food was almost gone as well, empty cans the only thing left.

Peter coughed from behind them. The massive axe strapped to his pack gleamed in the harsh light, metal and wood and leather. “We need to restock.”

“Really,” James snapped. He roughly raked his hands through his hair - it was matted, falling almost to his cheekbones, so different from the gelled spikes he used to wear so long ago. “Well fuck. There goes my plans. I wanted to have a goddamn tea party.”

Peter ignored him. They all were stressed, about the water and the food, the zombies and the desert and that haunting feeling that they were running out of time. He had changed too - they all had changed, though Peter had perhaps changed the most dramatically. The awkwardness had vanished, the soft hesitation and the warmth. The world had sucked him dry - sucked them all dry, whittling their edges until they became blades.

It was the one thing you needed, to survive in this world. The ability to keep on going, keep on walking, leave behind everything and anyone. The only people they could trust was each other, and even then their loyalty was limited. They had all made a pact, the instant it became clear that this Virus was not a fluke, that the world was fucked and they were all living on borrowed time.

If I become Infected, kill me. If I’m injured, leave me behind. Prioritize yourself over me.

Was it selfishness? Remus didn’t know. He would leave James or Peter in a heartbeat if one of them got injured, got bitten. He knew they’d do the same with him.

With a slight effort, Remus shoved the thought out of his head. He focused on putting one foot in front iof the other, head pounding slightly as he made it to the top of the hill. With a sigh, he slung the pack off his shoulders, plopping down onto the ground.

“Oh God,” he said. “It’s a fucking ghost town.”

Remus stared at the houses, the broken windows and the caved-in roofs, the cobblestone roads dusty and cracked. The sun had bleached all the colour from it, turning everything into various shades of white, the shadows stretching out across the ground.

James shook his head. “I feel like I’m in a fucking video game.”

“Zombie jump scares,” Remus agreed. “We go in there, we get jumped by a bloody corpse.”

He shivered. There was an air of abandonment to the place, written in every cracked piece of wood, every darkened window. It was like it had been preserved, as if the town had been encased in amber and left to dry in the acrid sun.

James let out a long side. “We shouldn’t risk it,” he muttered. “We’re screwed if we go in.”

Peter held up his water bottle. “We’re empty. We’d last another day, tops. We won’t reach the mountains for another 2 days at least.”

“There’s a pump,” Remus pointed out; he could just make out the slender faucet in the middle of a desecrated square. “And a well I think? Right there.”

“I don’t like it though,” James said. “This is practically the perfect spot for zombies. An abandoned ghost town? How stereotypical can we get?”

“Place’s been abandoned for a while,” Peter pointed out. “You can tell - the houses are old, and they’re not wired for electricity. And that mural on the wall - you can just barely make out the numbers 1952.”

James bit his lip. He stared at the empty water bottle in Peter’s hand, then at the empty town. “It’s only around noon,” he finally said. “We get in. We get out. Stay together.”

“People?” Remus asked.

“Don’t kill them. Try and knock them out.”

Remus nodded. “Sure.”

They carefully picked their way down the slope, trying to ignore the rocks digging into their knees. The ghost town was abolutely silent; they could hear the buzz of insects, the scuttling of mice between floorboards.

What’s the place called, James mouthed; they had become good at reading each other’s lips over the years, a skill born out of the need to stay silent when zombies were hunting them.

Hogsmeade, Peter mouthed back.

The fuck?

Remus just pointed to a sign, swinging down from the roof of a long-collapsed store. Hogsmeade Market it read, the words faded and rotted away. James rolled his eyes and looked away.

He felt Peter’s hands close around his wrist, his grip tight and demanding. Look.

Remus obeyed, following his finger to the small trail of smoke in the sky. He glanced over at James; the grim expression on his face let him know that JMes saw it too. Check it out?

James hesitated, then nodded. He fingered the short, heavy blade at his side - they knew how to take care of themselves, though that didn’t stop them from avoiding fights. They needed food though, badly - they had been living off a combination of mice-and-dandelion soup with half a tin of expired beans for the past few days and Remus knew he would starve if they didn’t find anything here.

They followed the smoke, the trail a streak of grey in the sky. It lead to a small hut, the roof caved in and windows dark - they could smell the flames though, heat the crackle of burning wood. Slowly, James eased the door open.

And Remus froze.

Suddenly he was 11 again, attending Hogwarts School, terrified out of his wits on his first day. He was 12, with 3 boys he knew he would die to protect. He was 14, kissing a boy he had loved for ages. He was 15, screaming as they left, ran from the city as the Infected razed it to the ground.

The boy was beautiful, the first truely beautful thing he had seen for god knew how long. He hadn’t seen another human in what felt like years, hadn’t seen anyone but James and Peter. The boy was beautful though, the way a knife was beautiful, sharp edges and worn bits and eyes that glinted like sharpened steel.

He laughed, the sound low and vicious. “Small world, isn’t it.”

James stepped forward; he was angling his body, Remus realized, trying to shield Remus from him. His sword rested casually in his arm; for the first time Remus noticed the bow leaning against the peeking wall. “Look, I’m - “

“Sorry?” The boy smirked. “For what? Leaving without me.”

James flinched. “I - “

“I waited,” the boy interrupted, “For 5 fucking hours. 5 Goddamn hours. But you were gone, weren’t you? You left me.”

“We didn’t mean to,” Peter cut in. “You were late - “

“I was preoccupied,” the boy said flatly, “by my bitch of a parents.”

Remus swallowed, hard. He remembers that night, James dragging him away, the moon high in the night sky. Come on! We’ll die if we stay, they’re coming -

We have to wait! Remus screamed. We can’t leave him!

We won’t survive if we don’t!

Slowly, Remus looked up, swallowing past the lump in his throat. His fingers tightened into fists, nails piercing through flesh.

“Oh look.” The boy sounded dangerously, cruelly excited. “He does remember.”

“You survived on your own?” James asked. Remus could see his knuckles, white on the worn leather of his blade.

The boy shrugged. “I had to. I would have been with you guys, had you not abandoned me. Forgotten me.”

Remus found his voice, hoarse and cracking. “We didn’t - I never - “

“Thank god.” The boy rolled his eyes. “I would hate to think you’d forget your ex-boyfriend.”

“I didn’t - I could never - “

“Say it.” He tilted his head, his eyes suddenly so, so bright, molten silver in the darkness of the room. “Say my name.”

Remus closed his eyes. “Sirius,” he whispered. “Sirius Black.”

[alecmagnuslwb]

Inked

Writer’s Month 2020 Day One

Read on AO3

The door swings open right on cue just like it has at three o’clock on the second Tuesday of every month this year.

Jason looks up from where he’d been sketching at the front desk when the little bell above the door chimes and he hates to admit he freezes for a moment. Roy Harper looks good, really good. He’s cut his hair since the last time he saw him for his monthly tattoo in July and it gives Jason a whole new view to admire.

The shoulder length red tresses are gone his hair now shaved down on the sides and a little longer at the top. Jason likes it, it gives him a view of Roy’s strong neck that had previously been covered. Roy lifts an arm running his hand through the top of his hair as he gives Jason one of those big beaming smiles he always seems to sport. The movement highlights his biceps which are blissfully exposed due to the oppressive August heat of the city.

He slips the beat-up grey trucker hat in his hand on his head backwards once he reaches the desk leaning on it with his strong exposed forearms.

“Hey, ya Jaybird. Ready for me?” he asks that grin still on his lips.

“Always,” Jason says closing up his sketchbook.

Jason moves back a bit so that he and Roy aren’t practically nose to nose. Not that he doesn’t want them to be nose to nose it’s just that they aren’t there yet. They might never be, he’s not really sure what’s going on between them if he’s being honest.

Jason and Roy have technically known each other since they were teens, back when they were Robin and Speedy the children of two of the most known superheroes in the world, but Jason made a choice to hang up the pixie boots before he graduated high school for his own mental  and physical health and Roy chose the same after his first round in rehab had nearly killed him.

After that their paths had diverted. Jason had gone to art school and promptly dropped out a year later to pursue art on his own terms. Roy had attempted an engineering degree, but his mind was lightyears ahead of anything any college could teach so he’d flunked out for not doing his assignments properly ever.

Then came a dark year for both of them, a year that no amount of therapy will every completely wash away. Jason had hit rock bottom with is career and his estrangement from Bruce for choosing a world outside of vigilantism came to a violent head while Roy hit his own rock bottom at the end of a needle.

It took years of failed relationships, bad decisions and hard work for them both to pull themselves back up out of it all, only ever really hearing about each other’s struggles through the gossip grapevine that is Dick Grayson.

Eventually Roy made his way back to Star City. Upon finding out he had a daughter he had gotten truly sober and stable for the first time in his life with the support of his dysfunctional super family. He made amends with Oliver, primarily through Dinah’s stubborn insistence they work it out, took to single fatherhood in a way he’d never taken to anything so quickly and got a job at a florist’s shop giving himself a peaceful place to spends his days that allows him to tinker with every new invention he can in his spare time without the stress of making exploding arrows to fight crime at night.

Jason had had a similar path. He and Bruce still rest on shaky ground and he’s fairly certain they always will, but he’s good with his brood of siblings again and putting his art expression into something as permanent as tattoos has been therapeutic.

Moving to Star City for Jason had been a whim. He needed out of Gotham, he’d saved up enough to start his own shop to truly make a name for himself, but he couldn’t do it in a city that was swimming in Bats. Dick had been the one to suggest Star, at the time Jason hadn’t thought anything of it. Had just assumed he was sending him to a town that still had the comfort of rampant vigilantism, but with the advantage of being on the other side of the country from anything with the name Wayne slapped on it.

Ever since Roy came walking into his shop, Bat Tats a name he 100% chose to piss of his adoptive father, eight months ago on Dick’s suggestion Jason thinks maybe his overbearing brother had ulterior motives. That maybe there’s a reason Dick is one of the few people who understands why Jason and Roy have become so close.

So here they are now two former sidekicks with their fair share of daddy issues and trauma doing a little bit better in every aspect of their lives every day and finding a friendship in one another Jason’s come to treasure.

“No Lian today?” Jason asks as Roy moves on autopilot to his usual station to take a seat.

Roy shakes his head taking off his hat and throwing it on the wall ledge behind him.

“I love that little girl more than anything, but keeping her sitting still and entertained for an extended period of time can be a struggle, especially when she knows she could be playing outside,” he says chuckling. Jason smiles remembering some of the previous months when she had tagged along and the way Lian had twirled around on a swivel chair asking Jason a million questions and briefly running into one of the brick walls when she spun a little too hard. “Don’t need her distracting you so much you end up accidentally inking me with something that looks like a dick.”

“Lian is no distraction, trust me, she’s a delight,” Jason responds with a smile as he sets up his station. He means it Lian is a ball of energy with a smile like her father and wit far greater than most adults Jason has met. Roy is far more of a distraction, his tattoo in April which had been on his bare chest had nearly killed Jason. “And if I was going to tattoo a dick on you there would be nothing accidental about it.”

Roy full out belly laughs and Jason loves the sound.

“Speaking of dick’s,” he says as he rolls up his chair to Roy’s side snapping on his gloves. “You sure you don’t want that Nightwing tattoo? It’s a best seller.”

Jason tilts his head up to the wall where proudly, because Dick framed it the ass that he is, is the Nightwing symbol with a gold plate below it reading #1 bestseller. If Jason didn’t like paying his bills he’d probably stop offering it, but the last three months has seen a surge in his popularity since he and Babs essentially stopped an apocalypse on their own and Jason has found himself with at least a dozen requests for the symbol every week.

“Not a chance, I will not take part in fluffing Grayson’s ego, I refuse,” Roy says before gesturing down at his body. “This body is temple now.”

Damn right it is, Jason thinks eyes lingering a little too long at the body in question. Long enough that he’s pretty sure he’s been caught so he clears his throat not meeting Roy’s eye as he loads up the tattoo gun.

He doesn’t see Roy smirk as he stretches out his arm for Jason and he definitely doesn’t notice how Roy watches the white streaks at the front of his hair fall over his eyes intently as he bends his head to get to work.

Today’s tattoo is a simple one. A small date that’s just a few days away to be added onto his ‘Lian forearm’ as they call it, alongside her name, the word for daughter in Navajo and a handful of little drawings Lian herself has proudly designed. The date marks his fifth year of sobriety, the day he decided to be there for his little girl for the rest of his days.

They chat while Jason works, Jason trying to ignore the way Roy’s scars feel warm under his fingers at every pass. Roy gives an update on Lian as back to school nears and Jason updates him on the weirdest tattoo requests he’s had the past few weeks. His personal favorite being the 82-year-old grandma who’d come in requesting a tattoo of a lion’s head that her grandson designed.

Roy chuckles as Jason finishes up getting the materials to wrap up the new ink.

“Well she sounds cool as hell, any chance she’s willing to take on new grandchildren?” he asks.

“I asked, she said she could direct me to some equally as cool friends since she’s already got 13 of her own,” Jason chuckles as he finishes wrapping up. “All done.”

He pulls away with a smile snapping the gloves off and throwing them in a nearby trash can. They walk back up to the front together, Roy paying and tipping him way too much like he always does.

“You’re absolutely worth it,” Roy says when Jason tries to wave off the excessive tip. Jason’s breath catches, the context isn’t remotely what Jason’s dumb gay brain is thinking, but it feels loaded anyways.

Jason brushes it off best he can. “If you say so,” he shrugs.  

“I do,” Roy says back instantly not missing a beat. Jason’s about to ask him if his tattoo streak is going to continue next month, but Roy beats him to it.

“I know we usually have a monthly date here and I do plan to keep that up, Lian has a killer new idea with a lizard wearing a top hat,” Roy says a little nervousness in his words. He reaches up adjusting his hat, a nervous tick Jason has picked up on over the months, it’s a little thing most people would overlook, but no matter how much time passes his training from Bruce is always there telling him to watch every little move and tick of every person he encounters. “But I was thinking we could have another date before that, you know not here and not you giving me a tattoo. Maybe over dinner?”

Jason’s eyes drop down to Roy’s at that quickly looking away from where he’d been watching him play with his hat.

Evidently Jason is quiet for far too long because Roy starts to fumble the hat around even more.

“Obviously if I’ve read everything wrong all these months then we can just act like this never happened and call it nothing more than a friend hang,” Roy rambles. “Or you know just let me die of embarrassment for a few more minutes and we’ll only ever see each other inside these four walls.”

“No,” Jason says finally snapping out of his shock that Roy just asked him out. “I mean yes, yes I’d love to go to dinner with you on a date.”

Roy puts his hat back on properly and smiles that big smile of his again.

“Great, how about Friday? Lian’s having a sleepover at Dinah and Ollie’s, so I’d be all yours for the evening,” Roy says, there is a little bit of implication in his words, months of built up charm and light flirting via friendship slipping in.

“Friday works for me,” Jason replies easy with his own smile no doubt as big as Roy’s.

[lukalew]

- - - The Affectionner - - A Creepypasta Origin

Axel Coss, black haired boy, with a white streak of hair going down the middle of his front hair. Strange really, not many kids a white streak of hair. But, moving on from that, he lived with his mom, Cece Coss, his dad, James Coss, and his two brothers, Ames and A.J. Triplets of course, they did everything together . Play, draw, clean, and otherwise. They all five lived in St. George, Utah, on a empty land, with their house and field. After the triplets were born tho, James and Cece decided to move to Kansas. But that didn't work out well. So, they moved to Mississippi. Where the triplets are now 15. School was pretty easy and all, everyone loved them. Well, the majority of people in their school. Axel was really the quiet and calm one, Ames, the short tempered, and A.J, the awkward type. So, they all kinda just stuck together like a pod. A couple more and now they are all 25 , well...two are at least. Ames and Axel- now , A.J ... when he turned to the age of 22, he got kidnapped and was tortured to death. LITERALLY. Nobody was able to find him. Until 2 months later, after he died he was found in a rusty old grey building. Almost looking like it was gonna collapse. His face torn, ripped...his arm and legs broken. It was just a nightmare, but thats only the start of it.

Ames got pretty emotional afterwards - Axel didn't say much after as well. He sometimes stayed in his room for hours , not eating, sleeping, nothing really, just thinking. 4 months passed and later on, Cece and James had been kidnapped by the same guys from when A.J was. And the parents died as well. The kidnappers had been caught and taken to jail. Ames soon left Axel, and if he was being honest to himself..he was glad Ames left. After everything that happened Ames started to drink and abuse Axel. Thats when his life became even more of a living hell. Work got harder, the bills were too much, and nothing could really make him happy at this point. Except for thing. Stitching. He would stitch blankets, stuffed animals, and when he got a bad cut- sometimes even himself. That was the only thing...for now. He was like cursed or something. Thats when he got to point- - -"Your fired." "What?" his voice shuddered as he clicked his pen a few times. "Your..FIRED!! You always mess up on the cars when we are on break- and you are too quiet- good for nothing piece of roadkill!" his boss, Keith, screeched as he took a fair raise of the hand and slapped him across his ear to mouth-that somehow cutting him. I mean, he was holding a wrench so- that probably why. Axel gently ran his finger down his face from his ear to mouth and felt the blood rushing out. "O-okay, under-s-stood..sir." the male exhaled taking th scarf he brought in with him because it was usually cold in the warehouse. Axel slid it on and ran home. At this point it was too much. He sat on the dining room chair rethinking his entire existence. "Do i even matter?...Of course i don't- not to my parents, not to my boss, ...not to my family.." out of the corner of his eye- he spotted a small, brown and white gun. "Thats it..." he said to himself, with a faint- but crazy smile. He walked to the gun, and made sure it was loaded. The black haired male pointed it to his heart and shot himself. Blood splattering on the wall and carpet. No screams, no cries, no pain. With the last bit of energy that he had, he shot himself in the head...

"Hey! Ax! Over here!" his brother A.J shouted waving from the field. He smiled softly and ran to the other versions of him. "whats up?" he asked kneeling down to his height. "Why do you always wear that scarf? It kinda looks like its from the eighteen hundreds." Ames spoke lifting a piece of the scarf up from Axel's neck. "Well, this girl at school gave it to me." He laughed softly rubbing the back of his neck. "Ooooooo!- Axel has a crush! Axel has a cru-" Ames interrupted what A.J said by pushing him backwards- "Oh shut up, its probably just a present." he sighed. "Whatever you say, maybe you should ask her out! Whats her name??" A.J declared getting up and picking some dandelions from the ground and putting them in his hair. "O-Oh uhh, her name is Jane-." Axel slightly blushed. Ames sighed laying down with his hands behind his head. "Yup, just as i expected- good old Jane Arkensaw.. she's kinda a brat if you ask me." "H-hey! Thats not true, she's actually really nice if you get to know her." A.J looked confused. "Isn't she the one who hasn't been coming to school for some time?" Ames glared at A.J- "Yes, yes she is." Axel replied taking the dandelions out of A.J's hair and putting them in a row at the top of his black silk hair, seeing he was struggling to put them in since they just get falling out. "i hope she's okay tho..."

HIs eyes shot open and then rubbed his head. "just another stupid nightmare..." he calls them nightmares because, well to him they are just painful memories. He put on his boots and looked at the calendar, "Huh....Macy Stars...well, this should be fun." He sighed and git his scalpel, stitching utensils, needles, thread, and his scarf. Ax put the scarf on and walked out with his drawstring bag.

(This is the bag btw)

He followed the directions where it told him to go. Now, he would normally go on his own free will and time, but it was like Slender decided when she dies. He shrugged it off and soon arrived. "This must be it huh?" Ax sighed ruffling his own hair a bit so his scar would show as much. He thought if you had scars it makes you weak, can't take care of your self. Anyways, he quietly entered through her back door,which was unlocked. "Who leaves their back door unlocked at a time like this?" The medium hight male said looking at the sunset and took in a deep breath then exhaled. That sorta calmed him down. Axel walked up the stairs and looked in the bathroom to see her doing her makeup. He had to admit she was beautiful, but still worthless to him. She was in fact a girl that went to his school. "There we go!" She smiled at herself in the mirror and did a duck face as if the mirror was taking a photo of her. She was really nice to him and all, but he didn't care, he didn't care about any of the victims of his. "They don't deserve this love...." he shuddered under his breath. Axel walked in holding a scalpel and his eyes now looking fully gold. The brown faded away, no mercy in his look. Macy spotted him in the mirror and screamed backing up her back hitting the sink. "How did you get in my house?!" She screamed and reached for a small mirror of hers and hid it behind her. "That's a pretty stupid question to ask...more concerned how I got in your house...then how your gonna survive this? Well, I can answer that for you. Your not." He walked to her and slashed the scalpel across her face- giving her a scar as well, "OWW- YOU LITTLE-" She screamed in pain holding one side of her face and taking the mirror and trying to hit him with it. Axel sighed seeing her on the ground, she had fell. He bent down, and grabbed her arms- putting them together. "W-wh-What are you doing....?!" She asked in a shaky tone. No response, he softly held them tightly tighter and took out his stitching utensils and started to weave her arms together. "Ow stop please!!" She begged trying to kick him- but he was almost done with the stitching process. Is she really that weak, stitches don't even hurt that bad, it's like poking yourself with a sharp en or pencil. Macy looked down at her sewn arms and her eyes as wide as the galaxy. "I really don't like loud noises you know... so, if you would have just been quiet I wouldn't had have to do this.." he softly whispered in her ear and sew her mouth together. No matter how hard she tried to scream- it was all just muffled noises. "There we go. Now, if you don't mind me, I will proceed to kill you." Her eyes were wider now. Tears formed in her eyes and just looked down. "Aww.. come on now-" he started to say, lifting up her chin and wiping the tears away. "I'm just putting you out of your misery- we only live in this world to die, it just is stressful for me to see people in pain like this." That was a lie of course. He didn't care if his victims were hurt, physically or mentally.

He cut open her stomach and found her heart. "There it is..." he took another piece of thread and needle then started to stitch a X into her heart. Soon, a golden piece of light came out of her heart and Axel held his arm out-the light transferred to his arm and he sighed in relief. "That felt good," he thought then looked down at Macy. "You know, life is as valuable as your love.." he smiled then ripped her heart out in one light pull. Her body falling to the floor . He smiled softly and set the heart near her makeup. He always set the heart of theirs next to something they loved. "Now that that's done," he sighed getting up and grabbing all his things and heading out.

His appearance strikes so many people, sometimes he would pretend to be a human to lure in victims. He is a handsome, kind, boy- so it's pretty easy. But he doesn't do it often, only when there's nobody really good to kill.

He still has his black hair with the white streak. And of course, he wear a big grey scarf around his neck with a small black X at the bottom of the end of the scarf. A beige, sorta brown jacket. Sometimes he would wear a black zipped up leather coat, but that's only when it's really cold outside. Black pants with a chain going form the top right corner of his belt, to the lower half of his left side. Sorta like his scar. Black boots with a stitched in X at the bottom corner of both boots. Some witnesses have said he is a tall, around 5'5 , male. Some people say he takes in emotions, that's not really it tho...

See, what he can do is- he only takes peoples lives, who get a lot of love, and give a lot of love, and not really sad people. He would climb through their windows at night , or when they are alone. But in some cases he just breaks in wherever he can. Axel is a ghost, spirit, otherwise. But he doesn't really like doing all of that appearing in thin air thing. Ever since people have reported sightings of him, he tries his bets you stay of out sight. Axel will use his stitches to sew a big X into their heart so he can acquire all the love that has been given to the person, or, the love that they have to share. If they attempt to scream or fight back, he will sew their mouths closed- or arms and legs together. The reason he takes the affection from his victims is because, his parents gave him none- and when he was alive, nobody gave him any either. After some time, the affection runs out, so he needs to restock it every 2-4 days. If one of his victims try to give him affection before they die, he will go to their height smile at them , and say...

"Im afraid ...your love means nothing to me.."

He also has another famous quote which is..

"Life is as valuable as your love."

If he were to go on a mission with a creepypasta - his most compatible people would be

-Puppeteer

-Jason The Tomaker

-Eyeless Jack

- Laughing Jack

- Jane The Killer

- Sally

- Zero

- and Judge Angels

[freshwater--mermaid]

Ersatz Ch 23: They Don’t Know They’re Dead To Me

Danny woke suddenly to the sound of screaming. He barely had time to process this before his body hit the bed with a dull thud.

He grimaced, rubbing at his eyes as he rolled out of bed. Another bout of yelling woke him up fully, and he quickly unlocked his door, flinging it open.

He looked out into the hallways and instantly spotted his mother, standing in the doorway to Jazz's room. She held up a small ecto gun, pointing it inside.

"Get down, Jazz!" she yelled as she took aim.

She fired a single shot, causing Jazz to cry out.

"Mom, you're going to set my room on fire!" the teen protested from within.

Danny wanted to approach and see what his mother was shooting at, but the sight of the active ecto gun kept him rooted.

Jack came bounding up the stairs, holding a mostly-finished ecto rifle in his hands, its wires still exposed.

Maddie glanced toward him and frowned.

"Jack, you're not firing that in the house." she said. "It's far too strong; it'll singe through the walls!"

Jazz squealed out, and all attention was turned once more inside the room.

"Just get these things out of here!" Jazz shouted unhappily.

Danny guessed correctly that it had to be ghosts, and his thoughts turned briefly to Vlad's warning about increased activity.

Maddie dove into her daughter's room, firing off several times despite Jazz's protests.

Two small ghosts suddenly burst through the wall and sailed in random directions. They looked like animals of some kind, but their rapidly darting forms were hard to distinguish.

Maddie ran into the hallway and fired her gun repeatedly at the fleeing spectres, green beams arcing across the walls, fizzling out harmlessly against anything non-ghost they hit.

The two spirits streaked past Danny and Maddie's gun crossed over him as well, still firing.

With an unintended shout, Danny fell back from the doorway, barely dodging one of the stray blasts.

He could hear Maddie and Jacks' footsteps beat down the hall as they pursued their prey. He continued to lay upon the floor, unable to get back up.

That single, small beam of charged energy had conjured up far too-clear memories of pain and peeling skin. The bloom of sharp light, the burning and the sensation of falling. All of it crashed over Danny, and the teen could only lay there and hope his parents didn't come back.

Thankfully, as the minutes passed it seemed that the ghosts had tried to flee outside. Jack, of course, had preemptively set the shield, trapping the little spirits.

As he finally began to calm down, Danny sat up, pulling his knees up and resting his arms upon them. He raked a hand through his hair, frustrated and confused by his own actions. What had come over him?

Sure, the ecto gun would've stung, but it wasn't as powerful as the one that had blasted him out of the sky weeks ago. So why had he been so petrified moments ago?

Danny groaned in annoyance at himself. He couldn't afford to get jumpy around his parents; Maddie would undoubtedly pick up on it, and the last thing he needed was her attention.

Danny stood up, silence ringing out as the shooting ceased. Then Jack's boastful voice could be heard downstairs. They had definitely been successful in capturing the ghosts.

A lumbering gait thundered excitedly downstairs, while a second set of steps padded lightly back up to the second floor.

Danny turned and walked away from his open door as Maddie passed by, heading to Jazz's room.

Danny listened to the muffled conversation between mother and daughter as he looked out his window. The shield blinked out of existence as Jack shut it off, and it took Danny's eyes a moment to adjust to the black night sky.

A quiet knocking from behind beckoned Danny to turn, and he wasn't surprised to find his mom's concerned face looking at him.

"Danny, are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, Mom." Danny answered casually.

Maddie paused for a moment, looking caught between thoughts before speaking again.

"I'm sorry I scared you, honey." she said, her voice almost as quiet as the silent house. "I guess I just wasn't thinking, and…the ecto gun can't hurt you, sweetie. You know that, right? I know that, but I suppose I…"

Maddie was at a loss for words, obviously trying very hard to assure Danny that she had meant him no harm. This at first alarmed Danny, as he wondered why she'd be so stressed over this unless she knew his secret.

And then it hit him, like a bolt from the sky.

More images from the past flickered across his mind. His mother. Not his mother anymore. Possessed by some unknown entity. The feel of her sharp nails as she dug her fingers into his hair, striking his head against the ground.

Stars danced across his vision briefly as he came back to the present. With a start, he stepped forward, coming to stand before Maddie.

"I wasn't scared," he insisted. "I was just caught off guard. Still half-asleep, and all…sorry for worrying you, Mom."

Maddie smiled at her son, moving forward, arms reaching out in the beginnings of a hug. Alarm bells sounded in Danny's head, and he quickly took two steps back, arms half-raised. He couldn't let her feel how cold he knew he was.

And like that, his words were undone. The smile was gone, and Maddie's face had drawn back up into a look of sadness and worry.

"Okay, honey…" Maddie said, her voice somehow even quieter. "Sorry this whole thing woke you up. Get back to sleep, sweetie."

With those parting words, she turned and went to join her husband in the lab, no doubt to observe their newly captured subjects.

Danny closed his door quietly and locked it. But instead of going back to sleep, he lifted off the ground cautiously and slowly flew out of his window, careful to remain invisible.

The freedom and solitude of roaming the dark skies of Amity Park helped ease the unwanted memories and thoughts from Danny's mind.

~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* 

Laughter echoed down the empty halls of Casper High, as the group of teenagers stood around a large table in the cafeteria. Various craft supplies littered the table's surface.

Nearly everyone present was engaged in conversation as they cut, glued, and folded paper into different Halloween themed decorations.

Two individuals, however, were completely silent, and Tucker's gaze swept between them both.

Danny looked completely absorbed in his own thoughts. The only reason he was attempting to cut out little ghosts from white paper is because Tucker had given him the task, hoping the inside joke would bring a smile to his friend's face.

No such luck. Danny had taken the supplies and got to work without comment.

Tucker looked to the opposite end of the table, where his other best friend stood. Unlike Danny, Sam wasn't absorbed in thought. She was instead absorbed in her own sour mood, brooding as she created a glitter-coated skeleton out of black paper.

Tucker sighed quietly at Sam's childish attitude. He supposed she was still stung over Dash's comments from the day before, and the fact that the very jock in question was now joking with Star as he made paper pumpkins was apparently salt in the wound for Sam.

Paulina had heard of Dash's mistreatment of Sam, and had very angrily talked the boy into helping out with decorations for the haunted house. She had invited Star along as well, and managed to convince the principal to let them borrow the cafeteria after school hours.

Tucker guessed that also contributed to Sam's mood. Paulina had managed to organise this entire get-together, while Sam had still been mulling over a theme to go with.

Tucker just hoped that she stopped sulking and lightened up, or Dash would soon give in and call her out on her attitude. That would not go well.

The teen looked down at his own little project, a vampire made from several glued-together pieces of paper. Tucker knew he wasn't that great an artist, but he was actually proud of how it was coming along.

"Wow, nice job, Tucker." Paulina commented from across him. She held up her own work; a cut out banner depicting little orange pumpkins.

"What do you think?" she asked with a beaming smile.

"Dang." Tucker replied. "That's really good! How'd you learn to do that?"

Paulina gave a flattered laugh at the obvious awe in Tucker's voice.

Tucker could feel Sam's glare burning into the side of his face as he listened to Paulina go on about her art class at her old school.

Tucker continued to ignore her stare as he got back to his own work. Just because she was angry over Dash and Star being there didn't meant that he was going to ignore everyone too.

Another hour flew by as the group, save two, continued to chat and show off their crafts. Dash was surprisingly amiable, but Tucker suspected it was mostly a front to impress Paulina, since the blond didn't talk directly to him, Sam or Danny.

Still, Tucker sure wasn't going to rock the boat. As long as the ol' Bone-Cruncher stayed docile, there'd be no issues.

Soon enough it was time to head home. Everyone gathered the finished decorations and piled them in front of Sam, like some kind of Halloween offering to their goth queen.

Tucker was happily surprised when Sam looked up and thanked everyone for helping out. Paulina grinned and hugged Sam before bouncing off with Dash and Star in tow.

Tucker walked over to his friend, who was looking down at the pile with a blank expression.

"Don't set it on fire." he smiled. "We worked hard on those."

"I'm not gonna torch them." Sam huffed, hands at her hips.

She gave Tucker the same odd look as the crafts, and Tucker was about to question it when Sam's eyes widened and she looked around the room.

"Hey, where's Danny?" she asked, already worried.

Tucker hadn't even noticed Danny's absence, and joined Sam in walking around the large room. As Sam moved toward the entrance, calling Danny's name, Tucker stepped over to the large windows.

"Sam," he immediately called. "He's over here."

The girl jogged to him as he walked toward the back door. Opening it, the two stepped out into the evening air and walked over to their lone friend, who was staring silently off toward the distant buildings that neighbored the school grounds.

"Hey, space cadet." Sam greeted, standing beside Danny. "What're you looking at?"

Danny didn't answer for a moment, but then raised a hand and pointed out toward where he was looking.

"There's ghosts flying around over there." he said. "They came close to the school earlier, bit I think they felt me here, because they left fast. They're still in the area, though."

"Really?" Sam asked, tense and on alert as her eyes swept the vicinity.

Tucker felt the same apprehension. They really didn't need another ghost attack. But one part of Danny's explanation grabbed Tucker's focus.

"What do you mean by 'they felt you here'?" he asked.

"Ghosts can sense-" both Danny and Sam began at the same time, only to stop short and blink at each other.

Sam shrugged sheepishly.

"Hey, I've been reading through tons of books on ghosts, remember?" she said.

"Yeah," Danny replied, looking surprised. "But who knew they'd actually get some of their information right."

"Not all of them are written by hacks." Sam countered with a frown. "Some of them have been very helpful, in fact."

Danny raised an eyebrow at her, and Tucker worried that he might insist on seeing the very book that Sam was obviously talking about. Tucker himself had only skimmed through the first chapter, but even that was full of enough theories that he doubted Danny would appreciate.

But Danny only turned his gaze back out, quiet once more.

"Okay guys, we should be heading home now." Tucker spoke up after several seconds of silence.

He turned back toward the door, only to groan at his own mistake. He'd forgotten to prop the door open, and thus had locked the three of them out of the building.

"What?" Sam asked, before realisation hit her as well.

"Great." she muttered. "Now how are we gonna get our stuff?"

"We can always come over early-" Tucker began to suggest.

Danny stepped between them, interrupting Tucker with a raised hand. Smiling, the teen then proceeded to stretch his arm out toward the door. As soon as his hand collided with the metal surface, it fell through, making it appear is if Danny's hand had been taken at the wrist.

His smile grew as Tucker smacked himself over the forehead.

"We're such idiots." Sam groaned.

"Yeah, kinda." Danny replied.

The others gave him annoyed looks, but couldn't help but share in the lifted mood, smiling as well. Despite Danny's increased weirdness, it was still easy to forget that he was actually a ghost, Tucker mused.

His thoughts and smile both froze as he saw Danny take Sam's hand before holding out his second for Tucker to take.

"Uh uh, no way." the boy protested, stepping back. "I said never again."

Danny gave Tucker an amused look before shrugging.

"Have it your way." he said, looking at Sam. "You ready?"

Sam nodded, doing her best not to look nervous.

Tucker watched as the two became translucent before Danny stepped through the school wall, pulling Sam in behind him. Tucker shivered at the memory of becoming intangible. The cold numbness and the inability to breathe greatly disturbed him. He wondered if that was how Danny felt all the time now. No wonder the kid was in a bad mood so often.

Standing alone at the back of the school was also not ideal, and Tucker cast his gaze around the empty area. Tiny dots of color caught his attention, and he squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look.

As Danny had said, small spirits could be seen flitting about around the distant buildings. Tucker was glad that most of said buildings were closed down old shops, otherwise people would surely be running around in a panic by now.

Danny appeared with Sam, fazing back through the building. Sam's arms were full of decorations while Danny held both his and Tuckers' bags. His attention focused immediately on the distant figures, and he held out Tucker's bag wordlessly.

Shrugging his own on, Danny began walking out across the grass toward the road. Sam called uselessly after him as she quickly folded up the papers and placed them within her backpack.

Tucker waited with her, watching Danny as he reached the sidewalk. Danny's posture didn't change much, and neither did his stride, but something had become off about him. It raised the hairs on the back of Tucker's neck, reminding him of that documentary Sam had made him watch once. A lioness had walked out toward a gathered group of zebra in much the same way. Like she was already calculating which angle was best to move in from, and which zebra looked like the optimal target.

Sam and Tucker jogged to catch up to their friend, and the little spots of color could be seen again further away, before once more turning invisible. Tucker wondered if they lacked the strength to go unseen for more than a few moments at a time. Sam's book had said something about smaller ghosts typically being weak.

As Danny neared them, they swirled rapidly through the air, shooting off and going invisible again. Danny responded by moving to stand behind a building, allowing his friends to catch up to him. He leaned against the brick wall, looking around for any potential pedestrians nearby.

"One of you look out there and tell me what you see." he said.

Both teens gave him matching odd looks, to which he shrugged.

"What? I don't want them to spot me." he reasoned.

"But they already sense you." Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, but they don't know exactly where I am, or they'd have run by now."

Sam moved to the corner of the building, stepping out into the open and casually looking around. She could see a couple walking into a store farther down, but no ghosts.

"I think they might already be running." she said, turning back to the boys.

Danny frowned, looking down at the ground in concentration.

"They are moving." he said, "Come on."

He stood away from the wall and proceeded to walk at a normal pace down the pavement, friends in tow. And then suddenly he turned a sharp right, heading down a long, narrow alley.

"This way." he called over his shoulder, breaking into a light jog.

The small passageway seemed to go on forever, the light dim, and Tucker fought off claustrophobia as he followed after Danny. The boy was obviously sensing that the ghosts were getting closer, his steps picking up speed more and more.

Tucker really hoped that Danny would remember that they were in public, and wouldn't automatically leap onto the first ghost he saw.

Danny burst out into the daylight, halting so abruptly that Sam and Tucker ran right into him. They lay on the ground in a stunned pile before Sam began righting herself.

Tucker shot up as soon as she was off him. Laying over Danny was like being on top of an ice sculpture, and he quickly began rubbing the warmth back into his arms.

Danny picked himself up without comment, his eyes turned toward the road.

Two figures walked down the sidewalk in their direction, not noticing the looks they got from passerbys as they searched about.

"Just great." Danny muttered lowly, frowning heavily toward his parents.

They hadn't spotted the group yet, too focused on tracking down their quarry.

'Probably the same ones Danny's after.' Tucker thought.

For a moment he wondered if Danny would duck back into the alley to avoid them, but instead the pale boy just shoved his hands into his pockets and walked toward them.

Maddie spotted him quickly, her determined expression lifting into a bright smile.

"Hi, sweetheart." she greeted, propping her ecto rifle against her hip so she could wave at them.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Danny asked, an accusatory undertone lacing through his words.

Thankfully Maddie didn't pick up on it, and Jack wasn't listening to the conversation as he continued down the road.

"We found another cluster of ghosts near the house." Maddie answered. "We've been following them since, but they keep managing to slip away. By the way, you should be heading home; it's getting late."

"Actually, I was gonna stay over at Sam's." Danny replied. "We still have her haunted house thing to work on."

The quick lie appeased his mother somewhat, but Maddie still gave the three a disapproving frown.

"Then you should be heading to Sam's home. It's going to be dark soon and I don't want you out on the streets."

"Got it, Mom." Danny said.

He quickly stepped around her, keeping out of arm's reach, and continued down the sidewalk.

Tucker and Sam gave quick goodbyes to the Fenton parents as they followed Danny, who was looking toward another alley.

Upon reaching it, he ducked into the shadows, glancing back at the adults before turning to his friends.

"There right here somewhere." he whispered.

Tucker really wanted to suggest that they just leave and go to Sam's place, but he knew he wouldn't be able to convince Danny to drop the pursuit. And Sam was too busy being supportive to side with Tucker, despite how much she didn't like the whole ghost-eat-ghost thing.

The concept itself didn't scare Tucker. Heck, he ate meat all the time, and figured it was kinda the same thing.

But the way Danny had changed when he'd eaten that ghost in Sam's room. Not just his eyes but his expression as well. Now that had scared Tucker, as much as he hated to admit it.

Pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Danny quietly cheering. Tucker spotted the boy, Sam close behind, near the end of the alleyway.

Danny suddenly went invisible, causing Sam to jump back slightly. She stood completely still, eyes looking around for any sign of movement.

Both teens startled when a group of little ghosts flew up from behind a discarded pile of boxes and began flying around. They obviously wanted to stick close, and spun together in random directions.

Now that he could view them up close, Tucker realised that they looked like little rats, in shades of dim green and sickly yellow.

A bright stream erupted from nowhere, and the tiny spirits gave warped squeaks as they flew past Sam and Tucker, back toward the street.

One, however, became caught in the beam, and was quickly pulled into the thermos. A now visible Danny capped the device and shoved it down into his backpack.

An ecto gun firing sounded not a moment after, and the three ran out into the open to watch Jack and Maddie. The former was firing off his weapon at the fleeing ghosts, while Maddie had lowered her rifle to the ground and was taking aim with her own thermos.

She managed to capture the remaining ghosts in two shots as they fled about in a panicked circle.

She capped the thermos with a satisfied smile, Jack grinning as he ran up to her.

"That's my gal!" he exclaimed. "Did you kids see that?"

"Sure did, Mr F." Tucker smiled back.

"Danny, did you use your thermos?" Maddie asked her son, who stood at the back of the trio.

"Yeah, but I missed." Danny shrugged. "We should head to Sam's now. It's getting dark out, after all. Bye!"

Danny gave a short wave to his mom before turning on the spot and walking quickly down the street.

Tucker internally winced as he followed. The Fenton adults were certainly distracted by their catch, but Danny should've tried to not be so obvious. Then again, Danny had been pretty obvious about his ghost status since the beginning, in Tucker's opinion, and no one had found out yet.

'This city is full of morons, I guess.' he thought.

Danny practically ran the entire way to Sam's house, casting impatient glances over his shoulder occasionally at Sam and Tucker, who lagged a few paces behind.

He didn't wait for them to catch up before entering the large house, fishing out the thermos as he climbed the stairs.

"Man, Danny, are you starving or something?" Tucker asked as he and Sam entered her room, locking the door behind.

The question made Danny look up sharply at them from his spot in the middle of the room.

"What? No, it's just…these opportunities don't exactly come around that often." he said, throwing his bag into a corner.

"Maybe that's going to change." Sam suggested, staring at the thermos. "There seems to be more and more ghosts popping up."

Tucker silently agreed, but was surprised when Sam's words only seemed to make Danny nervous.

He quickly turned his attention back to the thermos in his hands, and the mood in the room became tense. Most of it was coming from Sam, who stood half-turned toward the door, frozen in mid-decision.

"Sam, you get grossed out just from watching Tucker eat a burger." Danny said, rolling his eyes at her. "You don't have to stay in here. I won't cry over it."

The last bit was said with a teasing smile, easing Sam into a more relaxed stance. She still looked unsure, but then took a deep breath and turned, leaving the room quietly.

Tucker bottled up the urge to follow her as he locked the door once more, walking across the room and sitting down on her bed.

Danny looked at him briefly before uncapping the thermos, letting the lid drop to the floor with a bounce. He was turned away from Tucker, so that the other boy couldn't see his face.

Tucker could see, however, that he held his shoulders tensely, still nervous like he'd been the first time. Maybe he too was aware of the change that overcame him? The manic way that he had moved and the look he had worn on his face?

Tucker had subconsciously been bracing himself, hands digging into the blankets beneath him, and he jumped when Danny spoke up.

"You know you don't have to stick around, either." Danny's voice came quiet and steady, offering no hint as to what he might be thinking. "It's not like you could do much if it got away."

Tucker cast about for a joking comeback to explain why he was remaining in the room. His mind drew a blank, with not even a serious reply available to him. Tucker honestly had no clue why he didn't just join Sam in whatever room she was surely pacing around in.

The silence stretched out awkwardly, hovering over them both until Danny finally accepted the non-answer.

Pressing his thumb over the release button, light streamed out momentarily, before vanishing as a small green shape manifested on the floor.

Without hesitation, Danny took advantage of its confusion, reaching down and grabbing the creature around its middle. It squeaked and struggled as Danny held it up to eye level. He watched it for a moment, eyebrows drawing together.

"Stop whining." Danny said, frowning in agitation at the rat's increasingly loud shrieks. "You could be on your way to my parents' lab right now. You're the lucky one."