#this honestly falls somewhere between fae and headless horseman

[steelcladbutterfly]

Yandere Ghost: House

This is the fourth of ten halloween fics now. I enjoyed this one and I’d like to think I made it somewhat layered. Anyways, hope you enjoy it!

Prompts: Fog, Forest, House 

Ghosts are known as many different things across many different cultures, names for them include; apparition, shade, demon, specter, phantom, ghoul, and spirit. In general, however, they are known to be the soul or spirit of a dead person. They are sometimes known to only remain on the material plane until they have fulfilled their purpose, other times they remain until they are banished or otherwise forced out or destroyed. 

Your panting filled the air as you rushed through the forest, branches leaving long red marks all along your face and upper body, a few trails of blood joining the stream falling from your clenched hand as you continued to run full tilt in a desperate bid to escape the fog swiftly filling in the air behind you. You wanted to go home, wishing there was a way to turn the day around so that you didn’t follow your friends into the woods and into an abandoned house deep into the trees. 

They had wanted to check it out, spend the day before Halloween digging into places they should have just left alone. And you had followed them like the fool you were despite the warnings and tales told across town about the woods and the house left abandoned and rotting within. There were many stories, with different ideas and assumptions, but all had the subject and warnings in common. 

~~~~~

Something horrible happened in that house to the young owner, he had been found rotting in the front hall, guts strewn about, left for a week before anyone thought to check on him. His wife was found three weeks afterwards, shivering and unresponsive in the next town over. She had apparently been attacked as well, but had managed to get away, but, before they could get any of the story out of her, she died from the wounds, treatment having been administered too late to save her from infection. No one knew for certain what happened, but anytime someone had tried to move in after, they either left, ranting about something wrong in the house, or were never heard from again. And anyone who thought it was a good idea to mess with the house were soon found in the same manner as the original owner; rotting and strewn about in a bloody mess of twisting limbs and eviserated organs. 

After everything that happened, it was left abandoned and rotting for years, until only those who had been children at the time of the first death were still alive, old and still scared by the woods and what they swore lurked within. 

~~~~~ 

When you and your friends had arrived, the house looked almost slumped over on itself, standing in a small clearing with an overgrown garden and crumbling porch. The swinging bench to the side creaked eerily, held up only by the horribly rusted metal that made up its chains. 

You shivered, instantly feeling eyes upon you. You glanced towards the top floor, seeing moth eaten curtains move slightly behind the cracked glass and warped frame. Just when you were about to complain, one of your friends surged forth, leaping over the ivy and vines choking whatever remained of the front yard and onto the old wood that made up the porch. You were pushed along in the swell of gathering excitement as you slowly went up the groaning steps and over the swollen and warped boards of the porch right under the massive hole torn through the awning above. 

You quickly found yourself alone as you felt almost drawn towards the second floor, wincing at every creak of the old wood beneath your feet, listening to the laughter and thumps as everyone else explored below. You glanced around cautiously as you pushed open the door to the room you thought the curtains moved in. They looked to be the right shade and you slunk over to look outside to find the correct view, not noticing the door closing behind you and locking with a firm click. 

It seemed to be the master bedroom, large bed with dusty and decaying sheets left like the rest of the house to rot. There were distinct differences in the two sides of the room, indicative of the tastes of separate people. You noticed something glinting in the fractured light that filtered through the cracked glass, and found it to be a large locket. You shivered as a sudden chill seemed to pass over you. 

Looking more closely, curiosity getting the better of you, you traced the elaborate design etched into the front before flipping it over to find a sweet message written into the back. 

“I will always love you, my heart.” 

As soon as you spoke the line out loud, the chill was back and stronger than before. Your finger suddenly caught onto a latch in your jolt of surprise at the sudden draft and, still curious, you twisted it as the locket slowly opened to reveal a picture on one side; a man and a woman smiling towards the camera. From the limited background, you could vaguely make out the house, new and tall with a small, carefully taken care of garden in front. It looked nothing like the ominous, vine infested, rotting nightmare you were currently in. The original owners, you had to assume, long since passed in the horrible fashion everyone knew about. 

You frowned, a sudden sadness filling you as you tried to compare the happy picture in the locket to the stories of the death and misery that soon followed. Looking back down, you noticed more writing within. 

“There is nothing I would not do for you, my heart. If you ever left I would do anything to have you back in my arms once again.” 

The chill slowly caressed your arms, as it seemed to settle and loom on your back and over your shoulder. You were shivering and terrified as a sudden voice filled your ears. 

“I meant every word when I had our locket engraved. Death and life cannot keep me from you any longer. It was so lonely waiting for you.” 

The chill moved around you, as what felt like icy fingers suddenly tilted your head up as the chill drew closer and closer. You felt frozen, unable to move as the force seemed to hold you in stasis. But the sound of a crash and the hooting and hollering of your friends below drew both you and the presence out of the predicament you had walked yourself into. The cold seemed to grow worse as the grip on your face tightened slightly, loosening only after you let out a squeak at the slight pain. 

The icy feeling drew away slightly, almost reluctantly letting you slip from its grasp. It drew closer only to lay a chilly kiss upon your forehead, its form seeming to solidify the longer it was around you. 

“Stay here and be safe. I’ll deal with the interlopers swiftly. I will be back soon.” 

The presence faded and you felt yourself able to move once again, even as the ominous promise settled into your brain. You paused for a moment, unsure on what to do before a scream rang out. The sounds of a fight reached you and you jumped into action, trying the door and finding it locked. It should open from the inside, but no matter how you rattled the knob and banged on the door, nothing budged. The screams grew and the sound of thumping and sobs started up as it seemed your friends tried to run. 

You were trapped in a room as something with the intention to return massacred your friends. So, with desperation, you turned to the cracked glass. You tore the curtain off and wrapped it around your fist, gritting your teeth as you began to punch out the glass from the warped and swollen shut frame. Finally, after a few hits the glass shattered, falling to the ground outside in a mess of shining and shimmering shards, bouncing off the awning below on the way down.

The sounds below continued though there were noticeably fewer screams filling the air. You climbed out, carefully settling onto the solid part of the awning before you, avoiding the few pieces of glass that stayed. You scooted towards the gaping hole you knew was above the porch, hoping and praying that it didn’t give out under you. You found yourself carefully falling through the hole with only the slightest twinge in your joints as you landed. You stood up, turning to see if you could help who remained only to find the door thrown open as someone desperately tried to escape. 

The chill returned, covering your friend in a fine layer of frost before it paused, finally noticing your presence. You shivered, feeling the eyes upon you once more as the voice filled the air even as your friend turned purple, gasping for air and scrabbling fruitlessly at their neck as icy marks in the form of fingers formed around it. 

“My heart, what are you doing outside? What happened to your hand? How did you get hurt? Please, come back inside, now.” 

The firmness of the tone brooked no argument, but the sound of desperate gasps followed closely by a meaty crunch as your friend’s neck was snapped right before your eyes incited your flight instincts. You bolted, only speeding up as a sudden wail filled the air. 

~~~~~ 

You had looked behind only once, seeing the fog take over a deer you had passed, stopping it in its desperate leap away. It fell over, seeming to be completely frozen solid. There was no way to fight that, so you were left to run away, heading away from wherever the fog surged forth from to follow you, nipping at you heels but never encasing you within it. 

That should have tipped you off, but adrenaline and fear left little room for thoughts other than to run from the threat following close behind. You found yourself bursting back into the small clearing you had run from only a few minutes ago, having been chased in a large loop. You looked around frantically for an escape but the line of trees encircling the clearing was filled with the fog that had frozen a deer solid. 

You had no where to run to now. The door still hung open, but the body had vanished. You stepped closer, stumbling when a hand suddenly latched onto your arm, tugging you inside as the door slammed shut behind you. You found yourself guided into what seemed to be a sun room, overlooking the overgrown garden. 

The form pressed itself close to you, now solid in a way it wasn’t just ten minutes ago. You were pressed into its lap, seeming to hover above the chair it chose to sit in as you felt yourself surrounded by the icy chill it seemed to emanate.

The voice that accompanied the bone deep chill was light, almost a whisper, even when it seemed to fill the air around you. 

“It’s not lonely anymore. I was waiting for you to return but only interlopers emerged. Visitors only harm this place, but not you, never you. I kept them away and when they refused to leave I took matters into my own hands. I kept our house safe and secure, waiting for you to return to me. And now, I’ll keep you safe from them all, just stay with me. Stay with me, my heart and I’ll never let anything happen to you again. We can rebuild our life, tend to the garden and do everything we never had the chance to do before.”

As the firm and icy arms settled on your waist, tugging you against a firm chest, as kisses began to spread along your neck and all along the various wounds that you had inflicted upon yourself in your attempt to escape, and as the feeling of hair began to tickle your cheek, the fog outside only grew thicker as the trees seemed to bend closer to the house, working with the fog to block out anything beyond the clearing and house you were now trapped within.