#twins out here with the freaky ghost hair

[lizord-lord]

4/4 dp au boys at last! have a boy who has seen Tron too many times, drawn by someone who has not seen Tron even once

[d3caynluv]

BLOOD SOIL is the 2nd full album of the Angelico co-ed group Pushing Daises released on November 1st, 2023 alongside their short film by the same name. The album consists of 11 tracks with "Catch me" and "Frostbite" being the title tracks. The group promoted the album for two months, ending promotions with 750,000 copies sold worldwide and 8 music show trophies between the two songs.

The album is entirely self-composed, written, and produced by the members of Pushing Daisies, citing to have very little help from outside forces with this album. A majority of their creative direction for this comeback was under their leader, Zasha, who wrote and directed their short film as well.

TW: HORROR IMAGERY + FAKE BLOOD!

TRACK OO1. INTRO: HOMECOMING

TRACK OO2. ALWAYS FOREVER

TRACK OO3. LEAP OF FAITH

TRACK OO4. CATCH ME

TRACK OO5. ORIGINAL SIN

TRACK OO6. SIDE EFFECTS

TRACK OO7. FROSTBITE

TRACK OO8. GOLDEN AGE

TRACK OO9. TWIN HOTEL BEDS

TRACK O1O. ALL I DO IS RUN

TRACK O11. OUTRO: THIS IS THE END

Pushing Daisies were styled by Nakyung who drew inspiration from dollcore and the southern gothic aesthetic. Nakyung also did their hair and makeup, which were heavily influenced by dolls and horror movies.

OO1. Biggest moment for them this era was when the Blood Soil short film was aired at the Sundance Film Festivle. Blood Soil would go on to win "Short Film Grand Jury Prize" making them the first Angelico Artist to take home an American based film award. Their reaction to winning the award would go viral as all the members looked stunned and confused, looking around like a mistake had been made before going to accept their award.

OO2. They brought back their beloved reality series "BEYOND THE GRAVE" and ran for ten episodes. The members went on various adventures throughout the show's run such as getting locked in an escape room together, visiting famous haunted locations around the world, undergoing a test to discover if they have any supernatural abilities or sensitivities, gathering around a campfire or in a dimly lit room to share their own ghost stories or paranormal experiences, spending a night at a reputedly haunted hotel, watching their favorite horror movies together, and many more freaky adventures wherever Angelico decided to send the group.

OO3. The group kept their social media activeee during this era! Zasha went live on their YouTube channel where she went over her entire creative process behind Blood Soil and shared personal anecdotes and inspirations behind the lyrics of the album. She read excerpts from her personal diary during this live, showing drawings and sketches of the characters and outfits she envisioned for this project. It was very insightful and intimate experience for fans.

OO4. Nakyung and Elliot were the most promoted members, as usual, the pair becoming Inkigayo MCees which fans ate up. They would go viral for interacting with groups they used to be a part of or were almost a part of. A picture of Nakyung smiling brightly while Sena of Venus side eyes her was a big hit amongst Mysies who know how to take a joke unlike constellations, who didn't find it funny. While introducing STARZIE, Elliot would make a joke about almost being in the lineup, saying: "Here's the group I was rigged out of, Starzie!" And while the members were able to take the joke, Elliot would have to apologize to netizens on his Instagram story later that night.

OO5. That wasn't the only scandal that hit the group this comeback! Yeojun would be spotted leaving a club with Lunarix member Evie, causing a frenzy online and disputes between the group's fanbases. Angelico would swiftly release a statement but would avoid discussing the relationship status of the idols, only addressing that the club they went to was a reputable club and neither one of them engaged in "inappropriate activities". Still, both Yeojun and Evie would release apologies, stating they were close friends and were just hanging out. After this, Yeojun would be notably quiet for the rest of the promotions.

OO6. The group would get matching tattoos towards the end of the promotions, vlogging the whole experience and even sharing the design on their social media for fans to get the same design if they wanted to. The design was a simple daisy with a single falling petal. Many netizens saw this move as inappropriate as it "promoted getting tattoos" to their "young and impressional" fanbase. The group didn't address this stirr through Zasha would post a selfie with her tattoo on her story with the caption "get jobs" which many fans found hilarious.

[wynnyfryd]

“Steeeeeeeve!” Robin sings as she throws open the front passenger door, in a tone that sounds like she might actually burst if she doesn’t tell Steve whatever juicy news she’s procured in the single hour they’ve been apart while her parents forced her to attend church. “Wait,” she frowns, looking into the car. “Why are you sitting here?”

Steve shoots her a tired smile from the passenger seat and reaches out to squeeze her hand. Eddie waves from the driver’s side, Dustin chirps “Hi, Robin!” from behind Eddie’s head, and she nods a quick hello to them both before turning back to Steve. “Thought I was about to kick Eddie out of my seat,” she says, and okay, rude. “Is it your ear again?”

“Yeah, it’s doing the thing,” Steve says mildly as he climbs out of the car. Eddie scoffs. Pretty understated way of saying ‘I’m probably going deaf from all the head trauma and my ear aches and it’s not always safe for me to drive,’ but whatever.

Steve pauses to hug Robin — kinda squeezes the life out of her, lifts her up and shakes her like he’s trying to knock pennies loose from her frilly dress pockets — and then he hops into the back with Dustin.

“Dude,” Dustin says, sounding so disappointed. “You’re really gonna give up shotgun just like that?”

Steve smacks the back of his head. Dustin yelps “Ow!” and then mutters, “Jerkwad.”

“Shithead,” Steve thumps him again. They tussle for a second until Steve gets him in a headlock, ripping the kid’s hat off and ruffling his hair with a triumphant fist, and Dustin says, “Get off me! This is child abuse, I’m telling mom!”

“She’ll never believe you,” Steve grins, “but go ahead.”

“What the hell are you wearing?” Eddie asks Robin once everyone settles in, because she looks like she’s been forced to wear Nancy’s clothes again.

Robin and Steve mean-mug him in tandem, doing their freaky soulmate sync up shtick, and Robin sniffs, “First of all: Shut up.”

“Steve, control your wife,” and yeah, okay, he deserves the vicious flick to the funny bone he gets for that.

“Secondly, I am wearing the sexist garb of the good Christian girl that my parents like me to pretend to be once a week, and thirdly,” she whips around in her chair to look at Steve, eyes bright with unshared gossip, “you will. not. believe what I overheard today! It is truly, like, so scandalous, Steve, oh, my god!”

Her hands are going crazy with excitement as she speaks, reaching out to slap at the nearest forearm, which just so happens to be Eddie’s. “Watch it, Buckley, Jesus—!”

“—is our Lord and Savior,” Dustin supplies. “Would the two of you like to at least let us leave the church premises before you continue to take the Lord’s name in vain?”

“Aw, Dusty,” Eddie coos as he pulls out of the lot, “you saying you don’t want the big man upstairs to smite our ruin upon the mountainside?”

Another round of synchronized stink faces from the mean girl twins at that, and Dustin snipes “way to butcher the quote, idiot,” but at least someone in this car recognizes his good taste.

Eddie drives them back to Steve’s place as Robin launches into a sordid little tale of Sunday debauchery. Apparently, she excused herself from the sermon when it started getting a little too fire and brimstone for her liking, took to wandering the halls to kill time while she was pretending to be off using the ladies’ room, “and then,” she says in a hushed, slow rasp like she’s telling ghost stories around a campfire, “I heard…”

Steve and Dustin are on the edge of their seats. The leather squeaks as they lean in further.

“…the unmistakable sounds of lovemaking coming from the administrative office!”

“Oh, gross!” Dustin recoils like he’s been burned.

Steve’s brows pinch in offense. “Who fucks in a church?”

“I’d fuck you in a church, baby,” Eddie smirks at him in the rearview, hamming up the cartoonish leer just to piss everyone off. Dustin makes a retching noise and Robin flips him the bird.

Steve’s frown lines deepen. “We’re not fucking in a church,” he says. He looks so serious, all stern and grouchy like Hopper when he’s had to spend too much time around Mike, and Eddie’s having way too much fun riling everyone up so he sticks his bottom lip out and pouts, “Aw, Stevie, come on! Not even a quickie?”

“Gross!!” Dustin shouts again.

“So gross,” Robin concurs.

Eddie just laughs and turns the radio up.

[bilightningwhumper]

@ailesswhumptober 2024- Day 18

Fright/Freaky Friday: Mind control, possession, “Everybody will end up despising you.”

<<Previous . My AI-less Whumptober 2024 Masterlist . Next>>

Plight of the Canary (Mare's story) Masterlist --- SoaS Series Masterlist

Summary:

Excerpt for "Plight of the Canary" (Mare's story) Mare has ghosts of memory haunting her

Notes:

Characters: Mare- Bucky and Natasha's daughter, Will's twin Bucky Barnes Mariya Ivanof (mentioned)- scientist of a splinter group from both HYDRA and the Red Room Natasha Romanoff (mentioned) Warnings: mentions of nudity, intimate whumper, lady/female whump, past noncon intimacy mention, manipulative whumper

Ao3 link

Word count:

Mare PoV

Mare got out of the shower, drying her arms off quickly before wrapping herself in her towel. These arms were still something to get used to, to take care of. Will and Harley had assured her they wouldn’t damage in water, but she still wanted to be careful.

Sighing, she wiped off the mirror with a hand towel so she could brush her hair. The towel slipped slightly and she caught it, but not before the scars on her chest were exposed.

She didn’t mean to. It never ended up well. Still, almost mesmerized, her fingers ran along the long scar along her collarbone, the cold metal biting at her skin. That made her snap out of it, shaking her head. Her hair moving in the corner of her eye made her startle and she jumped, her head jerking to look around.

Forcing herself to breathe, she tried to relax, yanking the brush a little too hard through her hair. She was alone, at home with her family. She was safe. Mariya wasn’t here. The last thing she needed was to get someone looking for her in concern. And they didn’t need to see the scars on her back. It was bad enough Nat had seen them already. At least she hadn’t asked, hadn’t pried. If any of her siblings found out-

“Everyone will end up despising you. Once they find out what you are.”

“Shut up,” she muttered. “You’re not here, you’re just a voice in my head. A stupid memory.”

“Just a pathetic whore. A killer for hire. Always selling yourself to the nearest bidder.”

She looked up, her own haunted face staring back at her as Mariya’s voice echoed in her mind. The ghost of a knife dug into her back, slicing, scaring, leaving reminders to last forever.

“Might as well keep a tally.” the voice laughed. “So everyone can see what you’re worth. How many times you gave your body for me.” Phantom lips pressed into her shoulder, shadows of hands on her body, on her- “Let’s add another one now, shall we?”

“Shut. UP!” she roared, slamming her fist into the mirror.

It shattered, shards falling into the sink, one flying toward her and striking past her cheek, leaving a cut that left drops of blood to trace down to her jaw. She had to look away, unable to look at the now multiplied grotesque reflections of herself. Stumbling back, she made her way into her room, not fighting the shutdown. Safety was in the corner, far away from the mirror, far away from- Not her. She couldn’t escape her memories. Her body.

Faintly, she heard people come into her room. But she couldn’t move, couldn’t respond from where she was, curled up on her side, back pressed against the wall. Vision already blurred, she closed her eyes, wishing she could just melt away.

-

When she came back to herself, there was a soft weight over her body. A blanket, she realized. And a pillow under her head. Someone’s hand rested in her hair, now dry. Looking up, she saw it was Bucky, reading a book.

When she moved, he met her eyes. He didn’t say anything at first. Just ran his fingers through her hair, soft and soothing, like his scent.

She closed her eyes, leaning into it.

Then he paused ans she could hear his hesitation before he said, “I have them too, you know.”

Startled, she opened her eyes again as his hand moved away, watching as he lifted the hem of his shirt. Tally marks littered his back.

Meeting her eyes, he smiled sadly. “You’re not alone, kiddo. And none of us love you any less for what you’ve gone through. Even if the others don’t know details, no one here blames me for my sins. They won’t hate you for yours. Promise.”

She didn’t answer, just leaned into his hand again as he resumed softly brushing her hair with his fingers, smoothing her hurt and worries away, pulling her into a real, dreamless sleep.

SoaS Taglist:

No one so far

[vinylhazza]

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” <3

“y/n, calm down-“

“relaxxxxx have a beer! you’re supposed to be having fun!” ethan slurred from beneath you, pressing the clear bubble on the cardboard “Trouble” game he’d found in the cabinet underneath the TV. the dice slap against the plastic and a moment later he’s cheering at the outcome of his play, moving his yellow game piece excitedly.

“i’m sure it wasn’t that big of a deal, there are drafts all over this shithole,” thomas reasoned softly, the quietest of the group. he was the only one that actually looked concerned about the petrified face you wore. maybe he was trying to convince himself more than you.

“yeah you look like you’ve seen a ghost!” angela quips, sitting up from her place on the couch.

you’re sure she’s right. your white metallica t-shirt had ripped on your way out of the guest room, caught on a cracked piece of wood on the doorframe. it remained crumpled in your fist. your face, drained of all color, gave the impression that you’d seen something to convince your almost immediately you weren’t alone. there was something else lurking in the old shack they called a cabin and they needed to listen before it was too late.

ethan and joshua chuckle from their spots on the floor, atop a dingy carpet that had to be there for more than a decade - uncleaned at that. it made your skin crawl that the two looked comfortable among the filth of the creepy ass cabin they’d somehow convinced you to come to. in the middle of the woods, miles from the nearest house or rest stop, far enough from civilization to have you on your toes the moment you set your bag on the hand crocheted blanket on the bed.

“it’ll be fun,” they said.

yeah fun until strange happenings that you can’t explain start popping up and no one believes you. someone pulling on your foot in the middle of the night, pinching at your skin that can’t be coincidence, voices low but noticeable. isn’t this the plot of every horror movie? the girl that doesn’t want to come has all the bad shit happen and all of her dumbass friends mock her until they inevitably have their asses handed to them?

“maybe that’s because i have” you huff, eyes darting to every nook and cranny they could to ensure nothing took you by surprise for the second time. you know what you saw, and none of these drunken fools were going to listen to you, “you’re all telling me you didn’t hear that shit last night.”

this only induced more laughter from your group of friends, too rep-occupied making a joke out of the trip than actually considering that this cabin just might actually be haunted.

“unlike you ms night owl, we were beat from the what was it? 6 hour drive out here? i was practically in a coma,” ethan chuckled, much rather slurred.

neither twin knew the real history behind the cabin nor why their aunt had fled as fast as she could when she’d spent her entire life hidden away from society. they didn’t think it was strange she suddenly wanted a change and gave them the keys to her families cabin with no question? opened her doors to “kids” that had no other plans than to tell scary ghost stories and get drunk off their asses?

“thomas and e are right babe, my aunt helen even said herself that there are drafts and when the house settles it can get kind of freaky-“

“pictures don’t come flying off of the wall because of a draft. someone touched me grayson. nor does a window slam shut that i had to fight to open in the first place,” you turn your attention to your boyfriend, narrowed eyes and all. you thought for sure he’d be the one to believe you and come to your aid when everyone else chalked it up to an old house surrounded by the elements. he should have considering his complaints the entire ride to the cabin.

“i don’t really wanna deal with e trashed the whole weekend”

“there’s nothing for us to even do there”

“how the fuck are we even supposed to seep with angela and thomas trying to fuck every hour?”

“no air conditioning either, i hope the trees shade and fans will be enough because i’m out if i sweat the entire time.”

“it’s gonna be so fun sure, bugs and rodents and complete seclusion oh goody!”

would he ever admit to saying such things? doubtful.

trying to reason with them was pointless. the group of young adults merely rolled their eyes at your frantic attempt to make them understand there is something seriously wrong. something sinister and evil lurked in the depths of this house, right down to his foundation—you were sure of it. you weren’t saying you had some sort of intel on spirits destined to loop for eternity, demons, ghosts and gouls...but you weren’t a fool and you did have a gut feeling that the group of you needed to be as far away from the cabin as possible. you cared little that you’d arrived only yesterday. one night was enough to scare you for life.

“i can call her if it would make you feel better,” he softened under your intense gaze, hair disheveled on his head. his look of apprehension let you know that he knew now wasn’t the time nor the place to challenge your feelings or make this anymore embarrassing in front of your friends that didn’t believe you.

he had slept throughout the night, unbothered by the unexplained sounds throughout the night: walking, skittering in the walls, pictures swinging on their hooks, doors creaking open, even wind across your face when there wasn’t a single window open or fan on in the house. you tried to reason with him, but knew he’d talk you down from your hectic attempts to scare him into leaving with you.

“no signal, remember?” you sneer.

with a chill down your back you know the lot of you weren’t alone. you knew without a doubt, deep in your body, it was the entity there to join in on the show, front and center just waiting for the right moment to let the rest of unsuspecting kids know it didn’t want them here. just as it had been banging and messing about in the early morning hours.

eyes wide and unwavering on grayson’s you begged him to see your terror at the situation. you just wanted to get the hell away from the run down prison cabin and never look back.

a favor was a favor until it wasn’t. his aunt had known the spirits that lurked in the cabin, whenever they came from. she’d always been a strange woman, very reclusive - but suddenly you wonder what motive she had being so open about the lot of you using her abandoned cabin she fought so hard to leave. a favor for her favorite nephews right?

with a whisper you urge them all to quiet down, a hand flying to your mouth. you felt in an irrational way that if it heard the labored breaths coming from your buzzing body, it would feed off of that energy. the energy it thrives on.

“it’s here.”

“y/n, you look so fucking crazy right now for real maybe you should have gotten some sleep. in fact maybe you could lay down and we will just get you when the food is done-“ angela whines, moving towards you with her arms open for a sympathetic hug. she really thought she was helping matters.

“did you not hear me? i said it’s. here.” backing away from her arms was your first reaction, your voice shaky and small.

“what is? there isn’t anyone here y/n jesus fu-“

with ethans sentence caught in his throat and his hand propping his body up on the floor, the group of you watch from across the room as the cellar door creaks open slowly, catching the full attention of the inebriated kids just looking for a good time.

you’d have loved to say i told you so, but instead waiting for movement, stuck in your spot in horror.

“isn’t that normally locked?” thomas whispers from the corner, backing himself up as far as his body would allow, contouring himself against the white and blues of the peeling wallpaper.

“always. i’ve never even seen what’s down there...” grayson swallows, clearly petrified to move any part of his body from the way his hands clenched at his sides.

with your breath stuck in your chest, you watch as angela rises to her feet, bravely marching towards in the door in a heroic kind of way, swinging the door open and looking down onto what you assumed to be a long stretch of stairs.

“looks like we are about to find out.”

-

a/n: just something spooky and fun idk. cheesy horror movies are my vibe.

[has-gilgamesh-doneanythingwrong]

Just Another Day in Fuyuki

Follows the events of Fuyuki’s 5th Holy Grail war from the perspective of an ordinary student.* (also lmao i put it on ao3 too)

*(This idea was based off a hilarious YouTube comment I read)

The first time she realized that something was rotten within the town of Fuyuki was on a cool, midnight blue night. It was a night like no other, ivory rays of moonlight dancing atop her skin as she took a casual jog past the all-too familiar gates of Homurahara Academy.

It should’ve been a normal night, yet the streets were much more silent than usual. Before she could spin to the side to cross over to the next junction; a powerful array of red lights assaulted her eyes, darting around like spirits.

‘WHAT?’ As she looked back, she saw that the red lights were emanating from none other than Homurahara Academy itself! That was strange, she had never witnessed such an event before.

‘Looks like we’ve got a case of delinquents at our place as well, huh?’ All it took was a split second for her to turn her back against the bizarre sight, regarding it as no more than a minor prank. Well of course she did. It’s not as if anything exciting happened within Fuyuki, anyway!

Little did she know that such an action may have saved her very life...

‘Good morning. Recently we’ve been sighting reports of multiple gas leaks and bloodless murders. In addition to this, there’s recently been an online trend of blurry pictures of people wearing suspicious cosplay being shared online. Many sources suggest that...’

As the local Fuyuki news blared yet more macabre news surrounding recent incidents, the young girl slipped on her wood brown loafers, as she patted down her coffee brown school jumper.

The young girl’s name was none other than Sakaki Ayane; a student of Homuhara Academy. As she jammed her plain, homemade bento filled to the brim with Strawberry Cream Sandwiches and Fried Chicken Cutlets into her extremely ordinary school bag, and switched off the plain television with a bland remote, a singular thought passed her mind.

‘It really is just another normal day in Fuyuki today!’ Sure, the news was terrifying- but hey, as long as her daily peace wasn’t disturbed, she was fine! Slamming the door to her basic house closed, she skipped through the mundane streets of her hometown, warm sunlight beaming down on her face, as she bowed politely to  fellow shop-owners and neighbors.

See, her life was totally fine! There was no need to worry about the news, or that time she witnessed giant fireworks at her school, after all! Everything was definitely all-ok!

As she prowled past numerous mounds of identically-emblazoned students, and sat herself right in the middle of Fujimura Taiga’s homeroom class- students guffawing at their sensei’s top-notch sense of humor- she breathed a sigh of relief.

However once lunchtime passed, Ayane was shocked speechless by a minor change to her daily lifestyle. Just as usual, her orange-haired classmate- Emiya Shirou- had caught the entire hall’s attention, due to his lively interactions with a twin-tailed genius named Tohsaka Rin. Ayane was pretty used to their interactions by now- Emiya would bust out into an awkward show, whilst students would gasp, their faces marred with awe and jealousy. As for Rin, she knew next to nothing about the beautiful girl, except for the fact that she’d sometimes catch her mid-conversation with Emiya, using rather surreal vocabulary such as ‘holy grail’ and ‘mages’.

Thinking it was nothing much, Ayane was convinced that Emiya and Tohsaka were a bunch of Roleplayers or something. She didn’t know much about the genre, but found it to be quite fun to imagine scenarios such as being a mage fighting over holy grails, and fighting dangerous beasts- such as skeleton armies. ‘I mean, why else would they talk as if they’re in the middle of a quest?’ Taking another humongous munch out of her sandwich, shock finally settled into her pores once she noticed that something was a little off about their interactions this time.

‘Where’s Shinji?’ That greasy-seaweed-haired, smug little man’s features were very prominent in Ayane’s mind. Based on her assumptions, he was the kind of idiot who kept on trying to interrupt Emiya and Tohsaka’s Roleplay sessions- much to both their chagrins.

However, this time- he wasn’t here at all?! Where had he gone off to? ‘I guess they finally kicked him off their Roleplay club, once and for all.’ Ayane heaved a sigh at that. She had no idea why they’d accommodate such a selfish guy in the first place; seeing as he always kept on trying to centre their Roleplaying on topics concerning himself instead! ‘If I was a Roleplayer, I definitely wouldn’t want him on my squad!’ Incredulously tapping her feet against the linoleum flooring; she tried to think of various reasons as to why Shinji was kicked out of the gang.

But it was to no avail. Slamming her head against the tea brown shade of her desk, she groaned.

That was it! There was no choice but to catch the latest gossip! Packing up her lunchbox, she rushed out of the classroom like a blur of wind; leaving bemused classmates in her wake. Running as if her life depended on it, she leapt onto the school roof; caught sight of the local gossips- and pulled out a spare sandwich.

“I’ll offer you this sandwich! So, spare me the news, what’s going on with Shinji?!”

A bunch of confused girls, smack bang in the middle of a game of cards- looked up at Ayane, their faces confused.

“Shinji? Who’s Shinji again?” A girl with blonde hair and piercings shrugged her shoulders.

“You know, that rich guy? That one that has cash leaking outta his pockets.”

“Oh, that guy? Have no clue.”

“A friend of a friend of a friend dated him. Said he’s a pain in the butt to be around.”

“Yes, that’s the one!” Ayane pointed excitedly, as she plonked herself in between the girls, her body heaving with laboured breaths. “So, what happened? When did he disappear?”

“If you want details like that, you’re gonna have to offer more than a sandwich,” The blonde-haired girl whined. “You’re always asking us for gossip these days, Ayane.”

“A-ah, is that so?” Anxiously wiping sweat off her forehead, Ayane rummaged through her bag: oodles of paper; pretty rocks; textbooks and other strange materials clattering onto the stone ground. Eventually, she uncovered a small talisman from her bag, eyes gleaming with excitement. “How about this then? I’m sure this is worth quite a bit of yen!”

“Dude, my sister bought that for 500 yen the other day. No dice from me.”

“It’s pretty cute, though...I’ll take it!” As one girl happily exchanged it with Ayane, the others spun their heads in horror.

“Kikuo! You damn betrayer!”

“You can’t be human, accepting such a cheapskate offer!”

“Damn, though...I can relate. Who can resist cute things, amirite?”

As they began to squabble, Ayane laughed. Nothing beat a good gossip session!

The school day had finally ended, with only the loud cheering and yells of various school clubs filling the now empty halls of Homurahara Academy. As she pulled out her loafers from her metallic gray shoe locker; a conflicted expression crossed her face, as she recalled the events of her gossip session.

“Ah, that Shinji? Well, it was really odd, but he pissed off right after a major incident hit our school!”

“W-what happened?” Ayane was more or less right in the other girl’s face, her eyes bulging with curiosity.

“E-erm, well...” Blushing awkwardly, the girl scratches her face. “I mean, weren’t you there? It was kinda unforgettable.”

“Actually, I decided to take a day off school that day.” Ayane’s directness was like a major slap in the face for the others. “School can be really boring sometimes...”

“I had a feeling you’d say that...” Another sighed. “Well anyway, some HUGE shit happened. Like we were all sitting in class one second-”

“- and then there was this weird- ass red light-”

‘What is it with our school and red lights?’ Ayane’s gut instinct could tell that something was strange about this story. It felt unreal.

“-Yeah, and then like everything just blacked out. Like the only memory I have is of me waking up the next day or something.” The other girls nodded in assent. “It’s like some freaky curse possessed the shit out of Homurahara Academy or something!”  None of them were able to fill in the missing blanks about what happened; eventually blaming it all on poison gas.

“Well, anyway; Shinji disappeared from that day onwards. Not like that’s a bad thing, mind you.” And that was it.

As Ayane exited the gates, a heavy cloud permeated her mind. Time was certainly out of joint, for them to not even be able to recall what happened! ‘Maybe Shinji was possessed by a ghost...’ Strolling by the courtyard, she caught sight of a familiar purple-haired student.

It was Matou Sakura. Because Ayane was such a nosy student, she recognised her as that one shy girl who’d label her classmate-Emiya, as her senpai. As she passed the girl, she bowed ever-so-slightly in respect, as Sakura embarrassedly bowed back. Watching after her back, yet another terrifying wash of surprise crawled across her back.

Didn’t Sakura usually meet up with that one super-glamorous, plum-haired model-like lady on her way home? It was strange to see Sakura walking home alone.

‘Shit’s really hitting the fan now...’ Ayane mused, as she turned in the opposite direction. She needed an emotional escape to purge herself of the encroaching force of dread threatening to engulf her body. ‘Ah, that’s it! Let’s go to the harbour!’ Regaining her previous sense of joy, Ayane more or less sprinted to Fuyuki Harbour. Aside from a few guests, people going fishing- and the odd seagull- it was often quiet, making it the perfect place for silent contemplation!

She more or less flew towards the harbour, breathing in a deep gulp of the fresh sea air once she arrived. The harbour was like heaven, drifting clouds trundling overhead. Pointing exuberantly at that one special lighthouse perched far away, she grinned. ‘This is the best- OH?!’

Before she could release a scream of joy, she caught sight of something.

It seemed as if she wasn’t alone at the harbour, after all. Shielding her eyes from the billowing wind, she caught sight of a rather fit man in skin-tight black pants; and a figure-hugging white shirt. But what really caught her off-guard was his bold blue locks of hair.

‘Hey, wait a minute!! Why does he remind me of those blurry pictures of people wearing suspicious cosplay?!’ Clamping a hand over her mouth, she prayed to all of the gods and deities in the world to disguise her presence. Seeing as the man was looking so intently at the sea, she didn’t want to disturb his peace time. ‘What a shame...’ One of Ayane’s favourite hobbies was to scream at the harbour, where nobody else could hear her. However, she would be cordial to this visitor today. ‘You better watch out, blue hair!’ She declared in her mind; fists clenched. ‘I’ll be considerate today, but won’t be next time! If I see you again, you’ll definitely have to put up with me screaming at the sea!!’

As she moonwalked as silently as possible away from the sparkly man, a major thought hit her mind. ‘There sure have been a lot of beautiful people with stunning hair colours hanging out in Fuyuki lately...’ It made her somewhat excited yet terrified at the same time to see just how much her daily life was changing.

Oh well, there was no choice but for her to release her pent-up emotions somewhere else instead. As a rather detailed map of Fuyuki appeared within her mind, a lightbulb popped in her brain. ‘The Fuyuki City Centre!’ Nothing was better than throwing one’s emotions at a cup of ice cream. ‘I’m a genius,’ Ayane twirled down the road, pattering rays of sun following behind. After screaming at the sky in the park (startling a few children); and buying the biggest matcha sundae that she could afford, she was all set for the day and ready to go home.

Although today had been quite suspicious, things were finally settling back to normal. Or so she thought. All peace instantly came to a halt, as she bumped into something quite long. ‘Oh crap!’ Raising her head, she came face-to-face with none other than a human wearing a... strange combination between a... biker outfit and school uniform? ‘Never seen an outfit like that before.’ As she bowed in apology, a piercing gaze reminiscent of death itself froze her body to its very core.

“The humans of this era are such pathetic mongrels...” The voice trailed off, as the harsh man’s presence all but disappeared.

‘Err...What?’ Once he was out of sight, her legs buckled; as she fell to the ground- passer-by's sparing her disgruntled glances. ‘I’ve never felt a presence that scary before...’ Clutching her heart anxiously, the shadow of death curled itself around her chest; suffocating her breath. It would take until the pitch black of night for her to regain her composure again. As she trawled back home within the dark, Ayane exhaled painfully, clutching her head.

What a weird day this had been! ‘I’m so glad I’m home now.’ Relieved, she withdrew her jangling keys from her bag; overjoyed to be right in front of her basic house again!

“Yay, I’m home-?!!!!” The ground beneath her rattled ominously, as she toppled to the ground- her eyes rattling wildly. Powerful tremors rippled around her, warping Fuyuki into the most demonic rollercoaster ride she had ever had the displeasure of experiencing.

‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!!!’ Idealistic images of the bland, mundane Fuyuki that she loved were shattering, right before her eyes. As a mere human she was blissfully unaware of the blood-curdling terrors lurking right beside her, in this cursed town...This was the fate of those unaware of the events of the Fifth Holy Grail War.

THE END

(lmao Ayane is the weirdest original character EVER. However, I do wonder what random passers-by think about all of the strange crap occurring in Fuyuki!)

[galaxyghostart]

like looking in a mirror - ao3 link

an au fic in which phantom isn’t what he seems. aka, i take my “what if danny isn’t actually phantom” idea and make it angsty. it got very out of hand, very fast. 

Danny Fenton couldn’t tear his eyes away from the TV. It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. It couldn’t. 

Phantom, they were calling him. Amity Park’s new hero, menace, monster. Whatever you wanted to call him. He wasn’t any of those things to Danny.

Sam couldn’t hold her tongue any longer. “...Is no one going to say it?” 

Tucker shot her a warning look. “Don’t, Sam.”

“What? Isn’t it freaky? That ghost looks just like Danny.” 

“I know,” Danny said, too quietly. Sam had a hundred theories lined up already, but Danny was already standing up before she’d even gotten a chance to speak. 

“...Danny? Where are you going?”

“I’ve got someone to find.” 

The door shut. 

Sam looked to Tucker, incredulous. “Did I strike a nerve? It wasn’t an insult, it’s just- Look at him.” She gestured wildly at the news, still broadcasting footage of Phantom flying across the sky. “It’s not like Danny’s dead. Who the hell is that, and how does he look so similar?”

Tucker hesitated. The idea was almost too awful to contemplate, but Danny had clearly thought the same thing he had when that familiar figure made his way across the screen. He stood up, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

“I don’t blame you for not knowing- It happened before you moved to town. C’mon, I’ll tell you on the way. We should find Danny before he does something stupid.” 

---

For once, his parents’ ghosthunting technology was coming in handy. Danny never believed in this stuff before- honestly, part of him still didn’t,- but somehow, it seemed to work. The machine detected ectoplasm, and Phantom may as well have been a beacon for all the power he gave off. 

This is bullshit, Danny thought, even as he followed it like a compass. 

It led him to- of course it lead him here. The observatory. The project had been abandoned a while back, but the skeleton of the structure remained intact. The metaphor didn’t escape him. On the contrary, it was pretty much punching him in the face. Abandoned telescope, abandoned dreams, abandoned life. 

It wasn’t hard to hop the fence. Okay, it was- It took like, 15 minutes, a few falls and a whole lot of swearing, but he finally made it to the other side. The machine in his hands was beeping faster, like a frantic heartbeat. 

Shut up, he silently willed it. It didn’t.

Making his way carefully through the rusted doors of the place, he couldn’t help but feel a chill. Somehow, he didn’t think it was from the temperature. He turned the machine off and stuffed it into his back pocket- At this point, he didn’t need it to feel the energy radiating off of the place. It was everywhere. Wrapping his arms around himself, he stepped to the middle of the circular room. 

“I know you’re here,” he called. 

No response. 

He gazed up at the unfinished ceiling, narrowing his eyes. “It’s me.” 

Still nothing. 

He couldn’t take it anymore. “James. I know it’s you.” 

Just like that, he felt the energy in the room shift. He still couldn’t see him, but he knew he was there. A quiet voice echoed out from the shadows. 

“...how?” 

“You’ve been all over the news, man. Amity Park’s newest hero, I’m hearing.” 

“not that. how did you know it was me? i’m not exactly... normal looking.”

Danny let out a halfhearted chuckle. “You know we have the same face? Can’t exactly change that with a fancy new hair color.” 

“...”

“...Besides, it’s not like I’d forget my own brother.” 

“...you got me.” 

There he was, finally. A dark shadow right in the corner of Danny’s eye. No- There he was again. More solid, more... real. 

Not by much, but enough. 

“...Hey.”

“...hey.” 

Danny had been thinking this over the whole way here, but everything he’d planned to say seemed to have disappeared all of a sudden. What was there to say? It had been years since it had happened, and part of him still couldn’t accept it had happened at all, even now. It didn’t seem... real. 

Ghosts weren’t supposed to be real. It was supposed to be nothing but the made-up fantasy that got his brother killed. That stupid portal. It was less of a portal and more of an electrocution hazard, which Jazz had pointed out, not that either of them had listened. Not until it was too late, that is. It hadn’t worked. Why his parents had tried again after that, he had no idea, but they had, and now he was here. Against all odds, he was here. 

Meaning he’d been there all this time.

And Danny had left him behind. 

“You look...”

“older?”

“...Yeah.”

“so do you. guess that’s how this works.” 

“Maybe.”

They’d always joked about some psychic twin connection. Danny might’ve made some quip about it now, but the humor he often used to cope was starting to feel hollow. James was here. Not alive, but here. What the hell was he supposed to say?

“I... missed you.” 

“i know. i missed you too.” 

“Why didn’t you come home? I had to see you beating up ghosts on the news to realize you were back. Could’ve said hello.” 

There was humor in those glowing green eyes, but not much. “think i didn’t try? mom and dad had a nice hello waiting for me in the form of big ol’ ectoguns.” 

“...Oh.”

“yeah.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“it’s not your fault.” 

“Not just about this, about- About everything. That stupid dare. Not... Not looking for you out there.” 

The phantom’s form solidified a little more, just enough to see that familiar smirk on his face. 

“what, you think you should’ve summoned the dead just to bring me back? doesn’t work like that, buddy. you probably would’ve just gotten a demon.”

“It’s just...” Danny’s voice wavered a little, and he took a deep breath. “It’s just not fair. Why you? Why’d this have to happen to you? You’re back now, but you’re still...” He swallowed, trying to hold back the tears that had been threatening to spill the entire time. “You’re still...”

Denial was the only thing standing between Danny and a full-on mental breakdown. He’d figured it was an impostor. If not that, a coincidence. If not that, some weird dream. A hallucination. Ghosts weren’t supposed to be real. James was gone. 

And yet, here he was. 

“Why aren’t you angry? It was my dumbass idea, and you’re the one that kicked the bucket. You should be pissed as hell. You should hate me.” 

“...”

Danny’s voice was shaking. His shoulders, too. James drifted a little closer, concern making its way onto his ethereal face.

“Why don’t you hate me?” 

Everything went cold. For a moment, Danny thought he’d been dunked in cold water, until he noticed the gloved arms wrapped around his shoulders. James had made it the rest of the way across the room, and was hugging him as tight as one could when they weren’t fully tangible. Danny froze, then slowly lifted his arms to return the hug. James seemed to be getting more solid by the moment, and now that there was a shoulder there to cry on, Danny did. He let it all out- The repressed guilt, the self-hatred, the sadness, the loss. He cried until he couldn’t anymore. James stayed there, solid as a ghost could be. 

“...maybe i was a little pissed at first,” he spoke softly, after what seemed like forever. “okay, a lot pissed. it was a dumb idea, and a dumb portal. but i had a lot of time to think about it while i was gone. lots of ghosts get so pissed and so sad that they just lose themselves completely. go nuts. turn into a big ol’ murder monster or whatever. i didn’t want to be... that, especially not when i knew you were out there probably hating yourself enough for both of us. besides... you’re my twin, dude. i don’t think there’s anything you could do to make me hate you. so i learned to live with it, y’know? well... not live with it, but you get what i’m saying.” 

“...Kind of,” Danny sniffled.

Phantom pulled away from the hug and grinned. “what i’m saying is that i’m okay, danny. it’s okay. i’m back. and besides- you know what i can do now? check it out.” He raised a hand, which immediately began to glow. In his palm, tiny, glowing green stars began to form. It seemed to be taking a little bit of effort, but after a while, he clapped his hands together and then raised them, letting the stars loose. Throughout the observatory an ectoplasmic galaxy soared around them, and James’ face was full of light. He looked... happy. 

“see? isn’t it sick?” 

“Y-Yeah, I guess so,” Danny chuckled, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “Guess being a ghost has a few perks, huh?” 

“yeah.” Phantom smiled, then gave a small sigh. “listen. don’t tell mom and dad, okay...? they won’t... get it.” 

“Are you sure...?”

“big ol’ ectoguns, danny.” 

“Fair point. I’m... sorry.” 

“holy shit, danny.” James smacked him lightly in the shoulder. “stop apologizing!”

“Sorry!” Another smack. “Ow! Okay, okay, I get the point!”

“good.” He looked like he was about to say something else, but a sudden chill came over the room, even worse than before. James looked suddenly agitated, and soared quickly to the window. The stars vanished. “listen, i really wanna catch up more. like, you have no idea, i missed you so bad. but i wasn’t the only ghost the portal let out. there’s lots more, and they’re mean, and i’m pretty sure there’s a new one out there right now. i better go make sure they don’t kill anybody else.” 

“You don’t have to do it all by yourself.”

“i’m the only one of us who doesn’t have to worry about getting killed. i’ll see you later, okay?” 

“Wait-”

“i won’t disappear, promise. show me all the pokemon games i missed when i get back.” 

And with that, he was gone. The room was suddenly several degrees warmer, but emptier, too. Danny wasn’t sure how long he was standing there before a voice from behind him made him jump.

“DANNY!”

“Ack! Sam?”

Upon leaving the observatory, there they were- Sam, pacing around and calling. Tucker, lying facedown in front of the fence, clearly having messed up his footing.

“Danny! There you are,” she exclaimed, jogging over as Tucker managed to get to his feet. “We were worried you were going to get possessed.” She hesitated. “I’m sorry about before, by the way. I didn’t know.”

“Are you alright?” Tucker asked, finally having made his way over. 

“Not really,” Danny replied.

He’d spent the last few years feeling like half of a pair. It had always been Danny and James, Danny and James, Danny and James, until one day it was suddenly just Danny. But now... now? 

His missing half wasn’t missing anymore. Different, yes. Weird, for sure. Probably just as annoying as he’d ever been. But not missing. 

Danny glanced over his shoulder, back at the empty observatory. It didn’t seem so foreboding now. 

“...But I think it’s gonna be okay. Eventually.” 

[harveywritings92]

Happy Death day to you. {Vergil’s Version}

It was raining heavily Y/n sniffled as she hugged her arms, Her wet h/c hair was matted to her face and her blue dress was soaked and stuck to her skin. 

She was just so angry she stormed out of Vergil's house without a jacket, 2 years they've been together! and not once has the white haired man ever told her he loved her or even hinted that he would want a future with her! 

Tonight was turning point it was their anniversary, Y/n had planned this dinner for months! they argued and..and he choose his job and another woman over her! She saw that blond in black corset and leather pants waiting outside looking smug..before driving off.

Y/n made her decision right then and there...Her and Vergil were through! She left her key to his house on the front steps she'd send for her things later so she wouldn't have to see him... 

The distraught woman sat in a bus shelter, her red and tired eyes scanned the schedule then looked both ways the streets were empty only the sound of the rain was there to keep the lonely woman company, Then there was a new sound Y/n's ears strained to focus on it...Footsteps. Her e/c looked out into the darkness through the rain she saw him. A man he scruffy looking was in a prison jumpsuit stained red.

She felt a chill go down her spine when she recalled the news about the escaped murderer, but she was sure they caught him. He looked up from where he was standing and smiled in way that was almost un-natural as he slowly took a step forward towards her... 

Y/n's survival instincts kicked in and she took off running with the man hot on her heels...She dared not look back as she turned into an alley only to be met by a brick wall! The last sensation Y/n felt was a large hand grabbing her shoulder...

A group of teenagers found what was left Y/n that morning...Soon the alley was closed off the crime scene was set up, When Dante opened his door that same morning he was confused to find two police officers standing on his front steps looking grim.

"Are you Vergil Sparda?"

"No I'm his brother Dante, is everything alright?"

"Sir, Do you know a Y/n S/n?"

"Yeah she's my brother's girlfriend... Why, is she in trouble?"

The two officer decided it was best if Vergil heard it from his brother then from strangers. "I sorry sir, She's dead...last night a dangerous convict had escaped.." The officers left as a lightheaded Dante walked over to his phone and called Vergil and Trish. 

["...left her alone on your anniversary, are you thick?!]" He heard the she-demon yell at his brother, Dante winced fuck it was Y/n & Verge's anniversary yesterday.. "What Dante?!" his brother snapped as his twin swallowed trying to breathe, Was he seriously doing this over the phone? Yes he was.

"Verg..You need to come home,now!" Dante said sternly as he brother began to protest as he and Trish were in the middle of a job. "Vergil! It's Y/n, something happened I'm sorry...She's gone." the younger twin's voice was getting hoarse, There was a few seconds of silence when a portal opened in the DMC's office as Vergil and Trish walked through it. the blond could already tell something horrible had happened the Dante's aura was listless and forlorn.

"Where is she? did she leave a note?" Vergil huffed assuming his brother meant Y/n had run off, He went to reach for the door Dante tried to stop him. last night the rain had covered up the smell of blood, now it had stopped...A harsh wind blew through the air and with it the scent blood...

Vergil knew whose blood it was, he smelled and tasted it enough times there was no mistaking it, It was Y/n's... That's how Vergil learned his girlfriend was the nineteenth victim of the Red Grave Slasher...And Vergil was going to get his revenge.

[one month later]

E/c eyes snapped opened before blinking a few times trying to adjusting to what little light there was in the room, Was she home? Had Vergil come back? Y/n winced as she lifted herself up her body felt sore, heavy and her head was killing her. the h/c girl's eyes had finally adjusted and she got a good look at the room she was in, this wasn't her apartment and it certainly wasn't Vergil's house!?

W-where was she?! she then looked under the sheet that was covering her...She was naked?! what happened last night?! she felt like she was hungover but...She didn't drink that much or maybe she did? the sound of foot steps snapped Y/n out of her freak-out, Y/n quickly flopped down and closed her eyes pretended to sleep as the door clicked open;

And a black haired man who definitely wasn't her boyfriend walked in stared at her for a few seconds rolled his eyes and went to the window pulled the curtains opened. as his back was turned Y/n slowly reached for the lamp on the nightstand planning to strike him with it and escape..."Y'know..." the man spoke up causing the h/c to freeze. "If you're going to pretend be asleep, don't make it so obvious." Y/n eyes snapped opened she sat up and saw the man staring right at her unimpressed as she hugged the sheet close.

"Where am I?!" She demanded voice wavering as the man studied her, before sighing "Your in my room above my shop Dead man's pawn." he said tiredly as he pushed away from the window and approached the bed.

 Y/n flinched as he reached into the nightstand drawer and toss an envelope on to her lap the h/c girl looked down at it bemused then look at the man. "What this supposed to be, hush money? After what you did I'll-" she hissed the man put his hand up to silence her.

"I didn't do anything to you, just look inside it'll tell you everything that's happened the last two months." Y/n eyes widened as soon as he said that. T-two months?! that can't be?! he had to be lying it couldn't be August...The guy was off his rocker! "My name is Henry by the way...now get cleaned up, dressed and meet me downstairs." Henry said walking towards the door "you have a busy day ahead of you." with that 'Henry' closed the door and Y/n was alone.

*what did he mean, Busy day?* a chill went down her spine as she thought about whatever he was planning. Then looked down at the envelope, swallowing she opened it and newspaper clippings and a folded letter fell out searching the clippings Y/n stomach churned as read the headline. "Red Grave Slasher claims Nineteenth Victim." how does this answer why she woke up in a stranger's bed? 

She read the article and Y/n felt like her stomach was full of sand as she saw her name and picture staring back at her, it must be a mistake or a trick! she reasoned as she read the details and felt more frantic before looking at the letter her hands were shaking as unfolded it praying she'll see Dante's handwriting saying :GoT'ChA  or something like that...But that all shattered when she looked at the paper in her hands...

I wasn't a letter, it was her death certificate. 

[twenty minutes later.]

Y/n came downstairs wearing a large hoodie, sweat pants and flip flops, Henry was waiting for her doing a Crossword looked up and sighed "Ok..You found the clothes I left. good now let's go." Y/n kept her distance and stared at him suspiciously. "what's going, who put you up to this?!" The [y/height] hissed obviously not believing she was dead, Henry grumbled something under his breath. "Look I'll explain once we get there." he said keep his aged eyes on her, making it clear that Y/n had know choice in the matter reluctantly followed after the lanky man.

"Where are we going?" 

"Someplace that’ll make you feel better.

"A where would that be?"

"Your grave Snow-pea."

"...Snow-pea?" 

Soon the two were at the cemetery gates Henry led Y/n through the graveyard passed a few rows before stopping Y/n eyes widened when she saw Vergil leaving flowers; immediately she tried to run to him only for Henry to hold her back. "Don't, he won't recognize you." her brows furrowed as turned to look back at Vergil only see him walking away with that blond woman he ditched her for...Y/n felt rage bubbling in her stomach as Henry dragged her over the grave Vergil left flowers on...

Soon her anger turned to melancholy as she saw her tombstone [Y/n L/n y/b/d/-2019 loved and missed dearly.] then the anger returned "Loved and missed..." she snorted Henry cocked a brow as her curiously "He sure got over me pretty quickly..." She mumbled bitterly as the light bulb went off in Henry's head "Y'know you really shouldn't assume things..."the tall man deadpanned as Y/n shot him a look "I'll start listening to you, when you tell me what the fucks going on." The man hummed before taking leading Y/n out of the cemetery and eventually to a fancy high-rise apartment building, They got into the elevator and were headed to the penthouse floor.

"You were suppose to have this speech months ago, but your soul was so shattered that it took it's sweet time pulling you back together." The black haired man began as Y/n brows furrowed as she listened intently."So, what? Am I ghost or something?" the the man snorted and muttered something under his breath "You're definitely something Snow-pea, but a ghost you are not." The h/c was beginning to get frustrated as Henry continued his explanation.

"See, you have selected since the day you were even a thought, the second Roy bumped in to you and extracted your soul from the ties that bounded you to the mortal plains...Y/n welcome the ranks of the grim reapers." He said happily as elevator door to reveal a bloody massacre there was blood and bodies littering the apartment causing Y/n gag and throw up.

Except, something freaky happened instead of liquid this weird cloud of shimmering vapor came out Y/n's mouth causing the y/height girl to gawk at it, she curiously went to touch the cloud as it slowly faded away only to see her hand was spectral.. "Gah!?!" she yelped showing Henry who clicked his tongue at her.

"Don't worry that'll go away once we some food in to ya." He pulling the pale girl into the bloody apartment. "please tell me we're not here to raid their fridge." she said to sick to eat at the moment trying not to touch anything as Henry started looking around and smile when he found what he wanted.

"Naw-naw of course not...We're robbing it!" he said indifferently Y/n relaxed until she registered what he said; then heard a loud crash looked in the dinning room and saw Henry in the wine cabinet pulling out bottles and reading the labels.

"Are you insane?!" she shrieked as Henry waved her "They're not using it anymore, where do you think most of my wares come from?" before Y/n could convey her disdain at Henry's behavior a woman's voice cut in.

"Sorry Henry, but I called dibs. so everything here is mine.~" ??? purred as Y/n whirled around to see a beautiful woman wavy red hair wearing a dark green cocktail dress with a sports bag slung over her shoulder stuffed to overcapacity with what Y/n assumed to be clothes, jewelry and other belongings of whoever these people were.

"Cod dammit Megan! can I at least keep the wine?" Henry pleaded as Y/n between him and "Meg" who's gray eyes widened when she noticed the newbie. "Tell you what, you can have two...if I get Nineteen out those rags." she bargained as Henry sneered at the redhead "Five...I keep four of my choice and we split the fifth." the two stared each other as Meg caved.

"Deal...let's go Nineteen" Y/n awkwardly introduced herself as Henry sifted through the wine selections. a few minutes later the girls came back Meg had dress Y/n in a light-blue sundress, black stockings and light brown ankle boots. she still wore Henry's hoodie over it either due to low-self esteem or she was cold, whatever the reason she made it work.

"There, doesn't she look cute?" Meg ask as Henry look her over and just shrugged "meh... Anyway we gotta get going, we still have a few more stops today." Meg frowned at the shaggy haired man's indifference. "Well that was to be expected..You take of yourself Nineteen." The redhead chirped putting the h/c on the head as she grabbed another sports next to the exit and walked down the fire escape, She heard a zipper and Y/n saw Henry stuffing SIX bottles into a backpack before ushering the y/height girl towards the elevator.

"C'mon before she come back.."

"Wha..whoa! okay stop shoving!" Y/n yelped nearly tripping on a dead man's leg as Henry practically carried her to doors, cue the most awkward elevator ride ever. As Y/n and Henry waited for their floor the Reapling" as Meg called her had to ask.

"So...How did those people die?"

"Murder/Suicide. husband though the wife banging his best friend,...Turns his friend was gay, And his wife was just trying to help him come out to everyone."

Y/n felt bad for the wife and friend; killed without ever given a chance to explain...She wanted to ask if they were going to be reapers too? then the elevator came to a stop Y/n felt heart jump when she saw a familiar blue coat about to enter, she quickly threw her hood up  and kept her head down as a pair of familiar boots stepped on to the elevator stopping next to her. "Rough night?" Henry asked jokingly as Vergil rumbled in annoyance.

"Y'wanna talk about it." the h/c swallowed hard as the hunter coldly answered "I have no business with you." he hissed Y/n suddenly felt lightheaded as the elevator started up again, her breathing got shallower as tears started falling down her cheeks getting Vergil's attention. 

His hand suddenly moved like it was going for her hood, before Henry threw his arm over her shoulder and spoke up "Sorry about her, she had a bad night, can't handle liquor very well." he said as Vergil's hand lowered back to his side, “I see..” the white haired man hummed, Y/n relaxed as the elevator finally came to their floor. 

As the two reapers exited a large gust of wind blew causing Y/n's hood to fall off, her eyes traveled towards the closing doors just in time to meet Vergil's icy blue eyes she saw a flash of confusion slowly morph into recognition!!! She felt her mouth go dry and suddenly grabbed Henry's hand and took off running dragging the confused man behind her. 

Soon as they were far away from the apartments, the senior reaper got her to stop they finally did in-front of a Computer repair shop. "Why did you make us run ten fricken blocks?..I'm all for quick getaways, but damn!" Y/n didn't answer she pulled her hood back up frantically.

Then it click Henry sighed in frustration. "Is this because of your boyfriend? Look I told you before he won't recognize you." the black haired man huffed Y/n didn't seem too sold. So he brought her to the store front showing her the TV/Camera display that was pointed at the street "See? this is what we look like to the living." He the h/c nervously looked up at the screen to see a sickly looking girl who sort of resembled her, but the girl she was looking at had different [Skin tone, longer/shorter Darker/Lighter hair color, a dull not/your eye color.]

Y/n was stunned for a moment as she brought a hand up to the glass, her doppelganger did the same then she looked at a broken mirror and saw her normal appearance looking up at her before turning back to Henry "Who decides what we look like?" the black haired man shrugged along with his surfer dude looking doppelganger, the h/c girl felt a chill go down her spine as she remembered Vergil...

"Does this trick work on demons too?" She asked warily as Henry looked at her bemused. "Well demon aren't really human. So no, Why?" He asked as the temperature in the street suddenly plummeted causing the older reaper to pull his coat closer then he noticed, no wind so where chill coming from?

He saw Y/n looking across the street almost terrified he followed her gaze to see a dragon-like demon [SDT! Vergil.] it was huge and surrounded by blue flames that seem to freeze everything it touched...

"What did you say you boyfriend’s name was?" he said shivering as the demon got closer "V-Vergil Sparda." She stammered before Henry could react a blue flash obscured his sight and something large grabbed the stunned girl, when Henry could see again Y/n was gone... 

[kiszkakiss]

The Cabin in the Mountains

Pairing: Jake Kiszka x Reader

[AO3 or Wattpad, if you prefer: x / x]

Summary: Jake helps you feel safer around spirits in the haunted cabin.

Warnings: Some swearing, ghosties and disappointment if this isn’t what you were expecting.

A/N: I don't know if this turned out exactly as requested but I gave it my best shot. Also, I am a person who has never been drunk or high and is not planning on being so any time soon. Or ever. Writing about that is hard because I've never experienced it... so, there you go. Just a warning for bad writing, I guess. Also, sorry for the shit title.

[Word count: 1,453]

Tagging along, with Greta Van Fleet, to their week-long writing session was not what you had planned for the week but when Jake asked you if you wanted to come with them and hang out while they were working on their debut album… well, you couldn’t turn it down. Your friendship with Jake had flourished over the past few months and you hadn’t quite admitted to yourself that you had a crush on him. There was no way he’d feel the same way and you didn’t want to spoil what you had. Being a songwriter yourself, you thought you might get some inspiration or at least be of some help; plus, you could spend time with your best friend. There was just one thing, though. Nobody told you it would be in the in the creepiest-looking cabin you’d ever seen.

It was in the Tennessee mountains, practically in the middle of nowhere. The van pulled up to the driveway and you stepped out, gazing at the cabin. It was actually really beautiful and you made a mental note to take some pictures during your stay. The wooden structure was large; it looked almost run-down from the outside and you could feel the eerie energy radiating from it. While you were admiring the cabin from afar, the rest of the boys were already making their way inside, without hesitation.

“You coming in?” Jake asked, smirking at you. “Hey, wipe that look off your face.” You pointed at him, firmly. “I’m just taking in the scenery.” Jake could read you easily which was something you loved and hated about him. You didn’t like that he knew you were nervous; he’d be all too tempted to fuck with you. Jake spoke in reassuring tones, “It’s really nice inside, come see. I promise it’ll be fine.” You stared at the ground for a moment and then followed him past the threshold.

It really was quite nice. The living room was giant, like a hall, and there was a gorgeous fireplace which you couldn’t wait to get going. Josh showed you upstairs, to your room, and you were definitely feeling apprehensive about sleeping there by yourself. It was small with one single bed and a bedside table, an antique lamp sitting on top. You couldn’t pinpoint it but you just had a weird feeling about the place. Then, you heard thudding footsteps and Sam appeared in your doorway, then Danny. They looked manic. “Guys, this place is definitely haunted.” You cringed at Sam’s words, though, you knew he was just saying what you were all thinking. Josh agreed and left to sort out his and Jake’s room, Sam and Danny continued to check out the rest of the cabin. Guess I’ll just get settled, then. You thought.

-

A few days had passed by without any issues for the most part; just the usual arguments and bickering. The boys spent most of the time jamming, brainstorming ideas and you found yourself staying up late with Jake, offering your thoughts. He seemed grateful to have you there and you were happy to help; enjoying being physically close to him more than ever as you shared the computer chair, sometimes sitting on his lap and messing about with the recording and midi software. By the time you went to bed, you were too tired to be scared. This changed on the fourth night, though.

It could have been the beer… or maybe you’d indulged in too much weed but you definitely heard something. There was no doubt in either of your minds. Quick footsteps sounded out from the hallway, clear as day, when you and Jake were hanging out in the living room. Everyone else had called it a night. Jake was closer to the doorway, sitting at the Mac, editing some of their rough recordings when he promptly turned to you. “Did you hear that?” He didn’t miss a beat which was odd, considering you were sure he was a little more intoxicated than you. You shifted uncomfortably on the couch, leaning forward as if that would help you hear better if the noise were made again. “Uh, yeah. How could I not hear that?” “Josh? Sam?” Jake called out the obvious culprits but there was no answer. “They’re probably just messing with us.” You laughed although you still felt uneasy, “Yeah, probably.”

When you both had finished up at 3am, you were hesitant to go to sleep by yourself. “Jake, please.” You were tugging on his sleeve, begging him to stay in your room with you. “I am too young to die. I refuse to die at the hands of a ghost, of all things.” “Y/n, stop. You are not going to be killed by a ghost. When have you ever heard of someone being murdered by a ghost?” Jake looked pointedly at you. You thought about it and came up with nothing. “Exactly.” “Can you please just stay with me anyway? Just in case… or just for fun. Whatever.” You tried to play off that last part, not wanting the long-haired guitarist to know of your feelings for him. Jake sighed and let you drag him to your tiny room. “Do you… should I get my stuff? I’ll sleep on the floor.” He pointed his thumb towards the door. “Please don’t leave me alone, Jake. We can both fit, right?” You stared at the narrow bed. “We’ll just have to… squish?”

So, there you were; the bare chest of your best friend and crush flush against your back, feeling his soft breathing on your neck as you were trying not to panic. The cabin was fairly old, you figured, so, it would creak and make all sorts of noises. That’s probably what you heard in the hallway that night. It didn’t, however, explain the whispering you were hearing. You kept telling yourself it was the other boys; they must have decided to get an early start or something. “Are you okay?” Jake’s sleepy voice cut through your racing thoughts. “Oh, my god.” you whispered, smacking his arm. “You actually scared the shit out of me.” He leaned up on his elbow to see you better. “You were breathing really hard and shaking, it woke me up.” “Wow, okay. Cool. Thanks.” Sarcasm dripped from your voice. “I’m kidding. Just making sure you’re okay.” “I’m not.” “What’s wrong?” “Look, it’s probably nothing. Just go back to sleep.” Jake paused, rubbing up and down your side, trying to calm you down. “Please tell me. I want you to feel safe.” “Fine… I heard whispering.” “In here?” “No, out there. It’s probably the guys, though.” “I sincerely doubt they’d be up at 5am. Do you want me to check?” You shook your head vehemently, “No, please just… stay.” Jake settled back, pulling you closer to him; his arms wrapped around your waist, hands clasping with your own. You felt him place a gentle kiss against the side of your head and you already felt significantly calmer.

-

As the nighttime rolled around again, you drank much more than the night before; trying to calm your nerves. Jake seemed to have the same idea and you were both giggling messes, cuddled up on the couch. “Honestly, I’m not surprised you heard some freaky stuff last night.” Josh said, unfazed by his twins sudden display of affection towards you. Sam chimed in, “Told you this place is haunted! Danny heard a little girl laughing today.” Your giggling halted and you all shot Danny looks of shock but it didn’t last long because Jake started freely talking to the ghosts. “Hellooo, spirits!” He shouted cheerily as his eyes darted around the room, unsure of where exactly to look. “We don’t mean any harm, we’re just a band trying to get some work done!” “Yeah,” you continued, “we come in peace or whatever.” Jake and Josh cackled at that but Sam straight-up told you that’s an alien thing. You didn’t care, you just didn’t want any trouble with whatever spirits inhabited the cabin. For some reason, speaking directly to them made you feel better; whether it was a figment of your imagination or not. “We’ll only be here for another couple of days, then we’ll be out of your way. We accept your presence and we hope you can accept ours but, like, can you please leave us alone until then?” Jake posed the question and everyone was silent as if there would be a distinct answer. “I think we’ll take that as a yes. Thank you very much.” Jake made a praying hands motion and proceeded to cuddle up closer to you; his cheeks rosy and his drunken smile making you fall for him even more.

Taglist: @thebohemianpenguin​ @gretavanfleetfreak​

[q-gorgeous]

Medicine

fanfiction

Dani felt groggy as she woke up. Her head hurt and she felt dizzy. She couldn’t remember where she was.

As she woke she could hear two people quietly whisper to her right. She groaned, bringing her hand up to her forehead. The whispering stopped.

Finally she pried open her eyes to see two identical kids around her age staring at her from a bed across the room.

She bolted up, nearly falling off the bed she was laying on from a dizzy spell, and looked around for a way to escape. There was a window right there, but she had ghost powers she could just go through the wall.

Wait did they know she had ghost powers?

Dani slid her gaze back to the two kids who were looking at her with curiosity.

She cleared her dry throat.

“Can I help you?”

The girl let out a high pitched squeal, causing Dani and the boy to cover their ears. She was bubbly and excited. Way too excited for Dani.

“Mabel, can you not?”

“What, Dipdop? Can I not welcome our guest?” Mabel stood from the bed she was sitting on and walked across the room to Dani. “Hi, I’m Mabel and Captain Buzzkill over there is my brother, Dipper. What’s your name?”

“Dani…”

“Hi, Dani!” Mabel smiled a toothy grin.

Dipper groaned. “C’mon, Mabel. We were supposed to go get Stan when she woke up. Now she’s awake, let’s go get Stan.

“Dipper! Live a little!”

Dani was studying the two identical kids before her, eyes squinted. She had a bad feeling in her gut. She didn’t know who this Stan guy was, but she didn’t have a good feeling about this.

After the two bickered for a little bit, Dani interrupted them with a question.

“Are you two clones?”

Dipper and Mabel shared a glance before looking back at Dani.

“Clones? What? Pft.” Mabel said, laughing. “Me and Bro-Bro here are twins!”

“Twins?” Dani said.

“Yeah like… We have the same birthday and stuff. Born at the same time. Except I was born five minutes before Dipper! Alpha twin! Alpha twin!”

“Mabel!” Dipper shouted, then sighed. “Are you a clone?” He asked warily.

Dani opened her mouth in reply just as an old, gray man walked into the room with a small cup and a steaming bowl.

“What did I tell you kids? You were supposed to come get me when she woke up.” He grumbled and walked over to Dani, handing her the bowl.

She took it and looked inside to see noodles and carrots floating around. Chicken noodle soup.

She looked back up to see the man holding out the smaller cup to her. She eyed it warily and he sighed.

“Look, kid. We found you outside bakin’ in the sun sweating your toes off. Not sure how you got there or what you’re sick with, but hopefully this medicine will help.”

“You’re not gonna experiment on me?” Dani asked.

“Experiment- what?” He turned to look at Dipper and Mabel who both shrugged.

“She asked us if we were clones before too.” Dipper said.

“Yeah, Grunkle Stan! She doesn’t even know what twins are!” Mabel exclaimed.

“Clones?” Stan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, grumbling. “This town and it’s freaky weirdness.” Louder, “No experiments, no cloning. Just some rest, food, and time out of the heat. Does that sound good to you?”

Dani looked around at the cozy attic and its inhabitants. They all seemed really genuine. They didn’t let on that they knew she was a halfa. She felt safe here.

She nodded and took the little cup of medicine, downing it in one go.

“There we go.” Stan said, ruffling her hair. “Now eat that and I’m gonna go make some Stancakes.”

“Without the hair?” Dipper asked.

Stan shrugged. “What’s a little hair in your pancakes every once in awhile?”

“Gross?”

Dani listened as the three talked and bickered. No ghosts, no Vlad. No impending doom waiting for her.

She was going to like it here.

[omgilostmyshoe]

Writing Challenge Day 3: faces in the street

It was rather disconcerting - waking up from shivering too hard. My first impulse was to shrink into myself more, trying to preserve any shred of warmth I could, but there was no room with how tight of a ball I already curled into. So moving it was and literal snow falling from my skin and clothes was very, very disconcerting. It meant I was not moving for quite some time now and that snowfall around me was there all this time with no intention of easing up, if the thick clouds covering the sky were any indication.

The conciseness was coming back to me in pieces, with overwhelming cold being front and center, but as moments passed, I could feel the throbbing in the back of my head - probably where I got knocked out. After which I was apparently put in a cage..? Sturdy wooden beams interwoven with thick ropes were all around me, only the floor of the cage was made out of solid planks with no spaces between them, for which I was grateful in that particular moment. Trying to sit comfortably on even closely spaced branches was not my idea of fun. But why the cage..? Who put me there? Where are Atorah, Amarel?!

Worry surged stronger inside me, as understanding of the situation slowly crept up on me, and I probably made some kind of noise, or moved too much, because there was rather real-life growl behind me - menacing and absolutely terrifying. And no, I was not embarrassed of my horrified shriek, for when I turned around, there was a wolf  - stalking close to the bars of the cage, continuing growling and leveling me with the threatening stare of shining golden eyes.  My frantic scrambling to get as far away as possible weirdly shook the cage, and my foggy from the cold brain finally caught up on the fact that it was moving - pulled along by rather impressively massive horse, which didn't seem to be even slightly unnerved about a presence of a predator...  Scratch that, multiple predators, because now that I was looking, there were at least five wolfs around, stretched out around a procession made out of three cages including mine and a couple more carts, loaded with what looked to be dead birds and... a... deer? A dead deer. With bite marks on his slumped neck and unmoving dead eyes that stared right at me, making a wave of nausea rise in my throat.

It was the silence in my head that really got me panicking though, because that was the moment where Leanan usually piped up with some ridiculous comment, or a lame joke, or reference to things I didn't know, but he comforted me nonetheless. But not now, and only my own anxiety and shuddering breaths were running through my head, no ghosts of any kind. He didn't just.. leave, right? He couldn't. He wouldn't. He promised and I believed him despite everything, but now there was a cage around me - again - and he was nowhere to be found.

"Need to get out of here" - was flashing in my head over and over, get out, grab the twins, whom I noticed in other cages and run, run as fast as I could, as far as I would manage. Preferably avoiding becoming a wolf snack in the process. So I breathed deep, just like I practiced, trying to feel out that elusive feeling in the core of my being, where magic apparently resided, and then shouted at the bars.

Then there were several things happening at once. The wolf barked angrily and stalked even closer to the cage - a clear warning. Atarah stirred, awoken by all the noises and her sluggish movements were at least undeniable proof that she was alive. The bars also stayed exactly as they were - solid and slightly swaying with the motion of the horse's stride. Not only Leanan - my powers were gone, or... Blocked? There was also a burning sensation around my neck, now slowly fading, and quick inspection showed that somebody put some kind of metal collar on me while I was unconscious.

"Atarah, you're okay there? Is Amarel?..." - apparently talking really was on the wolfs "no-no" list because not only the closest to me one growled, but those closer to the other cages as well. Atarah did nodded though and shot me a weak smile, while checking her neck as well, and damn, she had a collar too. No escaping that way then. It was still a mystery as to who put them there, it couldn't very well be the wolfs since those didn't have necessary fine motor control, or hands, or, you know, enough intelligence for that.  Right?...

That was also when Leanan would've loved to rant about all the things I always got wrong in this world, but there was still silence. At least inside my head, as our surroundings were actually startingto fill with some noises beside rustling of the trees and squeaking of the snow under the wheels of the carts. No, that was closer to a... City? A slamming of doors, tramping of many feet, occasional cling of coins and some other ambient sounds, but weirdly something was glaringly missing. "Talking. Why nobody is talking?" - bewildered I was trying to look ahead, to check if it was an actual city and not my imagination or possibly hypothermia induced hallucination. But no, that was a city, alright, even if it was guarded by even more wolfs, who checked out all the cages and the carts and definitely greeted the wolfs escorting us... And what was even weirder - no one person on fairly bustling streets freaked out even a little bit over a fact that actual wild animals were walking right next to them, next to their children, one of which even gave a wolf in the head of our column a freaking petting. And the wolf let him, wagging his tale a bit, before becoming all focused and menacing again, when child's mother pulled him away. And then signed to him with practice and precision which spoke of life-long use of the language, - "You shouldn't distract Protectors while they work, sweety, remember?"

And the child answered signing as well, and now that I was looking, everybody around were using only sign language. Not one word was spoken aloud... Which was freaky, and weird, and even weirder that they used the version of the language that I understood, which was my native one, and looking closer now...

Not only language. Architecture, clothing, even paintings on some tableware of some street store were achingly familiar and definitely not supposed to be in another dimension for god's sake. And the faces. The faces, and the hair, and skin tones, everything about people here hit too close to home, looked too close to home, but also wasn't? More like somebody just dumped me through a time-machine in the addition to a portal and now I was in some kind of twisted version of ancient Russia. With wolfs freely roaming the streets. And nobody talking with their voices.

"What the actual hell is going on?..." - helpless and confused I said, and even with how quiet it was, everybody just turned to me like snapped on some invisible strings. Some looked with honest hatred, so visceral, it hurt, just like it hurt in school so many years ago, with people laughing at me and... Not the time for that trip on the memory lane, not the time. Because there were curious glances as well, and some jealous, and some finger pointing too. And fear. And even literal hiding of children in the houses, like I was some kind of monster trying to hurt them, which was ridiculous - I was in the cage, and collared, and powerless, and didn't even want to hurt anybody, not to mention children.

But there was clearly something going on that I didn't know, and that something was probably the reason why the twins were so reluctant to go even near the woods, even to escape and run for their lives with no other options available. That was also something they will need to work on - sharing of all the information, so I didn't have to sit in the still present and biting cold and guess on what was happening and if I will actually have a chance to grill the wonder couple about anything. "Just hold on... Hold on and don't forget to seize the moment when it comes. There will be time for yelling on them. There have to be."

[agoodflyting]

Ghost Story

I’m not entirely sure if this is going anywhere, but here’s a small, spooky, halloween ghost story with Ben, Hux, Techie, and Matt.

“Ben- Ben, wake up. Wake up, wake up-”

“Oh my god, fuck off,” Ben groans, his voice full of gravel. He turns over, pulling the comforter up over his mess of unruly dark hair.

“Get up, get up please- please-” his little brother whispers urgently, throwing glances back over his shoulder like he’s afraid of being overheard.

“Go back to bed, Matt. It’s like midnight.”

“Ben, please just get up, please.”

“Why? What do you want?”

“There’s somebody in my room.”

The click of the light switch is audible in the still quiet of the house. Light from the overhead bulb glares off of the bare off-white walls and piles of cardboard boxes stacked up in corners. The floor is old hardwood, worn soft by generations of feet. More boxes are stacked on top of the dresser, the words ‘Matty’s Stuff’ and ‘Matty’s Clothes’ written on them neatly in sharpie. One of the boxes on the dresser has been opened and tipped over, spilling a river of half-folded t-shirts and pajamas out across the floor.

In one corner there’s a twin bed, unmade. The wash-worn Spiderman sheets are rumpled and half torn off the mattress. Across the room, beside the dresser, a pillows lies crumpled against the floorboard, like it had been thrown Aside from that, the room is empty.

“See? There’s nobody here.”

Even dressed in just a wrinkled t-shirt and boxers, Ben still fills most of the doorway, all long legs and sleep-rumpled hair. He had been tall with big shoulders since he was fourteen. Mom said he got it from their granddad. Matt hoped so. At their old house, he’d measured himself against the doorframe in the bathroom every week.

“He’s in the closet,” Matt whispers, half hidden behind the solid figure of his brother. “I threw the pillow at him and he ran in the closet.”

Ben half-groans, half-sighs again, but he allows himself to be steered by little-kid hands digging into the small of his back. His bare feet slap against the cold hardwood floor. “Matt, if this is a joke I swear to god I’m going to murder you and bury you in the backyard...”

“It’s not a joke, he’s really in there.” There’s a shrill edge of panic in the nine-year-old’s voice. He sounds close to tears. “I woke up and he was going through my stuff. You’ve got to make him leave.”

“Alright, alright, alright...” Ben rolls his eyes.

The closet door folds back like an accordion, admitting dingy shadows into the dark space beyond. Ben fumbles for the string overhead and tugs it. He can feel his little brother’s sweaty hands fisting in the fabric of his t-shirt. The closet light comes on with a click.

On the floor of the wide, narrow closet there’s another pile of boxes, labeled in the same efficient handwriting as the ones in the bedroom. Above, a trio of sad wire hangers rock slowly back and forth on the bar.

Ben sticks his head in the closet, looking left and right, then up. There’s a hatch to the attic recessed into the ceiling and an old spiderweb in the corner. That’s it.

“See? There’s nothing here, Matty. Go back to bed.”

“Don’t call me Matty, that’s a baby name. And he was right there, I saw him- he had long hair and he was going through my stuff-”

“Matt-”

Matt takes a heaving breath, his hands fisting, the way he does when he’s working himself up into a tantrum and needs to be redirected. That was what his therapist called it. “No, he was! He must have gone up into the attic, or-”

“Or maybe you had a bad dream.” Ben interrupts, voice hard. “It’s just the moving, okay? It’s always freaky the first night in a new house. You know that. Now go back to bed before mom wakes up.”

“It wasn’t a bad dream and it’s not the house-”

Matt’s skinny shoulders heave as he sucks in an angry breath, pushing back the ever-ready threat of tears.

Ben ignores him,  plucking the discarded pillow off the floor and tossing it onto the bed. “Come on, get in bed.” When Matt doesn’t move, he repeats, “Come on. I’ll leave the door open and if closet guy comes back just- I don’t know, scream or something and I’ll come kick his ass with my katana.”

“Your katana isn’t even sharp,” Matt says, in a small voice, but he climbs under the blankets anyway. Ben pulls them up over him.

“It is too. Remember when I cut that apple right in half in the backyard? At the house in Roslindale?”

“Leave it on!” Matt yelps as Ben goes to pull the string for the closet light. With the blankets pulled up to his chin all that’s visible is a mop of dirty blond curls and a pair of overlarge glasses that made him look like an owl. Mom had said he needed a pair he could grow into.

“Alright, fine, don’t freak out. Hey don’t sleep in your glasses-” Ben adds. “You’re gonna break them again.”

Matt clings to the blankets tighter like he’s afraid they’re going to be taken from him too. “But I want to be able to see. If he comes back.”

Ben gives up. “Alright, whatever. When mom yells at you I get to say I told you so.”

“...’night, Ben,” Matt says in a small voice as his brother pads to the door.

“Goodnight, Matt.” Ben says without turning around.

When the bedroom light is switched off and his brother’s footsteps have receded down the hall, Matt lies awake in his bed. Outside, crickets are chirping quietly. The closet light casts a triangle of shadow on the bedroom floor.

He keeps his eyes fixed on the closet.

There had been someone there. Matt was going to be ready when he came back. After a minute he shuffles back up the bed, grabbing a pillow from behind his head and clutching it to his chest like a weapon.

He waits.

Outside, a car rumbles quietly down the street in front of the house.  

Matt hates moving. Ben was wrong about the boy in the closet, but he was right about the first night in a new house being freaky. This was the fourth time they had moved since Matt was a baby, and he had never been happy in a new house on the first night. In the back of his mind, he thought it felt like meeting new friends. He’d had to do that a lot too, he was an expert. At first you were sort of quiet and awkward around each other until you figured out what they liked and what you could talk about. You stood around with your hands in your pockets trying out different things to say. I have a bike, do you? Do you like Spider-man? What’s your favorite tv show? Eventually something clicked and you found something to be friends over, but until then you were strangers and it was weird.

New houses were kind of like that too. It took time for them to warm up to you. This one clearly didn’t like him yet. That thought reminds him that it was almost Monday. He groans, letting his head thunk against the headboard. Monday meant he was going to have to start a new school with a new teacher and make new friends. Again. His heart sinks at the thought of standing in another unfamiliar lunchroom and trying to find someone, anyone, who will let him sit with them.

This was so stupid. Why did they have to move again? Matt is half-asleep, his eyes heavy and his glasses leaving a red pressure mark across the side of his face, when he hears a quiet voice whisper.

“Sorry I scared you.”

~

“What’s that?” Matt’s mom asks as he is wolfing down a bowl of cereal before the school bus comes. Sitting beside his bowl is a little figure made out of copper wire, twisted into the shape of a person.

Usually Ben helps him get ready for school in the morning, because even when his mom is not at work she has files to read and emails to answer and things to do. She works for the government, so it’s really important. But Ben had to leave early today because he had detention.

“My friend left it for me,” Matt says in between crunchy bites of cereal.

“It’s cute.” Leia picks up the little wire figure with two fingers, turning it over before sitting it back down.

“He made me another one too-” Matt pauses to lean over in his chair and dig around in his backpack. Papers rustle before he sticks his head back above the table and sets another little wire figure beside the first one.

“Is that a dog?” His mom’s phone dings. She glances at it, frowning. Then she sighs and barely restrains rolling her eyes, thumbing open an email app. “Does he really think...” she mutters to herself.

“It’s a cat,” Matt says. “He said they had a cat when he lived here. He’d probably make you one too, if you wanted.”

Without looking up from her phone, his mom says, “That would be very sweet, thank you Matty. Now go get your lunchbox while I tell this idiot how to do his job”

Matt sinks down in his chair, clutching his backpack against his chest. “I hate when you call me Matty.”

Two month after they move in, Matt’s teacher calls his mother in for a meeting after school. Matt sits out in the hall while they talk, scuffing his feet against the pea green linoleum and listening to the patter of voices inside the classroom. All the other kids have gone home, and the school feels empty. Abandoned.

The clock at the end of the hall says 3:46.

Matt runs his fingers over the little wire figure in his hand. The one that looked like a person waving hello. He had a lot of them now, all lined up on his dresser, but this one was his favorite. At the end of the hall, the janitor pushes a floor buffer.

The classroom door opens and Matt jumps, stuffing the wire figure in his pocket.

“Thank you, Mrs. Carney,” his mother is saying, in her polite, ‘talking to strangers’ voice.

“Thank you for your time, Ms. Organa,” his teacher gives him a little wave, “Bye Matt, see you tomorrow.”

“ ‘bye,” he mumbles without looking up from the floor.

Leia steers him out to the car, a hand on his shoulder the whole way. It isn’t until he’s buckled up in the backseat and they’re pulling out of the school parking lot that either of them speaks.

“Is it because I yelled at Jake Evers at lunch?” Matt’s voice is small.

One of the reasons they had to move out of their old house was because his mom got a transfer at her job.  The other reason, Ben said, was because Matt had gotten into so much trouble at school that he was about to be expelled. Matt had promised his mom that he’d do better this time, and he’d been trying, he really had-

Leia sighs without taking her eyes off the road. “Not... just because of that.”

“I didn’t mean to throw the juice box at him. I just got mad.”

“Why were you mad?”

“Because he’s a stupid jerk.”

To his surprise, his mother huffs a little laugh. “Well, I can’t say I don’t know where you get it from.”

“Bad tempers run in our family,” Matt mutters.

She frowns. “What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know. It’s something dad said.”

Dad had been talking about Ben when he said it, but Matt knew it applied to him too.

They drive in silence for a while, passing the place where Ben took him sometimes to get ice cream after school, when he wasn’t too busy. Matt suddenly regrets bringing up dad. His mom always got that look on her face when they talked about dad- the one like she was pursing her lips hard to hold in all the angry comments.

“What about your story?”

Matt’s brows furrow behind his glasses. He looks up from picking at a seam in the armrest. “What story?”

“The one you wrote yesterday in class.” Leia says, gently at first, but as she continues the words start to come out in an angry rush. “About the boy with no eyes, whose mother kills him and hides his body in the attic? Matty, where would you even come up with something like that?” She sounds upset and it makes him want to hunch down in his seat. “I didn’t.... I- Nowhere. It’s just a story. Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad, Matty, I’m...” she sighs, “Just promise me you won’t write any more stories like that.”

“I promise. It’s just a story I heard, I’m sorry. I promise.” His shoulders creep up to his ears.

He stares out the car window as they pull onto their street. A couple of girls he knows from school are out riding bikes. They wouldn’t let him ride with them, even if he wanted to play with girls. Which he doesn’t. On the corner, a tall guy with orange hair is taping a flyer to the stop sign. Matt catches a flash of a picture of a boy in a yellow sweater and the word ‘MISSING’ before they turn into their driveway.

After dinner he goes straight up to his room and shuts the door.

[daree-to-dream]

Never Mess with the Cul-De-Sac Kids (Dream Daddy One-Shot)

               AN: I made a post about this idea and decided to write it. Also I just used my Dadsona’s name.

Pairing: None except a little DamienXDadsona Words: 2705

                 It was a normal, boring day in Trig for Lucien. He was staring out the window at the trees while his teacher droned on about cosines. Riveting. When suddenly a conversation behind him caught his attention.                “Did you hear what Emma R. did to Amanda Ross?” Someone asked another person, Lucien shifted to listen, hearing all about how Amanda’s friend group completely betrayed her.

               “So that’s why she’s been hanging around…” Nothing was said but he knew they pointed to him. Ever since his dad started seeing Michael, Amanda’s dad, she had been trying to spend more time with him. He assumed it was because of the possibility of them becoming step siblings but know it made a lot more sense. She had been spending more time with all of the kids in the cul-de-sac, actually. He didn’t really see her with anyone that didn’t live there. Lucien felt the blood in his veins boiling. Amanda had become like an older sister to everyone but especially him. His dad loved her, in part due to her helping him channel his teen angst into better things than Cask of Amontillado-ing his classmates. The bell rang and Lucien headed straight for Ernest’s locker.

               “What do you want?” The younger boy asked. “I know you don’t have wine so don’t-“

               “Someone is messing with Amanda.” He interrupted and Ernest slammed his locker door.

               “Let’s destroy them.”

               It took a lot of planning but they had gotten all the kid in the cul-de-sac, besides Amanda. And the literal babies. In on their plan for revenge all the components were in place, now it was up to Ernest. He stood near Emma R., Emma P., Grace, and Noah as they talked about their weekend plans.

               “Let’s go see Vampire Crusade II: Evil Never Dies this weekend.” Emma P. suggested.

               “I mean we could go see that new RomCom instead…” Noah said nervously.

               “Why? You scared?” Grace asked.

               “No! I’m not scared of anything!” Noah says defiantly.

               “Really?” Ernest interjects. “Then you guys want something really scary?” The Emmas nod vigorously as Ernest scribble the address to an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town down on a scrap of paper. “Meet me here. Saturday night. Midnight. Place is like crazy haunted.” He says with a smirk before stalking off. Texting Lucien that it was all in place.

               Saturday came and Ernest was waiting in the parking lot of the warehouse. When Noah’s car pulled up and they all climbed out, walking across the parking lot to Ernest.

               “Glad you didn’t chicken out. However, now would be the time to do so.” He smirked and Noah glanced at the group, no one moved. “Very nice. Follow me.” He lead them towards the door but a woman dressed in a leather jackets and whittling something spoke to them.

               “I wouldn’t go in their kids. I been hunting cryptids for years and this building? The worst place I’ve ever been. I’ve seen inhuman things. Demons. Ghosts. I almost died. Would have if it weren’t for my old partner. Daniel. He died saving me. I’ll never stop hearing his screams in my nightmares.” She said.

               “We’ll be fine.” Emma R. says. Ernest leads them into the dark building, his phone’s flashlight illuminating the way, after walking for a few minutes two voices are heard.

               “Come play with us.” They say and everyone turns around to see two blonde kids, a boy and a girl, standing before them, dressed in pastels. “Come play with us forever, Grace.” They say, Grace let out a small yelp at them knowing her name. They look past the twins to see a slightly older boy behind them, in a corner, just staring. He looked almost demonic. When they look back the twins are gone, only haunting giggles being heard.

               “Let’s keep moving forward.” Ernest says and the group quietly nods, following him. After a little longer something grabs Emma P. and starts trying to pull her into the shadows, Grace grabs her and pulls her back and the thing let’s go.

               “WHAT WAS THAT?!” Grace shouts., her question immediately answered as something dressed in Victorian clothing with an almost human face, but somewhat distorted, white hair and large fangs hanging from it’s mouth lunges for Emma R.’s neck, Noah screeches, drops her hand and runs about a yard ahead of them. Emma P. Grabs her out of the way and the thing just disappears.

               “NOAH! What was that? You didn’t even try to protect me! You just ran away like a little girl!” Emma R. screamed at him as he walked back.

               “Sorry…that thing was freaky…” He says, rubbing the back of his neck and Emma just groans.

               “It’s best not to ask questions in here.” He says. As they continue to move Emma R.’s feet crunch something beneath them, she reaches down and picks up a piece of parchment.

               “Turn back all ye who enter here. Or face a fate most severe. Exit this cursed tomb. Or surely meet your gory doom.” She reads out. “Wait…is this written in blood?!” She asks, throwing it down.

               “Guys we should just leave! This place is so creepy!” Grace pleads but Emma R. shakes her head.

               “We aren’t going anywhere. I’m not scared of some fake crap!” She calls out.

               “I wouldn’t touch anything, if I were you.” Ernest says moving forward. As they move the group can’t escape the feeling of being watched, they look around for anyone but can’t find anything. They’ve been walking for what felt like an eternity when they realized smoke was engulfing their legs. When they looked back up the ghostly image of a young girl stood before them. She had a sweet face a small afro on her head.

               “Please, leave now, before they find you. You’ll never tell the twins apart!” She pleaded before disappearing.

               “Those creepy twins? One’s a guy and one’s a girl.” Noah scoffed and Ernest smirked, they entered a small back room. Two identical looking girls stood under a flickering light, the rest of the room was shrouded in darkness. Blunt, dark bangs obscuring their eyes. They wore white dresses stained with blood and held large knives in their hands.

               “Do you like riddles?” They asked, smiling. The group stared on.

               “Good let’s play one.” One of them spoke. “If you can tell us who is good.”

               “And who is evil.” The other continued.

               “We will let you live.” They both said. “But if you can’t, we get to kill you.” They giggled.

               “Uh…guys which one?” Emma P. asks. Emma R. stares at the two and points to the one on the left.

               “Oh no. You got it wrong.” The evil one says, stalking forward to Emma R.

               “We’re both evil.” The other giggles, as she moves towards Noah, both now holding their knives to their stomachs. She stops for a second and speaks. “You have one more chance to live.”

               “I’ll do anything!” Noah cries, tears streaming down his face.

               “Never. Mess. With. Amanda. Again.” She says.

               “What?!” He asks.

               “You heard the girl. And apologize. Right now.” Ernest says, now blocking the door while holding a gun, pointing it at the group. They all immediately start sobbing except Emma R.

               “I won’t apologize to her! She’s the bad friend!” She shouted. The woman from outside stepped out from the shadows.

               “You should have listened kid. It wasn’t just Daniel that died that night.” She said and the girl stared in disbelief as string of ‘I’m sorry’s and pleading for their lives fell from her friends mouths. The blonde twins stalk out, the creepy kid standing behind them just barely visible again.

               “Apologize. Apologize. Apologize. Apologize.” They continuously chant at her, faces expressionless. A poem drifts down from the rafters, landing in Emma R.’s hands.

               “I warned ye before. This ye did not heed. Ye continued this haunted tour. Now face the the consequences of your heinous deed.” She read out, dropping the poem as the fear bubbled up inside her. She had no clue what to do. The ghost from before appears again.

               “I tried to warn you! You should have listened! Just do what they ask!” Things begin flying around the room in a pure chaos.

               “NO! I WILL NOT APOLOGIZE TO HER!” She screams over the noise.

               “Your funeral.” The girl holding the knife to her stomach said, pulling it back to prepare to plunge it in.

               “I’M SORRY!” Emma R. screams in desperation, the girl below her stops. “I’m a horrible person! I tricked everyone into hating Amanda because she liked Noah when I did! I lied to everyone about everything!” She sobbed.

               “WHAT?! Amanda actually liked me? You said she hated me!” Noah called out.

               “I shouldn’t have done it.” She cries, falling on the ground. The human-esque monster from before steps out from the shadows, though his face is no longer distorted and he’s holding a cell phone, that had recorded all the events. Everyone’s heads snapped towards the group of crying teenagers in the center in unison.

               “Never mess with the cul-de-sac kids again.” They said in unison and the group of betrayers glanced at each other and made a mad dash for the exit of the warehouse, the other group close behind. As they broke through the exit door they gasped at what they saw. Noah’s car was across the large parking lot and on fire. He just lowered himself to the ground and curled into a ball while the kids laughed behind them and Lucien ended the recording. However, their plan didn’t account for Hugo.

               “ERNEST HEMINGWAY VEGA!” He called after him.

               “Oh no. That’s my dad.”

               “What did you kids do?” He asks and they all shrug. Hugo lets out a sigh. “Get in the car. We’ve all been worried sick.” They kids oblige and Hugo drives each home to explain what happened to their dads.

               Lucien is the last to be dropped off besides Ernest.

               “Um…you know my dad and Michael don’t live together yet?” He asks, staring at the ranch style home outside the car.

               “I’m aware. Damien was the first to realize his kid was gone. Apparently if he wakes up in the middle of the night he always checks on you.” Lucien felt a pang out guilt in his heart. “When he realized you weren’t their he ran over to my house to ask if I’d seen you, I said no and went to ask Ernest but noticed he wasn’t there, we went to all the houses and realized the only kid still around who wasn’t an infant was Amanda. Damien was so worried he couldn’t leave Michael’s side.” Hugo said and Lucien hung his head, climbing out of the car and walking up to the door. Damien was sitting on the couch while Michael stroked his hair and Amanda paced the floor, a mug of coffee in her hands.

               “LUC!” She said, setting the mug on the coffee table and running to hug him. “Don’t you ever scare us like that again! I was so worried!” She said, letting him go. He still felt bad for making the people he loved worry he smiled a bit, knowing he did this for his sister.

               “Lucien. I love you but you simply cannot run off in the middle of the night like that. Hugo called me, you made some kids cry and started a car fire. I can’t even comprehend why you would do such a thing. Son, what is wrong?” Damien asked.

               “They messed with ‘Manda.” Lucien muttered.

               “I’m sorry?” Damien asked, clearly not understanding his son.

               “They messed with ‘Manda.” He said more clearly.

               “Wait.” Michael stood up, walking over to Damien’s side. “This isn’t Noah, Grace, and the Emmas, is it?” He asked, Lucien nodded and Michael placed a hand on his shoulder and he looked up at him. “Lucien, I can’t condone what you’ve done, it could have been very dangerous, and your father was worried sick but thank you for caring about my little girl that much. It means a lot to know all you kids love my Panda that much.” Lucien’s face broke into a smile and he wrapped his arms around Michael, who returned the hug when they released Lucien turned to look at Amanda, who quickly wiped what must have been tears forming in her eyes.

               “I’ve trained you well.” She said.

               “So what did these children do?” Damien asked.

               “I’ll explain later, for now, Amanda why don’t you walk Lucien home and make sure he ends up there and not talking revenge on anyone else.” Michael chuckled, wrapping an arm around Damien and Amanda nodded, leading Lucien out.

               “So…” She started as they walked. “What did you do?”

               “Ohmigod!” Lucien exclaimed, “Well, Ernest tricked them into coming and then they show up and Val gives them this fake warning about her partner dying, then they walk in the Christensen’s are standing there, doing the creepy twin thing, with Chris just standing in the background. Then I’m dressed in my dad’s clothes and vampire makeup and lunge at them. They freak but keep going. Then find a creepy poem Daisy wrote ‘warning’ them. After that a projection of ghost Carmensita pops up and tries to tell them to leave but Ernest leads them into a room with the Cahn twins who are holding giant fake knives. They tell them to guess who’s good and who’s evil and they get it wrong. So they say their going to kill them but say they can live if they apologize. Ernest blocked the door and is holding a fake gun. One by one in order everyone steps out and tells them to apologize in different ways. Daisy even hid on the catwalk thing and dropped another poem. We rigged everything to fly around the room. Finally Emma R. is the last to apologize as Hazel is about to ‘kill’ her and I flick on the lights and step out, having recorded the whole thing.”

               “There’s video proof?” Amanda chuckles.

               “Yup, going on YouTube tomorrow. So after that we all look at them and in unison say ‘never mess with the cul-de-sac kids again’ and they bolt out of the warehouse. We chase them to get the final part on video: them finding out that after they had run into me I snuck out and lit Noah’s car on fire and snuck back in.”

               “Ohmigod! You guys are insane!” Amanda chuckles as they reach Lucien’s door. “But seriously, I’m lucky to have you guys. I didn’t know y’all cared so much.” She smiled.

               “’Manda, you’re like an older sister to all of us. Of course we do. You helped Daisy be a kid. You help Carmenista get through life. You are the only person the Christensen twins will completely drop their act around because they want to hang out with you. Val is amazed by your talent. You helped Ernest understand his dad a little better. Your dad convinced the twins’ dad to relax and sometimes you take up softball practice for him, despite your phobia.” He chuckled. “And you’re the best hopefully-soon-to-be-sister I could ask for. Plus, your dad makes my dad super happy, and he’s had it hard, and I know I don’t make it easier. You’ve helped me let go of some of that angst, or at least deal with it better. We love you.” Lucien finally looked at her, tears were streaming down her face as she tossed her arms around him.

               “I love all of you too!” She sobbed. “I’m going to make Pops propose tomorrow if it means we get to keep you!” She laughed with Lucien wiping her eyes. “Well that’s enough human emotion for tonight. Go get some sleep, kiddo. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She said as she headed off down the cul-de-sac to her house, already trying to estimate how much thirteen ‘Don’t mess with the Cul-De-Sac Kids’ t-shirts would cost, and Lucien went to his room, falling asleep with a feeling of victory in his chest.

[clarissa-groves]

Ghosts || Closed

Clarissa was starting to feel more and more hopeless about her real reasons for being here. Not the staying clear of her brother or certain other family members thing... space was definitely needed there but she was no closer to finding out who or where her mother was. Or her birth father. She felt a little guilty for having gone looking while her mum and dad were at home but she had to do this. Clarissa was trying to find herself, find a place where she finally belonged, and this was the only place she had to go on for now. There was nothing other than the town and a name beginning with L. How many women in this town had first names beginning with L? Probably a lot. So that wasn’t entirely helpful unless Clarissa could find some other thread to pull at, another lead to follow. But how? She wasn’t a private investigator or a police officer. She didn’t have any real talent for things like that and she would have even less luck trying to track her father down - she didn’t even have so much as a letter in a name for him, after all.

She was sitting still, rather glumly looking through the local newspaper and came across an article about everyone who had died here. She knew quite a few of the names by now but she hadn’t seen photographs of everybody. It’s not like she’d gone looking, the history of Baberton was freaky enough without delving too deep into it. On the page, it seemed they’d put everyone there, some “in memory” thing or something. Clarissa figured they had plenty of those. One of the photographs jumped out and caught her eye in particular. A girl called Sophie Baker. Baker.. wasn’t that the name of one of the English teachers at the college? Clarissa frowned after a minute, peering at the image. “Oh my God...” Was it just her imagination or... did she look just a little bit like this girl? If she had redder hair... maybe the resemblance would be even weirder. It wasn’t... totally the same, they weren’t twins or anything, but in certain photographs... she could see similar features of herself in this poor dead girl. If she were to smile a certain way, have her hair a certain way... maybe it was the eyes? It was a weird thing to latch on to but Clarissa had never experienced something like that. The feeling of seeing parts of herself in someone else. So it was enough to make her stop and really start to obsess and wonder.

Clarissa didn’t know if she was going crazy or reaching too far (which wouldn’t surprise her at this point) or if she really did have some resemblance to this girl that she couldn’t ignore. It wasn’t much, but it stood to reason that if her mother was born here then she could have all sorts of other family too. There was just something about the girls face... Maybe it was something and maybe it wasn’t but she knew one thing... she needed to look into it. She needed a starting point and since she had absolutely no other leads... this seemed like a good enough place to begin.