Chapter Text
Kori was on a beach. She never dreamt about beaches. The realization made her suspicious. But the sight was too beautiful to dwell on it.
“Glad you like it.”
Kori knew that voice. She spun around immediately coming face to face with a tangible source of the voice. “What the hell are you doing here?”, she demanded.
“Whoa, I just want to talk”, the man promised.
“No, you want to cut into me until my heart is in your hands, remember?”, Kori snarked, “And I’m not in the business of talking to homicidal imaginary friends.”
“That’s what my message was changed to?”, the man mumbled, “ Jesus Christ .”
“…Message?”, Kori echoed. The man opened his mouth to reply but Kori stopped him. “On second thought, I don’t wanna hear it”, she decided dismissively, “I’m gonna stare at these waves and zone out and by the time I zone back in, you should be gone. Sound like a plan?”
“I’m afraid not, sweetheart”, the man drawled boredly, “You and I need to talk.”
“About what?”, Kori snorted, “The fact that you threatened to kill me?”
“That wasn’t me”,the man sighed, “Someone altered my message.”
“So you’ve said”, Kori deadpanned, “Doesn’t matter because you’re not real .”
“I am very much real, Ms.Kori”, the man assured.
“Oh yeah?”, Kori inquired.
“Yeah”, the man replied readily.
“What’s your name then?”, Kori questioned.
“Xavier”, the man answered.
“Xavier, what ?”, Kori challenged.
“Xavier Redd”, the man who revealed himself as Xavier told her.
“Redd?”, Kori echoed, “As in the color?”
“Two D’s”, Xavier informed tiredly.
“Uh huh”, Kori hummed skeptically, “And how old are you, Mr. Redd ?”
“19, Ms.Kori”, Xavier droned dutifully, “20 in a day. And, please, don’t call me Mr.Redd. Makes me feel old.”
“Mm…”, Kori mumbled dismissively, “You got a girlfriend, Xavier?”
Xavier was quiet for a moment, studying her. “…Complicated”, he admitted reluctantly.
“Ah-ha!”, Kori exclaimed, “You’re not real.”
“What?”, Xavier questioned.
“Only I would create someone this hot and, surprise twist , complicatedly taken. Had you been single, I would’ve considered the possibility that you were real. But, it’s settled now.”
Xavier began to protest but Kori wasn’t done.
“ And your birthday is the same day as mine”, she pointed out, “Yeah, I don’t think so sweetheart.”
Xavier chuckled at that. “You’re very stubborn”, he commented.
“It’s my best quality, babe”, Kori beamed dramatically, “No offense to your ‘it’s complicated’ other half.”
The comment earned her a snort.
Kori shook her head and sat down, settling down in the sand.
Xavier wasted no time in sitting beside her. “So…” he began, “Are you gonna forgive me for what I said even though I didn’t say it.”
“What’s the point?”, Kori asked, “You’re not real.”
“Then why not forgive me?”, Xavier shrugged, “If I’m not real, it holds no consequence.”
“It confirms that I’m crazy”, Kori argued.
“You’re in a psychiatric facility, love”, Xavier pointed out, “They already think you’re crazy.”
“Debatable”, Kori muttered, “But, even still, I don’t think I am. And that’s what matters.”
“Your only friend in this place is James ”, Xavier continued, ignoring her statement.
“And Doris”, Kori reminded, “Can’t forget dear old Doris.”
“Yes, and dear old Doris”, Xavier drawled sarcastically, “ But , you can’t see James and Doris all the time. I can be that gap friend when they’re not with you.”
“How do you know I don’t like the solitude?”, Kori questioned.
“Killer intuition”, Xavier shrugged.
Kori chuckled at that. “Well, them not bring around all the time will soon be of no consequence”, she informed quietly, “It’s after 12, I’m dead tomorrow.”
Xavier was quiet for a moment, considering her words. He hadn’t expected such an extreme sense of defeat. He hummed in thought before speaking. “… So, let me be your friend until then”, he suggested.
Kori only looked at him and laughed a genuine laugh.
“What?”, Xavier asked confusedly, “What’s so funny?”
“Why do you want to be my friend so bad?”, Kori wondered, still chuckling.
Xavier brought his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on them, as if he were really thinking about it. “Hmm…”, he mumbled, “I suppose because I don’t have any friends with naturally red and black hair.”
He turned to look at Kori, resting his cheek on his knees so he could smile at her without having to maneuver too much.
Kori laughed once more. “You don’t think that’s a little weird?”, she inquired.
A thoughtful look appeared on Xavier’s face. “Not really”, he answered, “I’m a collector of sorts. It’s completely normal for me.”
“Collector is a little to close to predator for me”, Kori winced playfully, “But, sure, you can be my friend.”
“Yay!”, Xavier cheered with exaggerated excitement.
Kori rolled her and turned to face the waves once more.
There was a soft smile on Xavier’s face for a moment before it was gone, quick as it came. And then he had also defaulted to looking at the waves.
They sat in companionable silence, the only sound being the waves crashing against the sand in front of them. They remained that way for a while.
Until Kori saw something in the waves. “Do you see…”, she trailed off.
“Yeah”, Xavier answered, swiftly standing from his spot beside her.
Realistically, he knew nothing could harm them here. But that didn’t make the occurrence any less concerning.
Kori pushed herself up, backing away slowly as the figure came closer.
It only took seconds for her to realize that the figure was indeed figures . And those figures were people .
Five, to be exact.
Five people Kori never thought she’d see again.
Her family.
Her dead family .
Her father was on the left, her mother was on the right, and her two brothers and single sister were in the middle, the same exact age as they’d been when she’d seen them last.
In a twisted way, everything was the way it should’ve been.
Except she wasn’t there.
And they weren’t right.
The realization made her back away even further as the blood and decay plaguing their bodies became clearer and clearer with every step forward they took.
“Are you not happy to see us, daughter?”, the mangled version of her father questioned sweetly.
No, that tone was anything but sweet.
It made Kori flinch.
It wasn’t until a hand was touching her shoulder that she remembered she wasn’t alone.
“Listen to me, Kori…”, Xavier was saying.
But Kori wasn’t willing to hear it. “This is the second time something has gone wrong while you were in my head”, she mumbled.
Xavier stared at her confusedly. “Kori-“, he tried.
“You’re doing this, aren’t you?”, Kori accused.
“No!”, Xavier said quickly, “This isn’t me. I only made the beach, Kori, you have to-”
“Of course you’re not real but you’re some sort of mental construct fucking things up in my brain”, Kori continued, “Newsflash, I’m gonna die soon. You’re late to the torture party.”
“Kori, that’s not true”, Xavier protested, “I-”
“Shut up!”, Kori roared, “Can’t believe I fell for that friendship crap.”
Xavier reached out to touch her shoulder but she wrenched away from him.
“It was a nice dream while it lasted, Freddy”, she snarled bitterly, “But, I’m ready to wake up now.”
She spared her undead family a hesitant, sad glance before everything turned blinding white.-