Chapter Text
Over the next couple of weeks things went by pretty uneventfully.
Wake up, eat breakfast, go to school, come home, repeat.
Only now you had two guardian “ angels ” watching your every move.
In the frequent moments other kids picked on you strange things would start happening around them. Tripping on nothing, their soda cans exploding, their homework getting shredded up. Strange scars appeared on their arms.
So people avoided you, of course.
Which was a welcome change in your life. That being said, you weren’t spared from the usual pranks and teasing you now received from your new demonic friends.
Compared to the harsh bullying in the past, they were a lot tamer… sometimes .
The snake Paul had put in your backpack nearly gave you a heart attack last week.
They seemed to take a lot of amusement out of your reactions.
Pencils sometimes rolled away when you tried to reach for them. Strange doodles appeared on your desk and notes. Creepy laughs followed you down any empty corridor.
Glowing eyes would stare at you from dark corners at night.
Yet, there was never any malice in their actions you felt.
They could recognize when they had gone too far, after a usual amount of reminders and would always try and make it up to you.
Make it up to you…
Bringing you along on their nightly excursions, including you in whatever they felt like doing that afternoon. It was nice, really nice.
Jamie was loud and opinionated; he would talk your ear off about basically anything, mostly comic book or cartoon related.
He could act incredibly sweet and friendly whenever it was directed towards you or Paul, yet you saw how quickly his mood could change at the drop of a dime.
The guy had a surprisingly strong temper, and seeing it in action was kinda scary.
You felt really bad for that gas station employee after Jamie snapped on him for not giving him the right change.
The poor teenager was dangled from the roof of the building by his legs for nearly 10 minutes as Jamie laughed sadistically.
It really didn’t help that Paul egged him on to drop the guy.
Paul on the other hand you were quite wary about when you first met.
He didn’t like you asking too many questions about him and his brother, but as you moved past the initial weirdness you found that he actually enjoyed hearing you talk.
Mainly about your day and how shitty it was, and whatever stuff interested you.
He could be very intimidating when he wanted to be, no question there, but he quickly ruined that facade once he opened his mouth.
The guy told the most juvenile and inappropriate jokes, and you thought they were hilarious.
Paul got a kick out of that, he also got a kick out of how easily he could scare you or trick you into believing something dumb. He was weirdly a good actor.
Their presence was both unnerving and comforting, sometimes a strange combination of both. It was fun, they were fun and they didn’t need to know your depressing sob story.
So you continued to keep quiet.
Actually, it had been a week since you met Jamie and Paul and recently they hadn't shown up unannounced in 2 days. They did say they were musicians, and wouldn’t spend every second with you. It was mostly late at night.
You snapped out of your thoughts and looked at the clock.
12:41 pm, you were spending lunch outside away from the commotion of all the other kids.
You had long since finished eating lunch and were taking the time to write in your journal, that's when they showed up.
A harsh hand shoved your head down into the book.
You looked up in an instant to the same four kids who Jamie and Paul had put in the hospital just two weeks earlier.
“Remember us?” one of them spat.
“I don't think they do, their retarded remember?” another said, the rest laughed.
You curled in on yourself, there was practically nowhere to go with the four older teens circling you.
The leader of the group stepped up “where are your ugly friends? You know the ones who almost broke my arm ?”
He sneered at you, “my dad pays for the school clubs and practically owns the neighborhood, when I told him what happened he told me that trash like that doesn't deserve to walk around free.”
“You tell him man,” said one of his buddies.
“I know you got your criminal friends to go after us, and that makes me sick. Why don't you fight us yourself? Huh? Or are you too pathetic? I think that's why you had them do it.”
They had to have seen you talk to Jamie Paul. That was the only reason for this happening.
You had to get out of there fast .
“I-I don't know what you're talking about” you sputtered.
His face twisted from smugness to fury “yes you do.”
He swiped your journal, before you could get it back he pushed you down to the ground hard.
While one of his buddies held you in place with their foot on your chest.
“Maybe I need to send you a stronger message. We are not done, those sick fucks brutalized me and my friends and your left unscathed. That doesn’t seem fair now does it?”
You gasped for breath, as a stinging pain jolted through your body.
He kicked you again in the side, and you were on the verge of tears.
The older teen punched you in the face, a familiar sensation as you had punched more often then kicked. He was in a fury, beating you down as you held your arms up to protect yourself.
His friends pulled him off you as they noticed other kids slowly making their way over to see what the commotion was.
They quickly ran off as you laid in the grass rolled up into a ball.
Eventually after what felt like 2 hours of silence you crawled up from the covered in dirt and bruises. Your journal was nowhere to be seen.
You went home skipping the rest of school.
The bruises weren’t very visible on your face, but a nasty purple blotch spreaded up your rib cage and spots of them dotted both arms and legs.
You were greeted with a surprising sight in your living room. The television was on and your mother was asleep on the sofa.
She must be exhausted from that trip.
You flicked off the tv and took the blanket from the recliner and gently draped it over her.
“Goodnight mom.”
You remembered her usually spiel about breaking outside your bubble and making some friends. You wished you could actually tell her that you did have some now.
Make her stop worrying about you so much.
After heating up some leftovers you ate them in silence before heading up to your room bone tired. Upon entering something was wrong.
The window in your room was open, how did you not notice that before?
You carefully walked over and closed it.
That was weird.
You looked at your desk, you really needed to clean it up.
Not enough blood
Not enough pain
Not enough victims
More, they need more, to keep the craving from consuming them.
“Hello.”
You spun around so quickly it nearly gave you whiplash.
“Oh my god that was some insane ninja speed” Jamie walked out from the dark corner in your room.
You took a deep breath “Jesus, I thought I told you guys to stop doing that.”
“Yeah I know sorry, but how else am I gonna announce my presence? Knock on your front door?”
“Yeah not well my moms here” you answered.
He glanced at the bedroom door nervously “your moms here ? We’ve been following you around for what? A week? And I’ve never seen that lady.”
“Well maybe cause I don’t let you guys show up at my house, speaking of which, what are you doing here?” you asked.
Ignoring the curtness in your voice Jamie observed the room.
“You’ve got nice taste, I remember when I had a bedroom like this.”
The tall guy admired some of your band posters and looked over at your dresser.
“Nothing cool on the shelves though… just books .”
He stopped finally noticing the frustration building in your face.
“Got distracted, whatever. I uh, went up the gutter drain attached to your house.”
He smiled apologetically “what? I’m bored. Monoxides with a chick right now.”
You grimaced “oh, I didn’t know that you could-”
“Just because we can’t die, doesn’t mean we can feel other things”
Jamie raised his eyebrows and smirked.
“Ewwww” you pushed his shoulder.
“Yeah my thoughts exactly, don’t wanna think about another guy banging someone, so I came to see you” he chuckled.
His eyes lit up, “oh wait here, I got you something!” he shoved his hand in his dirty jacket pocket. Whatever you were expecting was far from what he handed you.
“ Oh ,” the small collection of objects in your hand startled you.
A gold tooth, a bone, and a…. Glass eye.
You noticed he was staring at you, expectantly.
“Th-thats, nice . Thank you Jamie.”
The objects were set down gently at your desk.
You relaxed a little, still sitting in your chair as Jamie's attention turned back to looking at your room. Then he started going through your dresser drawers unceremoniously.
“So what else have you got in here? Anything interesting? Like some hidden porno mags or some secret stash of comics mom can’t find?”
You dropped your journal as you stood up and tried to pull him away from there.
“No no no no no no, get out of there man! There's nothing in there, just my clothes!”
Jamie tried to shake you off his arm but you held on, ending up in a headlock.
He laughed at your futile attempts to push him away and slammed the dresser shut once he’d thoroughly messed up your folded clothes.
“That's more like it! You barely get angry, I wanna see you fight back for once.”
Squirming out of his grip, you landed on the carpeted ground, still mad.
“Fuck man” you grumbled, “why would you want me to be angry?”
He pursed his lips “well not angry, but like, you know act out a bit more. I mean no offence you're kind of like a pushover sometimes just wandering around doing what everyone else wants ....” He faltered as got closer to you.
“The fucks up with your face?”
You felt your cheeks go red, you didn’t want to think about what happened today.
“W-Well that's just the way I am” you said while standing back up.
Jamie looked at you confused, then rolled his eyes “alright don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.”
He’s right, you didn’t want to talk about it. You couldn’t keep letting them solve your problems for you, Jamie was right you needed to stand up for yourself.
“Alright let's go” he walked over to the window.
“Huh? Go where?”
Jamie pointed at the window “out. We’re not gonna sit in your room and braid each other's hair, let's do something fun, something… dangerous .”
His words intrigued you a little, even though you were quite tired.
“I-I dunno…”
“Oh come on. You need to get out, I can see it in your eyes.”
“Alright” you said.
Sneaking out the back door was a lot easier when your mom was asleep.
While Jamie… jumped out your bedroom window thinking he could land on his feet.
You rushed outside when you saw him lying mangled in a bush below.
He said he was ok, and not to worry, as you watched in horror as the guy pushed his shoulder back into his socket and his left leg back into place.
Your expression gave him more delight than anything else.
The two of you walked down your alleyway till you reached a crosswalk and made your way to the downtown core.
Both of you stopped just outside a cheap motel.
You realised why you were here pretty quickly.
“Pauls in there isn’t he?” you asked.
Jamie nodded “yeah, don't worry we’re not going inside he said he’d meet us out here.
I mean… unless you wanna get-”
“I’m good!” you quickly cut in not wanting to go there at all.
“Alright another time, we’ll get you laid another time.”
“Ok you really don't have to say that.”
There was yell and a loud thud.
A weird smile spread across Jamie's face as you two watched someone climb out the window of one of the hotel rooms.
They fell onto the balcony just as a lamp went through the window above them.
They climbed sluggishly down to the ground and nearly lost their balance before regaining it and lighting up a cigarette. You knew who that was.
Monoxide bolted through the parking lot while glancing behind until he made it to where you were. “H-Hey guys” he panted.
“Are you seriously out of breath right now?” Laughed Jamie.
“No… but that's what she said.”
The three of you chuckled at that dumb joke.
Paul took notice of you “hey buddy.” You leaned back before he could dap you up.
“I hope you washed your hands after whatever you were doing,” you said.
He looked at his hands before wiping them on his cargo pants.
“Clean now,” he smiled.
“Thats fucking gross, I really hope you did wash your hands man” Jamie said as he started walking down the road with you two following.
“Where are we going anyway?” you asked.
You assumed that we were headed in the direction of the arcade, but since we already passed it there was nowhere else to go.
Everything by now was closed for the day, and it had gotten quite dark.
“You’ll see,” said Jamie cryptically.
You were heading deeper into the bad side of town. Speeding up a little you tried to stay as close as possible to the two ghouls. Despite all past feelings and warning signs you still felt a lot safer near them.
Further up ahead you could see where the street had cut off and a large abandoned factory sat. That's most likely where you were headed.
Wait, why were you going to an abandoned factory?
The acrid smell of cigarette smoke filled your nose as you walked next to Paul.
Jamie fiddled with the large door as it opened up to reveal a cool breeze and eternal darkness.
“Are we really going in there?” you said.
“Yep” Jamie led the way, you felt Paul's hand on your shoulder as he slowly pushed you inside.
It was pitch black as you walked on shattered glass and soggy carpet.
Luckily they both knew you couldn’t see in the dark like them, so Paul kept his hand attached to your shoulder guiding you through the blackness.
You stumbled up two flights of stairs when you saw a dim warm glow ahead.
As you got closer the three of you were in a large room.
Huge pieces of machinery filled most of it but in the corner there was an open space.
It was surprisingly cozy.
Christmas lights hung from the ceiling illuminating the scene below.
Two large ripped up arm chairs sat around one of those gas stoves used for camping. A large fridge, a flatscreen tv stacked on a bunch of phone books, and a foosball table missing pieces sat close by. Shopping carts were stacked in a pile near the corner while various objects and pieces of furniture lined the area.
There was also a christmas tree fully decorated and sitting next to one of the armchairs.
“This is where you guys live,” you said aloud.
“Occasionally” Jamie said as he slumped down on one of the arm chairs.
“It's pretty sweet right?” Paul leaned in.
It was incredibly shabby, kind of like a hoarder created it. A very particular sort of hoarder.
“Uhhh…”
Paul grinned “you're at a loss for words. I know.”
“Making this place was his idea,” said Jamie. “It was either this or sleeping in the studio green room which is already overcrowded.”
“Since you know where this place is now, you can show up here when you want, it's cool with us. Most of our friends do” Paul smiled gently.
You wandered around the room looking at the bizarre collection of stuff they had.
It was actually very cozy, they had managed to make this cold empty place feel very homey.
“This is great, this place is great” you couldn’t think of anything else to say.
There was a large pasta strainer full of cigarettes and Paul quickly commented that he’d clean that up. Jamie dragged you over to his collection of comic books he was eager to show you.
The three of you messed around with some of the junk they’d collected.
Then Jamie pulled up a fold out deck chair for you to sit in, as they surprisingly got the tv to work. Paul was eager to show you his skills in some of the video games they had lying around. Jamie was content to watch you guys. When it was your turn the guys would both cheer you on, and laugh whenever you lost. You felt content, you were content.
The only thing you could think of that would ruin the moment was one of them trying to get you to smoke weed, which happened a lot more often despite you always declining it.
It had been almost an hour when Jamie jumped up from his seat “Oh! You got something for you!”
“Something special!” he nodded at Paul.
Jamie took your hand and they led you behind the large machines to another section of the large room.
Your excitement and joy drained from your body in an instant as you laid eyes on a horrific sight.
It was him, the leader of your bullies, the same guy who had beat you senseless just this afternoon.
He was tied up and gagged sitting on a metal chair.
His eyes were red from crying and he was staring right at you.
“Ta-da!” said Paul like he was showing you the bike he’d built.
The older teen struggled in his bindings and let out muffled angry screams as he locked eyes with you. “Say hello to your special, personal gift!”
Your mouth was agape in horror.
Paul flicked his ear playfully “don't worry we didn’t hurt him. That would ruin your present.”
Noticing that you’d barely moved Jamie pushed you closer to the bully.
It was then you saw the two tables sitting next to him.
They were covered in various sharp and blunt objects; knives, saws, power drills, scalpels, hammers, axes.
“Go ahead buddy, pick one” said Jamie sounding delighted despite the very messed up gravity of the situation.
Paul smiled at your frozen expression.
“If you're having a hard time I always go for this guy” he picked up a large hunting knife.
“Precise. Perfect for gutting stuck-up rich assholes who get fat off of daddy's money” he growled, turning his attention to the bound brute.
“I mean yeah if you wanna be hella basic” Jamie added, “but if I were you I’d go for the bone saw right there. That's pretty pimp, we had to break into a medical supply factory for that one.”
You tried to find the words, but your mouth was dry.
He stared you in the eyes, his face red with anger. You wanted to get back at him for what he did to you, so badly, but this was…
“N-no no, this is too much” you mumbled.
Paul craned his neck to hear you “huh?”
“This is not wha- ow!” You couldn’t finish your sentence as you felt Jamie's fingers dig into your shoulders. “What did you say?” he tutted.
“You do realize we went through all this work to get him here. For you.”
“This is your gift, and don't give us that ‘ but he doesn’t deserve it’ bullshit. Because HE FUCKING DOES.” His voice was mocking and in your ear.
You looked to Paul for some kind of help or way out, but he just stared at you and smiled sympathetically, as if you were a child and didn’t know better.
“Don’t yell at them, that's not going to fix anything, here” Paul pushed the knife into both your hands making sure your fingers were wrapped around the hilt.
“There we go!” you were trembling now with the knife in your hand.
Paul grabbed you forearm and took you closer, till you were but 2 feet away from the tied up bully. “Go ahead, we made it easy for ya,” he smiled wickedly “go on.”
The boy struggled in his bindings now very aware of what his fate was, he was no longer angry just afraid. Those fear stricken eyes glared into yours, like a panicked animal.
“No I can’t do it!” you finally yelled, tired of this sick charade.
“I-I like you guys I really do, everything we’ve done together has been great, up until now I felt like I really had friends for real this time.”
Their expressions started to soften upon hearing this.
“You can’t get me to do this” you went on “I-I don't want to hurt people, even if their useless piece of shit assholes!” you snapped. That got a wide grin out of Paul.
“I’m sorry.”
Both of the ghouls were silent, you started to think you’d actually convinced them.
Then you heard Jamie sigh audibly behind you.
You saw him walk up past you, to look at the array of torture devices.
“Don’t apologize, you do it too much” he grumbled. “Ok” you quickly said.
“You seriously don't want revenge, after this bitch beat the shit out of you?” said Paul.
You frowned at him eyes wide “how did you know I got into a fight with him?”
He poked a spot on your arm where a bruise was, you flinched.
“You're bad at hiding things, especially from us,” he grinned.
“You guys are gonna let him go now, right?”
“Suuuuuuuuuuuure we are” said Paul.
“HAH!” laughed Jamie “Sorry no fucking way, we‘ve had our eye holes on this punk for awhile now.”
“You can’t kill him!” you snapped. He was an awful person sure but death was a little extreme.
Jamie rolled his eyes and leaned on the chair where the bully was tied up.
“Who says we can’t?” you thought of something quick.
“You can kill me!” It was stupid idea, and very much thought of in the heat of the moment.
They weren’t expecting you to say that, that was a good thing. Maybe you could sneak untying the guy and making a beeline for the exit in the dark.
You pointed the hunting knife at your chest, “my life isn’t worth much anyway.”
Paul swiped the weapon from your hand before you could react.
“You're a crazy motherfucker” he touted the knife and pointed it at the bully.
“His life ain’t worth yours, why the fuck would we kill you?”
You took a step back now as your plans changed from saving him, to running.
You frowned and looked at the ground growing more distraught with the thoughts in your head.
“I-I dunno” just as you were about to put your plan into action Jamie pulled you into a tight hug.
“Relax man, we would never hurt you… but we’ll hurt him though.”
His words of comfort had no effect, and Jamie held you in place facing the bully tied up on the chair. Paul took the knife and traced it along the arm of the bound figure before savagely jabbing it into his chest. The knife went in and out, over and over again, while the two ghouls laughed hysterically, reveling in the pain they caused.
You closed your eyes tightly for all of it, but could still hear the screams. You squirmed around till you were hugging Jamie back, facing away from the carnage.
He held you tighter, his hoodie smells like blood and dirt. You forced your mind to focus on that instead of the screams.
Eventually you felt yourself get half carried away as the screams faded.
Maybe it was blood and the stress from the situation, but you had passed out on the spot. You actually had a panic attack. Paul was the first to notice that.
Realizing that you were very much not used to this they decided to take you back home and act like it never happened. It was hard sometimes, but they forgot you were still human.
You awoke to shiver, you were still in your room head down at your desk.
The window was left open. It was a little after midnight it showed on your clock. You were about to get up when you noticed that someone had draped a blanket over you.
Still taking in the scene around you, you had a hard time remembering the last hour of your night. You remembered coming home from school, eating dinner, writing in your journal, talking to Jamie …
Then you went out with them as usual, playing video games and…
Nothing, your head hurts for some reason.
There was something sitting on your desk in front of you. Your journal, it was open.
Just as you had it an hour ago, maybe you had dreamed the whole encounter?
That's probably why everything felt so hazy, like your brain was forcing you from remembering.
The journal was open to a blank page.
Or it wasn’t blank, there was something there in blotchy red letters.
“ Sorry”
You slammed the journal shut.