Chapter Text
What about them? Have you just forgotten those who made you who you were? Your real family?
Your eyes shoot open, heart pumping loudly in your chest as you steadily breath in and out. You stare up at the blank ceiling for some time as you try to gather your thoughts and racing heart. Everything feels overwhelming, too much on your sensitive senses.
The bed feels too warm and smothering, upon removing said covers and getting up the room feels too spacious and cold, your heart won't shut up and allow you to think.
You flinch as if you had just been burned, your frantic eyes find anxious ones. You take a step back from the side of the bed, your eyes sting slightly when Sally turns on the bedside lamp. The light-haired brunette is slowly getting out of bed, somehow aware of your sensitive state as you intensely watch her movements. She now is upright anxiously looking at you, there is a tense silence before she starts speaking in a gentle voice that makes you feel like a child,
"Hey, you're alright." Her hands gesture towards you, "Do you know where you are?" You take a moment to process what she says and nod. "Good good, would you like to sit down?"
"I'm fine Sally, I just need a moment, I had a nightmare," you say as you shake your head, the teenager visibly relaxes,
"Oh, thank god, I was scared that your memory had messed up again or something," she says with a hand on her chest, you give her a smile and decide you needed a drink. You crouch down, your knees let out a few pops, and open the black mini fridge that rested below the nightstand, you note that it was looking a little barren, Ben had stolen some water bottles from the kitchen for the fridge but now there was only one left. You needed to go into town and get some snacks and drinks.
"Hey, what time is it?" You ask after taking a drink of the frigid liquid, forcing a shiver to rack through your body, Sally lets out a yawn as she grabs her phone from the bedside table she had been sleeping nearby,
"Seven fifteen, she groans as she rubs her eyes." She falls back into bed; you hum as you start mentally making a grocery list.
.
Jane let's out a grunt as she collapses onto her new chestnut colored couch, the fabric still taught from lack of use, she looks over to Masky and Hoody who are removing the masking tape from the ceiling and door frames. The house was nearly finished, it was amazing how much could get done when the workers had paranormal abilities.
She had been working on fixing the place up for a while now, whenever she had the time off, it was difficult in the beginning to even go anywhere near the destroyed building.
The heart ache resurfacing sharply with the memories that will forever be burned into her mind. Especially upstairs, where she had planned to stay the rest of her days with your lifeless body.
The brunette shakes her head, even though much had been lost on that fateful day she still had you by her side. She wasn't sure how you'd react to being back home, whether you may remember some thing or not. She hears the two men moving about behind her, their boots thudding loudly against the plastic covered wood.
"Alright, fellas, I think that's good for today," Jane says as she hoists herself up with a grunt. The tired woman coming to stand next to the two men as they admired their painting skills. She pats them on the back, and they begin cleaning up the paint supplies as Jane takes in the soft brown of the wood along side the creamy white she had decided on, now unsure whether she liked it or not.
Masky notices her hesitant stare, having spent the past two weeks helping the woman decide on a damn color he wasn't in the mood for her sudden distaste for it.
So, before she could say anything he grabs her shoulder and in a blink of an eye they're at the front steps of the manor. Jane blinks in a stupor, quickly processing what had just happened she turns and sees that Masky had already teleported away.
"Whatever." The brunette yawns as she feels the frigid wind brush past her exposed arms, the tank top and loose paint covered jeans doing little to shield the rest of her body. She's quick to enter the slightly warmer mansion, her aged converse make a muted tap against the smooth flooring and thud on the bleached wooden staircase, her pale hands grazing against the dark wood as she walks up.
The brunettes heart and legs picking up speed at the thought of seeing you after being apart for so long, she opened her door a little too excitedly to an empty room. Her heart sinks ever so slightly, she walks in and shuts the door behind her. She flicks on the light and a the dimly lit room brightens with a warm hue, she goes to her closet to grab a change of clothes for her much needed shower.
As she allows the conditioner to set she lathers up her loofah and begins working on her body, her mind coming up with the different places you could possibly be, the main possibility being that you were either with Ben or Sally. Perhaps you were hanging out with them in the blonde's bedroom, then it was set, she would go and see the twink.
Her hair was still damp when she knocked on the blonde man's door, said door was decorated with the terrible signs she had bought him a couple years back, all gamer related of course.
She hears a muffled 'come in' and she does just that, a distinct smell quickly rushing towards her as she shuts the door behind her, the blonde was laying on a patched-up bean bag with a tablet in hand. There was no one else in the room.
"Have you seen, Diana?" She asked as she flopped down on the adjacent bean bag, the man stares at the tablet screen, a video about comparing the size of the universe playing at a lowered volume having his short attention span at the moment. After a few seconds he finally replies, shaking his head,
"No, last time I checked she was with Sally," he says before his face suddenly lights up, "oh wait! I remember now," he realizes as he pauses the video, "they said they were heading into town to grab some things for the mini fridge." He lazily beams, proud that he was able to remember.
Jane can't help but laugh, "right, thank you, man," and with a quick hand shake she is heading back to her room to grab a jacket and a proper pair of winter boots before going to reunite with her beloved.
.
You are looking at the milk prices, comparing the similar prices trying to find the cheapest one, when you hear something drop into the cart. You finally make a decision and grab a slender carton of milk and place it in the cart as well, now able to get a proper look at the box of cereal that the teenager had chosen.
"Oh, that's a classic," you hum as you return to the back of the basket and begin pushing it, Sally beams and takes her place besides you as the two of you slowly make your way through the many aisles of the grocery story.
It was pretty nerve wracking going into the town, while you didn't necessarily struggle with social interaction but to say it wasn't overwhelming to see so many unfamiliar faces would be a bit of a stretch. What kind of helped was that your appearance was pretty normal given the circumstances you had been put through, the only real thing that may have hinted at an absurdity was your black as death fingers. They really weren't something you often took much notice to, except well, when you did.
You had done some research on frostbite and you're not even sure how you're still able to use them, of course you had no sense of touch with the digits and from what you could tell they were pretty solid, if the clicking sound of them connecting with a hard surface was anything to go by.
All things considered you were pretty normal compared to what you had seen this past month. Your mind going over your past interactions with the other tenants of the manor. Yeah, you were normal if anything.
Sally had taken notice to your sudden insecurity and gave you some gloves, the sensation of the soft cotton insides of the leather gloves against your hardened fingers was awful and made you want to bite your fingers off, but you appreciated the kindness nonetheless.
You and Sally are walking with a tote bag each, both full of snacks and beverages for the mini fridge, though you feel you may have over done it now unable to remember how big the fridge actually was. Oh well.
The two of you work your way through the bitter spring cold, the wind had died down and the sun was still out, but it did nothing to quell the cold. You adjust your hold on the bag, noticing the gloves you try and remove them as quickly as possible, relishing in the cold that nipped at your palms. You shove the gloves into your coat pocket, Sally had waited for you as you regathered yourself and you lightly jogged to catch up to the teenager.
Your heart nearly jumps out of your chest when you feel an arm snake around your shoulders, you look over to see two dark lenses that mirror your surprise.
"Jesus, Jane, you scared the shit out of me," you sigh with relief at the sight of your girlfriend, placing a hand against your chest in an attempt to calm your racing heart. Sally and Jane share a laugh at your expense, you end up joining in after a moment. The three of you continue walking towards the bus stop, Jane ends up taking your tote bag reasoning that it looked heavy. Though you knew it was because the bag was getting in the way of the woman's advances, nonetheless you allow her to do so with a giggle.
Sally is talking with the older brunette as you tiredly look out the massive window, watching as the many buildings of downtown slowly turn into housing. You can't help the yawn that escapes your mouth, a hand instinctively covering the orifice as you excuse yourself. Jane lightly squeezes your shoulder, causing your attention to shift from the scenery towards her, a smile gracing her pretty face behind those cumbersome shades.
You find yourself pulling them off and putting them on, the blinding afternoon sun reflecting off of the snow dulling significantly. You plant a sweet kiss against her dark lips earning a smile from her and a gag from the teenager. You can't help the fullness of your heart when you turn back towards the window, the soft thudding of the organ feeling almost audible.
-
Your feet continue to ache as you unlock the door to the bedroom, between having to take the fifteen minute trek from the bus stop towards the woods and the thirty minute walk back towards the mansion it made you realize how much it sucked having to walk everywhere. You drag yourself over to the bed and dramatically collapse onto it a grunt, bent over the side of the plush mattress you can't help the content sigh that escapes your numb lips at the coolness of the comforter under your palms.
Jane and Sally take the liberty of putting away most of the groceries, a portion of it having to be placed in the lower drawers of the dresser (luckily those snacks don't need to be refrigerated).
Once that is complete Jane looks over to where you were still laying, during her work you had crawled deeper into the bed, leaving your brown leather docs to hang off the side. Your face was buried in a Sanrio plush the teenager had given you during Jane's absence, hoping it would satiate you until the woman got back. Sally finishes up the last bit of organization and begins putting the bags away.
Jane removes her long coat and tosses it in the closest to be dealt with later, showing the black thermal long sleeve that clung to her curves nicely. She takes a seat next to your still form and begins untying the lace of her boots, making a mental note to clean the crusted road salt off both her and your boots later. Each boot slips off and lands with a heavy thud against the rug, revealing mismatch socks.
Jane couldn't help the way her heart started beating a little faster as she crawled up next to you, half laying on top of you as she draped both an arm and a leg over your body. You shift your head, and the brunette can feel the dull ache of her cheeks because of the ever-present smile she's had since seeing you. Only your eyes are visible beneath your hair and the thick jacket you had yet to remove, but the taller woman could see the happiness in those bright eyes.
"Oh," the brunette groans as she buries her head next to yours and begins smothering you in kisses, you can't help but erupt in a fit of giggles, "I missed my pretty girlfriend so damn much!" You try and get away but she is too strong and she pulls you on top of her, your back against her front and you breathlessly looking at the ceiling.
Your heart feels so full.
Sally wants to both simultaneously gag and coo at the display, seeing the once stoic brunette be so openly affectionate was sickeningly sweet. "You guys are so gross," the teenager rolls her eyes with little annoyance behind the action, she crouches down and grabs a juice box from the fridge before going toward the vanity to take a seat. The sun had already set despite it being barely seven, it would seem that winter was still going strong well into March.
-
A young womans breath fogs ahead of her as she goes wondering deeper into the woods with only a flashlight and a note on her persons, her heart heavy with grief as she steps closer to her untimely demise.
The rumor about these woods was that while it did have a high missing persons rate (like most natural parks tend to have) it was said that as long as you stayed on the designated path you would come out with little to no incident. This was where you had most likely had been taken, the young girl had done so much research about the man who had tormented her older sister, who had most likely been the one that had kidnapped her. She wanted her big sister back, perhaps it was the grief that muddied her sense of self preservation.
Brown eyes that had lost their youthful sparkle stare determined ahead, only the sound of her snow boots shifting the snow beneath and her breathing being heard. She had already lost feeling in her hands, the nipping sensation growing unbearable with each agonizing step. The young girl didn't really have much of a plan, the main goal was to not die from hypothermia and maybe not having a run in with one of the many monsters she had heard inhabited these woods.
She had been walking for sometime, having gone off the trail a little ways back, it was so dark, the light of her flashlight parting the thick curtain of secrecy. She can hear movement behind her, maybe even above in the trees, the girl swears she caught a glimpse of someone behind a tree in her periphery. Her heart was racing, the fear seeping into her very soul, the seeds of regret quickly blooming in her mind the more she continued.
She stops when her flashlight reveals dark boots only a few feet ahead of her, the rest of the man hidden behind the dark veil of the night. She swallows thickly despite how painfully dry her mouth and throat had become from her labored breathing, her body remained still, the cold had already taken its toll on her body, her joints achy resulting in her movements becoming more sluggish, especially in her gloved hands. She couldn't run.
"So," the young girl couldn't help the flinch that suddenly jolted her body, she hadn't been expecting him to speak, the mans voice low and calm as it cut through the silence of the night, "why are you out so late, do you have a death wish or something?"
"Y-you could say that, yeah," she stutters, preying the mysterious man thought it was because of the cold, she hears him shift and then she sees the flickering of a lighter. She sees the man's face light up with the warmth of the tiny flame, harsh shadows emphasizing his stern features that peaked beneath his scarf and beanie. Smoke clouds out of the man's mouth as he puffs the cigarette to life, he hums as if he's considering the young girls response.
"Well, you go ahead and do that," he exhales the smoke that filled his lungs and begins walking away, as if the girl had suddenly been returned to her body she quickly stumbles toward the man.
"Wait," she gasps out, "would you mind helping me out?" He pauses for a moment, taking a particularly long drag of his cigarette,
"Yes, I would actually."
"I know this is out of know where but please, I'm looking for my sister," ignoring the man's response, she begins shuffling through her pockets as the man exhales and pulls out a photo, "this ugly bastard took her." The girl shines the flashlight on the crumbled photo, showing a deranged looking man with mutilated facial features, it was Jeffrey.
The girl is quick to notice the man's pause, "you know him?" She asks, the man sighs and grunts in agreement. The brunette instantly lights up, "please, if you help me find him and bring my sister back-," the man begins shaking his head causing the girl to stop talking,
"If he got ahold of her, she's long gone," he sighs taking a drag of his cigarette, "...I'm sorry," he seemed genuine but that meant nothing to the teenager, her demeanor drooping significantly at the information she was already well aware of.
"Please..." she quietly begs, the man rubs his face in annoyance,
"Listen, kid, the best advice I can give you is to turn back and go back to your life," he tries to reason, "hell, better yet move as far away from this damn town as you fuckin' can." The girl stubbornly shakes her head,
"No, you're wrong," she stood straight, "I won't stop looking for my sister until I find her, preferably alive," she declares, her voice strong and stern. The man stares for a moment, he's about to go for another drag but realizes it had died out. He groans out and tosses the bud to the side,
"I'm fucking cold, we'll talk about this at my place," he grimaced as he pulled his scarf up and started walking away, the girl stands there for a moment, completely dumbstruck at the man's statement before quickly shoving the photo back into her pockets and pulling her tired legs through the cumbersome snow trailing the taller stranger.