Work Text:
“Have you ever seen this…thing?”
A cop held a piece of paper showing a sketch of a dark shadowy figure. The nebulous figure is illustrated to be running in the woods staring back with bright white eyes to complete the haunted look.
“What are you showing me? It’s just a messy drawing that a kid most likely drew after playing those dumb ghost games.”
The cop pulls away the paper and stares at it. “No… you don’t understand…! It’s based on a legend in this place,” he sets the drawing on the table and placed an empty mug on top to act as a paperweight.
“Ooh! Do tell.”
“There are so many horrific things happening in this Kingdom… specifically the woods beneath the Pastel Palace… It’s called a Haunted Forest for a reason!”
“Um, okay…”
“Wait, do you want to set a mood for this?”
“What the heck do you mean ‘set a mood’?!”
“Dude, chill… I’m just gonna dim the lighting here to make it a more an immersive experience while telling these spooky stories,” the cop laughed. He then blew out a few candles to make the room slightly dimmer.
“Wow, scary. I’m looking forward to this story, I sure hope it doesn’t bore me…”
The cop starts:
The Haunted Forest, one of the most horrific locations in the Pastel Kingdom. Before the current Pastel King became a king, the forest wasn’t considered haunted. Coincidentally enough, after the young soon-to-be king went home and brought his soon-to-be queen with him, that’s where strange things kept happening…
“So… are you trying to suspect the Pastel Queen is behind all this?”
“What? No!” The storyteller glowers at the man he’s conversing with. "She’s not that bad…. even if I haven’t seen her appearance….”
“You haven’t seen the Pastel Queen’s face?”
“Yeah, I heard that the palace had strict rules about not letting a family member be seen in plain sight to the public.”
“That applies to some other Kingdoms as well and I don’t blame them, I guess it’s used for safety measures… just in case no one in their family dies by an assassin or something.” The anonymous man cocks their head, facing the chandelier. A cockroach is seen scampering on the ceiling.
The nameless cop resumes:
Ahem…
The Polygon King went to visit the Pastel Kingdom and decided to buy a mansion in the middle of the forest as his vacation home for his family. But suddenly, they were interrupted by a Possum Witch—a frightening goblin-looking creature with an army of opossums by their side.
The Polygon King and the real estate agent fled away in fear, and the mansion was abandoned…
…Though, there are more sinister phenomena present within the forest.
There are stories of murders, specifically murders where the killer hasn’t brought to light. Those kinds of murderers are most likely hiding somewhere secluded or worse, hiding within the crowd posing as a normal person.
This is the story of the enigmatic serial killer pseudonymously known as—Fairy of Death.
“That… sounds like a name made up by a child.”
The cop scans the man from head to toe. “You… are in a clown costume…”
The man looks down at his lap and faces the cop. The latter raises a brow.
The clown huffs.
“Just shut up and listen to my story!” The cop snaps. “I mean, you’re the one who said you’d like to hear it. So here it is! It’s literally so good… you might not get a good night’s sleep…”
“Please, just get this over with.”
The storytelling guard rolled his eyes. “Whatever, dude—”
The Fairy of Death. I don’t know why they’re called that either. Previously, they used to call them the “Angel of Death” but they soon settled with “Fairy of Death”. Claimed witnesses say that their name is derived from having its mystique yet somewhat graceful aura.
As far as I know, they say that this murderer probably isn’t human. The murderer had great agility, speed, and strength that surpassed what a normal human would. Their strength is 2x stronger than 10 of the strongest warriors combined!
Like I said about the drawing: it’s a dark, shadowy, ghostly, and scary mythical creature! No one had ever seen the Fairy of Death up close and if you did, you’d be pushing up daisies real quick…
Let me recount an anecdote from someone I know named Alex, who had a horrific encounter with the Fairy of Death...
Alex formerly worked at Pastelland, the Pastel Kingdom’s amusement park.
He was a propmaker at one of the attractions at the amusement park, specifically the Haunted House where the staff basically just scares people… mostly lovey-dovey couples who think scary attractions will bring them closer, only for their relationship to end quicker than the relationships from one of those fantasy comics.
Jokes aside, Let me actually begin…
It was around two o’clock in the morning, Alex’s working hours were done two hours ago. Even if it ended a while ago, he insisted on helping the cleaning committee to clean up the garbage in the park. At that time, it was the special Halloween-themed discount for the rides, which explains why there are so many people in the first place.
Alex wanted to get that extra cash, so he stayed.
He wasn’t lonely though, his co-workers were with him too, namely Jenna and Lay. Lay was still busy refurbishing the interior of the Haunted House while Alex and Jenna swept the ground outside.
Once the two were done sweeping, they decided to visit Lay inside the Haunted House, curious on what he was doing. Inside was something that you’d expect in an attraction made to scare you: an eerie foyer, an untidy dining room, a dark common room, and a bloody kitchen.
But one room stood out from the rest.
There was a room where a birthday party took place. The room was clean, a long table was set up with many different kinds of food, presents were also on the table, and a dummy of a boy with a smile on his face (the customers and staff think the dummies look creepy as well). The dummy's parents and friends sang happy birthday to him.
But before the song ends, the lights go out for a few seconds. While the lights are out, you can hear the door slam shut, sounds of screaming, objects thrown on the floor, and knife stabbing.
Then, the lights turned back on but this time, it didn't look like a pleasant birthday party.
The birthday celebrant’s friends and parents were brutally mutilated, with their limbs and torsos spread across the floor. The heads, however, were placed on the table replacing the food earlier. Each head had a candle in the shape of a letter which basically spelled “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”.
The dummy’s smile turned sinister and an innocent-looking clown gave a warm smile, quite unsettling after what happened in the room. Then, the clown pulls up a knife and the customers are led to another open door in the room to escape.
This is where the clown chase starts and more clowns start joining to chase after the customers. The attraction ends with the customers escaping while the clowns are locked in the Haunted House.
Since all of the actors went home to sleep (apart from Jenna, who works as one), the house isn’t filled with fake bloodthirsty clowns. Though, the two still felt chills as they went inside the foyer. The house was made to imitate a creepy abandoned mansion, so you could easily hear the floors creaking when people walk or run. The walls are so thin that not only you could hear frightening screams but even whispers.
Alex and Jenna continued searching for him by looking through each of the rooms. The dining room, the common room, the kitchen, and even the party room—Lay wasn’t found in any of them.
They reached the exit, at the back outside of the Haunted House where everything was empty and silent. Only the flows of the wind and the plastic cups being blown away were the only sounds they’ve heard.
Alex starts to worry. In this world, there isn't an object that can be used to easily communicate with others. He calms himself down by thinking to himself that maybe Lay had already gone home.
“Maybe he already went home?”
Alex turns. He looks at Jenna—his co-worker, still wearing her clown costume and makeup facing him with her expressionless face.
“Most likely… and by the way, when are you planning to change your outfit?”
Jenna looks at herself and groans. “Right now, since we’re done with work. Are you that bothered with me dressed up like this ?” She furrows her brows making herself more intimidating.
“Yes,” Alex bluntly stated.
Jenna looks at the sky. No stars were present, but the moon shines bright as ever.
“Well, it’s getting late. We better get our stuff then,” said Jenna.
They got their bags and left the park. Since Jenna and Alex live nearby, they mostly walked home together. Carriage rides were too pricey for them either way and even if they did go home by riding a carriage… that would be impossible, since it was late at night and there weren’t any carriages outside the park.
They walked through the big Pastel Plaza until they reached—The Haunted Forest. Well... outside the Haunted Forest...
“Is this the forest people keep talking about?” Alex asks Jenna.
“Yeah,” Jenna replied. “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you”
Alex was still bothered about something. “Jenna, why are you still wearing makeup?”
“The water back in the park wasn’t working and they ran out of tissues so I tried wiping it off with my costume, but it still wouldn’t work,” she sighs in exasperation. “I look utterly ridiculous.”
The trees rustled as they started to walk further away from the park, but still near the forest. They could have sworn they felt someone behind them.
Alex and Jenna turn around—only to see nothing but grass and trees.
Alex starts sweating. He had never walked home this late but he needed to get that bonus cash! But, they hadn’t been home yet and the forest is still nearby…
Jenna immediately reaches into her pocket to take out her pepper spray.
“I’m already prepared for these kinds of situations. Here.”
She throws another bottle of pepper spray at Alex. He catches it.
“We’re outside the forest either way, but it’s still dangerous. We need to ru—”
Before Jenna could finish the sentence, Alex heard a loud bonk coming from the right, where Jenna was. She falls down on the grass.
Alex turns his head—everywhere—but saw no one. He looks down where Jenna was, only to see Jenna and her backpack disappear.
Then, Alex felt a solid object hit him in the head hard.
“And... Alex woke up the next day on a field of flowers. It was near the Haunted Forest and that's how his story ends,” said the guard. He stood up to fill his mug with powdered coffee, milk, sugar, and hot water; then starts to stir his drink.
The man in the costume is sweating so much, that the makeup he had was noticeably smudging. “Oh wow, are you trying to scare me with your ‘based in real life’ clown murderer story?”
“Hm, maybe…” the guard simpered. “But also take that as a warning. So far, you're the only person I've met who is aware of the Fairy of Death. I advise you not to tell anyone about this, and as if anyone would believe you saying: ‘Guys! Don't wear clown costumes, especially at night because the Fairy of Death will hunt you down!’”He takes a sip from his mug. "Say, why did you take the job?"
“I took this job so I could scare my ex who cheated on me…”
“Ooh! You sly fox!”
“Not only that, it made me realize that I need to change right now,” he tittered. “Eugh, I smell.”
“Well, a quick shower could work dude. And don’t worry, the water’s working.”
The two men left the small room they were staying in… not noticing they were being watched by someone.
16 feet above was a person staring down from the two men, who had listened to their conversation from the high window. The enigmatic figure was wearing all black. Long-sleeved turtleneck, shades, gloves, pants, and boots—all covered by a black hooded cape.
They started leaping down swiftly, roof to roof until they finally reached the ground. The hooded figure ran through the woods, making their way to the Pastel Palace.
Reaching the palace, they checked if anyone—especially the guards—were there. Luckily, there weren’t any of them so they proceeded to go closer to the palace. (With their father’s bizarre rules, going in and out of the castle, especially at night, was a breeze.)
Before going in, they swapped their boots with flats and proceeded to go inside, carrying their boots and cape (since the cape is dusty and might get the mats dirty).
The person finally reached their room without a trace of them ever leaving. They start throwing their items to the side and lie down on the bed; taking off their balaclava mask with a heavy sigh.
Lorena frowns as she stares at her bedroom ceiling. She was about to beat the man she saw earlier to a pulp until she heard the conservation between him and the guard saying the man was going to remove his clown outfit.
What a waste of time and energy and equipment… she thought to herself.
She then remembers the conversation between the two men earlier and thought back 8 months ago:
Jenna wakes up to see a person above her, she could not identify who this person was because their whole body and face is concealed. She stands to run and screams until the hooded figure hits them hard on the head with a baseball bat. Jenna falls on the ground. She wails from pain she felt. Realizing she's still alive, she desperately flailed, wanting to escape—but, her joints were being beaten. From her left and right arm, to her right and left leg. Then finally, her face is crushed—again and again and again and again... (to avoid people recognizing her, just in case her corpse is found)
Lorena stops herself and checks Jenna's pulses...
Jenna's body was cold, her muscles relaxed, and she stopped breathing.
Lorena slumps on the tree beside her, fanning herself with her hand because of how sweaty she was with her moving around quickly while wearing layers of clothes. She starts digging the soil on the ground with her hands to obtain her shovel and starts burying Jenna's corpse somewhere hidden and deeper within the Haunted Forest.
Lay, huh? She says mentally, as if trying to have a conversation with the person she recently killed. Unfortunately for you, he's under here as well... not here literally I mean, but he's also underneath in this forest as we speak. I've really got a few screws loose...
She then stood up to get her notebook, flipping the pages until she finally found it. The page on the right side—written at the top wrote: “Times I grew a white rose at my headboard”. Then the rest of the page was covered with tally marks, 15 in total.
But the truth is, that’s the total number of people she killed.
Lorena did mark how many she’d kill (even by accident, yes… that happened once) but it didn’t matter how many. All that mattered to her was to bruise and annihilate every clown she saw, like the hero in one of the horror novels she had read. Since then, she had been more cautious about doing these activities... especially around Molly and Maria, who noticed her odd behavior.
“Lorena, why are you covered in dirt?”
“...Oh! It’s nothing. I just tripped outside earlier but don’t worry, I’m not injured or anything.”
“Your Highness, I’ve noticed you had sleeping problems for the past months… I'm really concerned for you Lorena, is there anything I can do to help?”
“Don’t worry, Molly. It’s normal for me, as a teenager, to feel restless sometimes. Also, can you please call my sisters and Jamie too? I bet a nice facial would help freshen us up too! You can also join us if you’re free.”
Exhausted, she changes into her nightgown then hides her notebook and her black clothes inside her cabinet (she had another cabinet inside her cabinet, but it can be only accessible to the royal family solely and as if her father would dig through heaps of her dress and accessories). With everything the “Fairy of Death” possesses gone, the second Pastel princess falls asleep on her bed.
“Why hasn’t Lorena come to eat breakfast?” Gwen said worriedly, eating her sliced pancake drizzled with maple syrup and butter.
“Your Highness was still very sleepy, so I let her stay in bed at the moment,” Molly answered, pouring a cup of tea for Jamie.
“Oh no, I had a feeling Lorena might be possibly sick, especially after her kickboxing practice while it was raining... but I'll make some chicken soup and lime juice as soon as she wakes up!”
Speaking of the devil, Lorena approaches the dining room with her dark eyebags and hunched back. She yawns loudly and pauses when she noticed everyone stare at her.
“Ah... mornin' guys…” said Lorena, as she stretches her arms.
King Jack stands up from the table looking agitated. He then starts bombarding her second daughter with questions. “Lorena, sweety, are you alright? What happened to you? Do you still feel sleepy? Are you feeling ill? Wait—are you ill? I—”
“Dad—Daddy... I'm fineee,” Lorena smiles. “It's just insomnia and it happens rarely soooo I'll be okay later when I go back to sleep. I just need a quick run outside…” she reassures her father while she scratches her back.
The Pastel King calms down as he sat down in his seat. “Thank goodness... as long as you can run outside behind the Palace walls, it's fine.”
Lorena goes to sit beside Maria and Gwen. She then joins her sisters' conversation about dresses, novels, and boys which they later on laughed about. Meanwhile, Jamie and Jack talk about their next chess match as Molly places a plate filled with croissants on the table.