Chapter Text
The anticipation of arriving at your new job became heavy in your belly. Your legs tingled restlessly as you noticed the large ornate house in the distance. Your legs crossed and uncrossed constantly you just wanted to be walking into that house already.
You had to physically restrain yourself from jumping out the car and just rushing into that house. You must stay composed; you weren’t meant to be here for any other reason than your senior adult care job. A job you frankly knew nothing about, you just hoped it was simple. Forging college certificates in adult care was surprisingly simple to make convincing. Whilst excited you had immense anxiety from the prospect that this house could house the devil and that paired with the worry of being caught out as a fraudster attempting to see said devil really messed with your poorly held composure.
An old man stood on the front steps; his arms held behind his back. He had a friendly complexion. A bright smile spread across his face as you stepped towards the house your luggage in tow. You assumed this was Paul, you were aware Alex was all but confined to a wheelchair. He must still be inside.
“Welcome.” Paul held out his hand which you shook graciously. He observed your eager countenance and chuckled slightly. “You seem plenty eager to be here, I can’t promise this job will be as exciting as you’re expecting.” At this he seemed to develop an apprehension of you, who would be excited to take care of some sick old man, they don’t want a looney occult follower stepping into their home clearly and tried to avoid just that. They must be aware of the rumours and fame that surround this house.
Unfortunately for them, they hadn’t tried hard enough.
Your heart dropped to your feet at his comment. You tried to keep you face as smooth as possible, he was already suspicious, and you hadn’t even entered the house yet. You forced your mouth to pull up into a smile, “Sorry, I’ve just dreamed of this job since I was a kid and I ‘ve been struggling to get a job. Forgive me for being a little ecstatic.”
He smiled in response before gesturing for you to follow him into the house. Despite his smile he still didn’t trust you, whether it was because of your forced smile which was likely horror movie worthy or the fact that nobody on earth has dreamed of taking care of the elderly when they were a kid.
You could not keep your smooth composure when you saw the inside. The house was rich and fanciful, every part of it looked dated but graceful. Obviously not much had been changed since Roderick’s impromptu death in the early 1900s. There was a grand entrance room which stretched into a long hallway into darkness on the left and a grand staircase led up to an even more elaborate first floor. There was a strange atmosphere inside the house. There was a distinct tugging on your gut that threatened to pull you to the dark end of the hallway, to the one spot where an expertly blended door resided. As Paul lead you a little along the hallway in order to climb the stairs it only got stronger. You tried not to think about it as you swallowed quickly, hurrying after Paul. It was easy to ignore that feeling once you’d moved away from that side of the house towards Alex’s room.
Paul knocked softly three times as warning that they were coming in before opening the door. It revealed a grand four poster bed with Alex safely tucked inside reading. You could just catch the title before he stuffed it away in the bedside table, ‘Zorba the Greek’.
“Darling, I would like you to meet your new caretaker before I show them the ropes.” Paul stood aside to reveal you and your meek stature as you clutched your hand luggage in front of you, your shoulders pulled up tightly from the sudden pressure you felt as you finally processed what the fuck you were doing. However, Alex just smiled.
“It’s great to meet you. My you are a sight for sore eyes. You will surely brighten up this gloomy house.” His compliment made you shrink even more into yourself, you felt guilty for conning this seemingly lovely couple.
You smiled and bowed your head politely as Paul ushered you out of the room and further down the hallway to a smaller room but no less elaborate. A large double bed stood in the middle of the room, a wardrobe; dresser combination pressed against the left wall. There was even a vanity rested against the wall near to the door. There was just a distinct lack of decoration. It was clearly a worker’s room in that way, minimal effort had been put into it compared to the rest of the house there was a distinct lack of decoration and clutter. Paul cleared his throat.
“So, this is your room for the foreseeable future. You will be permitted holidays and such in order to visit home if you so wish and everything you need will be provided for you under your contract. Anything extra don’t hesitate to ask me. I can sort it, within reason of course. Okay?” You nodded curtly.
“Your job will consist of a very small but important number of tasks. You will find you will unfortunately have a lot of free time. You may leave the house when you can, and you are permitted to explore the house. I read in your statement that you’re a reader, we do have quite a large library downstairs for you to find.” He gave you a wink at which you a small smile played upon your lips, there was always something fun about exploring a new house.
“We only ask one thing from you.” Paul’s tone and body language shifted so quickly you almost got whiplash. “Do not enter the basement. It is the one place you are not permitted to enter. It’s dangerous down there. Storage space and all that. You will find no need to go down there for your job regardless, but just to let you know when you go off to explore.” His mouth pulled into a grave smile. “Well, I’ll leave you to get settled. Someone will collect you tomorrow to start.” He exited the room and closed the door softly. You heard his shoes on the floor as he slowly walked away.
So, maybe the rumours were true. That tickling feeling, and that pit in your stomach from the ride here seemed to hit you again all at once. You would find out what was in that basement.
It had been a week now that you had been caring for Alex Burgess. You had miraculously not been fired, maybe you were a fast learner. No closer to getting into that basement, however. It appeared to be guarded constantly. You had no idea how you would get past the guards; you’d have to get closer to Alex and convince them of your permission to be down there or lure them away. Those were the only plausible ways you could think of making it far enough to see this so-called devil. Trying to set you plan in motion, you progressively began to go see Alex during times you didn’t need to be there. You made conversation about the books he would be reading and his younger life.
It was so hard not to just rush into the basement. The pull you felt on the first day never ebbed. There was some relief when you were tucked away in your room but everywhere else it was potent. It only seemed to get stronger the longer you stayed in the house, it was beginning to wear down on your resolve. Alex seemed to see right through you. You could sense his suspicion when you started spending time with him, his furrowed eyebrows that followed you wherever you walked when you talked.
One day you had been taking him towards the living room, he had challenged you to a midday game of chess after you bragged about your past in a chess club during university. Unfortunately, you had to pass by the basement door. Your hands had tightened on his wheelchair, and you shuffled slightly faster as the urge to rip open the door became all consuming. After settling himself on the couch his expression folded into a glare that seemed so angry you felt your insides shrivel up. You tried to seem unphased, but you discovered you could be read like an open book.
“I don’t know why you’re here, or why you insist on spending so much time with me… That basement is a dangerous place, and I will not ever let you down there. For the sake of yourself and my family. You must trust me in this. I’m not naïve and I’m aware of the rumours.” His tone was stern and sharp, he addressed you in the way an adult would tell off a small child who strayed too close to the main road.
The guilt was consuming you this time.
“I can promise you sir, I am only here for the job. I have no interest in that basement.”
Maybe you should have left that last bit out, he had clearly felt you rush past the door. His eyes narrowed at you briefly before he relaxed back into his typical friendly demeanour. You tried to do that yourself, but you could not force the awkward stiffness out of your limbs. No matter how much you reassured Alex of your disinterest, you were still plotting your way into that basement.
It had been a month by now, and yet you were still no closer. You had closely monitored the shifts of the guards but there were never any gaps between them. The morning shift would go down to dismiss the night shift and take their place, so on so forth. However, you witnessed something interesting tonight. Alex and Paul had entered the basement at roughly 11pm, you heard raised voices at around 11:12pm and at approximately 11:20pm Paul and Alex emerged. Alex was grumbling loudly across the upstairs hall; you could only catch certain bits from your position, pressed against the door of your room.
“How dare he- “, “Never again will I go down there- “, “Rot forever- “.
Your stomach fell onto the floor and rolled away.
The way Alex spoke felt oddly like he was referring to something - or someone - roughly human. No one would refer to a devil in such a way. Certainly not well enough to give it pronouns outside of ‘it’. This was your final straw; you knew you had to get down there tonight. You feared Alex was going to seal the door up and you’d never learn what was down there.
You listened intently, ensuring Alex and Paul were shut away in their room before carefully turning the doorknob and pulling the door open just far enough for you to slip through. You didn’t dare close it, but no one ever came down your end of the house at this time anyway. You tiptoed barefoot all the way downstairs, carefully but swiftly, until you finally reached the dreaded door that had haunted your stay here. The tug in your gut was overwhelming you, it was nauseating when you were this close. This is what you had been here for a month to see. This was it. It felt surreal, you never anticipated you’d get this far.
You yanked the door open and made note to twist the dead lock so when the door closed you could not reopen it without a key. Your plan was flimsy, but you prayed the guards were gullible. You ran down the stairs and inches from the bottom you yelled out to the guards, inaudible to the rest of the house.
“We need your help up here! An animal has managed to break in from the forests!” You cringed at the half-arsed excuse. It seemed to work though, there was a scramble and yell from the two guards as they frantically opened the gate and barged past you up the stairs. You followed closely behind and after they ran out of the basement you shut it tightly behind them, the deadlock slipping in place. You let out a harsh breath and your stomach tightened again as you peered down the stairs, the ominous glow that came from further in the basement was not helping. You rushed back down the stairs regardless.
Your breath caught in your throat. The room was just as elaborate as the rest of the house, the only thing out of place was a massive glass sphere, suspended by chains. You could tell immediately this was a magic user’s abode or used to be. To your horror there was a man inside the glass sphere, entirely naked. You didn’t know whether you should move or not, he slowly lifted his head. What he had expected to see it clearly wasn’t you, his eyes flickered curiously before returning to their original stale glare. You stepped forward apprehensively. Whatever that tugging feeling was, it was coming from him. It was almost entirely physical now; you weren’t even entirely sure you wanted to move forward but you did anyway.
You stopped just short of the painted circle on the ground that encircled the sphere, you knew from your studies that this was commonly known as a binding circle. Kept whatever magical being you wanted trapped inside and unable to use its powers outside of it. You felt the glass cage was just an eccentric, voyeuristic addition. Not to mention the nakedness. Your heart twinged, and you tried to open your mouth to speak but it had gone entirely dry.
“What- no. Who are you?” You croaked out, voice barely louder than a whisper. He seemed confused at your correction. You had no idea how long he had been here, but you doubted any human had treat him as anything else but a thing, something to be used. You sympathised with him. You had first-hand experience to just how greedy magic users could be. Despite him hearing you clearly, he didn’t move. He didn’t speak. Not as much as a face muscle even twitched.
You cleared your throat and swallowed thickly before taking another apprehensive step forward. You were stood upon the circle now; a small scrape of your foot and it would be broken. This gaged a reaction, his eyes widened. You could determine their colour now, not that it was one colour. They were a deep colour and seemed to reflect a starry night sky. It was mesmerising to say the least, you could not deny this man was ethereal. His facial structure was that of a Gods, his physique was one many would kill for, but he was a tad on the skinny side which was probably due to starvation by the looks of his body. His hair was dark and stuck up at all awkward angles, despite this he was truly beautiful. Whoever he was he was not a devil.
That tugging sensation had almost entirely sunk its teeth into you, it seemed to ensnare your body in its thread’s and before you knew it you had reached out and pressed your palm against the glass. If your movements shocked him previously, now he was utterly astounded by this. Who were you and why did you dare get so close to the glass. In truthfulness you didn’t, you didn’t physically feel like you had control over your body anymore. It felt like you were on autopilot, and you were just forced to watch. As if he was experiencing the same sensation, barely shifting anything else in his body, his arm reached out and his fingers met your palm on the other side of the glass. You gasped as a deep, rumbling, dreamy voice of a man filled your head.
I am Dream of The Endless.
Your eyes almost bulged out of your head.
“Endless?!” You knew full well who the Endless were. They weren’t the most famous pieces of mythology around, but you had taken an interest in them for your psychology dissertation paper during university, you specifically studied the psychology of dreams funnily enough. And here was the man, being, thing who controlled dreams and nightmares trapped in a glass cage right in front of you. He was eerily human, more than you’d like to admit. The most unnatural thing about him was his ability to be entirely still even with his arm outstretched for a prolonged period.
“How long have you been down here?” You felt a lump in your throat. You felt for this man. You surveyed him again, as far as you dared look to preserve his dignity – you were unsure if he even cared. Aside from the powerful muscle he was pretty much skin and bone. He didn’t respond this time as he pulled his hand away from the glass, but his eyes seemed to tell a thousand words, a million stories. His eyes were glazed causing the night sky in them to swirl, that almost made you crumble into tears.
You heard the door fling open to the basement. You whipped your head around to the exit as the sound of hurried pounding footsteps made their way towards you. You didn’t have long left down here. You looked back at him; his expression had returned to his signature steely gaze. He did not expect you to do anything for him, he’s probably been bribed for decades at this point. That thought was what solidified your choice, you pulled your foot across the binding circle before you rushed back to the exit. You risked one last look and his mouth had parted, he looked upon you with more affection this time. You offered a small, encouraging smile before jogging back to the gate. You didn’t need the unnecessary suspicion of you being near the cage.
Paul rushed down first, followed closely by the gullible guards.
“What on earth are you doing?” He exclaimed, out of breath. He had a robe tied haphazardly around him; it was pretty much falling off. You didn’t think this far, how to make an excuse about how you had seen an animal when there was in fact no animal and you had no idea how to explain why you also coincidentally got yourself locked in the forbidden basement you were suspected of trying to break into. Shit.
“The door, uh kind of shut on me and wouldn’t open. Did you not find the – uh – cat?” Your chest was tight from the anxiety, not to mention you could feel Dream of The Endless’ eyes boring into your back. Paul didn’t say anything, he was tight lipped as he looked over at the cage. You followed his gaze and noticed that the scrape you’d made was visible, it was plain as day what you had done. You swore under your breath.
Paul didn’t say anything.
You watched him swallow, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
You tensed for the reprimand, but nothing came. He simply placed a hand on your back and guided you back up the stairs and back to your room without a word.
Nothing was said as he shut your door and left you. You didn’t know what to do. You knew you couldn’t return to the basement again, hell he was probably long gone by now. You didn’t even know how to react, so you simply slipped yourself back in bed and found yourself dead asleep in a matter of seconds.
However, it wasn’t your regular dreamless sleep tonight. You blinked open your eyes, squinting against the sudden light, to find your face deep in grass and the scent of pollen tickled your nose. You pushed yourself up from the ground to find yourself sitting in a glade circled by trees and you had woken up beneath a weeping willow which shifted slightly in the summer breeze, a lake stretched in front of you. The bank was dotted with white lilies, peonies and all sorts of pale coloured flowers which filled your nose with a glorious smell. You seemed to relax instantaneously, the events from the day ebbing away as you laid on your back in the tall grass and closed your eyes – basking in the summer glow. It’s been years since you felt peace such as this.
Of course, it didn’t last long as a shadow crossed your face, blocking the sun. You weren’t letting your first good dream be ruined. You contemplated ignoring it, but it was a person, you felt their presence fluttering on your eyelids making them twitch. You opened one eye glancing to your right, the direction of where the shadow was being produced. Letting out a yelp you rolled away into a sitting position. You shouldn’t have been as surprised as you were considering you learned less than an hour ago, he was the King of Dreams.
His expression remained unchanged even still. He was dressed this time. Entirely in black with a trench coat and boats, you contemplated the fact that he might be hot considering your dreamscape’s weather before quickly realising that was a stupid thought. He wasn’t even human. You were then consciously aware of the thin fabric your pyjamas were made of. You wrapped your arms around yourself self-consciously as you looked expectantly at him to speak.
“I came here to thank you.” He spoke from his mouth this time instead of implanting his voice in your head. His voice was still so entirely seductive you felt yourself melt a little.
“You never answered my question.” You bluntly stated, you didn’t really know what to do or say. Not every day you break one of The Endless out of prison and then find him in your dreams thanking you for doing so. His mouth twitched a little. You couldn’t tell if it was amusement or disappointment, he was impossible to read.
“Over a century.” His voice had an edge to it. As if the mere thought was painful to him. You had no idea what had happened in the time before you, but there was a sudden, ripe urge to provide him with some form of comfort. You clambered to your feet unsure even how to comfort a higher being. He seemed to sense what you were trying to do as he retracted away from the empty space between you both, beginning to leave. Part of you didn’t want him to go, your body yearned for closeness. You blamed it on the fact this was a dream. You never had much control over the rare nightmare you had.
“That is all. We will hopefully never see each other again.” Could he hear what you were thinking? You flinched at the harshness of his tone and averted your eyes.
Hopefully.
“You should hope to never see me again, seeing me means trouble for you.” His expression had lost some of its edge when you glanced back at him. You understood what he meant by that. You knew better than to get involved with The Endless, every human in history that was ever involved with them never got a happy ending. At least you had dreams now. He was walking away now and soon disappeared from the landscape.
You sank back down into the grass, flat on your back spread like a starfish.
He had warned you.
You knew it was a bad idea.
But at that moment you had already decided to find him again.