Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The cycle never ends. You are alive, you run, you hide, you die and then you are alive again. No matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to escape this place. You’ve come close, so damn close, but it is never enough. Nothing you ever do is enough…

“You have to keep trying” a gentle voice of encouragement calls out to you, the voice behind that blue light. It is one of the few things in this hell hotel that doesn’t want to see you dead.

“I don’t think I can carry on…” you mumble out, defeated and hopeless, as you sit slumped against the wall of the elevator, staring out into the reception.

“You can, you will find a way, you’ll see. I believe in you!” they continue in that soothing voice of theirs. The sense of calm that washes over you whenever you hear it is… nice. But their words are unacceptable.

"That's nice of you to say, but you don't have to lie" you groan. With your many deaths at this point, why should they continue to believe in you?

“It’s true!” they call out, almost offended in your disbelief in their words. “I believe you’ll be able to overcome any challenge, in time. You just have to keep going!”

“Urgh, wish my parents had as much faith in me as you do…” you grumble out as you get to your feet once more. You doubt this attempt will be any different, but making another go of it would be a better use of your time than sitting around in an elevator that will never move, not whilst you're still in it, that is.

“They clearly couldn’t see your potential! But don’t worry, I’ll be with you every step of the journey, till the end of time if need be” they reassure you as you step out of the elevator. The door closes promptly behind you.

It is strange, having someone who cares so deeply about you. You find yourself flushing with a bit of embarrassment at their comments. You have to push past that feeling, and your pounding heart, as you head over to collect the key to door one once more.

Chapter Text

You woke up with a jolt when the fire alarm of your place started blaring. You thought it was a fault, until you got the distinct smell of burning food hitting you. That got you out of bed quickly, wondering if you left something on last night by accident, and something had finally found its way to the flames.

You quickly run to the kitchen to assess the damage, and whether or not you’ll need to call the emergency services.

You won’t. You were greeted by a small, tentacle-laden head floating near a smoking pan. It turned to face you with a large grin, seeming almost proud with the work it was doing.

“Hiiiii!” Screech called out with a shrill tone. “I’m making pancakes!” Whatever was in the pan, it certainly wasn’t pancake shaped. You had no idea what it had done to the batter, but you had to bring an end to it. Now.

"Screech, I love you and all, but get out of my kitchen" you shout as you shove the small entity aside so you can quickly put out the flames, which had just randomly started sputtering from the mixture. They weren’t offended by your tone, they were more offended by you tossing out their attempts to make you some food. You had to promise to show them how to make pancakes later, after you buy a new pan.

Do you regret bringing the small entity out of the hotel with you? Absolutely not! Are they an expensive liability? Oh, absolutely!

Chapter Text

You could feel your breathing rapidly increasing as the massive entity lumbered towards you. In this corner of the library, you were trapped, helpless to get away. If you ran, it would chase after you. If you stayed, it would hear you and find you. There was only one fate that awaited you, and it was one of the few things you truly feared.

You tried to steady your breath, to slow the feverish beating of your heart. A last ditch effort to prevent, or even delay the inevitable. It didn’t work, you knew it had found you and there was no escaping what was about to happen.

The monster seized you in its arms and raised you in the air, towards its giant maw. This was it for you…

The Figure started nuzzling into the crock of your neck happily, emitting a sound that could almost be described as purring.

“Found you!” it exclaims happily, tongue flicking out and gliding over your jaw affectionately. You let out a small groan, having hoped you could avoid being covered in slobber today. Maybe tomorrow will be your ‘clean’ day.

“Yes, you found me… could you let me go now?” you ask, trying to squirm out of its increasingly tight grasp. It hums out thoughtfully, but you already know it isn’t really considering the request.

“But… I like you” it responds before carrying you back into the centre of the library.

You’re practically drenched by the time it sits down with you in its lap, continuing to embrace you tightly, like you’ll disappear if it lets go… Perhaps you can convince it to let you take a shower? Though, you’ll probably have to resign yourself to have Figure practically glued to you as you slowly make your way to the nearest showers.

Chapter Text

The sight would have been considered surreal to an outside perspective: a small human, reading a book to a massive blind monster, one that is capable of ripping their head off in a heartbeat. You knew Figure wouldn’t do such a thing to you.

You're leaning into their side as you read, and they in turn seem to be sleeping to the sound of your voice, or at the very least resting. But as the time ticks by, the natural chill that is alway present in this place starts to seep and embed itself in your skin. Your words become slower, more sluggish and your body shivers under the air's bitterness. You feel the entity shift at your side, and when you look up at its face to see what it is doing you realise that it has turned its attention to you.

“Sorry, I’m just…I’m really cold” you mumble out, thinking that your shivering must have disturbed their rest. You return your attention to the book and try your best to push through it and continue reading. A claw settles down on top of the book, preventing you from going any further.

“I can… fix that” the entity says. You expect it to stand up and go fetch a blanket or some material to use as such, not for it to pull you into its lap and snake the length of those long arms around your body. It rolls onto its side, so now the two of you are lying on the ground, with you in its tight, warm embrace. Well, huddling for warmth is always a nice thing. You continue to lie there with them, silent and content.

Figure is most pleased when your shivering stops, and your breathing turns to soft, wispy exhales as you drift into your own sleep. They soon join you.

Chapter Text

"I love you"

It said the words again. You wished it didn’t. Outside of this place, hearing those words would have filled your heart with a warmth that only those three little words could. Now hearing them only fills you with contempt. They’ve been twisted into a weapon to be used against you. Or chains, a more accurate analogy, for they are used to try and constrain you to the entity. Your willpower will break the chains, for as long as you can hold up.

"A thing like you is not capable of love" you bite back, a voice filled with venom, unmoving from your position.

Your escape was short lived, you’ve been forced to bunker down in a room with no exit, the only one has the monster waiting outside. It could probably get in, it’s so used to smashing down doors, and you have doubts as to whether your impromptu barricade was going to hold up.

“I thought so too, once…” it trails off. You hear shifting outside, like it has settled down against the ground, pressed up against the door. Rush is very content to just wait you out. Surprising, you didn’t think patience was a strong suite of this brute. “...But I recently learnt otherwise”

You scoff to yourself, before pacing the room a bit, searching for anything that could help you escape. There isn’t anything.

As much as you hate to admit it, you know you’ll inevitably fall back into the hands of that monster, when your pride (and dehydration or hunger) fail you. The only question now is when.

Chapter Text

“Hello, neighbour!” the elderly lady who lived adjacent to you calls over to you as you return. You don’t wave, she has very poor eyesight in her old age, but you do call loudly over and you continue over to your front door.

“Hi Maggie, how are you doing today!”

“I’m doing fine dear, by the way…” you were just about to open your front door and head inside, but stop. "I found your dog"

You paused, confused, you didn’t have a dog. You're about to tell her that when she walked over to you holding a black labrador on a leash. You sigh.

“Oh, thank goodness, I’ve been looking for him all over!” you say, letting out a breath of relief. Or at least Maggie would think that.

“Take good care of him, he’s very energetic!” Maggie calls, before hobbling off back to her place. You promptly drag your dog back into your home and slam the door shut.

“Ok, what the fuck is this?” you say to the dog, frustrated.

The body of the animal melts away into a pile of goo, before shifting and swirling about, reconstructing itself into a more humanoid form. Suddenly, the entity which was once standing below your waist now towered above somewhat.

“Bored. Went for a walk” Seek grunts, before turning into your shared accommodation and heading over to an armchair, falling dramatically into it. “An animal shape was less likely to get me caught”

“You’re lucky Maggie is going blind” you groan out, entering the sitting room with them and taking your place on the sofa.

There is one thing you need to ask though.

“Sooo… did you really need to put a collar on yourself?”

Chapter Text

“Please, you don’t have to do this!” you begged, on your knees, legs too weak to hold you up any longer. You had come so far, almost got a taste of freedom, and now…

The last of your rescuers lay beneath a giant, black hand. The last of their life was slowly being choked- crushed out of them. You couldn’t peel your eyes away from the monster doing this to them, hoping the pleading desperation in your eyes would be enough to elicit a drop of mercy. The cold, hard gaze that met your own solidified the failure of the endeavour.

"Begging won't change anything" Seek spits out, before returning their full attention to their victim. Every bone in their body was crushed under the pressure of the monster's grasp. You cried out as the echoing snapping rang through your ears. When the hand opened again, you couldn’t even recognise the mess as human remains.

"I’m getting sick and tired of you trying to run” You almost missed the entity marching over to you. Seek knelt down and grabbed your chin in their hand and forced your face to look up at them. It hurt, and only served as a further reminder of the strength and power of your captor. “That was your last chance. Will you come quietly?"

You don’t speak, but nod with much fever. There’s no point in resisting at this stage. There’s no point in resisting full stop. You’re never going to get out of this place alive. Not whilst Seek has you in their sights.

“Good” they say, removing their hand from your chin, only to seize an arm in exchange. Seek strides off back into the depths of the hotel, with you stumbling along behind them.

Chapter Text

"I'm not trying to hurt you so would you please stop running?”

That was rich, coming from a literal monster! If finding yourself in a spooky hotel wasn’t bad enough, then finding yourself in a spooky office space was even worse. And it was pitch black in here.

The red entity was waiting outside of the locker you were currently tucked away in. You thought the noise was a fake out, only realising later that it was the real deal. It saw you go inside, and now it won’t leave you alone. A giant eye gets pressed to the grating, causing you to jump slightly. Part of you had to wonder why it wasn’t just ripping open the locker and grabbing you, it’s not like it is locked, or the metal could possibly hold it back.

“Just… leave me alone…” you whimper, fearful, unable to suppress the quakes of your body. It takes notice of your fear stricken state and moves back from the locker, if just a little bit.

“No! Don’t be scared! I don’t want to hurt you! I just… saw you earlier and wanted to say you look lovely!” a strange compliment, coming from a monster who, if previous entity encounters would suggest, wanted to kill you. You stare out of the grating with mild confusion, meeting its rather excitable one. “Yes! We don’t get many visitors here, and it can get quite lonely, just the three of us…” Oh, so there were other terrors in this place? Lovely. You hadn’t seen them yet. “...So maybe you can stay? With us?”

“Stay?” you repeat back in shock.

“Yes! Stay!” it presses up against the locker again. “We can have fun! Lots of fun! You, me, 90, 120” ,weird names, “and we’ll keep you safe! You won’t have to worry about all the things back in the hotel!” wait, it knows about the hotel? Does that mean it has been there before? Or at least knows of a way back? Whatever the answer, you can gather one thing from it’s tone at least, you don’t think it is lying about not wanting to hurt you.

“Ok… I suppose I can stay,” and very, very quietly you add on “for a bit”

As soon as you step out of the locker, you are instantly swept off your feet. Literally. You almost scream.

“Yeeeees!” it cries out in delight. “Let’s go see 90 and 120! They’ll love to meet you!”

If you thought this thing was fast charging at you, it was nothing compared to the feeling you got when it bolted off with you in its arms.

Chapter Text

“Hopefully this’ll come out great!”

Today you were baking a pie with Ambush. Why? Because you felt like having a sweet treat and Ambush happened to come along as you were prepping the ingredients.
“What you up to?” Ambush had asked.
“Baking a pie, wanna help?” you responded.

That’s how the two of you ended up here, squatting by the oven, waiting for the timer to ding and signal the imminent arrival of pie.

Ding!

You were quick to adorn oven gloves and extract the steaming dish of goodness from the oven. Setting it down on the counter, you sprayed it with some squirty cream, for style points before cutting it into the portions.

“Well, time for a taste test! Do you want to do the honours?” you ask as you teasingly wave a tantalysing piece before the entity’s face. It’s hard to tell, what with Ambush’s deep, black eyes, but you could almost think they were transfixed on the tasty morsel.

“Sure!” Ambush agreed with much enthusiasm.

“Ok then, open wide!” a bit of a redundant request, Ambush’s mouth is usually open. Regardless, you cut off a piece of pie from a slice, one with a little bit of the squirty cream on top, and transported directly into Ambush’s awaiting mouth. It was a little weird watching the way their mouth encloses around the piece. So different from how humans eat. “Well, what you think?”

“I think…” there’s a little more chewing” “I think it’s good! We smashed this whole baking thing!”

“Hell yeah!” you exclaim. You’re about to grab yourself a piece, but you notice a little bit of the cream got stuck to the side of Ambush’s face. “Oh, let me get that for you!” you quickly reach over with a finger and scoop the mess off of Ambush’s face. Without thinking, you suck the cream off of your finger before continuing to get your slice.

Slice acquired, you turn back to face Ambush again, and notice that they’ve gone a bright red colour.

“Ambush? Are you ok?” you ask, concerned.

“I can’t keep doing this” Ambush says, quickly, like they’ll drop dead any moment and have something important to say.

“Doing what?” you inquire.

“Pretending I don’t love you”

“Wh-”

You don’t even get time to finish that thought, Ambush has practically pounced on top of you, pushing you against the countertop. Their mouth is pressed against your own hastily, a feverish kiss, one of pent up desire. They’re much larger than you, so their mouth engulfs a significant portion of your face. They also get a lot of slobber all over you, but weirdly, you don’t mind so much.

Well, it isn’t weird when you consider the feeling is mutual. You’re just glad you don’t have to go through the potential embarrassment of confessing. So you lean into the kiss, and Ambush deepens it in return.

Shame Rush turned up, lured by a good smell, and ruined the moment.

Chapter Text

In your down times, and when there aren’t intruders running amok of the hotel, you will sometimes do little mock runs of the hotel. It’s a way of keeping the entities at top form, and also a way for you to get in your daily exercise.

Today you have been; swept off your feet (literally) by Rush, smooched by Figure and hit over the head with a stop sign by A-90 (because the Rooms entities showed up at one point). It was all in good spirit at least.

Unfortunately, the mock runs you did today left you with a fair few injuries. So you decided to head over to the infirmary. Needed to get some pain meds and rest a sprained leg.

You pushed open the doorway and went inside. You happened to be facing the ground, so you didn’t immediately see the other occupants.

“Hey there!” two voices chorused, which was strange because usually only one entity is assigned infirmary duty at a time. You finally peel your eyes away from the floor and suddenly freeze.

It’s Ambush. Ambushes might be more accurate. There’s a man and a woman version, both dressed as nurses. Those outfits are… really small… and tight… You kinda just stand there gawking for a seconds. During which time, the two of them speed over to your side, each grabbing a separate arm.

“How can we help you today!” they both exclaim in unison, as they practically carry you over to a bed and put you in it. You stammer out a little, unable to quite form words for a bit.

“I-I… how? Two of you?” you eventually muster out. Your eyes dart between the two Ambushes either side of you.

“Yes! It seems the ‘really bad time’ protocol has had an unintended side effect! It should wear out eventually!” They both chime happily. You’re starting to think they share a consciousness, or at the very least have such a similar thought process that everything they do is completely in sink. “Now, how can we help you?”

“Um, well, I need some pain meds. Oh, and my leg feels sprained” you explain, still looking between the two of them.

“I shall get you the meds!” the male Ambush announces, running off to another part of the infirmary.
“I shall inspect you for any further injuries!” the female Ambush announces, bending over next to you as she starts her preliminary inspection.

You wished she didn’t have to bend over like that, so close, right in front of your face, in that outfit…

“I return!” the male announces, holding a bottle of pain meds as the female continues her inspection.

“Oh my!” they both exclaim. “Are you feeling alright? You seem very flushed!” they both climb onto the bed with you and place a hand against your forehead. “And hot! You might be ill! Let us take care of you!”

Something is telling you you’ll be here a while…

Chapter Text

“Daaaamn~ Do that again, would you?” Jack called from down the other end of the room. You turn just your head to face them.

“Do what again? This?” you proceed to bend over again, this time very pointedly jutting your ass out as you did.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I think I missed it, would you be so kind as to do it again?” Jack coyly calls, leaning against a nearby wardrobe.

“I think you might need to get your eyes checked out. I hear Ambush is on infirmary duty” you don’t straighten back up however. Instead you begin to pick up some items that had been left messily strewn across the floor.

“My eyes are perfectly fine! It’s just… I keep getting blinded by-” Jack makes a large cupping gesture with their hands as they look down at you. “-a very voluptuous-” it is at that point that Jack gets interrupted by a loud bang coming from the wardrobe that he is leaning against. He is quick to jump away from the furniture piece.

"Will you two quit flirting for one second and give me a hand?" a voice yelled angrily from within. Hide had never been that mad before. In fairness, you and Jack were supposed to be helping them clean up the messes that had been left behind by the latest intruders. Your current line of conversation was not expediting the process in the slightest.

“Alright, alright!” Jack says, raising their hands defensively, before turning towards the nearby corpse that they were supposed to be carrying away for disposal. “What can I say though, I have some very distracting company.

“Jack!" both you and Hide yelled. Jack just let out a giddy giggle before getting back to work.

Chapter Text

Life just simply hadn’t been going your way lately. Your phone was officially dead, you had a massive hole in your favourite jumper and you hadn’t been able to get ahold of your favourite snacks in so goddamn long. And you are officially trapped in a haunted office space. Inhabited by monsters. At least you're on ok-ish terms with them, even if you like to keep them at an arm's distance.

Thinking about being trapped makes you think about all the things you missed about the outside world: people, food variety, the goddamn sky. That’s why you are here again, in A-000, lying staring up at the window on the ceiling. You’ve been told it isn’t real, that the light and the sky that you see above you simply doesn’t exist, and if you threw something heavy at it and it broke you’d only find an empty void…

“I thought I’d find you here, human” an inhuman voice calls over to you. The entity that it is attached to slowly marches over to you. You pinch your mouth shut as they approach, before letting out a small snort.

“What, am I that predictable now?” your question is tinged with self loathing, not bothering to turn your head to face A-90.

“You’ve been down here a lot recently” they state, observantly. You let out a deep exhale, not wanting to entertain the line of inquiry they oh-so-wanted to start. You weren’t going to have much choice. That sign they carry around is dropped to the ground with a horrifically loud metal clang, causing you to jump with a start, before A-90 descended to the ground, sitting cross legged next to you.

“Do you mind?” you hiss out.

“You would seem to require some company” You would argue that you want to be left alone, but something tells you A-90 would just take that as all the more reason to stay.

“Who invited you to my pity party?” you grumble to yourself, resigning yourself to have to indulge in their company.

“Do you miss home?” they ask, earnestly… you think. It’s hard to tell with entities sometimes.

“Oh, so I really am that predictable now” you seethe out. A-90 chooses to ignore the harsh emotions from you and instead lift your head up slightly and place it in their lap. “What are you doing?”

“I’ve heard humans find comfort in physical contact…” A-90 very tentatively begins to pet your head. It’s still a little rough, given a lot of their usual physical contact with humans is with the intention to kill. “...I’m not too sure how to go about this…”

“A for effort, I suppose…” Was that a pun? Nevermind. You could just let A-90 attempt to soothe you, whilst you continue to look up at the fake sky, dreaming of a better place. At least A-90’s petting got a lot gentler as they went on. It was actually kinda nice in the end… but don’t tell them that.

Chapter Text

Lately you’ve been getting the feeling of being watched literally all of the goddamn time.

Your first thought would be that it would have to have something to do with Seek. They literally have eyes everywhere, after all. Buuut, they wouldn't be so easily caught, nor do you think it would be worth their effort.

The next thought was that it could possibly be Hide. They get around quickly and are always lurking. You actually confronted Hide about it.

“I'm not following you!” they protest before adding “but… I've noticed Rush tiptoeing around lately…”

So now you had to catch Rush and confront them about this.

As you started to look around for them, you had started to notice them staring at you from around a corner. Yet, whenever you'd yell over to them and try to approach, they'd always speed off before you got to them. Really living up to their name, huh? But running away just makes you suspect them even further.

Well, there is something you can do about their speedy getaway. With much begging, Guiding Light reluctantly agreed to let you use a not-so-powerful cross the next time you saw Rush staring at you from down the corridor…

“What is this!” Rush yells, dismayed to suddenly have their movement restricted and their body bound, even if they were a little confused by the lack of excruciating pain. They struggle against the chains, and find that they seem to give way a little. Maybe with a bit more struggling…

“I’ve seen you following me lately, Rush” you take a few steps forward so that your face is only a few inches away from Rush’s “Why are you always looking at me?” you demand to know. Rush’s mouth opens and closes a couple of times, before remaining shut, teeth gritted together. They’re trying to find the words to explain, but you are getting impatient. And the cross might not hold up for long. “Well?”

“Why would I look anywhere else?” Rush growls out through gritted teeth, the answer not being one that you were expecting. You take a step back in shock.

“What?” you ask, a bit dumbstruck.

"Don't fucking mock me by acting surprised. You had to have known about my feelings for you" Rush snaps. You’re not so sure how to respond to that, stammering out wordless noises as you try to find something to say. "I fucking love you, okay?!”

“You… do?” you eventually muster out.

“Yes!” Rush lets out a small laugh at a sudden realisation. “You really couldn’t tell?!”

“I… no?”

“And to think, you’d do this to me?!” they gesture down at the blue chains with their eyes.

“I’m sorry…?”

“Don’t be-” the chains around Rush’s body begin to turn red, and then abruptly shatter. In a moment's notice, you are suddenly swept off your feet with a small scream. “-Because I think it’s only fair I return the favour!”

You'll be fine... maybe.

Chapter Text

This was turning into a real battle of endurance, a test to see who would make a mistake first: you or the monster. So far, your steps have been flawless. Every bout of speed, every sprint from one hidey-hole to the next; you remained out of its claws.

The real test was about to come: the greenhouse was before you.

The entity brought you here often, it was their domain after all. Their reasoning for doing so could range from gloating about how close and yet so far you were to escape, or indulging in some pseudo-domestic bliss by doing some gardening together.

Honestly the latter was the worst, you could tolerate the gloating, but being forced to pretend to be happy with them? In love with them? That was too far. You hated it. You hated the close proximity. You hated the unnecessary touching. And most of all you hated whenever they would lean in close when you were distracted with your work and try to steal a-

That was the past. If you did this right, it’ll never happen again.

You knew the little inhabitants of the greenhouse were going to do their damned hardest to obstruct you. They would do anything to keep their friend happy. Including inflicting some minor injuries upon you.

You didn’t expect them to be so persistent. It felt like every step you had the veer away from one of them at the last second. And Rush ran through so often, it felt like you were getting out of the cupboard just to be forced back in again. Still you persisted. Each door you passed made you more hopeful for that ever longed for freedom.

Until you stood on a Snare, and that hope came crashing down.

From the many tales you’ve been told, this happens to a lot of people. They stand on a Snare and then Rush jumps them. A real double act to cause a painful death. Death isn’t coming for you, something worse is.

Rush was absolutely ecstatic when they scooped you free from the tiny plant creature, holding you up in the air like the triumphant victor they were. Had the Snares been noisy, they probably would have been the cheering, adoring crowd.

“Did you really think you could get away? From me?” Rush sneers as you thrash about in their grasp. They bring you in close to them again, holding you tightly against them.

“L-let me go!” you scream, continue to thrash about, to try and wriggle your way free. It was for nought, Rush’s embrace tightened, and soon you found yourself unable to do anything but let tears stream down your face. “I just- want to go home…” you sob out.

“It’s funny how you think your wants even matter” Rush says with a mock-soothing tone, as they caress the top of your head. It just makes you cry harder. “Besides… you already have a home… here”

Chapter Text

“-And then Screech grabbed ahold of the-!”
“-But I was all like ‘I’m not letting you touch my ass without a permit’, so Ambush then-!”
“-Next thing I knew, Seek had appeared and we were running like mad-!”
“Halt? Have you been listening to anything I’ve been saying?”

The question brought Halt back to the moment. You were sitting on the floor, in the middle of Halt’s dark corridor, recounting some of the activities you and other entities had been up to this last week. Halt was simply listening, or at least they were supposed to be.

“My deepest apologies, my dear. I seem to have zoned out for a bit” Halt replies with a heavy sigh, shaking from side to side in shame. You get to your feet and approach them. Their whole demeanour seems… depressed.

“Aw, Halt, is something the matter?” you ask, a voice full of concern. Halt slowly turns their gaze to meet with your concerned one.

“That whole time you were talking, all I could think about was how dangerous something was, or how reckless something was or how you really shouldn’t be doing something like that. It…” Halt pauses for a bit, looking a little ashamed. Or embarrassed. "I think I’ve forgotten how to have fun” they eventually sigh out, turning away from you as if they just admitted their most shameful secret.

You reach over to Halt to get them to turn back to you, even if touching them gives you deep shivers.

“Halt, my spoopy special spectre, you don’t have to be ashamed of that” you pull away from them slowly, taking a few steps away. “Besides, if you’ve forgotten how to have fun, then all you need to do is remember how!”

“And how would we even go about that?” they inquire.

“By doing something fun!” you exclaim dramatically. “You. Me. Something fun! You name it, we’ll do it! And if you’re really nice about it, you won't even need a permit!” you add with a wink. Halt… doesn’t get it. They might have missed the context and were too afraid to ask. Yet somehow… It sounded enticing.

“Oh, if that’s the case… I suppose there are a few things I wouldn’t mind trying, my dear”

Chapter Text

There was no way you could deny it anymore, you have feelings for Figure.

You didn’t notice the little things at first, how much you enjoyed their company, how fast your heart went when you saw them or how you seemed to just gravitate towards them. But now you’ve noticed them, it was impossible to deny.

So, here you are. Outside of the library, siking yourself up to try and ask Figure out. “Do you want to go on a date?” sounds way too formal. “Do you want to hang out or something?” sounds way too informal. “Do you want to spend some time together?”... might work, but you’re still not sure. Regardless, you have to do it sooner rather than later.

With a deep breath, you entered the library.

Figure was… doing whatever it was they did around the library. They would have heard you enter, but they didn’t react at all. They could clearly tell it wasn’t an intruder.

“Um, Figure? I, uh, have something I need to ask you” you hate how much you're already stumbling over your words, as much as you hate how much you stumble your steps as you make your way over to the entity.

…Why Figure? They’re huge, powerful and terrifying, a human like you should be fearful not… whatever’s going on with you.

Figure finally turns to face you as you near your approach.

“Yes? What is it?” they reply. Their face is tilted down towards you, attention fully on you. Although they cannot see, you could almost feel yourself shrinking under their scrutiny. Maybe this was a bad idea…

“Uh, well, um…” all that siking up was for nought, you could just feel your brain turning to mush, and any attempt to form words was turning to slush at the tip of your tongue.

“Are you… just going to stand there?”

“No! I…” you take a large gulp, hoping it would be enough to steel yourself enough. “Figure, I-I like you!” you might have shouted that a bit… “There, I said it!” It’s honestly a relief to have that off your chest.

Figure lets out a scoffing grunt and you brace yourself for the inevitable rejection…

“Finally”

“I-I’m sorry, what?” you say, taken back with shock. Figure reaches a large hand over to you, cupping it under your chin so you are forced to maintain staring up at them.

"Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting? For you to say that?" their tone is a lot softer now, as a single finger begins to stroke your cheek gently.

“Y-you knew!?”

“You humans aren’t subtle” ouch, but true. You should have realised they’d be able to tell…

“So, er, what now?” you slowly ask, still having a bit of a hard time processing what was happening. You didn’t expect this to go so well.

“Whatever you want,” they say “but I have a few ideas for where to start”

Chapter Text

If there was a better feeling in the world, you’d probably never feel it. You were on cloud nine right now!

The source of your great mood was very simple: you finally worked up the courage to ask Eyes out. And they said yes! Oh, you had all the plans for your date forming inside your head. It would be perfect!

In your dreamy daydreaming, you didn’t notice the entity in front of you until you walked straight into them with a soft ‘oof’.

“Sorry Seek! Wasn’t paying attention…” you admit bashfully, though you weren’t prepared to let this ruin your good mood.

“No need to apologise,” Seek says. You’re about to continue on your way when they add “You seem to be in a good mood”

“Oh, yeah! Well, you’d probably hear sooner or later, so I’ll just say: I asked out Eyes, and they said yes! I’m planning our first date!” you explain joyfully.

Seek doesn’t have many features to express emotions with, and yet…

“Oh… well, congratulations” they say, a bit curtly. “Perhaps we should celebrate this? I know you’ve been… struggling to bring up your feelings to them for a while”

“Was I that obvious…?” that’s a little embarrassing “Well, I really should just get to date planning-”

“-Perhaps some wine? It might be good to know what you like before your date” ah, well, that is a fair point. You were hoping to make this a some-what classy date, a wine is usually at those, right? Does Eyes even drink wine…? Well, it might be nice to do some wine tasting as a date activity!

“Ok then. Lead the way!” you respond, trailing after Seek.

Seek leaves you in a small room for a few minutes before returning with a bottle of the hotel's wine reserves and a couple of glasses. You’d never seen that kind of bottle before, it looks expensive… and old.

Seek pours the two of you some of the wine. You take the glass handed to you with gratitude.

“A toast,” Seek says, raising their own glass. “To a loving and long relationship!”

“Cheers!” you call out, before taking a sip of your glass.

Damn, this wine is some strong stuff! You’d sampled some of the hotel wine before, but it didn’t taste like this. The taste was… really not what you were expecting. The more that went down your throat, the more you…

"This... this wine doesn't... taste right" you mumble. Your attempt to set the glass down on a nearby table just ends with it falling to the ground, shattering. You go down with it not long after, the room around you spinning wildly out of control. You look to Seek in confusion. “I… I need to go… inf-” your final words fall as slosh in the mouth as you fade out of consciousness. You hear Seek say something, but can barely make it out:

“I won’t… Eyes take… away…me. Not… belong to me!” and then it is black.

Chapter Text

Sitting out in a light rain can be quite refreshing: the soft pitter patter of droplets against the face is soothing for the soul. The rain in this hell hotel is nowhere near soft, but by the amount of times this place has dragged you back, forced you to find comfort where you can, so you’ve gotten used to a heavy rain.

The courtyard is a relatively safe place, rarely have you seen an entity stray through here. Eyes does, on rare occasions. Today isn’t one of those days. You are alone, mostly.

Hesitation was preventing you from pressing forwards. The only tools you had to your name were a couple of lockpicks and some vitamins, and whilst it wouldn’t be impossible to slip your way through those dark rooms… you’ve stepped on a Snare and subsequently been jumped by Rush a few too many times in the past.

You’d have to move eventually, but for now you’ll just feel the rain.

“You’ve been here a while” a soothing, otherworldly voice calls out to you. You knew the light would eventually question your lack of progress.

“Impatient much?” you ask casually, stretching your legs out a bit.

“No, I-” they always seem to lose composure slightly when you talk back, like they forget that you can actually hear them. “-I was just making sure you weren’t feeling discouraged”

“Ah, don’t worry, my inevitable demise or eventual return to this place isn’t discouraging at all!” the light doesn’t respond, and the two of you are left in an awkward silence for a long few seconds. “Soooo, you up to much?”

“Watching over you” obviously… that’s all they ever do, watch as you stumble about through the dark, occasionally showing you the way when you become lost…

“You ever feel like doing less watching and more hanging out?”

“We’re talking right now, are we not?”

“Yeah, but, it’s not the same when you’re just some disembodied voice. You not able to just, you know, be here? Physically?”

“I can…” there’s a bit of an awkward pause. “I just… haven’t done so in a long time”

“Maybe todays the day”

“Maybe…”

You’re left alone in silence for a while, the conversation seemingly abandoned. You just resume staring out over the courtyard absently, enjoying the cold rain against your skin. You don’t notice the soft blue glow that appears beside you until you feel something brush gently against your hand, causing you to flinch it away slightly.

“Oh, my apologies…” the disembodied voice is no longer disembodied, now having a source, which happens to be right beside you. You kind of just gawk at the strange being sitting besides you. Perhaps mortal eyes weren’t meant to behold the divine… but you couldn’t seem to look away, or say anything. “I didn’t mean to startle you…”

“No, it’s fine…” you eventually muster out, before resuming your quiet rest, a lot less alone than before. The silence between the two of you is oddly comfortable.

Chapter Text

The only thing you remember from the first time you saw the beast was its eyes. It had eyes black as coal, with the hunger of a raging fire glowing behind them. You stared, wide eyed, into them, not even looking away as its teeth rendered your flesh and made you no more.

Until you returned, unwillingly.

The second time was no better, nor was it different. If what they say about a person's soul is true, and if this thing even had a soul, you suspected it would be as black as its eyes: charred and decayed.

Something changed.

You don’t know when or how. Perhaps it began to realise you were the same human, over and over. You died to this thing so many times…

One time the beast had you pinned to the ground, it didn’t kill you as swiftly as it usually did. When you stared up into its eyes, you were met with curiosity and wonder, so very like the night sky.

You wondered if it was transfixed by your own eyes. The two of you continued to stare at each other for so long.

“Human,” it said, a voice like nails “why must you return?” and then you were dead before you could even think of answering.

This time was different again.

The beast was louder, slower, you think it wants you to get away. You still find yourself beneath it, at its mercy once more, staring up at its eyes. There was a strange gentleness to them now, a strange… sadness.

When you looked up into its eyes, you felt as if you were staring out into the darkest corners of space. If you looked for too long, you would be lost. Perhaps you already were.

“Human,” it said, a voice like nails “why must you return?” but this time you did not die.

“Rush,” you said, quiet from exhaustion “you have such beautiful eyes” and then you were dead.

But you weren’t. You’d only passed out. You awoke in a bed, with the entity staring at your once sleeping form. You stared back.

You were about to ask why it brought you here, why it didn’t kill you like before, but movement silenced you. Wordlessly, the entity got into the bed with you and lay there, facing you still.

You stared into its eyes, as black as coal, with the warmth of cosy fire glowing behind them.

Chapter Text

The first time it happened, it was a complete surprise. You were just lying in bed, peacefully sleeping, when your body found itself being drawn to the land of the awake. It was probably the urge to pee which was doing this to you.

As you came too, you felt something strange on your legs. A weight of some kind, but you didn’t have anything on top of you when you fell asleep. As you came more alert, and your eyes adjusted to the dark, you were able to make out what the shape on top of your legs was.

It was Dupe, lying curled up in a large ball, sleeping on top of you. You had heard from some of the other entities that Dupe will occasionally do this, whether or not you want it. It was pretty rare though.

You let out a small, dramatic gasp before whispering “I’m the chosen one…” to yourself. As annoying as Dupe’s presence on top of you was, you really didn’t want to disturb them. You ended up having to endure the constant need to pee until you were able to fall asleep again.

Dupe was gone when you next woke up.

The second time, Dupe didn’t even wait for you to fall asleep. You were just lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, when your door was abruptly kicked open and then the entity came sauntering in.

“Dupe…? What the…?” you grumble out groggily. Dupe, however, pays you no mind and doesn’t even bother to explain themselves. They jump hop onto your bed and lie on their back, across your legs, no curling up this time and promptly go to sleep.

You groan, realising you are likely trapped until morning now, and try to fall asleep yourself. You’d smack Dupe’s exposed belly if you could reach…

You’re now starting to think that the chosen one comment is true.

Dupe keeps coming in, no longer is it every other night, it is literally every night. Anytime you try to ask them why they’ve suddenly decided to sleep in your room you either get no answer or a dismissive one. “Shh” or “That’s not your problem” or “Because I want to” are the usual given responses.

“I’m gonna start locking my door at night” you grumble to yourself.

Tonight Dupe has decided to practically snake their entire body around your own. It wouldn’t be so bad if your heights were similar, but Dupe is pretty tall, or long. They’ve also intertwined their limbs with your own, just to really make sure you can’t get away from them. Everytime you shift to try and move them, they just get tighter and rub themselves against you, to emphasise the whole ‘you're not going anywhere’ point.

You frown, thinking to yourself about how this was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

There are few things louder than the sound of A-120’s footfall in the Rooms. So when said entity heard what could only be described as a cataclysmic crashing sound resounding out from one of the rooms not too far off from their location, they had to investigate.

They entered one of those rooms with the metal walkway which spanned over a lower section. It all looked fine, at first, but then they heard a soft groaning noise from down below. The squiggly face turned its attention to the lower level.

A certain human was lying at the bottom of one of the stairways, half submerged under a few lockers that had clearly tumbled down with you.

“What’s happened here now?” A-120 calls as they come rushing over to assist you. You have to wince at the loud metal on metal sound reverberating off the walls with each step they take towards you.

“What’s… it… to… you… stompy boy…” you slowly rasp out between pants, throat dry from the prior screaming that you are very much glad the entity wasn’t present to hear.

“Well, you seem to require rescuing” A-120 states casually as they lean over to pick up a locker. You don’t like their tone, too friendly.

"I don’t… need rescuing” You exclaim as defiantly as you can in your poor state, but eventually come to accept that there is no way you were going to get out from under the pile without assistance. “But I could… use a little help”

“Mhm…” A-120 hums absentmindedly as they, fairly effortlessly, toss aside the many lockers that had fallen on top of you. Then again, they aren’t human. “I didn’t think there were this many lockers in a room such as this. What were you doing with them?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know… stompy boy” A-120 doesn’t mind the nickname, they actually kinda like it, though you’d probably stop if you knew that. You groan again as the final one is removed from your body, your leg specifically. It… doesn’t look good. A-120 does their best to block your vision from it, not wanting to cause any emotional distress.

“You require medical assistance, I shall carry you” A-120 states, moving to scoop you up. You weakly swat at their attempt.

“I don’t want to be carried” you grumble, trying to heave yourself to your feet. A-120 pushes you down before you can do more damage than there already is. You huff angrily.

“I’m not giving you a choice” they chuckle to themselves before they quickly scoop you up before you can make another attempt to swat them away. You struggle about in their grasp for a while, but end up hanging dramatically from their hold as they walk you off to where the Rooms keep their medical supply.

“My hero…” you grumble out moodily as you’re carried away.

“I aim to please” A-120 says with their usual smile.

Chapter Text

Something you were quick to learn upon being lovingly welcomed into the Rooms: the entities that live here are very close. Makes sense,there’s few of them, so it is only natural that they want to remain on very good terms with each other. And you, now.

…You just wish they weren’t so… touchy, clingy.

You had converted an off-side office room into your own bedroom, amassing as much fabrics as you possibly could to create makeshift blankets and pillows. It was your own private little space.

Until it wasn’t.

A-60, to give them credit, at least asked. One time you were just settling in to go sleep when suddenly there was a glowing red face at the doorway.

“A-90 and A-120 aren’t going sleep for a while, can I sleep with you tonight?” they asked, surprisingly meekly, from the doorway.

Whilst you wanted personal space, the Rooms are pretty cold… and A-60 does run very warm… you relented, waving them over to join you. A-60 was very quick to take up the invitation, practically pouncing into the fabric pile with you and cuddling up close.
Now they keep joining you, regardless of whether you want it or not.

A-120 didn’t even ask.

The entities may be used to A-120 ungodly stomping, but you aren’t. The noise woke you as they got closer to your location. Frustrated, you buried your head under some fabrics and waited for them to pass.

Except they didn’t. They entered the room, gave a hum of acknowledgment and got into the makeshift bed with you and the still sleeping A-60. They tug on a bunch of the fabrics to give themselves enough cover.

“Excuse me?!?!” you call out, quietly but with evident annoyance, at A-120.

“Oh, sorry” A-120 replies, before stretching over to you and pulling you over A-60 so you were right in close to them, between the two of them. What did they think you were complaining about? Losing blanket space? Well, they fell asleep real quick, leaving you squished between them and A-60, moodily.

And now player three has started joining the arena, A-90.

You don’t know how long they’ve been joining the sleep pile, they are a lot quieter than the other two. They also seem to be the earliest riser, because they’re never there when you wake.

You only found out that they also started sleeping in your room when you woke up one night, needing a drink. ‘Why are there so many limbs…’ you think to yourself as you come to. You don’t really acknowledge A-90’s presence.

Not until you trip over their stop sign as you escape the pile, having been left on the floor. A-90 wakes up at the noise, and walks you to get your drink, apologising for leaving it on the floor. They put it on a table from now on.

Well, this is your life now, for the time being. Squished in the centre of a sleep pile with three entities.

Chapter Text

“Got yourself all tied up, again?” you say with an exasperated sigh as you enter room 52 to see, yep, Jeff has gotten their many writhing limbs knotted up. Again. It’s been happening a lot lately and you can’t quite figure out why.

Jeff looks at you with a sheepish glint to their eyes as they squirm about, trying to untie all their limbs. It was to little avail. In previous instances, you’d asked Goblino why they didn’t help, and they claimed to have tried to little results.

“Alright, let me help…” you say softly as you vault yourself over the countertop. Jeff doesn’t usually like it when people behind the counter, but they also don’t leave that area, as far as you’ve seen. They seem to no longer have any complaints about you coming in to assist them.

Jeff simply gives you a meek look and presents their many tangled limbs before you. They’re… certainly knotted.

“How do you even…” you grumble under your breath, trying to imagine what Jeff could have been doing to end up in this state. “It would also help if I could see properly…” you continue your quiet moaning as you set to work.

It may have been a few hours of you trying to gently pry Jeff’s limbs free of one another, and there were definitely multiple snack breaks on your part, but you got the job done eventually.

“There, all done” you exclaim with a breathy laugh, gently wacking Jeff on the head with one of their own tentacles, the last one you had pried free. They show their appreciation in the form of those little heart-eyed blinks they usually do when people donate. They also didn’t charge you for all the sandwiches you ate, which was a bonus. Goblino didn’t get any for free, and they hundred percent complained about that.

You vault back over the table, your task completed.

“Well, I better be heading off. Got more things on my plate, metaphorically speaking. I’ll see you guys again soon, yeah? Hopefully not because of another Jeff-tangle incident!” and with that you were off again. With the door firmly shut behind you, El Goblino let out a long frustrated groan.

“Düd, when are you going to tell them you like them? This whole dance to get them to touch you is exhausting man!” El Goblino whines, though their bad mood likely stems from not getting free food.

Jeff shrinks away slightly, nervously, but continues to stare down at the tentacle you last touched, enjoying the warm feeling seeping inside of them at the memory of your gentle touch.

Chapter Text

“Oh man… this is bad…” you grumble to yourself as you remain hidden within a locker. The thunderous noise was not very enticing, but you’d have to make a break for it at some point. You were making your way to freedom, after all.

A-120 let slip that there was usually an exit around room A-200, and you were going to damn well make sure you reached it. That is if you weren’t found before then.

When A-120 next passed, you chose that as your moment to bolt, praying that they would not rebound this time. You were only a few short doors down from your freedom… or at least a return to that hotel. But if you make it to the end of the hotel, then you’ll be free!

When you saw the hole in the wall, something that you hadn’t seen before, you knew you’d found what you were looking for.

…Except it wasn’t yellow and glowing as you remembered from the hotel. It was just an ordinary door. When you opened it, you were only met with the wall behind it. You opened and closed it a few times, dismay and despair grasping at your chest.

“What’re you doing here?” a voice you never heard before asked from behind you, causing you to whip around to face the owner.

The strange humanoid glowed with the same light that you had wanted to see from the door. They sat casually on top of a table, idly kicking their legs as if they were bored.

“What’s it to you?” you snap, frustrated by this whole situation. You were so close…

“Hmm, nothing I suppose… except, those lots are being awfully noisy. Don’t suppose you know anything about that” they gesture out the whole, and you can hear the distant rumbling of A-60 and somewhere a little closer is the heavy stomping of A-120.

“I may have sort of accidentally started a riot” you say as you lean against the not glowing door and slide to the ground, defeated.

“Sounds fun” they say sarcastically.

“I just want to go home…” you grumble out to yourself, head falling into your arms.

“That is understandable…” they say sympathetically. “...But it would seem you’ve accidentally captured the hearts of the prisoners here. How strange. I never thought them capable of such feelings towards a human”

“I just want to go home…” you grumble out again.

“And I want to send you home… as much as I’d like to free the prisoners here… perhaps, if you spend more time with them… it’ll be ok to let you all go”

You hear the sound of A-60 approaching and, not wanting to delay the inevitable any longer, step out of the hole in the wall.

“Give it time, perhaps you’ll love them as much as they love you”

You didn’t get to make any snide remarks at that. You got tackled to the ground by an overly enthusiastic A-60.

Chapter Text

You were trapped between the metaphorical rock and a hard place.

You were sitting, collapsed, in one of this electrical room’s little store rooms, holding onto the ten breaker switches you had collected. The keys to your escape, if only…

The giant entity was standing, hunched over, in the doorway out of this store room. It knew you were there, behind a shelf, but it couldn’t reach. The space between the shelving in this one was too narrow. There was no other way for you to leave this store room.

The monster was mad that you escaped it once, and was here for revenge. It wasn’t going to let you go.

You wished you could get your breathing under control, maybe then it would think you disappeared or died spontaneously, but you just couldn’t do it.

Periodically, its long limbs would reach through the gaps in the shelving and seize your ankles. With a yelp, you’d struggle to break its crushing grip from your body. It lets out a frustrated growl every time you shake it free, the only thing giving you satisfaction right now.

You're not sure how long it has been, but it has been long enough for the creature to decide to sit down against the doorway. It only absentmindedly reaches out to grab you at this point, seeming surprised everytime it actually makes contact with the skin of your ankle.

It then started making noises at you. Not the aggressive growling and roaring you were used to, but quieter chittering and clicking ones. It was like it was trying to talk to you. It was probably trying to coax you out, the same way a pet owner would try to softly talk to their animals when they end up under something and won’t come out. You don’t budge.

You're so very thirsty now… and your stomach has started to growl.

The creature hasn’t moved in a while, nor has it made any sound. It might be asleep. This could be your opportunity to escape. You just had to move as silently as you could.

Your legs were way too shaky, they let you down, and soon enough you found yourself lying beneath the monster as it pinned you to the ground. Its head got close to your own and you closed your eyes, expecting to hear it roar before it ended your existence.

Except that didn’t happen, you heard it make that same chittering from earlier as its face pressed against the crock of your neck. The manner would have reminded you of a cat, had you not been so terrified.

Its long arms wrapped around your body and pressed you close to its chest. The small vibrations emitting from its body was oddly soothing, and that was probably why it was doing them.

“So, you aren’t here for revenge. What do you want?” you ask but it never answers. It simply stands and carries you back into the hotel, despite your squirming protest.

Chapter Text

Rush and Ambush had gathered by a windowsill, staring intently at something of great interest.

“What… is it?” Rush ponders aloud, eyes transfixed on the small thing. They wanted to poke it, see what it would do, but they weren’t sure what it would do if touched.

“Dunno, just happened to see it…” Ambush didn’t even look at the other entity as they continued to observe the small thing. “I’ve never seen something like this in the hotel before” They tilt their head as they continue to stare at it.

All of a sudden, it moves! It begins to move forwards very, very slowly.

“It’s alive!” Rush exclaims in shock, jumping back slightly.

“Yeah, I know!” Ambush exclaims excitedly, leaning in a little closer. “It moves every now and then!” Rush returns adjacent to Ambush, both staring at the small thing.

“It’s… so slow… How is it that slow?” Rush asks, attention fully on the thing before them.

“Dunno… You think this is a new entity or something?” As Ambush asks that, it appears to look at them for a second, before what they assumed to be its eyes returned to looking in the direction it was travelling.

“Maybe… Hey! What’s with the trail it is leaving behind it?” Rush noticed it was dropping something shiny as it moved. They really wanted to touch the shiny thing, but what if that offended the new entity?

“How would I know! Just… don’t touch it, it looks dangerous!” Small entities could still be harmful after all.

Rush and Ambush continue to watch the new entity move, its slimy body travelling with much conviction despite its awful pace. Every now and then, it would retreat back to the rock it was carrying on its back. They speculated that it may attack in a similar fashion to Dupe or Hide.

If only they could speculate that it was a fucking snail.

Chapter Text

You were miserable. There was no leaving this place. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad if the decor was more tasteful, but… this is an office space, nothing about it exactly oozes comfort.

The fellow ‘prisoners’ of this place aren’t much help. They don’t understand your dislike towards them, this place, everything. They act like you're a depressed child who just needs some cheering up to make the whole world right again.

Hence why A-60 is currently with you.

In fact, they haven’t really left your side since they found you so close to the exit. The exit that didn’t work. They didn’t understand it either, but they really didn’t want to risk the exit magically working again and you suddenly disappearing…

Their current antics were annoying and unhelpful, they seem to be bounding around the room you were currently sitting in, like an over-energised puppy trying to convince their owner to play. They did literally ask you to throw a ball as hard and as far as you could at one point, and you only half heartedly indulged them. Much to A-60’s disappointment.

Suddenly, they’re on top of you, the force of them landing on you knocking you onto your back. You don’t scream or cry out, too used to this kind of thing for that anymore.

“Come on!” They say with a whinge. “Why are you still so sad? I’ve been trying to cheer you up all day!” They roll over dramatically, so their large head is lying across your torso, staring up at the ceiling.

“I wish you’d stopped…” you grumble out.

“Never! I’ll ensure your happiness if it is the last thing I do!” and with that they’re back at their antics. A-90 and A-120 may find this endearing, but you?

"Never giving up isn't the superpower you seem to think it is" you say with a sigh, as you watch them continue to try and find something that would perk you up.

A-60 collides heavily with one of the doors, on accident. A very excitable puppy indeed, even if they are just a floating mass of… something, nothing like a puppy. You let out a small snort from your nose at the sight of them shaking the dizziness out of their head.

“There!” they suddenly exclaim excitedly, attention back on you. “Your mouth did the thing!”

“What…?” you ask in confusion.

“It looked more like mine! Or A-120’s!” You didn’t exactly notice the subtle upwards tug on your lips whilst watching A-60’s pathetic display, but they certainly did. It leaves A-60 grinning from ear to ear, figuratively speaking. They also look like that a lot. “I knew I could make you happy!”

You’d protest that statement, but they’ve started rubbing up against you affectionately and you really don’t know how to respond to that. So you just let them do it, keep them quiet.

A-60 is very fortunate that the strange light told them to act like a ‘puppy’ to cheer you up.

Chapter Text

A certain human was missing. Not one of the ones that needed to be exterminated, one that was meant to remain. Seek usually finds them, but they were stretched thin and still hadn’t found them. So, other entities joined the search party.

With Rush and Ambush running around like mad (so nothing unusual) and Hide searching in low places, Eyes decides to search the greenhouse. It also gets them away from the noise of Rush and Ambush.

Eyes knew something was up by the distinct lack of Snares, the tiny plant-critters seemingly being vacant from most of the rooms. Peculiar indeed.

Eyes were quickly able to deduce the reason for their absence.

For their credit, the Snares were doing a very coordinated effort in trying to shift the fallen cupboard off of you, timing their spikes to extend at the same time. Alas, they could still barely lift the fallen furniture high enough. You likely wouldn’t be able to capitalise on their efforts anyway, there’s a substantial amount of blood pulling out from your crushed lower limbs.

“Human. We have found you” Eyes exclaims as they approach your location. A few of the Snares move out of the way, though it isn’t really necessary for a floating entity like Eyes.

“Eyes?” you groan out, turning slightly towards the entity, but having to squint your own eyes to shield them from the blaring glow of their body.

“We shall fetch you assistance” Eyes announces, turning to leave. You stop them.

“Ah, it’s ok, I think a Snare went to fetch someone when you arrived” you explain. Eyes remain in their place.

“How did this happen, might we inquire?”

“Not sure…” you shift slightly, grunting out in pain. “Was just doing some gardening with some Snares and-” you do a hand gesture to mimic the falling of the cupboard. “Sorry if I caused any concern…”

“Don’t be” Eyes, lower themselves closer to you. ““It is good to know you’re safe”

They’re about to move away again but you quickly reach up to try and stop them. A fruitless gesture, but Eyes complies with the attempt.

“Can you stay with me? I don’t want to be alone…” Eyes is about to point out the presence of the numerous Snares. “...And your humming is nice. For my head, it hurts… a lot” ‘Humming’ is probably the nicest way anyone has ever referred to the noise Eyes’ body makes, most just call it an ‘annoyance’.

“Very well”

Eyes remain close to you, humming away whilst you rested, up until the moment Ambush bursts into the room to remove the fallen cupboard and take you to the infirmary. Eyes went with you, to continue their soothing melody as you recovered.

Chapter Text

Screech was up to something, which was never a good thing.

Seek had started to notice new behaviours in the small entity. For one, they’ve been going out into the courtyard to fill a large bucket with rainwater semi-regularly before flying off somewhere into the hotel. They’ve also seen Screech stealing sandwiches from Jeff, which again is a peculiar thing for them to be doing because Screech doesn’t eat sandwiches.

Seek had to follow Screech, to find out what they were up to. Screech may have been able to evade Seek’s tracking this long, but their luck soon ran out.

Which left Seek with an unusual sight.

They had silently stalked Screech into a tiny, empty suite, the small entity having collected yet another bucket of rainwater. But the suite wasn’t as empty as it was supposed to be: there were blankets strewn across the floor, chairs and other furniture haphazardly dragged in and piles of paper just lying about. All of this was a concern, but it was what was in the middle of the biggest blanket pile that caught Seek’s attention.

A human. A rather small human. It had to be an infant. It was kicking up quite the fuss, up to the moment when Screech approached, where it calmed down somewhat. Seek watches in wonder as Screech places down the bucket, grabs a cup, scoops out some of the water and carefully holds it to the infant for them to drink. Or attempt to drink, a lot of it just spilt all over them.

Screech had found a human child? And somehow they’d kept it a secret this whole time?

Seek manifests in the room properly, causing both the child and Screech to startle. Screech and Seek wordlessly stare at each other for a few seconds, Screech slack jawed.

“Seek?! W-what are you doing here?” the smaller entity makes a pointed effort to place themselves between the larger one and the child. Not that they would be able to do much if Seek decided to attack the child.

“I knew you were up to something, I just wasn’t expecting-” Seek gestures towards the child. Screech reaches back with two tentacles and grabs the now sniffling child.

“Well, it’s mine! You can’t have it!” Screech declares.

“If you want to burden yourself with the troubles of raising a child, be my guest”

Screech glances around at the child, still shying away from the larger entity, and at all the wet stains they’ve made with their attempts to make them drink.

“W-well… if you want to help, I wouldn’t mind!”

Seek wordlessly steps around Screech before they can stop them, and picks the child up, inspecting them. The child cries out loudly, and makes grabby hands at Screech.

“They stink, have you been cleaning them?” Seek inquires.

“You have to clean them?” Screech responds.

Seek groans before marching out of the room, child in tow. They were going to have to teach Screech a lot.

Chapter Text

It took so long. You weren’t sure how long exactly, but the exact details didn’t matter. You thought you’d grow old and die in the dark, or maybe you’d have gone mad long before that happened.

None of that mattered anymore. You weren’t in that accursed corridor any longer, and by the stars above you weren’t going to let yourself be dragged back in.

“Darling please! Come back!” The entity behind the door sounds desperate, but you haven’t a single shred of care for its feelings after what it put you through. You scoff loud enough for it to hear.

“Come back? Like fuck would I do that?” you yell. It feels good to say things freely without fear of incurring that wrath.

“Because I love you! Please, just come back! We can talk about this!” Bullshit. If you opened that door again you’d be stuck in that dark corridor once more, and the only talking that would be done is the entity talking down at you like some misbehaving child.

“Aww, how sweet! You love me!” you say with mocking sweetness, before quickly returning to the resentment. “Such a shame the feelings not mutual”

By this point, it clearly realised that it wasn’t going to be able to talk you into returning to it.

“You think you get to just walk away? You belong to me! And I will not be denied what is mine!” Ah, there it is. You’re much happier listening to the monster's true feelings, rather than the fabricated niceties. It never loved you like a partner, it loved you like property. That’s all it views you as.

“Such a spoiled little spectre, it’s about time you got denied. So tell me-” you turn away, ready to finish the journey you started a long time ago. Freedom awaits. “How does it feel to be denied?”

You have no intention of waiting to hear the answer, but you’d hazard to say it was scathing and rageful.

“You really think you’ll get away? All it takes is just one of them catching you, and you’ll be right back where you belong. With me! You’ll see! And when you are, I’ll-!” The angry shouting is interrupted by the loud slam of the next door as you walk away a free person.

Chapter Text

It was superficial. Sure, there was little more blood than what was desired, and the injury was quite prominent, but you had stemmed the bleeding on your own and cleaned it up nicely.

Regardless, you made your way down the dark tunnels, flashlight in hand, until you came unto a large, submerged building.

“Hellooooo! Any big boy smokey monsters in here to sweep me off my feet!?” you call out as you enter the complex. You spin around, trying to anticipate which direction it will approach from, but these old tunnels just echo the rumbling out from all directions. It’s quite disorientating.

You were facing the opposite direction when it did arrive, and as you said, it was here to sweep you off your feet. You let out a short surprised scream.

“Human” it called in glee. “You come bearing gifts?” The massive monstrosity slowly lowers you to the ground again, you wobble slightly before catching your footing.

“Yep” you rummage in your bag for the small plastic container within, popping the lid off quickly. “Got you some chicken” You fling the fried chicken directly into its mouth, bone and all, much to the delight of the massive creature. It chews through the meat and bone with ease, the snaps and crunches echoing down the tunnels. Until they abruptly stop.

“Blood” it says, using its head to gesture towards your arm. “Human is injured”

“Ah, yes… I got in an… altercation with some people” you were attacked, to put lightly. People have been accusing you of some wild things, considering how many people go missing in a place like this…

“Who?” it demands.

“Who, what?” you reply dumbly.

“Who did this to you” it demands, a little more forcibly. It inches closer.

“It doesn’t matter” you say dismissively, not wanting to cause anymore trouble.

“Name. Address. I will find them” it growls out angrily.

“No! Please don’t! I don’t- I don’t want any more trouble, ok?” you plead, hoping to quell the entity's rage, its increasing bloodlust. It would seem your pleas have fallen on deaf ears. By the second, its smokey mass seems to expand, giving it an even more frighteningly massive form. You should be terrified. You are terrified. “...Rush?”

“I’m going to kill them-!” it seethes. The smoke of its body is so thick its beginning to block out all the light from your flashlight. “I’m going to kill them all for this!”

“No! It’s nothing, rea-!” you're cut off when you are abruptly shoved into an old collapsed wardrobe or cabinet or something and the door is slammed shut on top of you. You push forwards, but the door doesn’t budge. It must be blocked. “Hey! Let me out!” you cry out.

“Stay there, it’s safe. When I return, there’ll be no one left to hurt you!” it announces, before you can hear the pounding of its feet heading down the corridors.

“Rush? Rush!” you cry into the dark, but you are alone now.

Chapter Text

“My dearest, I have all but one dream in this mortal coil: to have you honour me with an image of you unencumbered by the societal expectations of textile adornments. If I may be permitted to dare to dream, then my dream is to bear witness to your bare form. To behold the complete perfection of your being. This may allow for me to hold you eternally, if not in my arms, than in my memory. The perfect specimen you are”

…

…

…

“I’ve had some complaints” the disgruntled guide states before the black and white entity.

“What do you mean?” Jack replies innocently, even if he is anything but.

“Residents want you to stop asking them for nudes” Guiding Light continues, crossing their arms in front of them.

“Me!? Asking residents for nudes!? I would never!” Jack protests. They lie, the light knows that they are.

“It stops now” is all they respond, before vanishing once more.

Jack sighs, reaching into his pockets and pulling out a whole bunch of letters he had written. He stares at them sadly, knowing the contents will never be seen by the intended recipient.

“Guess I gotta burn the evidence…” he mumbles to himself.

Chapter Text

“You seem down, human”

A-90 was never one to beat and around the bush, always straight to the point. You stare up at the static-faced creature from your position; buried beneath a pile of fabrics with nought but your face striking out. The closest you can get to a blanket burrito, seeing as there are no actual blankets in the Rooms.

“Really? I’m not seeing it” you grumble from the pile.

You’d only recently got A-60 to leave you alone, but it looked like it was time for A-90 to make sure you’re not trying to escapespend some personal time with you. A-90 approaches the pile you are lurking in and squats down next to you.

“Do you still miss home?” they ask, earnestly. A-90 begins to pet your head, much less roughly than the first time. They’ve definitely gotten used to how much force they need to exert on humans when they’re not trying to maim them… and this isn’t the first, second or third time that they’ve had to try and give you physical comfort. Not that you’d like to dwell on all those incidents.

“Doesn’t matter” you respond curtly, bitterly. “Not like I’m going anywhere anytime soon”

“Yes… but wallowing like this is only going to serve to make you more miserable” their hand runs down the side of your face, gently cupping your cheek.

“Maybe I like being miserable…” you mumble out to yourself as you shrug away their touch. It sighs at the rebuttable.

A brief pause later, and A-90 straightens up once more.

“Come” they say, holding a hand out to you.

“Why?” you ask sceptically, looking up at their hand.

“I may not be able to take you back to your old home, but I can help you get better acquainted with this one” You don’t budge, A-90 sighs again. “I believe a nice walk is supposed to cheer people up, so why don’t we try taking one together?”

“No. I’m not moving” you reply, defiant in your depression.

“Then I’ll just carry you-” they vaguely gesture at the pile you are under. “-Fabrics and all”

“I’d like to see you try” you scoff.

“Very well, hold this” A-90 says, placing their stop sign inside the opening in the pile..

“Wh-?” you begin a protest but it is cut off as A-90 reaches under the pile, finding where your body is underneath and hoists you into the air with an arm beneath your knees and back. Most of the fabrics are lost to the floor as you have to grab A-90’s shoulders with one hand and steady the sign with the other. “I didn’t expect you to actually!”

“Yes, well, I don’t want you spiralling. None of us do…” A-90 turns to the door. “...Now, let's go, shall we? Perhaps we’ll bump into A-60 or A-120 as we go”

“I hope not…” you mumble out, the thought of being seen being carried like a baby by A-90 was… mortifying.

Chapter Text

You felt a bit like a cornered animal, given the position that you were in. You’d taken sanctuary inside a suite that you found during your attempt to flee, barricading the doorways for good measure, but now you faced a different issue.

That green bastard won’t leave.

"Please, I can't lose you!" it pleaded, rattling the door, floor and walls around you as it did. Hearing it sound so pathetic after… too long… listening to it sound boastful, joyous and besotted- all at the expense of your own misery- brought the first smile to your face in a long while.

"You never 'had' me in the first place, not in the way you seem to think" you call through the door with a loud scoff, loud enough for it to hear too.

From out there, Ambush probably thinks it has the upper hand; it has you cornered, with no means of escape. You're hopelessly trapped, with the only way forwards being to fall back into its open, loving embrace.

Except, it didn’t account for one thing…

“Just… Come out, please? We can forget about the whole running away thing and go back to things as normal!” it continues to implore you to ‘come to your senses’, but you are thinking as clearly as ever.

“Come out? As you wish” you rip down the barricades that you had erected as quickly as you had built it, before taking a few steps back so that the unmistakably impatient entity can burst into the room triumphantly. Had it been thinking clearly, it would have recognised the obvious trap.

The blue sigil formed beneath it, wrapping holy chains over its body, bringing its victory to a grinding halt. It wailed out in agony and frustration. You did so get lucky finding that cross not long after you broke out of its holding.

“You- You- You- Why would you do this to me!?” it screams out through the searing pain. No matter how much it struggled and writhed, the chains did not relent. Soon, they’ll drag it out of this plane… if only temporarily.

“Consider it payment for all you did to me” you reply, arms crossed, as you watch it sink into the ground.

You better get moving… something tells you it’ll be quite mad when it returns…

Chapter Text

Morale was at an all time low for the entities; intruders were all but waltzing their way through each encounter and breaking free of the hotel's grasp as if it were childs play. Didthey know what they were doing…?

Rush, evaded.

Screech, located.

Seek, outpaced.

Everybody was starting to get real salty about the whole ordeal.

Once the latest batch of intruders had made their way through the greenhouse, you did what you usually did: go check out the tiny greenhouse residents for boo boos. There was only one today; not surprising with the expertise these latest intruders have begun to display.

You had only just finished your whole ‘kiss and make it better’ routine when a familiar tall entity came stalking out of the later rooms.

“Ah, Figure! How’d it go?” you ask, though judging by its demeanour you were going to hazard that the response would be something along the lines of ‘not good’.

“Fine…” it growled out, in a tone that very much said the opposite.

“Sure it was…” Figure definitely seemed to be in a very foul mood, which would not mix well with the high tensions the other entities are experiencing. Perhaps you should try and intervene. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No” it responds with biting curt, not that you were going to let it hurt you.

“I think we should. Do I have to get the Snare mafia to block all the exits… again?” The entity turns its head towards you in silent acknowledgement, but still takes a few seconds before it stomps over to your location and places itself on the floor next to you. With a bit of coaxing, you are able to get the massive monstrosity to lie down across the floor, with its head- or at least the most of it- rested in your lap. “So, what happened?”

“Got away. Didn’t hear them. At all. Both times…” it grumbles out, bitterly. A wounded pride, everyone is having that right now, but perhaps Figure is taking it harder than most…

“Oh, I’m sorry…” you reply sympathetically. You really shouldn’t be wishing death upon your fellow humans… but if you’re going to be stuck here you’re going to have to remain friends with your roommates.

“Humans, so weak… So noisy… Why…?” it clicks and growls in frustration, grinding some of its teeth together. “So weak, so pathetic… when did I become this?” Its words are tinged with self loathing. That won’t do.

“You’re not” you reply, certainty in your voice.

“How would you know?” it replies scornfully.

“Oh, Figure…” you bring a hand to the top of its head, gently patting it a couple times. "If only you could see yourself the way I do…" Leaning forwards, you plant a small kiss atop its head. It physically tenses, all movement ceases. “Big, strong, intelligent; you’ll overcome this hurdle in no time… now, is there anything I can do for you in the meantime”

There isn’t any hesitation.

“Kiss. Again”

Chapter Text

There was something very important that you needed to tell Dupe.

With much encouragement from the various entities that you had told of your dilemma, you were just about ready to act upon your plan. Just about. You were still apprehensive as all hell.

The first trial was to actually find them, which was way harder than it needed to be. Why is it always way harder to find them when you actually want them to appear? Any other time they’d be jumping out at you and catching you off guard.

Once you located them, you immediately lost all the confidence that you had tried to spike up. So you ended up just saying that you wanted to hang out for a bit.

Which leads to you here: leaning against Dupe’s doorway whilst they give you an oddly in depth description on how to bypass all of Seek’s security protocols and reach its ‘secret stash’ (you currently have no idea what it is, based on Dupe's vague description on that front).

Your nervous fidgeting would appear to be going unnoticed by Dupe as they wrap up their story.

“...So once you get a small sample, I’d advise you run like hell because the microsecond even a single finger touches Seek will know…” Dupe claps its hands together, shaking you from your thoughts. “Well! You think you can pull it off?” it asks, grinning widely with that damned smile.

“I think…” you pause, not really being aware of most of the story anyway. You have their full attention right now, so you might as well shoot your shot. "I... I like you"

"Can't blame you-” Dupe replies so casually, inspecting their claws. “-I'm pretty awesome"

“Oh” you respond. Dupe’s response feels a little… dismissive.

“Oh? Don’t you agree?” Dupe replies coyly, leaning a bit more out of their space and closer to you, an arm hitting the door frame, just to the side of your head. Your face is very hot right now, and not just because of Dupe’s breath tickling your skin.

“Y-yeah, but that’s-!” Words are cut off when their other arm grabs you by the waist and pulls you into them. Hand on the frame moves so that a single finger covers your lips.

“Shh, shh, shh!” the finger on your lips moves down your face until the whole hand is cupping your chin. Gods, your face might as well be on fire at this point. “I’m only teasing, I think you’re pretty awesome too-” You open your mouth to speak again but Dupe continues. “-and yes, I like you too”

Oh, well that’s a relief.

“Wait, really!?” you say, delighted.

“Sound surprised, do you want me to prove it, hmm?” There’s mischief in its words which makes your heart go all a flutter.

“How would you do that?” you inquire.

Dupe releases you from its hold and slings back further into its domain.

“Close the door behind you, and you’ll find out”

Chapter Text

You were… surprised, to say the least, when Rush announced out of nowhere that it’s ‘siblings’ would be coming over to the hotel for a visit. It had given no prior evidence that it had relatives, and now it is saying it has siblings? Plural? Multiple.

Well, Blitz is… a character.

You keep finding yourself wondering if the two of them are actually functioning on one wavelength, because everything they do is perfectly in sync. Are they really just the same entity, with two separate bodies?

The green one, the one Rush refers to as ‘brother’, is much like Rush. It’s fast, it’s loud and it is very much an attention seeker. Keeps cornering you in the corridors, smacking a fist against the wall besides your head and asking you weird shit.

“Hey there, little human~” any human is little to a behemoth like that. “How about you come downstairs with me and I can do you up the backdoor~”

Rush appears and promptly forces you to leave, before you can ask it what it meant.

The pinkish-red one, the one referred to as ‘sister’, is also much like Rush. Except you don’t ever notice her coming until, because she only ever decides to turn up when the brother is around, distracting you. Now you’re cornered. Again.

“Come on, little human, what’s to be afraid of?” those large muscles? The fact there are two of them? The fact she has no goddamn right to push her chest that close to your face? “You never wanted to try some good ol’ double trouble?” At this point, you know what she is insinuating, and the wide smirk, on both of them, is all but confirmation. You laugh nervously.

“I don’t know, guys… We only just met” you reply sheepishly, silently praying for another Rush intervention.

“Well, how about we get to know each other!” the brother exclaims, leaning in just as close as the sister. “Surely you want to get to know us?”

“Yeah, but… slowly… Not the way you guys seem to want to…” They seem disappointed, but not quite deterred.

“And how slow do you want to go, hmm?” the sister asks coyly.

“Erm, do you guys have any embarrassing baby Rush stories?” They seemed to light up slightly at the question, much to your relief. .

“Plenty” they both chimed. At least you seemed to deflect their advances… for now.

Chapter Text

Something followed you home.

Everynight you find yourself waking to the feeling that there is something watching you from the dark. You know there is. In your peripherals, you catch the faintest glimpses of those shining eyes, staring into your direction. There’s a humanoid, spectral body attached to it, not that you can see it, not that you are going to turn on the light to try and see it.

You thought you were free. You thought getting out of that… basement, out of that hotel, would be the end of your misery. You thought that there would be no more monsters.

Well, there certainly is a monster, only this time there is no benevolent blue or yellow light to save you now.

“Not real…” you mumble to yourself, rolling over to make sure you are looking in the complete opposite direction of the entity, to not risk it causing you harm and short circuiting your electricals. A lie, you know it, but you say it just to try and ease the nerves.

It’s strange though… you’d think if this thing was intent on bringing your life to an end it would… do more than just float there, waiting for you to look at it. You kind of wish it was more malicious; it is getting way too easy to fall asleep around this thing.

Then it just watches. Waits. Whilst you sleep. That thought should scare you more. It could suddenly decide to do something more than it already has, and you would be in no position to stop it. And yet…

You wake up. You don’t think it took you long to fall asleep again last night. Carefully, you slowly roll over, just enough that you get its favourite corner to haunt in your periphery.

The floating figure is gone, not that that surprises you. Now you can go about your day as you usually would, but you know, you just know, that it’ll be there again the very next night.

Chapter Text

“-Anyway, the point is if you just told Lookman to go fuck itself I’d appreciate that a lot!”

You were sitting, back against a door labelled ‘-50’, key in hand, idly chatting, well, venting, to something that waited on the other side. It rarely spoke back, but judging by the slightly reddish glow coming out from underneath the door, it was there, and it was listening.

You’d been coming down here a lot lately, not that anyone up above has even really noticed you slipping out of the hotel. What can you say though? You only recently uncovered this location; it’s new, it’s exciting and most of all it’s dangerous!

That being said… you were starting to get good at running the backdoor gauntlet, so now you’ve been taking more risks, lingering in rooms longer than you need to. So you’ve been seeing a lot more of Haste lately.

The entity in question had barely reacted to your long elaborate hate speech about Lookman, only making a grunting noise to acknowledge that it had heard what you had asked it to do.

“Cheers…” you say, fiddling with the key in your hand. It’ll be forced to leave once the clock starts ticking, only to appear again when the time runs out. You’d always wondered about that, how that works… “Hey, Haste? I have a question- a few actually, if you don’t mind…?” It makes no response to you, so you continue. “What happens when I open this door? What happens whenever the levers are pulled?” Haste appears to be extremely powerful, able to hunt down its victims and kill them in a heartbeat, and yet it seems forced to wait out those timers.

There’s a long silence, and you start to think the entity isn’t going to respond to you.

“The shackles… tighten…” a low voice rumbles from the otherside of the door, deep and powerful, like it could shake the earth itself. It catches you off guard. “...Restrained, forced to… hold back…” Your assessment of Haste might actually be correct, if it is the only entity here that needs a light to dedicate themselves to creating a means to stop it. The levers- those timers- are tied to its imprisonment.

“Does it hurt?” you ask quietly, still thinking about the implications of its response.

“Not anymore” it replies shortly, with only a pause of hesitation.

“Sorry…” you mumble, not knowing what else to say.

“Don’t need your… sympathy…” it replies. It doesn’t sound angry or insulted, more like it is stating a fact. A human apologising to a monster that would soon be hunting them down, trying to kill them is a strange reality. “You should… open the door… let me… see you… again” Ah, it wants the hunt now. That’s fine, your butt was beginning to hurt anyway.

“Yep” you say, getting to your feet. “See you on the other side buddy” you add, placing the key in the lock and turning.

There’s only a lever before you.

Chapter Text

Rush knew having their siblings come round for a visit was going to be more hassle than anything, but they never anticipated it getting this bad. They thought they’d be hostile with you, human and all, but they had the complete opposite response- a completely inappropriate response.

Rush could barely leave you alone for a second before Blitz came swooping in, laying it on thick and heavy, causing Rush to have to chase them away again. Honestly, they’re probably just trying to score an easy lay, thinking a human might be easy.

They’d only been gone a few minutes, called away for some business, and now both you and Blitz were missing. The lights of the hotel stood no chance of surviving in the face of just how fast Rush was zooming between each room, searching for its despicable siblings.

The race was brought to a halt when Rush found themselves outside of a room with some… questionable sounding noises coming from within.

“Oh, oh, Blitz- that’s- that’s just too much!” a distinctly human voice called out.

Rush wasn’t going to stand by Blitz’s behaviour. They slammed open the door to catch the two of them in their act.

You were lying on the bed, legs hanging off the end, extremely red-faced, breathing heavily and with tears in your eyes. As predicted, you were sandwiched between Rush’s brother and sister. Not predictably, you weren’t under either of them or on top of them, just between the two of them. The siblings were still sitting on the end of the bed, briefly staring down at your collapsed position before their heads snapped round to the angry sibling in the doorway. You slowly heaved yourself up onto your elbows to see Rush.

“R-Rush? What are you doing here?” you ask through the tears and… giggles?

“Making sure these two aren’t up to anything!” Rush declares before pausing. The scene before Rush… isn’t what they were expecting. “...What are you guys up to anyway?”

“Oh, Rush! We’ve been telling your little friend about our childhood!” the brother Blitz says cheerfully.

“Oh yes! They’ve loved all the stories!” the sister Blitz chimes in.

“You what?!” Rush yells, the lights flickering slightly.

“Mad?” they both ask in unison. You’ve finally gotten yourself into an upright position, using the arm of the green one to hoist yourself up.

“Aww, is Rushy Gushy mad!” you call out with mock cooing.

“Rushy Gushy!?” Rush exclaims in indignation at the old nickname. Something they wished they’d be allowed to forget…

“So cute as a baby everyone just gushed at the sight of you!” the Blitz’s say, again in unison.

“Even when you were just a lil smoke ball!” you add on, like salt to the wound.

“Listen, that’s the past! I’m a big powerful entity now!” Rush shouts defensively, very much with a wounded ego. You and the siblings just laugh until Rush drags you out of the room.

Chapter Text

“I’m doing this for your own good” was a phrase that had been repeated many times in the past ten minutes, but unfortunately it was never believed.

You were currently in the courtyard, a shower puff in one hand and a sizable bottle of liquid soap in the other, with a few other supplies littering the ground. You were standing behind your very unhappy victim.

Entities don’t care much about the smell of blood and the bits of entrail that stick to their bodies, humans do. It is why you have taken it upon yourself to help one of the worst offenders for personal hygiene get clean.

And Figure is not happy about it.

It was due a clean; you’ve watched this thing many a time rip its way through the flesh of other living beings and hastily consume their remains. Blood, bone, saliva and other delights would go flying out of its opened mouth as it feeds, coating it and everything around it in the macabre shower.

You’ve never seen Figure clean itself afterwards… which is why you're giving it a shower of a more pure variety right now.

Figure was willing, if unhappy, to let you do this, though that meant they were not going to be helpful in the slightest. The most you were going to get them to do was sit on the ground. They were akin to a pouting child, refusing to cooperate if you asked it to move its limbs or tilt its face so you can easily access every little crevice in its skin.

You started with their face, being the source of most of its messes. A sponge went around their head more than a couple of times, and needed constant rinsing off. You also did them the favour of picking debris out from between their teeth; very few others would consider sticking their arm into the open maw of such a creature, but here you were.

Then it was downwards; you had to get right into the fine gaps where flesh met protruding bone. Figure didn’t show any discomfort, which was good considering the amount of elbow grease you had to use. You patted them on the chest a couple of times when you finished.

“You’re being so brave right now” you say teasingly as you continue your cleaning.

Figure just grunts in annoyance, you snort out a little laugh at their disgruntled demeanour.

“Now, do you wanna do that, or…?” you say, gesturing down to Figure’s crotch area. The entity doesn’t move, still refusing to be helpful in any way. You shrug to yourself. “Suit yourself” You make quick work of it.

After so long in the rain, with now aching arms, you were finally finished.

“There! All better!” you announce.

Figure faces you for a few seconds, pouting, before slowly leaning to their side until they eventually fall over. Onto the grass. And the mud. It makes a large squelch as Figure’s entire right side gets coated.

“You motherfucker!”

Chapter Text

Quiet. It is never quiet here; rain battering the windows and walls outside encircle nearly every room. Perhaps it still does, you just don’t notice it.

It is quite a cosy little corner here, just you and Rush. No prying eyes to intrude on the moment the two of you are sharing together.

With your back up against the wall, you gaze up into the face of the large entity as it returns the look down at you. There’s jitters in your legs- and all down your body, causing you to shift the weight from one foot to the other- a slight sway in your stance. Like a hypnotised animal.

Heart in your throat; words left unspoken. All you can do is let tingling fingertips glide lightly over those large arms- holding you securely by the waist- tracing invisible and meaningless patterns over them. They mean the world to Rush.

You can’t help but notice the way it struggles to keep its own focus on your eyes; those ebony eyes being unwillingly pulled lower, only to be dragged back to meet your gaze once more. Their face gets closer to your own each and every time its focus trails down; only a matter of time before…

The consideration is there, and you are more than willing to wait for them to pluck up the confidence to take the final leap. Besides, it is quite adorable seeing something so usually loud and proud be muted and nervous.

Not quite a surge of confidence, but Rush eventually finds the resolve to seal the deal. A single hand moves from your waist up to cup your cheek as their mouth connects with your own slowly, tenderly, in an affectionate embrace, one that just skims over your skin but is enough to set it ablaze. A trembling shiver runs down your spine; leaning forwards to meld into that warm, loving hold, you stop dancing your fingers over their arms and link your fingers behind its head.

A humming sigh sings out from Rush’s throat; content in the moment, yet bolstered by the positive reception.

Their body pushes flush up against your own, a hold deeper than you’ve ever known, as they deepen the kiss passionately; capturing not just your lips, but your body, breath and soul. All a willing prisoner. With quivering knees, you’d be on the floor beneath them had you not been held so securely.

Rush is reluctant to release you, mouth hanging slightly parted when the two of you finally draw apart once more, their hot breath tickling the end of your nose. A quiet breathless laugh escapes your lips as you slowly catch your breath once more, giddy from ecstasy and leaving you a complete mess.Hands trail down from behind Rush’s head and cup the sides of their face softly.

“Is that- Is that all you’ve got?” you say teasingly between pants, before pulling them in once more.

A challenge presented, and Rush is always up for a challenge.

Chapter Text

Much to your horror, A-90 did happen upon both A-60 and A-120 whilst carrying you around. A-60 cooed happily at you for a while, before heading off to do who knows what. A-90 went after them, leaving you in the tender loving care of stompy boy. At least A-90 let you keep a hold of their stop sign in case you need to beat up A-120, which was nice of them.

The two of you were currently loitering inside one of those little kitchen/staff room areas, with you just sitting at a table, head resting against your hands, still feeling miserable for yourself, whilst A-120 does… something.

“Alright,” the entity begins, finishing up what they were doing over there and turning around to face you once more. You barely look up at A-120, though you notice their smile seems larger than usual. They’re pleased by what they made. A couple of loud stomps, and they’re by your side. “I made you something”

The ‘something’ is placed down in front of you. A small mug, with little wisps of steam billowing out the top. You peek over the top to see a thick brown liquid, dotted with floating chunks of… marshmallows? That, plus the scent that wafts out of it could only mean one thing: hot chocolate.

Still, you eye it suspiciously.

“Where’d you get the stuff for that?” you ask, holding the mug between your hands but not quite ready to commit to drinking A-120’s gift.

“Find stuff lying around” it says dismissively. “I’ve been told chocolate and sweet treats are good for when someone is feeling down, and this ticks both those boxes”

“Who told you?” you ask.

“Someone” they say, still dismissively. Something tells you that you aren’t going to be getting an answer out of them on that front. You drop it.

Well, the Rooms are very cold… and it would be nice to get some long missed flavour on your tongue. You begrudgingly take a few tentative sips.

“Oh damn,” you say involuntarily before you can even think to stop yourself. Then the embarrassment hits, but the damage is already done. A-120 looks might pleased with itself. “It’s pretty alright” you finally concede, hoping not to do anymore ego inflation. It was definitely better than ‘pretty alright’, but A-120 didn’t need to know that.

“Aww, thank you. High praise from you” they say, sincerely, giving your arm a light, affectionate squeeze.

You finish your cup much faster than you care to admit, but A-120 noticed anyway. They didn’t say anything though, letting your silent enjoyment be all the praise they needed.

...And you didn't need to beat them up with A-90's sign.

Chapter Text

“There’s no way for you to escape, nowhere left for you to run, no one is coming to rescue you'' Seek tilted your face up with a brutal grip on the chin, forcing your two fright-filled eyes to make contact with its piercing singular one. Try as you might to avert your gaze, it is impossible to avoid; numerous eyes bleed out of the walls around you. Each and every one of them are trained on your form, waiting for you to make even a single mistake. “This place is your forever prison. But,” Seek briefly paused, breathing hot air into your cut lips and bruised skin “it can be your forever home, too. If you surrender”

There’s glass all over the floor, courtesy of the windows that were smashed in from the outside and the chandeliers which had been smashed to the ground. The fires had long been extinguished, but the scent of charred carpet and wood still lingered in the air, yet to be blown away by the wind and rain that filtered in through the exposed windows. Furniture lay displayed from its normal dwelling, shoved out of the way with little more regard than loose trash. A place like this could never be a ‘home’ for a human, not with the many apparitions that stalked the night

The chaos of the room around you doesn’t exist, not when you can’t pull yourself away from the eye in front of you.

There’s no words left for you to speak, nothing left for you to say. You’ve been caught by Seek, as many had been before you, only you weren’t going to find yourself trapped in slime and used as sustenance. Not if you choose your next actions carefully, that is.

It is easy to tell when someone is defeated: their eyes become devoid of all thoughts- of all feelings- and their body sinks low, as if trying to have the earth consume them whole. There was no fright left in your form. You wouldn’t say it- of course you wouldn’t, that would be making it all too real- but Seek knew.

You surrendered yourself to them.

Seek’s hand slowly moves, almost hesitantly, to your cheek, cupping it gently in their palm. There’s no frightened jolt, no recoiling disgust, no sharp-tongued rebuttal. Just silent acceptance. A single finger starts caressing the side of your face. The once piercing gaze softens up considerably, as the entity pulls you in close to its chest, wrapping its other arm around you in a firm embrace.

You may not be being used as sustenance, but perhaps this method of entrapment was much worse than what its other victims went through.

Chapter Text

Ok, you knew you were totally screwed when Screech of all entities made a certain remark.

“Eww! Stop looking at Seek like that, it’s disgusting!” they squealed out whilst pulling a ‘bleh!’ face. Your head snapped around to face them in less of a second after they said that.

“W-what?” you stammer out. “I’m not- I- I’m not looking at them like anything!”

“Keep telling yourself that, but everyone can see it!” Screech grumbles with a pout.

“Oh no…” you mumble out, head falling into your hands.

“Bet Seek can tell too!” they say with a snicker. It doesn’t help you. Fortunately, Screech stops laughing after noticing the utmost despair that was now etched across your face. “Ah, come on! Maybe they look at you like that too! You could ask them!”

You know your life is at an all time low when Screech of all people is trying to convince you to ask your crush out, but here you are.

Still, you could endure the little entity's mocking. But if the others started to join in…

Which led you here, standing in front of the desk Seek was currently sitting by, working on who knows what. You’d just been standing there, wordlessly, awkwardly, for like a minute now. You hadn’t even announced your arrival for goodness sake! This was so embarrassing-

“Are you just going to stand there and gawk, or do you have actual business with me?” Seek asks, without even looking up.

Ack! You’re heating up more and more! You better say something quick!

“I, er, well, I have something to say- ask you!” you quickly ramble out, falling over your words way more than you would have wanted to. It probably thinks you look so pathetic right now…

“Well, out with it. I am rather busy” Seek finally stops whatever it was doing to turn that singular eye up to you. There’s a brief moment where you freeze, unable to say or do anything. You have their attention, now is the best time to say what you need to say.

"I c-can't really explain it, but I think I- I think I like you…” Seek’s expression doesn’t change in the slightest. You gulp down the rapidly building nerves. “So... Do you like me too?"

"You should sit down" Seek says curtly, directly, very formally. That doesn’t bode well… They’re going to try and lightly put you down, except it isn’t gonna end up lightly, and is going to leave you feeling completely miserable.

You take a seat across from the desk, trembling like a little leaf in the wind.

“You're so cute when you're nervous…” Seek says with a small snorting laugh. It makes you jump. “Of course, I like you"

You could near pass out from the relief that washes over you and how quick your heart beats inside your chest.

Chapter Text

Hearing hushed voices inside the hotel was nothing to be concerned about; hearing a singular hushed voice seemingly talking to themselves on the other hand is.

The Guide calls out to the solitary human, sitting alone in the greenhouse. Not even a Snare is around.

“My dear, are you alright?” the light asks, concern lacing their otherwise cool tone. The human doesn’t respond, they don’t even so much as flinch. They just keep… staring off, down the corridor.

The Light grows curious, moves closer. They can’t see what they are staring at from this angle.

“What are you…?” The Light’s question trails off as they are finally within view of what they were looking at.

It’s just another room of the greenhouse, you can even see the courtyard a few rooms back. Nothing special going on here. But what were they-?

The human suddenly snaps back to reality, jolting where they sat. A couple blinks, a deep breath and suddenly they are aware of the angelic figure adjacent to them.

“Oh! Light! I didn’t hear you come!” they exclaim in shock.

“My apologies, but may I ask: what were you doing just now?” the Light’s concern is deepening, it sparks worry inside the human.

“Oh, I was just talking to…” the human falls silent for a second, thinking. “You know what, I don’t remember… it’s all… black” they mumble out.

“Black… like an abyss?” the Light probes. They think they know who- what- they were talking to. It doesn’t usually talk back to, well, anything. What could it have possibly been wanting to say to a simply, little human?

“Ah, yeah! …Maybe…?” they mumble, rubbing their arms slightly.

“Did the darkness provide good conversation?” Guiding Light continues to inquire, hoping to get to the bottom of this mystery.

“I suppose… I think… it said something about me staring for too long…” they mumble to themselves. Guide notes that throughout their conversation, their eyes keep getting drawn back to the doorway. Perhaps something is trying to get in.

“When you stare at the Void, it may stare back…” Guide says thoughtfully to themselves. “Did it say anything else?”

“Oh! Now I remember! They were complaining about me not eating a single vegetable in like a whole month! Said it’s bad for my health!” They shout out in huffing indignation, crossing their arms moodily.

“That’s… certainly interesting…” and definitely not what the Guide would have expected. Then again… that thing’s intention and mood always seems to shift and change like the wind; who’s to say it can’t be allowed to concern itself with a human's general health every once in a while. “Well, why don’t we go find Rush and ask them to help you pick some carrots to have with your dinner?”

“I guess…” the human grumbles, getting to their feet slowly.

Guide would just have to keep an eye on them for a while, to see if it decides to return to them again.

Chapter Text

“You still hesitate”

A familiar deep, distorted voice addresses you from behind, the sound of it momentarily paralyses your entire form. You quickly compose yourself.

“I do not” you reply cooly, not turning to face the creature.

“I watch your every movement. You still hesitate-” You can feel its presence ever closer behind your back; if this thing had a breath, it would be creeping down your spine. Why?”

Because this is not who you are- who you were meant to be. Out there, beyond the walls of this place, you could be someone else- anyone else. Or you could be just another face in the crowd, but even that would be better than… this.

“I… I’m just not- I just need more practice, ok?” your defensiveness might have sold you out; the entity behind you lets out a small, thoughtful hum, as if judging your response.

“Then you are in luck, I believe there are more vermin for us to exterminate. Perfect timing, you can get more… practice in”

You didn’t want to. You didn’t want to do it. You wanted to help them. You wanted to tell them to run fast. It didn’t want you to kill them. It wanted you to help it kill them. Distract them, so they don’t notice the timer slowly ticking down, lower and lower…

Zero.

Red.

Screaming.

Murder by proxy.

Betrayal.

You can’t even look. You don’t want to look. You keep your back to the creature and the remains. It is pleased with itself, not so much with you.

“You still hesitate”

"I hate what I am because of you" you grumble out, eyes firmly fixated on a single spec of dust, lying on the ground.

"So, you'd rather be nothing without me?" the creature sneers out, moving to float in front of you. All you can do is keep it in your peripherals. “Just another little, worthless human amongst all the others?”

Yes.

“...” One word, you can’t even bring yourself to say. One simple word, and you are too much of a coward to even say it.

“I know you want to be more-”

No you don’t.

“-I can make you so much more-”

You don’t want that.

“-It would be so easy-”

You just want to leave.

“-All you have to do-”

But it would just kill you if you tried to escape.

“-Is submit to me”

Submission is survival.

Chapter Text

A hotel in the middle of nowhere, where people are said to disappear and never return and is rumoured to be filled with horrors beyond the imagination… sounds like a lovely place to go!

In your defence, you did protest. Not in your defence, you were easily swayed to go. Now you stand alone, separated from the group in these endless corridors, stumbling towards a salvation you don’t even know exists.

Light’s flicker, but the smoke monster doesn’t show up. How peculiar…

The long dark hallway is different from all the rest; an icy chill runs down your spine as you take cautious steps forwards.

There’s something behind you. You can feel it, but you don’t look. It’s not exactly charging you down, so you should be able to out pace it without sprinting.

“Turn around” an eerie voice echoes through the corridor. You don’t want to look at it, so you don’t. Besides, if it wants you to look, then it is probably a bad thing. Like that other one.

Oh? That decision was taken away from you. What once was behind you teleports in before you. The next few steps backwards are hastily taken, to make up for your inattentiveness to this entity's positioning.

‘Funny,’ you think ‘it kinda looks like a sheet ghost’. If it wasn’t translucent, glowing and floating, you might have been convinced it was a sheet ghost.

“Turn around” and it’s gone again, but you think you’re getting the idea. You resume going forwards.

“Turn around” This time you actually do as you’re told. Might be safer.

“Is this what you wanted? To have a little dance?” you ask as you continue to spin round and round at the entity’s command. “Fine then. Let’s dance until the end of time” Might be easier to be done for the ghost, but you continue the performance none the less. You even add little twirls for a flourish.

The performance, however, did not distract you from your end goal, namely the exit. It is so close now…

“Well…” You clap your hands together, as if drawing in an audience. An audience of one. “This was a haunting experience-” you chuckle nervously to yourself. A few steps away from the door; it better not teleport in front of you now. “-But I’m afraid I’ve gotta cut this dance off early. Sorry!”

There’s a small dining area before. You’re finally out; you slump your head down, let out a small sigh of relief as you fall back against the sealed door.

“Very funny…” You didn’t notice the blue glow basking the dining room, not until your head snapped back up to meet with cold blue ethereal eyes. “Bet you’re really proud of that one”

Its tone could best be described as ‘judgemental’ as it stares down at you with narrowed eyes.

It is gone before you could form a witty retort, not that there was anything in mind for you to say, except you were proud of yourself.

Chapter Text

There are some things that you, even after a prolonged period in this nightmare hotel, just simply couldn’t get used to. The stench of rot and decay that only a human corpse could possibly create being one of them. Which was rather unfortunate, because you had to encounter those far more often than you would have liked to admit.

Very few of the entities grew to like your presence- or the presence of any human for that matter- but you had been able to convince a few that you were cool enough to leave alone. Figure was one of them, which was great news for you, because very few other entities would even dare to step foot in their domain, making a place like the library essentially a safe haven for you.

But not others. You were reminded of that the moment you slowly pushed open the doors and were immediately hit by a wave of nauseating odours. Blood was the most predominant one. Figure must have had an unwelcome visitor not too long ago, and snagged them between tooth and claw.

“Fig-urgh…” you weakly call out, letting the entity know your presence, faltering as the scent continues its assault. You’ll adjust in a bit… maybe.

You’d do your best to side shuffle your way through the outskirts of the library to avoid getting close to the corpse, except it was right in front of you the moment you walked through the door. Just… there, in all its bloody glory. Figure was hunched over it, tearing into the flesh like a ravenous beast, because effectively it was just that.

You think you hear it try to say your name through the mouthfuls, but it is illegible and serves no purpose other than to splatter the warm saliva-blood mixture in your direction.

“I- I can come back lat-”

“No,” Figure bids, much more clearly than before. “You stay”

Well, you didn’t quite fancy risking bumping into Rush anyway. You shut the door behind yourself slowly.

“You… seem to have your hands full” you state quietly, attempting to shuffle around the mess. “I’ll leave you to it”

"Why don't… you join me?" Figure asks, gesturing to the meat pile in front of it. Not the first time that Figure has tried to offer you a share in its bounty, won’t be the last time you’ll politely decline. You may feel like you’re wasting away, but desperation for food hasn’t gotten that bad… yet.

“No, thank you. I’m just here for some quiet…” you mumble as you continue to try and quietly pass them by. That is brought to a yelping halt when one of Figure’s claws suddenly finds itself wrapped around your ankle, ceasing your movements.

“Don’t… sneak off… Stay” Figure demands, gently. Figure likes close proximity, easier to keep track of little friends if they are close.

“Fine… but I’m not eating that” you eventually concede, taking a seat next to Figure.

“...Fine…” it grumbles, before resuming its consumption.

Chapter Text

“So you’re the one that Screech told us about?”

You’ve felt small many times in your life: watching helplessly as others died, struggling pathetically against your ill-given fate, staring into the maws of death itself… This was different.

The Grumble queen was by no means the visage of an elegant ruler; with a scar across her face, the booming voice and the legion of loyal Grumbles and Giggles at her disposal, she was more akin to a combat-chiselled warlord. She could crush your insignificant life in a second, leaving your remains for her massive brood to feast on, if she didn’t just eat you herself.

“It’s- uh- It’s a pleasure to meet you, er, ma'am- your majesty?” you fumble out, barely able to meet her eyes as you address her.

The booming guffaw that rumbles through these tunnels has you shrinking on the spot even further, body frozen in place.

“Little thing, there is no need for such formalities. They are tiresome” she laughs out.

“Oh, right…” you mumble.

“Now. What is it that brings you here?” Ah, right to the chase it seems.

“Um, I was wondering- if I might impose-” She said not to be so formal, god dammit! “-If I could stay here? Like, as in, um, live here for a bit?”

“Live here?” she exclaimed. Clearly that wasn’t something she had expected. “What could possibly compel a little thing like you to want that?”

“Well… my life in the hotel… it hasn’t exactly been pleasant…” you admit sheepishly.

“How so?” She inquires. You knew you were going to have to tell her before you even got here… but that didn’t mean it was going to be any easier.

“Um, you see…” You hated how vulnerable you were, as you spilled every little detail of what happened to you up there, of how your twisted fate unfurled. Her expression didn’t change, not one bit. When you finished, you simply stared up at her, small, vulnerable and completely at her mercy. She could easily just send you back there…

“I see…” she says, staring down unblinking at you. “Well, I suppose that settles it”

“Settles what?” you ask nervously.

“You are to remain here, as my ward. I never liked those from above much, so to take something so very prized to one of them… oh, yes, that would do very nicely!” A ward, huh? Or were you a prisoner of war? Either way, you could at the very least hope that the Grumble queen would treat you better. “One of you find this little thing somewhere comfortable to stay!” A Giggle quickly fled the room to do just that. “And in the mean time…” Her attention was suddenly back on you; a large tentacle circles around your back and pulls you even closer to her form.

“...Yes…?” you slowly ask.

“I think you and I should get a bit more acquainted”

Chapter Text

“Urgh…” you groan to yourself, standing alone in the elevator. This music again… you were sick of this same tune playing every time you got into the elevator. Is this the price you had to pay for doing a mock run of the hotel? You were kinda broke and needed the money though…

“Hey, whoever's in charge of the music! Could you play something different for once!?” you shout up towards the ceiling, not expecting anything to happen at all.

A second passes, before you hear what sounds like a record scratching to a stop. Silence. And then…

Bum-dum-bum-dum-dum-bum-

“A cappella? Really?” you exclaim, exasperated. Well, you didn’t exactly specify how different you wanted the music to be, but you were hoping to be hear a differently melody at least.

Oh well, it was ending anyway, and you were out of the elevator and off to do your little run of the hotel. You briskly make your way over to the key and snatch it up.

"Ah, I got a key!" you say aloud to yourself. Briefly pausing, you think to yourself ‘I didn’t mean to say that out loud’ but dismiss the odd feeling inside you. You were just tired, probably. You continue as normal; putting key to lock, you open the door.

"Knock knock, anybody in here?" you call out, before freezing in your tracks. Ok, that was super fucking weird, this time you can’t deny it.

“What did you do to me!” you shout to the sky. No one answers, but someone listens, of that you are sure at least.

“Errrk! You like my door impression?"
"A door! That's the name of the game!"
"I hope there's something cool in here!"
"I hope nothing kills me in here"

Each door you opened was a new torture; words fall out of your mouth, no matter how much you try not to let it happen. Covering your mouth does no good, the words still find a way to be heard. At this point, you were starting to think bailing early would be a better option.

"Don't look at me, I'm allergic to attention!" Eyes squeals as you enter another room. The voice is very much not a tone of their own and the look inside their eyeballs could only be described as mortified.

“Yeah, that’s it. I’m done with this shit” you say, refusing to look away from Eyes, in spite of their screaming ‘Uwwagh!’

When you died, you were gonna have to speak to whoever was in charge of that whole shit show.

Chapter Text

“Why are you out here so late?” A single voice- though it always sounds like multiple- cuts through the thunderous downpour you had laid yourself out in.

“Can’t sleep. Came to see the stars. Forgot that there are no stars in the sky…” you call back, without looking. The entity comes over to where you lay, staring down at you.

“There’s trouble in your heart?” Dread asks. While they sound unbothered, you could tell there was some underlying concern. You turn your gaze away from the night sky to look into Dread’s many eyes.

“I suppose. If there are no stars, then there is no sun. No sun, no daytime. And if there is no daytime…” you trail off. The train of thought is quickly becoming unpleasant, reaching questions with answers unknown, but bound to be difficult. “Where are we, Dread?”

Dread makes no physical reaction, only staring down at you in silence for a few seconds.

“I do not believe I could give you an answer that’ll ease your misery” it replies shortly. You didn’t expect them to actually tell you anything, but it didn’t hurt to try.

“Thought as much…” you breathe out, returning your attention to the clouds and rain above.

“You’ll catch a cold out here,” Dread states. “You should return inside”

“I’ll be fine” you say dismissively, letting the rain soak through your clothes and skin.

“I must insist you return inside” Dread reiterates, stern tone deepening.

“Or what?”

“I’ll return you myself”

“Sure you will…” you return with a scoff. Of course, a monster of its word, Dread just sighs loudly (so you can hear) to itself before scooping you up off the ground. “H-hey!” you call out in protest, but otherwise just let it happen.

You were expecting to be put down in the first room adjoining the courtyard, but Dread continued to carry you further into the hotel.

“Where are you taking me?” you ask, but receive no answer. Dread just keeps moving.

Eventually, the two of you arrive in a room with a fireplace with two armchairs nearby. Dread sets you down in one, then takes a seat in the other. You were about to ask why you were there, but Dread answered the question before you could even ask it.

“Let the fire warm you up, then I’ll escort you to your room” Dread says, before falling silent again, staring into the orange glow.

“Alright then…” you mumble, staring into the fire too.

You think you must have fallen asleep in the armchair, because you found yourself in your bed with no recollection of how you got there.

Chapter Text

The gauntlet never ends; run, hide, die, repeat. Over and over. It is exhausting. The broken body gets fixed after each death, the broken spirit… that is a wound that may never heal.

If there is not to be an end, could there at least be a pause- a break from this madness? You’d love to get a few hours of sleep, just to give yourself some time to rejuvenate and heal, but there is always a hitch to that idea. The lobby is too cold and has no comfy beds to lie in. The suites have all the comfy beds, but leave you susceptible to monster attacks. It was a lose-lose situation…

You’d been staring down at one of those beds for a good few minutes now- just wishing that you could hop right in- that the room had begun to glow a gentle blue.

You should probably press on…

“Sleep,” a soothing voice interjects, one that you would usually only hear when you die. It seems to come from within your mind itself, as there is no other presence in the room, that you can see at least. “I shall keep you safe”

“Huh… but what of the monsters? Like, er, Dread?” you call aloud into the empty room, turning around a few times.

“I shall keep them at bay. Rest” the voice reassures.

Frankly, you were in no mood to argue with that calming voice; you quickly pull back the covers, situate yourself down and cover yourself with the blanket.

“Thanks, Light!” you sleepily call out. It was near instant that your body gave way for the fatigue that had been building up for so long.

You barely notice the lights in the room dimming some-what, nor the seal that applies to the doorway after the door is shut; you just let your eyes close and drift off into that beautiful black.

The gauntlet will just have to wait until tomorrow to continue.

Chapter Text

You had thought you had messed up royally when you had gotten yourself cornered by that entity in the hedge maze. It's light shining down on you, there was little that you could do.

Yet nothing had happened yet. Momentarily, you wondered if it had lost track of you in your stillness, but had that been the case it would have walked off in search of you. Despite your lack of movement, it knew it had you cornered there. So why hadn't it attacked yet?

You dared not move, or even make a sound. The entrapment felt like an eternity was passing around you as you stared up into the light of the lamppost.

Slowly, the massive entity lowered itself down onto one knee, not that it didn't still tower above you. You flinch at the sudden movement, which only got worse when its arm-like appendages reached forwards towards you and took ahold of you with both 'hands'.

A small hiss escapes you, involuntary, as thorns painfully prick at your skin.

Yet despite this, its hold on you had such a strange tenderness that you would have otherwise thought foreign to a creature made by the world lotus. It was almost akin to a person holding a small pet- or a small animal in general; isn't that essentially what you are to this thing anyway? Perhaps humans are so rare to the plant creature, that it has developed an unusual curiosity to the exotic life it has found.

It turns you over a few times, as if inspecting you; each movement it makes has a thorn inadvertently prick you.

The light it emits begins to dim, but not fully extinguish; the entity made of bramble descends into a sitting position, legs splayed, arms still firmly holding you out in front of it. The lamppost, incidentally, just looks like it placed back down, aside from being overgrown with plant matter.

The light dims further; as it does, the arms retract closer to the body- the lamppost- pulling you flush against its form. With a bit of squirming, you're able to find a position that has the least amount of thorns jabbing into you.

And suddenly there is darkness; left sitting, trapped, under the shadow of the world lotus, there's no way for you to break free of the entity's hold.

Minutes pass, and still there is nothing.

"Are you awake…?" you tentatively ask, if something like this can even have a state that is considered 'awake'. You weren't hoping for much, a reaction or a swift death maybe?

Regardless, there is no movement, no light, no reaction of which to speak of.

With a deep sigh, you have to resign yourself to getting as comfy as you can against the creature's chest. Maybe if you get lucky, the Groundskeeper will happen by and pull you free. Or you could just be stuck there for the foreseeable future.