Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

the only sound to grace the basement in decades is a wretched, painful to listen to cough

those that hear it cannot help but wince and rub their chest

it's a wet cough, but nothing ever seems to come out, not even spit

the guard become paranoid

"but what if we get sick?" they cry

the one who hired them cares not, throwing money at the problem

now those who descend now wear state of the art gas masks

and state of the art earplugs

what used to be filled with quiet chatter is filled only

with the sound of blood rushing in ears

and the rapid

boom boom boom

of one's heart

and still it did not assuage the fears

no amount of staring away could keep the eyes of the guards from the pale figure

curled in the bottom of the sealed glass

body shaking from the bonewracking coughs that echo just beyond the human hearing range

one of those who go home and fall asleep dream of a pale figure watching as they themselves begin to cough

and unlike the figure, they cough blood

blood that splatters and spits until finally that which is making it's way up the thoat is not a liquid

it is a solid, solid heart, still beating away

boom boom boom

faster and faster now as it's exposed to fresh air

they quit within the week

another dreams of sitting, paralyzed as viscera pours from the pale figure's mouth

filling up the glass until it is a flat globe of red

that begins to creak, and crack

until it shatters and lets loose a torrent that seeks only to drown

it is finally decided that the guards would no longer station within the basement

instead at the top of the stairs

the dreams stop

the guards are able to sleep once more

and the pale figure is alone

with only the repeated echo of the cough

that rips itself into the silence

Chapter Text

Pestilence

a word muttered out of earshot of the boss

he didn't approve of giving the creature in the basement

a name

but the coughing had been going on for months now

and showed no sign of stopping

reports had begun, of a sickness across the sea

and those who stood in the basement

and then later the hall

thought they were safe

it wasn't until a day in early June

when for the whole day

the coughing reverberated throughout the house

there was no escaping it, even upon the roof

as one guard tried, and when he couldn't even be free of it there

he let out a final breath and allowed gravity to do it's work

boom

in the coming weeks, the reports became reality

a sea is not far enough to escape

it had seeped in through the cracks

and so the word began to be whispered once again

Pestilence

the figure certainly fit the expectation the remaining guards agreed

even if he were not arriving astride

his skin was white as the horse spoken to ride upon

it took convincing but finally a barrier was erected upon the door

boom

nails through carved wood gave the guard comfort

the old man scoffed at the naiveté

'it's still sealed' the guards would mutter to each other

and the old man laughed without offering an explanation

but the suicides stopped and so all was mollified

the gardener who'd not touched plants in decades

finally felt comfortable wandering the grounds once more

taking in the full appreciation of the pretty cage he'd

unknowingly walked into

and they lived, the old man, the gardener, and their many many guards

even as the sickness arrived and ravaged those around

but those within were safe and rarely wished to leave out of

the fear that the basement was the luck charm

far away in the city, an immortal man cursed as he kept himself

away, the cough revenging his lungs

sickness was no stranger to him, and he chuckled at the shock of those around

'Pestilence' he said, not for the first time, 'Pestilence and I are old friends'