Work Text:
``OCTOBER 31ST, 20XX``
Dess sits at the edge of her bed, her gaze downcast at her guitar as she lulls herself with its music. She takes a subtle glance at the camcorder on the stand across from her, it's blinking red light staring right back at her.
She closes her eyes, trying to concentrate on the melody she's working with. But all she hears — *piercing* her ears, is the sound of buzzing. Buzzing, repeatedly, or maybe it's more like...static? Whatever **garbage noise** it is, December couldn't stand it anymore.
"Raagh!" She lets out a frustrated cry, throwing her shoe at the camcorder, knocking it down from the stand and letting it hit the floor. The weird noise stops.
December huffs, setting her guitar aside, getting up to get the camcorder off the ground when — a knock at the door.
Dess tenses, glancing over at the door just in time to see it creak open, revealing —
".....holy shit, Az, you nearly gave me a heart attack." Dess exhales deeply with a nervous chuckle, grabbing the camcorder off the ground and putting it next to her TV. "I heard a noise, like you—" "Yeah, no, sorry. This...song's got me a little....scrambled, I can't seem to...get it right." Dess awkwardly explains, rubbing her hand against her face, trying to shake off the anxiety.
"Don't worry, it'll come to you eventually..." Asriel reassures, placing a gentle hand on her arm, stepping closer to her. "I got Kris and Noelle in their costumes, they're as eager as ever to head out, haha."
Asriel had promised Toriel he'd take Kris trick-or-treating, December had offered to accompany them with Noelle. Dess nods as she recalls this. "I..still gotta get my costume together." She lets out a faint chuckle as she looks around the room. "I can throw something together. When I get down there, *you* better be in costume too." December teases, poking a firm finger against Asriel's chest.
"Haha...r-right, yea, I'll—" "mhm, glad to hear it, now get outta here so a gal can change, alright?" Dess turns Asriel around, gently guiding him out the door."Okay but—" December cuts Asriel off, closing her room door in front of him. When she turns, her back to the door, it's like her room had gotten **dark**.
She's left breathless, clutching herself against the door as she can make out a figure standing by her closet. She slides her arm against the wall, searching for the light switch. She flicks it on, the figure was merely the shape of her chair with the bits she picked out earlier for her Halloween costume.
She sighs, walking over, taking the foam knight armor shoulder pad off the back of the chair, along with the black cardigan that draped over it.
...
Meanwhile, downstairs, Asriel is prepping his little sibling for trick-or-treating. "Okay so, we're gonna practice how we *smile* at people when they give us candy." Asriel puts both index fingers on either side of his mouth, stretching it into a smile. "Smiiile." He muffles.
Kris mimics this, doing the same stretching motion with their mouth, forcing it into a smile that's...strangely a bit creepy. "Okay well— maybe not....like *that*..." Asriel drops his hands to his sides. Noelle taps Kris on the shoulder, a soft smile on her face. "Like this, Kris." She giggles, showing her bright smile. Kris drops their hands at their side, studying Noelle's sunshine smile for a second longer before reaching over and pulling her cheeks. "Ow ow ow ow!" Noelle cries out, Asriel clicks his tongue in annoyance. "*Kris!* Knock it off."
Dess's room door opens and she steps out onto the landing overlooking the 1st floor, looking down at Asriel, Noelle and Kris. Asriel looks up at her, his eyes widened at the sight of her costume.
She wore pitch black knight armor on her shoulders, with chainmail made from old soda can tabs, her cardigan shredded and cloaked around her like a cape, a ripped black skirt drapes down her lower half, and she wears black combat boots and smudged eye shadow over her eyes to pull the look together.
"Holy— Dess, that is *wicked*!" Asriel hurries to meet her at the staircase as she comes down. "It's just a buncha junk from my closet pulled together." Dess waves her hand dismissively, though on the inside she's definitely gloating about how cool she looks.
Dess flinches as she reaches the bottom of the stairs, her legs are instantly grabbed by something — someone, *Kris*.
December looks down at Kris, wearing a little red horn headband and poorly spray painted bat wings strapped to their back. Kris hugs December's leg tighter, looking up at her with a large...eerie smile that slightly unsettles her.
Dess pats Kris on the back, chuckling nervously, "I'll take that as...Kris *also* finds my costume cool I guess." She prys Kris from her leg, looking over to Noelle. Dess finds herself smiling instantly at how cute her little sister looks in her angel costume.
"Heyyy, look at that, huh." Dess walks over to Noelle. "I knew that silly little white pageant dress mom bought me years ago would fit you. And I did great with these wings and halo headband. Does it hug around your ears too tight?" Dess rambles on, fixing Noelle's headband. "Fahaha, no, it fits just fine! It's perfect, Dess, *really*." Noelle reassures. "Alright, alright. But you gotta let me know if somethin's chaffing—" "Ugh, Dess! C'mon..."
"Okay, okay." Dess chuckles, turning back to Asriel and Kris. "We ready to go?" She grins....
"'kay, I'll trade you....the watermelon sours, for your blue raspberry Taffy." Dess murmurs, pointing at the candy pile laid out in the grass in front of them. The four are gathered by the town's pier, "What? No way—" Asriel shakes his head. "I *love* blue raspberry taffy." Asriel snatches it from the candy pile. "The Watermelon sours *and* a twin candy bar!" Dess haggles. "...." Asriel's face scrunches up as he gives it thought. "What kind of twin bar is it?" He asks in a skeptical tone.
Dess grabs the candy bar, checking the label. "Brownie crunch." She reads. Asriel sucks in some air, pondering further, which starts to annoy December. "Time's up, You're taking too long." She snickers, grabbing the blue raspberry Taffy from his grasp and throwing the candy bar into his lap. "H-Hey! You said the watermelon sours too." He whined. "I changed my mind." Dess says with a grin.
"Dess...." Noelle says timidly as she walks over, clutching her dress. "Wassup." Dess turns to meet her sister's gaze, Noelle rocks back and forth on her feet before leaning down to whisper in her ear.
"I've gotta go to the bathroom..."
Dess nods. "Yeah, okay. I gotcha. There should be an outhouse somewhere over here." She slowly gets up to her feet, slightly wobbling. "What's going on?" Asriel tilts his head. "Ellie's gotta go to the bathroom, imma walk her over." Dess pointed onward.
"We'll come too. I also gotta go." Asriel chimes in, getting up as well. "Let's go, Kris." He calls to his little siblings, nabbing their attention from their own little candy pile. Kris scoops their candy into their hands and dumps it back into their little pail before getting up to join Asriel.
As the four of them walk the trail to find the outhouse, December looks up at the stars above them, starting to awaken against the pink and dark blue canvas of a sky - the approaching night. She's never given much thought to them before, *Stars*, that is. Dess was the kind of gal that stayed staring at the ground whenever she walked around, but right now, on this brisk afternoon, she looked *up*.
Soon enough, they reached a small building labeled with bathrooms. Girls, boys, and a family bathroom. Noelle handed December her wings and halo to hold onto before darting off into the girls bathroom. December chuckled, looking over to Asriel, who was giving Kris a firm demand.
"Stay. *Right* here. You don't leave December's sight, you hear me? Right. Here." Asriel points at the ground they're standing on. Kris nods, sheepishly smiling, "I'm serious, Kris. I'm tired of chasing after you." He says, stepping away and heading towards the bathroom.
December chuckles at the sight, walking over to Kris. "Aye, lemme get in on some of that candy." She teases. Kris looks down at the pail of candy in their hands, grinning as they reach in and pull out....an egg. "Is that...an egg? Who the hell would give a kid an egg instead of candy..." December murmurs, taking the egg cautiously and staring down at it.
At the bottom of the egg, Dess would see a strange black smudge. She brushes her thumb over it, it feels...freshly wet, like paint. "....throw this out. We don't eat weird handouts like this." Dess says a bit firmly, winding up a throw and sending the egg flying into the woods surrounding them. December could faintly hear it crash into the ground a few feet away. But how could an *egg* make that loud of a thud?
When December looks back at Kris, they're staring off at something in the distance, something...in the woods. Dess tries to follow their gaze, but, she doesn't quite — wait...
She *can* see something. *Someone*. Amongst the trees.....
"....Kris..." Dess cautiously calls out to Kris. But..they remain silent. "...Do you see him too? The man....behind the trees....waving." Kris ominously whispers to December.
Dess can feel her heart drop to her stomach, sure — Kris could be...creepy sometimes, but it wasn't anything other than normal little kid shenanigans.
Kris *hardly* spoke, and when they did, it was a weird... mumbly, kinda voice, but this. This was *clear*.
"...what...are y—" "He's been following us all day." "**Stop**." December demands, making Kris flinch slightly. Admittedly, December was getting scared. Just *who* was this man behind the trees? Why was he following them? And....why was all of this...so...*familiar*?
"Hey," Asriel chirped as he came back from the bathroom. December looked to meet his gaze, taking a breath to calm her nerves. "Everything good?" Asriel gestures a thumbs up. Dess nods, glancing back in the direction of the woods, no longer seeing that man. "....I'm...gonna check on Noelle..." She mutters before jogging towards the girl's bathroom. She pushes the door open, looking underneath the stalls to find Noelle's pair of feet. "Ellie? You okay?" She calls out, her voice echoing in the dim room.
"....yeah..." Noelle replies sheepishly from the third stall. Dess walks over, placing a hand against the wooden stall. "Hey...if you're not feelin' good, we can head home. I...was about to tell Az we were gonna head out anyway..." She suggests in a soft voice. She hears Noelle sniffle from the other side, shortly before she flushes the toilet and unlocks the stall. Dess looks down at her little sister, offering her hand. "C'mon." She cracks a soft smile.
Noelle looks down, "I gotta wash my hands first..." She giggles quietly before stepping past December to get to the sink.
Dess walks over, setting Noelle's halo and wings aside and turning on the faucet next to Noelle. She watches as her little sister washes her hands, but for some reason, Dess can't shake the anxiety she feels after Kris's words.
She looks at herself in the mirror, slipping her hands into the running water - cold, and calming. She runs her hands over each other, closing her eyes and letting the water wash away her worries. She even splashes herself in the face, smudging her eye shadow even further down her cheeks. She stares at her reflection again, noticing the lights subtly flickering. She huffs, shaking the excess water from her hands before grabbing Noelle's accessories and following her out of the bathroom. *"Get it together, Dess. **Nothing** is out to get you..."*