Stockholm Syndrome (Sans x Proxies)

Chapter 4

"That would be helpful, yeah," Undyne said.

Undyne didn't blame this woman. At least she was willing to give the case to the Royal Guard instead of dragging it out in the police department.

~~~~~~

In the woods, down a curvy gravel road, they had traveled. Sans leaned against the window, watching leaves twist and turn above the car, flashes of sunlight popping in and out of the brief openings. A gentle hum of the engine tuned as they crept to a stop, now finding themselves located at a small cabin in the woods.

It was small, but seemed to be kept in decent shape. Bells dangled from each window, likely a defense for intruders, with a simple chair on the front porch. There was even a pile of firewood near the side, a row of hatchets set up along the side for cutting it.

"You guys have a fireplace?" Sans asked.

"Yeah," Tim said.

"Man, Tori would be so jealous," Sans said, "She's been trying to get a house with a fireplace forever, she's just given up and is installing one in her current house. She wants it to be done by Christmas."

"Oh, I l-l-love Christmas!" Toby said, pressing his hands together.

"Eh, I love the food," Sans said.

"Food! T-Thanksgiving is today! G-Guys, happy T-T-Thanksgiving!" Toby said.

Right. Today was Thanksgiving. Just remembering that made the very few shreds of happiness Toby managed to give him fall away into the bleak realization of his new life. It was Thanksgiving, the day he and his friends had been excited for weeks about. The time meant to be spent with friends and family, now would instead be worrying about him. And how would Sans be spending his Thanksgiving, a day meant to be thankful and with family? Locked in a cabin with three kidnappers.

Sans could use his magic, but he never was one to resort to it unless absolutely necessary. Basically, if the world was about to be destroyed. It sounded like too much work to bother to fight them. He was rather lazy.

When nothing mattered, he couldn't really care.

Then again, if he did teleport out of there, he didn't even know where he was. And it'd take away all of his magic to even teleport out of this massive forest.

So, with shuffling feet, Sans followed Toby out of the car. Being an optimist wasn't his strong suit, Sans could only see the downsides of the situation, slowly tricking away at his already fragile mental health. The cabin was old. No one probably knew it was here. If they didn't have updated heating system, which he suspected, they'd probably make him cut the firewood. And it smelled like dead meat out here.

Toby stepped up to the plate of positive reinforcement when no one else would. "It's going to be f-f-fun, I promise! W-We play games and h-hangout a-and-" Noticing a bloody hatchet, Toby quickly kicked it under the porch when they drew near. "A-And... uh... m-movies! We h-h-have movie nights!"

Now closer, Sans picked up the very distinct smell of a rotting carcass. Either a human or animal, but he was heavily leaning towards the human option. It seemed to be coming from under the porch.

The house itself was definitely old, with wood chipping away, weighed down with their age. Steady, but worn. A loose, yet firm lock hung from the door, being opened by Tim. Brian was still by the car, taking apart the seats to inspect. For what, he didn't know. Maybe any cans of pepper spray or other typically self defense items inside of cars. That would be a useless search, monsters barely used items over magic. The most he'd find would be empty ketchup packets.