He walks up the stairs, hand resting on the railing as he continues going up and up. He had escaped the cellar (Which gave him nothing, because there was no fucking ghost soul) and now here he is, going somewhere he knows is a thousand times worse.
He had only had that small encounter with the other old man in this world, which was one too many. Katsuki shivers remembering the way the rats crawled up the buff man's body, under his clothes and into his hat.
He looks at the door flat, which seems to be staring back at him. He swings it open and walks inside.
"We have eyes, and we have nerveses"
"We have tails we have teeth"
"You'll all get what you deserveses"
"When we rise from underneath"
The small voices whispered and sung together, even though Katsuki couldn't see anything, he knew they were the rats. The ceiling of the attic flat hangs so low that Katsuki can just reach his hand up and touch it.
He begins to walk slowly through the small space. He catches small pink feet scurrying away, red beady eyes staring at him closely, the shadows of things moving against the walls and furniture. This place smelled a lot worse than the one with crazy old man back home.
It smelled as if someone left meat out for way too long, letting it rot next to a pile of rotting fruits. To put it simply, it smelled like a whole can of ass.
"Young man..."
A voice rasps out from somewhere ahead. Katsuki stops and looks in the direction, gripping his flashlight. He tries to stay as calm as possible. Being down in the cellar made him realize something.
That these people, these monsters, are just puppets of the real people he knows. That fact made Katsuki feel more at ease, as at ease you can get when you're in a dark attic with some monster calling for you.
A sudden thought strikes him as he looks closer and the room. These things on the shelves and on the walls, are all back home, if not a little different. This whole place was just a twisted copy of things back home, though...
Katsuki doesn't remember there being a snow globe in the drawing room. Thats only in this world. Why would the other mother make something that she knows isn't in Katsuki's home? Why add something so unnecessary to getting him to stay here?
Oh shit.
His train of thought is interrupted by the same scratchy, dry voice of the other old man.
"I know what you want young man..."
Katsuki began to walk through the attic flat, looking for the source of the voice, his flashlight shining down on rats that ran away right when the light touched them. All the while, the other old man continues to talk.
"You want adventure... Freedom... And here, you can have it all..."
Katsuki scans an empty room with a small lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of the room there is a skeleton, rats eating at the remains. Katsuki turns away, continuing his search.
No matter how far or how close he gets, the other old man's voice stays the same, as if coming from the flat itself.
"Here, you will have parents who love you... take care of you... be with you... all the fun you could ever want..."
He walks past a bedroom and stops at the doorway. His flashlight is pointing at the other old man, who sits on the bed, looking at him.
"Even if you do go back... What will change? Nothing... Stay here, with people who want you around..."
The other old man tilts his head towards him, his button eyes gleaming.
"There will never be a day where you wish to leave... no days so glum that you must stay inside... no creepy neighbors... no annoying nagging... just love and fun... doesn't that sound perfect?"
Katsuki looks around the dark room and then back at the other old man, making sure his flashlight points right at his eyes.
"I'm looking at a creepy neighbor right now old fuck."
The old man lets out a chuckle, well Katsuki guesses it's supposed to be one, because it comes out more like someone trying to imitate a laugh. It lacks any real amusement or joy.
"Besides, i don't want shit to just be handed to me because i want it. I wanna fucking earn it, with actual hard work. You must think I'm just some fucking bum."
The old man frowns slightly,
"I don't understand..."
Katsuki steps closer.
"Of course, you don't understand. You're just a shitty copy of someone i know."
The other old man looks down, his hat covering his eyes. His voice is a lot deeper than before, scratching at Katsuki's ears.
"Not even that..."
Katsuki takes out the stone and points it at the old man. There is a soft blue glow coming from the puppet's chest, right under his coat. Katsuki just wants to hit him with something because he definitely does not want to go towards that fucking nutcase.
But what else can he do. So he takes a step closer, waiting for something to happen with bated breath. But right when he takes another step, the old man looks like he falls apart, leaving nothing behind but piles of clothes and rats.
The rat's eyes shine in the dark as they chitter away, before darting off in different directions. The coat is flung to the side in their haste and the top hat is rolled to one corner of the room. Katsuki races to the coat and opens it up, only to find nothing.
It leaves oiling subdue on his hand and he angrily wipes it on the bed. There is no sign of the last marble. He puts the stone to his eye and scans his surroundings. Finally, he sees the blue glow down at the floor level by the doorway.
YOU ARE READING
Strings and Buttons
FanfictionIn celebration of the fall. Katsuki Bakugo has moved into a new place with his parents, leaving behind his middle school friends and life in exchange for empty gardens and rotting apples. though not everything is what it seems, especially when he m...
