Flickering Lights

Chapter 1: Prologue

The house Colletta was temporarily living in was... strange to say the least. Her... friend had invited her to live with her and her boyfriends when she had nowhere to go. Colletta was okay with her friend's polyamorous status, but seeing her with eight monster boyfriends who all have similar looks despite being bones and all, was jarring.

Colletta was fine with monsters that came from the underground. They weren't like those bastards from that shitty game, but a heads-up would be nice. By then, she should've seen the red flags in her so-called friend, yet she continued to stay with her like an idiot. Perhaps hope, the yearning for some normalcy, or even wanting to connect with her past life made her stick around.

At first, she tried to make peace with seemingly hostile and wary skeletons, but soon she realized it was futile. The lies that Apate had woven had taken a stronghold on their mind. Their disgust grew to the point where being in the same room as them was difficult. By the three-month mark, Colletta had stopped trying and did her own thing. Once she has enough money, she's getting to hell out of this cesspool of toxicity.

However, even that plan was halted when she finally interacted with the 'horror' version of the skeleton monsters. 'Axe' was a fairly large monster with a gaping hole on the side of his skull. His remaining eye light was constantly large and red like the blood moon in one of the games she had to participate in. He was always tense around Apate and her gang of boyfriends and was very sensitive to the topic of food. He had difficulties remembering and speaking, yet he was still lovable.

'Crooks' was a tall and gangly skeleton, whose nickname she hated. He bore some resemblance to 'Pyrus,' but he was taller and admittedly more disturbing to look at. His eye sockets were small, and his teeth were crooked and bloody. Those teeth must have been how the nickname came to be. Disgusting. How were they any better than school bullies? 'Crooks' had been nothing but sweet and kind. He didn't deserve such a horrible nickname. Neither 'Axe' nor 'Crooks' deserve such terrible nicknames.

"Collie? Are You In There?" 'Crooks' called out, his voice wobbly with sorrow and hurt. Immediately Colletta jumped out of her bed and opened the door. There before her, stood a hunched-over and hurt skeleton, dull yellow tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. She cringes at the onslaught of shouts and yells at the bottom of the house. Loud crashing noises and more screams occurred.

"Daffodil! What happened?" She hurriedly ushered the tall skeleton in and closed the door behind them. The fight became mute once the doors slammed to a close. Leading him to her bed, she covered him in her blankets. Where was Gladiolus? Did they swarm Daffodil like leeches when Gladiolus is forced to leave for something again?

"Daffodil dear, you can cry here. no one is going to judge you." At those words, he finally broke down and cried. Warbled words and distressed half-spoken sentences left his mouth. Piecing together everything, rage flared destructively in her veins. It was Apate again. Like her name, she is a deceiver. Weaving lies as she goes.

Again and again, she has woven a tale of falsehood, pushing the blame onto Daffodil and Gladiolus so she could get away scot-free. This time, however, was the worst one yet. Words as sharp as blades were thrown at Daffodil for something he did not do. It had almost reached a point of physical violence before Gladiolus stepped in. Now he's down there fighting with those boyfriends of Apate.

Giving Daffodil one last hug, she turned to leave the room.

"C-Colletta, Where Are You Going!? They Are Still Fighting Downstairs! It's Too Dangerous To Go Down!" Daffodil grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stop.

"I'll be fine, Daffodil dear. I... just need to speak with Sans. I'm not joining the fight alright?" Colletta said in the most reassuring tone possible, but he continued to hold onto her wrist.