Between Stars And Shadows ~Evil Sanses x F! Reader

CHAPTER 5~ Deception

Time stretched. You didn't know if it had been minutes or hours since Killer's footsteps faded. The dungeon was too quiet — so quiet that every little noise scratched at your nerves.

Then, you heard it.

Not the heavy tread of Horror. Not the cocky, echoing stride of Killer.

This was softer. Slower. Almost... deliberate.

The faint scrape of bone against stone. The shuffle of shoes dragging lightly across the floor.

A shadow appeared outside your cell bars, tall and crooked.

Dust.

He didn't step inside right away. Instead, he lingered just beyond the doorway, head tilted low, sockets glowing faintly with a purple haze. His hoodie hung loose and ragged around him, the strings swaying slightly with each motion.

For a long moment, he just... stared.

You shifted back on the mattress, heart thudding. His sockets didn't blink. They didn't even move. Just locked onto you like prey pinned in a spotlight.

Finally, he spoke, voice hoarse, quiet, dragging each word like it weighed a ton.

"...You're smaller than I remember yesterday."

Your throat went dry.

Dust tilted his head more, the vertebrae in his neck cracking with the sound of grinding bone. He stepped forward into the light, and you could see the faint, powdery streaks across his hands and jacket — dust. Souls ground into nothing. His trophies.

"I didn't think you'd still be here," he murmured, voice low, almost like he was speaking to himself. "But you are... real. Still breathing. Not one of my... visions. That's... strange."

He crouched down by the bars, elbows on his knees, fingers curling against the cold iron. His sockets narrowed, glowing dimmer, and he gave a faint, rasping chuckle.

"You have no idea how lucky you are," he whispered. "Usually, by now, I've already—" He mimed stabbing something into the air, his bony hand jerking sharply. "But Nightmare said no. Said you're important. Said you're... off-limits."

His grin twitched, wide and unnatural, showing teeth cracked at the edges. "That makes you... very, very special."

You pressed yourself harder into the wall, wishing it would swallow you whole. However, you muster up a little bravery from the depth of your soul to give a response. "I-I can't see why"

Dust tilted his head again, like a bird watching a worm squirm. His hand reached slowly through the bars, fingers brushing against the stone floor, almost close enough to touch your foot.

"...Don't worry," he murmured, voice barely audible now. "I won't hurt you. Not yet. Just... want to watch. Want to see how long it takes before you..."

He stopped. The purple glow in his sockets sharpened, fixing on you. "...Before you break."

He stayed there, crouched in silence, breathing rasping faintly in the still air. Watching. Unblinking.

Every second stretched like an eternity.

And then—

The air shifted.

A pressure filled the dungeon, thick and suffocating, pressing down on your chest. The torches flickered. The air grew colder, if that was even possible.

Dust froze, sockets snapping toward the doorway.

The presence arrived before the figure did.

And then he was there.