EVERYONE SEEMED TO be having fun, you watched as toby threaten ben to push him in the water, the phantom clung onto the brunette, literal fear dreaded in his eyes.
hoodie laid on the chairs, his hoodie off and replaced with a plain tee as masky too laid on one of the chairs beside him, though with his usual attire, claiming it wasn't necessary.
kage inspected the alcohol in the bar, commenting them individually as offender sat on the stool, watching with a shot of strong substance in his hand.
"come on y/n! let's play!" sally called out from the shallow end of the pool, needing to shout to overcome the now turned on waterfall, lazari encouraging you even further as she cheered on.
you made your way around the shallow end, placing your hands on your knees as you stared down at sally, "i don't think so salls." you chuckled, watching as the two girls pout.
"please y/n, we want to go to the deeper end but can't without some one tall." lazzie pleaded, puppy-dog eyes forming to add more effect while her hands clasped themselves to her chest.
"adventurous little beings." you booped their noses before lifting your body up, "sorry girls, i'm more of a workaholic than havin—"
you were cut off as you felt hands on your shoulders, before you knew it, you were pushed into the water. fortunately, you weren't drowning due to it being shallow, on the other hand, your clothes were soaked.
you frowned, sitting in the water as you stared at your suspect, toby.
"what happened to scaring ben." you huffed, pulling your now wet hair away from your face, an evident frown still on the corner of your lips.
"he fuh-phased away." the latter shrugged, you could see a smile under his guard mask as he took his hoodie and turtle neck off, leaving his torso bare.
"tobes your pants—" you tried to warn but was too late as he jumped in the water, creating a splash which left you definitely soaked. the girls giggled, wiping their faces to get rid of the water.
"you got extras," he vaguely replied, throwing his goggles and mask on the rim of the pool, revealing his scarred face. he stared off into the deep end as you stared at his left cheek, scars tell a story, this one radiated off a tragic past. you shook your head, deciding to not question it as you crossed your legs in the water rather than using your arms for support, "now c-come on y/n, let's rock!"
you found yourself in toby's arms, his hands under your knees and shoulders to keep you in place, "wOah tobes, let's not!" you exclaimed, wrapping your arms instinctively around his neck as he walked closer to the deep end, "toby!"
he only grinned at you as you stared at the water, hearing the two girls encouraging toby to go further to which the brunette did. you squirmed, "i w-won't kill ya, i sw-swear." toby defended, not much effort said in his sentence.
you turned your head to look at him, eyes squinting as your formed a glare. the water reached his stomach now, you could feel it barely grazing your back. "toby please." you gritted your teeth, hands wrapping tighter around his neck, afraid he'd let you go.
"scared of a li-little water?" he mocked, a low chuckle emitting from his throat which had your cheeks in a light shad of red, "you're already s-soaked, what're ya so af-afraid of?" he stopped walking, the water now just above his stomach.
you slapped his bare shoulder, "i can swim perfectly fine." you spat, squirming to try and loosen his tight grip around you, "it's just i would rather be out of the water." you sighed, slumping as your hands finally let go of his neck, finding your attempts futile. you looked around, trying to find a solution, "jaack!" you called out, he was currently in the house doing god knows what.
"woah, don't summon t-that demon now." toby sweat dropped, a strained smile appearing on his lips as you glared at him in response.
"then please let me go?" you queried, crossing your arms, emphasising and extending the please to add more affect.
the brunette stared at you, a smile no longer evident, his eyes seemed to darken which made you shiver. you raised a brow at him before a smirk etched on his lips, his grip around you tightened as he leaned a bit, "i like i-it when you beg." he said in the lowest tone possible, this being close to your ear made your eyes go wide, any wider and you swore they'd pop out.
despite your face being dusted with a light red, you furrowed your eyebrows with an irritated grin, "oh yeah?" you replied, earning a smug nod from the latter, "you're not going to like what's next then."
something close to a growl came from behind toby, you snorted looking over his shoulder as the brunette tensed. toby twisted his head over to see a fuming eyeless demon, "toby."
｡･ﾟ𓂅ꗃ𓂅ꗃ𓂅ꗃ ﾟ･｡
stripes woke up with a groan, her dark eyes peeling into slits before fully opening. she was awake and alive, leaning on a trunk of a tree as a makeshift bed.
a clear headache made its way to her head, she reached a hand only to abruptly stop and hiss in pain. the many scars littering her body oozed a string of blood, each having individually different shapes and lengths.
"those proxies are hell..." she mumbled, grazing her thumb over an open scar before licking it, "i am not going to father till i satisfy his deeds." she huffed, using the tree trunk to hoist herself off the ground with a grunt.
she wobbled, the headache coming back to her. as carefully as she could, she lifted a leg forward, then the other, then back to the previous leg till she was walking or rather limping.
stripes had ventured deeper into the forest, needing to take a short nap after fighting and running away from skilled killers that outnumbered her greatly. she saw the light peaking over the mountains, indicating that it was early morning, too early.
with a gruff sigh, she managed to take a few weak steps with the help of the trees. she wouldn't admit it but it was clear that she was lost, one minute at the mansion of her father's enemy, the next deeper into the dark forest.
she can't die... more figuratively she can, she just refuses to. especially in the eyes of her father, she was a weapon to zalgo, nothing more nothing less.
stripes swore an oath to fight for him, alongside rake. she was praised, yes, but not as a daughter. what would happen if she were to die, what would happen if zalgo found out about her passing?
for one, he wouldn't care.
for two, he would only reproduce with another to create a more powerful being.
and for three... she was a failure.
a word she never liked or associated with, failure. something that reeked of venom, stripes hated the word, she was once called so by none other than her father, but that was once.
she had proven herself to be that of a great weapon, ever since then, she was never called a useless, unworthy failure.
her mind swirled with the outcome of her sudden death only to stop at lazari. her beloved half sister, someone she actually loved to no extent, she was the light of her life, her everything.
"oh lazzie..." stripes whispered, sounding more like a whimper than she had expected, "i'm sorry for not being the sister you needed."
her red eyes glossed, a frown tugging on her lips which was visible since her goggles and mask were slashed off by the proxies.
stripes hung her head low, only looking at the grassy ground as she walked. an arm grasping her other injured elbow, she was feeble, a meek monster who would soon die a miserable death.
"father, i apologise." she mumbled, letting a tear slip. throughout her struggles she had never once felt so... vulnerable. her chest tightened and a lump was forming on her throat, she let out a small sob, a few more tears spilling.
stripes stopped walking, letting a chance for her silent cries to let lose and express themselves. she gritted her teeth, closing her eyes to try and trap her tears, wiping her eyes to try and reduce the feeling, it only leading to futile attempts.
she failed to notice the moving of metal, all her years she let her guard down, she wanted to feel vulnerable just this once. a sob escaped her, more tears sliding down her cheeks, she wanted to wail, wail for anybody but knew no one would come to rescue her.
she was on her own, a solo act she never asked for. only then, she felt arms wrap around her, comforting ones, her eyes widened but due to them being blurred by tears, she could barely see anything.
the person squeezed her tighter, stripes felt at ease, the sudden engulfment of warmth made her sob more, she wrapped her arms around the stranger, squeezing lightly as she tucked her head into the crook of the strangers neck.
"it's ok.." the person reassured, rubbing the monster's back to comfort her even further, "you can let it all go." they whispered, though stripes heard every word clear, sweet and smooth as silk.
she whimpered, nodding her head slightly before letting a few more sobs and tears escape. her back needing to slouch slightly due to the latter being shorter than her, she was relieved, a shoulder to cry on appeared and she took the window of opportunity.
stripes pulled back as the stranger did so too, she rubbed at her eyes but felt a soft grip at her wrist, pulling her hand away from her now red puffy eyes.
stripes felt small and soft ones get rid of the tears, ever so gently. her vision cleared and no longer glossy, revealing the stranger.
"you ventured off quite far to find this place." the clear vision of the stranger caught stripes breath, it was a fair woman, shorter than her, h/c hair colour and e/c eyes.
"y..you're.. y-y/n.." stripes managed to speak out in between her small sobs, earning a small smile from you. this woman was undoubtedly the same woman that her father had told her about, she was marvellous, an angel her father said.
you chuckled lightly, "and you're no ordinary human, hm?" you tilted your head, a few strands falling to your face as you scanned her multiple mouths and red gleaming eyes, "no offence but i assume you don't have a place to stay." you grabbed hold of her faded black arms the mixed with her natural skin colour, leading her to the gate that you had opened after your AI had alerted a being just outside the house of your perimeter.
she was crying, you recalled to when you heard the sobs through the speakers as you stared at the screen, you couldn't have just left her like that. she was in pain and agony, your sassy yes, but that doesn't stop you from doing a little human decency, even for a monster like her.
you pulled her beyond the gates as they closed automatically, "got a name, snowflake?" you queried, holding her hands as you squeezed them.
it was silent before the latter spoke, admiring the big place as she did, "stripes, my name is stripes..." she mumbled out, loud enough for you to hear, squeezing your hand ever so lightly in return.
"alright snowflake, just as long as you don't try to kill me, we are now friends." you grinned back at her, the house getting closer by the second.
"friend?"
"sí amiga."
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helloo readers, guess who's back?
a few more days earlier than expected since i have a holiday for chinese new year, also i snuck my phone in boarding school and have a lot of supporting friends who do the same, i'll be safe!
anyway, 21k+ reads??? ya'll seem to be multiplying..