✩ Philip Ojomo "The Wraith" ✘ Reader ✩
❝I love his dear eyes in which the vulnerability and beauty of his soul read. ❞
Edited on 3/27/2022
Call it an urban legend. A legend of a man with stark white eyes, where it is said that he haunts the lands he's on. And in less than a blink of an eye, he and his bright eyes can disappear. But how real are urban legends?
Ace, the man behind the screen. He scoured the internet and searched articles, posts, and websites dedicated to abandoned asylums and murder mysteries. Ace was the catalyst for your group's adventures. He was the reason for researching and investigating places where these stories occur.
Dwight, the leader. Well, at least he wanted to be the leader. He tried. Ace, by all means, took that role, but Ace didn't have the speeches or the looks. Dwight had those but lacked the courage. He constantly had to prove himself by going on adventures. If he didn't, then Ace would make sure it was known that Dwight was too 'chicken shit' to go.
Claudette, the healer. Out of everyone, she had to be the smartest. That's probably why she never wanted to come with your group. She raved about how dangerous it was, but she always came with at the end of the day. That was mainly because she was the only one who could help if someone got hurt. But no one ever did.
And then there was you—the wildcard. No one knew your true intentions, and you liked it that way. Not that you didn't care for your friend group, you did, but you didn't want them too close that they knew everything about you. Intimacy scared you, yet you still surrounded yourself with people. It was an odd problem.
Despite your hesitancy to close connections, Ace suggested a new adventure to go on. And the conversation that ensued was you and Dwight convincing Claudette to come, even though we already know the outcome. Ace never told you all of the details of the mission. Even on the car ride there, he was always quiet and composed. The thing about this trip was, it wasn't as planned as the usual ones. Usually, you went during the day, but the night didn't scare you. The night never did in the first place; it was fun to be hidden and only seen in the moonlight. What frightened you were the soil you stepped on when you left the comfort of Ace's car. Your group made their way to the broken fences. Each step you took made your stomach queasy.
The feeling confused you, for you've never had these trips fill you with nervousness. Yet, you pursued onwards. A light fog fell on your feet as you made your way towards a wall of beaten-up cars. Some of the vehicles had a crusted brown substance dripping from the trunk. Your brows furrowed as you continued to walk along the car wall. Your footsteps mixed with the eeriness of the land. But soon, the sound doubled. You turned around as a hand found your shoulder. The touch made you jump, and a hearty laugh fell from the familiar person.
"Hey." Ace's sunglasses glinted off the sickly green light that flickered in the distance. And his voice was smooth, yet the tone was that of when he gambled. He liked to sweet-talk his way through any situation. His hand slid across your back, rubbing circles on the base of your neck.
"So, have you got your eye on anyone." Your eyebrows raised, and your upper lip twitched as you looked at Ace. The feeling of disgust overpowered your previous fear as you shook his grip off of you.
"What? Are you kidding me?" The personal inquiry made you uncomfortable, so you tried your best to walk towards the aged Gas Heaven sign. You just wanted some privacy for once. But Ace caught back up to you so much that he stood before you and placed his hands on your shoulders.
"Aw, come on, tell me who you fancy, pretty one." You took a step backward. His hands fell from your frame as you looked at him with shock.
"In all honesty, Ace, it is none of your fucking business, and if you think acting like this makes me attracted to you, you are extremely mistaken. So can you leave me the hell alone?" The more you spoke, the more his face fell with what you assumed was disappointment. At the moment, though, you didn't care. This technically wasn't out of character for Ace, but you snapped with the consistent prodding that just commenced. You were frustrated, but how could you not be. The type of frustration left you wanting to take your anger out on something.
The damaged and rusted cars stood beside you. You took a deep breath and turned away from the heaps of metal. The thought of ramming your foot into the passenger door of one of the cars seems pleasant enough, but you knew the ramifications would be too vast if you did so. Then, against your thoughts of harm, a faint groaning came from the near distance. You decided to investigate, and hopefully, that will allow your mind to clear. But what you found was Dwight hanging on a poorly standing meat hook. Your mouth fell open as you watched the blood drip down his arm and branch down to his fingertips before falling to the floor. Immediately you went to his side and grabbed his wrist to check for any sign of life. You didn't care about the blood coated your hand. You just wanted to make sure Dwight was still alive. But you couldn't feel a thing, and the only thing that seemed to consume you was the sound of a ringing bell. It was faint at first, but it slowly began to breathe down your neck.
"Ace? If that's you, Dwight needs help." You dropped Dwight's wrist and went towards the constant ringing. Looking around, you noticed no one was around. Finally, it was you and the wind.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you. I-"
The ringing stopped. And the noise wasn't just in your head. It felt like it ended right behind you. And something was wrong. Something was here. And you needed to go. You needed to run. Run. Run now. Go.
Your footsteps backtracked towards where Dwight's body hung. As you turned, your face hit a grimy brown cloak. You looked up and were met with pure white pupils and bitch black sclera. Your eyes widened as nothing but a small squeak came from your lungs. You were stuck in place, it was like a staring contest, but blinking was worse than possibly straining your eyes.
Finally, you shook your head, regaining focus and breaking eye contact. The break allowed your horror to melt away and not consume you entirely. You ran. You ran and ran. Everything blurred until finally, you found yourself back at the Gas Heaven sign. As you surveyed the surrounding area, you noticed Ace hanging on the same type of hook that you found Dwight on. And he looked just as lifeless as your leader.
You held your arms above your head and rested your wrists on your skull. Amid your ragged breathing, you looked above you. This might be the last time you see the stars and how they shine against the darkness surrounding them. Bending down, your hands found your knees. You were trying to hold back tears at the possibility of you being next to fall.
"Please, help." Your ears twitched as you snapped your head left towards the noise. You scanned the beaten-up car that seemed forever parked near the rusted gas pumps. You tiptoed around the vehicle and found Claudette lying in a pool of her blood. Her head strained to look towards you, but you crouched down to lessen the pain.
"What happened?" Tears pinpricked your eyes as Claudette tried to speak but struggled as blood splattered from her mouth. You silenced her, trying to get her to stop wasting her energy, but she only became more rapid with her breathing causing more and more blood to come. Your eyebrows knitted as you tried to understand her need to worsen her situation further, but a bell sounded from behind you before any sentence could leave your mouth. Your head spun, and you were met with those damned white eyes. Fear drained the color from your face as you fell to your side while pushing yourself closer to the gas pumps—bright white stared into your soul, picking apart your fearful thought before starting towards Claudette. You tried to get in his way, but he pushed you back down, so you were defenseless against the concrete base that held the pumps.
You had to watch as the makeshift bone club beat Claudette. The color drained from Claudette as more blood gushed around her. Her bones snapped, and the tissue clung to the weapon in his hand. The monster kept going, kept swinging. You watched his arm, the form it took, and how it looked like bark and faded away from the closer it got to his cloak. The thing resembled a man but was contorted and conformed so that he blended into the environment around him.
But then the world went quiet. And white eyes were back on you—your spotlight. Your body shook against the stare. You were filled with fear, anxiety, anger, confusion, and sadness. The being stalked up to you. He never faltered from view. He was mere inches from you, yet he got closer and became eye level with you. You blocked your face; it was instinctive to have both arms cross against each other. But he grabbed you suddenly by your arms and jerked you up, just so the two of you were standing. His breath mixed with yours as he held your arms above your head. The only thing you could do was stare at his eyes. The otherworldly eyes were filled with bright white and fear. How could there possibly be any fear? Anything human in his eyes?
"Leave no, and I won't give you the same punishment as your friends." You started to cry against his words. His head tilted as he watched you break down.
"Why?" It was the only thing you could muster as snot and tears filled your senses. He came so close to you that white was the only thing you could see.
"Trespassing on my property." Your face scrunched with anger.
"So, you killed my friends, you psychopath?! Are you fucking kidding me? You absolute asshole!" He dropped you, and you fell to the ground. You heaved a sob, grunting from impact and looking down at the grass that clung to your hands.
"Forgive and be forgiven." With that, the bell rung a final time. You were left alone in an unfamiliar place, full of your friend's deceased bodies. All you could wonder was, what's next? This wasn't a dream, and you could never go to sleep without seeing those damned eyes.