They hadn't left this place in a while. He took a deep breath and stepped outside of the gate. He shook in quiet excitement before turning to look back at the place that had trapped him for so long. Inside, his partner was excited as well. ' We're out.' They whispered. He nodded, turning to face forward. "We're out." He agreed.
A few days later, Nightmare blinked as Dream spoke. "Nightmare, I really don't know if having friends over is such a good idea." He said, rubbing his arm as he confronted Nightmare on the couch. "Aren't you still recovering?" Nightmare's tentacles flicked in annoyance.
"We live in a huge fucking house, Dream. It'd be a waste not to use it." Nightmare stated, completely ignoring Dream's second question. Nightmare stood up. "Now what are you going to be doing?" He prompted. Dream sighed and looked down.
The mansion was huge and old. Nightmare, of course, had found out it had a shady past. A couple murders here and there. That's why the house he intrigued him so much. But he still had yet to find anything truly supernatural.
"Staying out of your way." Dream recited. Nightmare nodded. He blinked as the doorbell rang. He and Dream lived in a huge mansion. Paid for by their mother, of course. Nightmare pushed himself up and went over to the door. He scowled as the doorbell kept ringing, someone, no doubt, pressing it repeatedly. He swung it open.
"STOP." He hissed. Horror blinked at him before slowly lowering his hand and nodding. He trembled ever so slightly. Behind him, Dust was coming up. Nightmare held the door for them. They were all coming to Nightmare's to work on a project for the class. They were only missing Killer now. But Killer had said he was going to be late. Something about taking care of some business.
Nightmare shut the door and followed them into the living room. Dust was staring around, his fingers twitching. "Fucking huge house..." He muttered. "School's got me staying in a shithole apartment..." He scowled. Nightmare raised a brow and tipped his head.
"School's paying for you to live somewhere? You homeless??" He asked. Dust glanced at him before twitching and nodding quietly. Horror spoke up from the couch.
"I... I was living in the room... the culinary room..." Horror said. He had grabbed one of the pillows on the couch and was squeezing it tightly. Nightmare stared at both of them, a brow raised. He thought of something and hummed to himself. He would talk to them about it later.
Nightmare blinked and moved over to the fridge. He pulled out a tray of food. It was meat. Immediately, Horror perked up in the couch. Nightmare nodded and watched as the other threw himself over the side of the couch with a thump before scrambling up and approaching the tray. He began to eat messily.
Dust came up next to him and Nightmare offered him a bag of chips. Dust took them with shaking fingers. Outside, they could hear the distant wail of police sirens.
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This was much more difficult than Killer had expected. He took off down an alley, his hood up. He'd tucked the knife away into his pocket. Behind him, sirens were flashing. Killer's legs were burning. "Course the fucking bitch just HAD to wake up and fucking scream!" He spat. He took a few more detours through the alleyway until he ended up in a park. He panted, moving forward and collapsing on a bench.
His target SOUL was pounding. "God fucking damn." He breathed out. The sun had set a bit ago, but the sky wasn't fully dark yet. Killer allowed a few minutes of breathing time. He had to go over to Nightmare's soon. He knew where it was. In fact, he'd seen it while running from the police.
"Just gotta go back..." He muttered to himself. He continued to stare blankly up at the darkening sky. His fingers tapped the wooden bench. He jumped as someone spoke.
"You seem out of breath." A smooth voice spoke and Killer lifted his head. Another skeleton met his eyes from under a fluffy hood. Killer raised a brow. What the hell was this guy's deal? He looked about his age. He had a sort of black-and-white uniform on though. Was he a private school kid?
One red and one white eyelight stared out at him. A thin, jagged red scar was under one cheek. The skeleton seemed amused. Killer huffed and scowled at him. "Yeah. I am. How about you fuck off before I kill you?" He suggested firmly, leaning forward so his dust-covered knife slipped a bit out of his pocket. With any other monster, that would've usually worked.
The skeleton only scoffed and gave a scowl back. "You could fucking try." Killer raised a brow. He didn't like this guy. He pushed himself to his feet, slipping the knife out of his pocket and holding it with his stained fingers. He blinked as the skeleton seemed to focus next to him. "I know... I know..." He seemed to be speaking to some unseen entity.
The skeleton blinked and looked Killer up and down before retiring to consult his invisible friend. "He does look like someone who would know, doesn't he...?" Killer growled. The skeleton shot him a warning glance and his hand drifted out. To Killer's surprise, a giant, glowing red knife formed, the tip causing glowing sparks as it scraped the running path. Killer scowled and put his hands up.
Whoever the hell this guy was, Killer definitely did not want to fight him. He got an itching feeling as he stared at the blade. He felt like he'd been told about this before, but he couldn't remember. He blinked as the other spoke. "Maybe you could help me. I'm looking for someone." Killer raised a brow.
"Doubt I could help." He stated. The skeleton sighed in annoyance.
"He's got tentacles and he's covered in a black substance." The skeleton stated. He tapped the handle of his blade. "His name is-"
"Nightmare." Killer cut him off and the other blinked, seeming to perk up. "Guess I stand corrected. Maybe I could help. I do know him. We're in the same class together." He scoffed. "In fact, kinda heading to his house right now." He blinked as the other skeleton dissipated his knife.
"Do you think you could take me there?" He asked, his eyes wide. Killer was taken back for a moment before feeling weirded out. He shrugged.
"I mean... sure..."
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Horror jolted up on the couch. It was faint, almost nonexistent, but he was sure he could hear it. A faint... carousel? He sat up, blinking. It sounded like... a carnival? That... that was impossible though...
He furrowed his brow and slowly, carefully, pulled himself off of the couch. He stood and walked over to one of the hallways. He crept forward. Both Nightmare and Dust had left him in the living room. Nightmare had gone to check on something and Dust had gone to explore.
Horror made his way down the hallway. Slowly but surely, the sound was becoming louder, but still faint. He followed it and turned the corner. There was a yelp and someone stumbled back. They'd been coming out of the other hallway. Horror felt himself recover from a small aneurism as he refocused. He was on the ground.
He met Dust's eyes in shock. "Sorry." The other stated flatly. Horror blinked and shook his head, muttering his own apologies. Dust sighed as he helped the other up.
Horror twitched. "Do... do you hear it too?" He asked softly. Dust seemed uneasy as he nodded. They both walked quietly to find the source of the sound. Horror turned the corner and stopped. A doorway with a curtain hanging in it was in front of them.
Dust glanced at him uneasily, but Horror kept his gaze fixed on the doorway. The sound was loud now. Behind the curtain, a light kept going over it like a spotlight. Horror gulped.
He started forward and Dust followed uncertainly. Horror reached out and opened the curtain. Inside, was what appeared to be a theater. It looked disused. But all the stage lights were turning around and around, flashing over the empty seats. They both slipped in, staring around. It had dropped several degrees. Fog was pooling on the stage. A skeleton stood there. Neither of them recognized them.
They were in a sparkling outfit of dark purple, turquoise, and black. They had on a sheer purple fabric like a cloak. It was also wrapped around their waist like a sheer skirt. They were standing on their toes, ever so delicately. They had on faint purple eye makeup, and their eyelights were a haunting, glowing dark purple in the shape of hearts. Horror blinked and tipped his head.
They stared at them. The skeleton kept looking down. Horror gulped and approached the stage, moving down the center aisle. The closer he got, the more the fog swirled around the other. They had pale bones that were sort of beautiful in a way. They had a glossy purple look. Then, Horror stopped, a chill going up his spine as the other skeleton moved.
A skeletal hand wrapped around their waist before lifting the sheer fabric from their legs and dropping it. Their movements were so graceful, one could almost be hypnotized by them. When Horror looked back at Dust, he saw the other watching with a mystified look. Horror looked back.
Slowly, Horror kept moving forward until he stood right in front of the skeleton, staring up at them as they seemed to stare down at him from the stage. He gulped as the other moved forward. Each step was delicate and graceful. The sheer slipped past their legs and laid on the stage. They were walking on his toes gracefully. They seemed to focus on him and their eyes blinked slowly.
Horror raised his head as the other bent down in front of him, still balanced delicately on their toes. They sighed softly and slowly reached toward him.
Horror blinked as he saw the other's skeletal fingers becoming transparent as they got farther from the stage.
He wanted to move back, but he was frozen in place, his eyes wide. When the other's hand reached him, it rested against his cheek, stroking it softly. Their hand was cold, but not horribly cold. It was a gentle cold. Comforting almost. Horror stared at them. The skeleton gave him a soft smile, so faint, he could've missed it. "Hello." They murmured softly. It was a male.
Horror was confused and it showed. He furrowed his brow and the other sighed. His hand moved away and Horror now felt like something was missing. Other than a chunk of his head. He wanted to reach out to him, but he still couldn't move and watched in a sort of dismay as the other stood up gracefully.
He turned away and as he moved back, the music started to fade, along with his body and the fog. As he disappeared, the music stopped and the theater went dark.
Horror realized he was shaking and turned to look at Dust, who was trembling as well. Both left almost without a word, just wanting to return to the living room as quickly as possible.