(Art by RowanRobb)
You flipped the switch. The door closing, trapping 3 statues behind it. You couldn't help but grin. "Hah! Outsmarted." The statue dressed in white clenched his axe and gritted his teeth. "Come back here filthy peasant." You narrowed your eyes. "No way in hell! You nearly cut my head clean off!" You noticed the statue you were arguing with stopped talking, a smirk forming on his face. Just then you felt someone breathing down your neck. You quickly turned around to see a statue dressed in red. He looked slighty different from the others. He had no bowtie and on his hat there were two feathers. The right side of his face was completely cracked. He looked absolutely pissed. You managed to dodge his axe and bolted out of there
You heard a huff of frustration behind you. The statue quickly giving chase. You soon noticed he was alot faster than the others and was quickly catching up to you. You made alot of sudden moves and turned unexpected ways in an attempt to shake him off. 'Come on (Y/N)! Think!' You thought as a jade statue attempted to get a grip on you. You jumped put of the way, landing on the floor. The statue was staring down at you before sighing and walking away. 'Weird.' You thought and you got up. But you were so hellbent on escaping you failed to notice the statue in red charging at you, tackeling you to the ground.
''AGH-'' You hit the floor and looked up to see him towering over you.''Seems like your journey ends here scum.'' You looked around and saw your tablet. You picked it up and threw it against his face. It hit him right in the nose and he hissed in pain. You took the oppertunity and ran. "Hey! How dare you, come back here!" You ran and pleaded for help out of fear. Ramming into another one of them. This one was alot taller than the others and wore a brown uniform. "Oh i'm sorry. Are you alright good sir?" He asked, carefully petting your head. "Uhh y-yeah i'm fine." You didn't understand why he was being so polite to you. He smiled. "No worries, nobody will harm you in my presence." "Bernard." You assumed the statue in brown was Bernard as he quickly reacted, pulling you behind him.
"Bernard i know you're keeping it behind you." The other voice sounded tired. Bernard was silent. "Why do you insist on helping mortals.." "Not all of them are bad! William, it isn't too late to do the right thing. Please William... just let me convince him to stay." William sighed, shaking his head. "Fine, but i will have Collin keep an eye on him. I already know that leaving you in charge of a mortal is a recipe for disaster." You felt Bernard tense up. "As you wish." "Now, show me the human." Bernard reluctantly stepped aside. A statue dressed in grey and gold with a tired expression was looking right at you, his eyes seemingly staring into your soul.
"So you're the human.... state your name." You looked at Bernard who just gave you a comforting smile. You looked back at William. *"M-my name is (Y/N)." William scratched the back of his head. ''I am keeping you for Bernard's sake, but i won't hesitate to kill you if you mess up. Understood?'' You quickly nodded. ''I am the leader here so you must obey me, understood?'' You nodded again. ''Bernard, mind getting Collin for me?'' Bernard shook his head and walked off. You and William shared an awkward silence untill Bernard came back, with the statue you threw the tablet against. If looks could kill you would six feet under now. ''Why the hell do i have to be stuck with that bastard?!'' ''Language Collin.'' Collin crossed his arms and gritted his teeth. ''Fine, where does he sleep?'' William yawned. ''We don't have enough space so-'' ''You're telling me i need to share a room with that sack of meat?'' You were highly uncomfortable and just watched them argue. ''I am the leader here.'' ''I don't bloody care.'' William gave him a stern look. Collin just muttered under his breath, grabbed you by the wrist and started to forcefully drag you with him.
There were a few paintings on the walls in his room. He dragged you in and commanded you to sit on the chair. You did as he asked and he sat down in the chair opposite of you. ''Name?'' He asked. ''(Y/N).'' You replied. He took a piece of paper and a pencil and began writing it up. You looked around the room. The paintings were dark in nature and there was alot of gore. ''Uhm, what are the paintings about?'' You asked him. ''Venting.'' Was all he replied. You wanted to press further but you knew barrading him with questions would only make him angrier. He kept on writing things, at least you assumed he was as you couldn't see what he was doing. You were awkwardly watching him scribble on the paper. "So uhhhh. What is it like being statue?" You asked him. "Annoying." He said. You figured he wasn't happy with you. "So uhh what are the others like here?" He groaned. "Soft and annoying."
"How come?" Collin shrugged. "They keep humans, either Andrew or Malak kills them. They get a new human, they die. Cycle repeats." He clenched his fist. "They never learn. It is impossible to deceive Malak without a completely clean reputation, or good reasoning for that matter." You felt a cold shiver down your spine. He sighed and stood up, putting the pencil on the desk. "I'll be right back. Don't leave my room or i'll kill you." He grabbed his axe and walked out the door. You looked at the paper. It was a drawing of you, you thought it looked beautiful and looked at it for a while. Then went to explore Collin's room.
~Collin's point of view~
I walked through the halls and looked around. "Andrew." "What is it?" I quickly turned around and pointed my axe at his neck. "Whoa whoa, why aggresion friend¿ I didn't do anything wrong~." He gave me one of those sickening smiles. "Cut the crap Andrew, touch the human i'm charge and i swear you're going to die." Andrew's grin grew wider. "We'll see." "No we won't." A voice said behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see my brother Cameron standing behind me, his arms crossed and an angry expression on his face. "Do as he says or i will dunk your head in feces." Andrew grinned and walked away. "Good luck keeping him hidden." He cackeled as he left.
"I should really hang that guy from a tree sometime." Cameron commented. "Now what were you two bickering about?" I quickly explained the situation to him. He sighed and shook his head. "Hiding a human? I never thought you would step that low. I am truly dissapointed." I felt angry, something about it just ticked me off. "Well i was just following orders from William so stop acting like this." His eyes grew wide. "Collin wait-" I turned around and stormed off.
♧2nd POV♧
You were looking through Collin's sketches and drawings when you heard footsteps rapidly approaching the door. Before you could do anything the door swung open. Collin was standing in the doorway. He looked like i just commited a hate crime against him. "Are you okay?" "Yes i am fucking great, thanks for asking." He slammed the door shut, threw the axe in a corner. He walked over to you and grabbed you by the shoulders. "Promise me not to do something stupid." Yoy were confused as all hell "Wha-" He cut you off. "Promise. Me." "I promise." He sighed and nodded. Good.. good. He walked to the closet and took out some of his clothes. "We're about the same height, so you can just wear my clothes (if you're not i'm sorry lol) He threw them at you and you caught them, barely. You wanted to question him on why he cared for you, but you decided against it. For now.
×timeskip a couple months×
"(Y/N)! Wake up."
You groaned and turned around, pulling the covers over your head. Collin scoffed, rolled you up in the blanket and picked you up. "Why." "We got plans for today." You let out an annoyed sigh. "What might that be." Collin shrugged. "We have to make breakfest today." You thought for a second before asking him. "Where does the food even come from?" Collin shrugged. "It just sort of keeps appearing." Collin threw you back on the bed. "You best be in the kitchen in 4 minutes." He walked out the door and closed it behind him. You layed for another 3 minutes, trying to get yourself out of the rolled up blanket. 'Dangit Collin, how did you even do this.' You thought to yourself. You finnally managed to get yourself out and quickly changed into one of Collins button up shirts and pants. You ran through the halls and into the kitchen. Collin just looked at you, then back to the pots and pans.
"Are you okay? You've been acting off lately." Collin avoided eye contact, still staring down. "I'm not sure what you're referring too." You crossed your arms. "You stopped treating me like garbage and have been. I dunno avoiding me like the plague when you get the chance?" Your talk with Collin was interrupted by Rowan running into the kitchen, nearly crashing into you. "Whoa whoa hey there! Why in such a rush?" Rowan looked at you and smiled. "Sorry (Y\N)! Cameron wanted to speak to you." You saw Collin tense up in the corner of your eye. Rowan got impatient and grabbed your hand. "Come ooon!" "Okay okay, sheesh." Rowan pulled you with him into another room. "I got him Cameron!" He cheered. Cameron was in front of you, arms crossed and an angry expression on his face. "Thank you Rowan, go to Bernard now." Rowan nodded and walked out of the room.
Cameron grabbed you by the throat and shoved you against the wall. "You and i need to have a talk." You were panicking and unable to breathe. "W-what? Why!" You were coughing and gasping for air. He let go of your throat and scoffed. "You damn well know why, You're the peasant that messed up my relation with my brother." It took you a while to connect the dots, then it clicked. "Collin... Is your brother?" He nodded. "B-but how did i ruin the relation between you two." He clenched his fist and punched the wall right next to you. "He only seems to focus on YOU now. Always making sure you're safe, threatening the people that pose a threat to you and all that. The guy is obviously in love with you and you're just using him." You stared at him in disbelief. "What.. i-i never knew." He lifted an eyebrow. "You didn't know? Are you stupid?' You weren't really paying attention to him anymore. You felt your heart beat faster and you couldn't help but smile.
"Are you even listening to me?" He wanted to slap you only for William to grab his hand. "I will not tolerate such behavior." He spoke and he dragged Cameron with him. You were unsure how William showed up on the exact moment you needed help, and just left without any further information. Just then Collin swung the door open. "(Y/N)! What on earth happened!?" He gripped you by the shoulders and shook you violently. "HEY! STOP IT-" He let go and sighed. "Is it true?" He looked at you and gave you a weird look. "What?" "Is it true you have feelings for me?" He looked shocked. He tried denying it but you could tell from the look on his face that he was lying. "Collin, i know better." He looked down and gritted his teeth. You slowly approached him and hugged him. "I love you too asshole."
-small bonus-
You were awkwardly standing there while Collin was in a fight with Andrew. "Guys... Guys GUYS." They both looked at you. Andrew thought it would be a good idea to shove you in front of Collin to get a reaction out of him. Collin didn't take well to that and now they were bickering with each other. Collin had his arm wrapped around you and shot Andrew a death glare. Andrew looked at you two in amusement. "He is a complete fool, why do you love him?" Collin pulled you closer to him. "He might be a fool, but he is MY fool."