Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Olivia’s Shop of Wonders: We Have Everything That You Desire

You weren't really know what compelled you to stop and stare at the sign proudly displaying the name of the recent shop that had opened a few weeks back. For a couple of minutes, you just stood there, letting your gaze curiously roam around the whole building. Taking in its grimy windows that you could barely see through to peer inside and the worn out "Open" sign that hung off a rusted nail that had carelessly been hammered into the wooden door until it was awkwardly bent. For a place that was being advertised as brand new, it sure didn’t look the part. Normally places like this didn’t interest you as you were far more focused on getting to work and then back home to your cozy little apartment on time.

But today had been different.

Today you had finally noticed this small little store that was cozily tucked away between two huge houses that partially hid it from prying eyes. Normally whenever you were on Crimson Lane, you would stop by that lovely little café at the end of the street to grab something sweet to eat or even swing by the cozy bookstore even further and see what they had in stock for that week. Never once did it cross your mind to stop and peek inside this new place.

Then again, why would it?

You never did anything outside your normal day to day routine if your being honest. Yes, that routine you had taken up the minute you graduated from college and moved to this quaint little town that was surrounded by nothing but trees as if it was slowly being consumed by the forest around it. It was boring and dull routine. Barely did any of your coworkers dare to ask you your plans for the week, already knowing the answer you'd give as you'd just be locked away inside your tiny apartment reading. To put it simply, your life was boring.

There was no excitement in it and you hated that fact. Many times, you would think to yourself how today would be the day you did something new and exciting only to back out the minute you stepped one foot into your apartment once you got home from work. So it felt strange that today of all days you found yourself in some sort of trance just staring at this lonesome store when you normally would have ignored it the second you spotted it. All around you did people briskly walk by, some curious enough to spare you strange glance while others ignored you, far too busy making their way to their own jobs.

Something you should have been doing yourself.

But every time you tried to walk away, your body would twist itself around and plant your feet right back in front of that store as if the store itself had cast a spell upon you. In fact, for a brief moment, you thought you could hear it calling your name—beckoning for you to come inside. ‘It wouldn’t hurt to take a small peek inside, it’ll only take a minute’ you reasoned as to took a step towards the wooden door and twisted the knob. Pushing it open without a second thought, you couldn’t help but wince at the creaking hinges which loudly moaned in protest. Nearly drowning out the sound of the small, silver bell which hung right above the door, causing a small jiggle to resonate throughout the store and inform anyone that was inside that someone new had entered. Carefully stepping inside, you let the door slowly shut behind you, its hinges squealing all the way until finally it closed with a small ‘click’. You opted to stand near the entrance, letting your feet shuffle around on the shaggy looking carpet underneath you as you curiously moved your head around to look at everything that was within your sight.

The very first thing you noticed was the wooden counter—which looked as if it had seen better days—that had an old-fashioned cash register resting on top of it alongside a high-wooden stool stationed right behind it. There wasn’t anyone sitting on the stool nor keeping a close eye on the register which you found odd. You also couldn’t help but notice just how dark and dreary the place felt, what with its darkly colored walls and lack of proper lighting. If you had come here during the night you were certain you wouldn’t have been able to see anything at all. Your gaze soon wandered away from the cash register and over towards the rest of the store, curiously look at the cluttered shelves that seemed to have random junk packed into them.

Items were tightly pushed against one another as if the person that put them there had been in a hurry and didn’t quite know how to make it look neat in time. The first thing that came to mind at such a sight was how a place like this would drive anyone suffering from OCD insane—nothing was neat, nothing looked like it belonged where it was, and nothing was where it should have been. Next came the mess of stacked books scattered all around the floor near the end of the shelves as if the person didn’t know where to put them and just started stacked them on top of one another on the floor without a second thought. Some of the stacks were so high that they reached the top of the shelves, looking like they would topple over the minute someone dared to touch them.

“Was that the bell I just heard?” your ears perked up upon hearing the cheerful sounding voice which resonated from somewhere deep within the store, it was soon followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. Within second a woman came rounding the corner of one of the shelves, a wide smile spread across her lips as she skidded to a stop right in front of you the moment your gazes locked. You raised an eyebrow, your gaze flickering up and down as you examined every inch of this woman from her curly blonde hair and shining brown eyes to her brightly colored dress and heels. Strangely enough, she looked as if she didn’t quite belong in this store at all. “Oh, a customer! Welcome! Welcome!” she was quick to scoop up your hand and encase it between her own as she roughly began to shake it.

Jolts of pain shot up your arm and down your spine at the harsh and unnatural movement. She only really stopped when you finally jerked your hand out of her grasp and let it drop back to your side, one eyebrow raised as you stood there with questioning eyes. Her smile didn’t falter after your actions nor at the look on your face, instead, she folded her arms behind her back and stared back at you with bright eyes. You would occasionally shift around as you both just stood there, awkwardly staring at one another until you finally cleared your throat and broke the silence.

“Uh...do you work here?” it was the only thing you could think to ask.

“Oh, yes! Yes, I do!” her voice sounded cheerful, it worked perfectly with that bubbly personality of hers. “In fact, I own this lovely little store—the name’s Olivia!” she suddenly bowed as you tried to process this new information...she was the owner? The thought just felt so absurd that someone like her would own such a filthy and dreary place like this. “You?” she prompted without skipping a beat.

“[Your Name]...” you mumbled in response.

“Well, [Your Name], what exactly are you looking for?” Olivia asked with the tilt of her head, already getting straight to business. 

“Nothing really, just looking around” you mindlessly shrugged, watching how that smile of hers finally started to falter—the corner of her lips quivering as if she was desperately trying to keep them pointed upwards. For a moment, it felt like that bubbly personality of hers was starting to melt away and was replaced with a feeling a malice that seemed to seep off her body in wave and make the air around the both of thick and heavy. It felt like you had just insulted her mother instead of just simply telling her you weren’t interested in what her store had to offer. But just as the feeling came it was gone in the blink of an eye like it had never happened. She looked just like that bubbly, blonde you had met mere moment's ago.

“Is that so? You know…,” she trailed off, eyes wandering around the store before they landed back on you, “…this store is magical.”

“How so?” you curiously asked even though on the inside you were scoffing at her claims. Magical? Pfft! What kind of idiot did this woman take you for? You weren't a child anymore, but a grown adult with bills to pay and work to do—you had no time to believe magic like you once had in your youth.

“This store has the ability to bring all your desires to life!” Olivia happily clapped.

“Really now?” you questioned, one eyebrow raised as you crossed your arms and openly showed your disbelief, not risking in letting her thank you were gullible enough to fall for this silly sales pitch of hers.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” she mournfully asked, gaze becoming downcast at the shake of your head.

“It’s rather hard to believe.”

“But I have proof!” you flinched at her sudden shout and erratic movements, her mood quickly picking back up like it had never gone away. Hastily turning on her heel, you slowly followed behind when she suddenly motioned with her head for you to follow. Carefully did she led you through the store, both of you weaving through messy shelves and large stacks of books alongside other miscellaneous items. It was then that you finally noticed that none of the shelves were even bolted down which caused you to become rather cautious in your movements as not to accidentally knock any of them or the stacks of books off balance. You had little desire to be crushed today underneath a mound of junk.

You soon came to an open doorway that seemed to lead off into a side room that was currently filled with nothing but opened boxes. There was only a single, dirty light bulb hanging from the ceiling serving as the only light in the room and even then it would occasionally flicker, casting the room in eerie darkness before lighting back up. Olivia didn’t seem bothered by this as she moved further into the room without a second thought, quickly dropping to her knees in front of one of the boxes as she started to dig through it. You opted to stay near the open doorway, eyes looking around the room in slight curiosity. It looked just as messy as the main room with the only difference being that this room seemed like it rarely got any visitors. 

Such a thought was only confirmed by the large cobwebs that were starting to build up in the corner of the room alongside the thick layer of dust which practically covered everything. You were amazed that the woman wasn’t bothered by the fact that she was ruining that colorful dress of hers by sitting on the floor like that. What really caught your attention in the room though was the boxes and how each one looked as if they were swollen like they were packed to the brim and then some before being carelessly stacked atop of one another. Your gaze soon drifted back towards Oliva and watched as she recklessly started to throw things behind her as she continued to look through the box in front of her. Both of her arms were buried underneath all the junk that was piled inside it.

“No” she would say, shaking her head anytime she pulled out an object that wasn’t exactly what she was looking for. All you did was awkwardly stand there, wondering just how rude it would have been of you if you just left without a word. Right as you made up your mind and moved to leave, you stopped upon hearing the small sound of victory that left Olivia’s lips as she pulled something out of the box and held it up high. “I found it!”

“A book?” you questioned, staring at the object that was held up in the air while a look of pride was displayed on the blonde’s face.

“Not just any book, your book!” you watched how she jumped up off the ground and skipped over to you. An impressive feat for someone who was wearing heels. “Here you go!” she held the book out, motioning for you to take it as she stared at you with her wide, glossy brown eyes.

“My book?” you owlishly blinked, not fully understanding what she meant by that. With gentle hands, you took the book from her and curiously turned it around so you could properly examine every inch of it. It was a thick, hard cover book that had nothing written on the front of it. Just as you got ready to flip through its pages to see what was inside, Olivia’s hand shot out without warning, grabbing your wrist and halting all movement. You flinched at the sudden action before wincing upon feeling just how tight her grip really was as her nails slowly begun digging into the flesh of your arm.

“I’d advise you not to open it just yet” she gave you such a sweet smile, one that greatly contrasted with the bone-crushing grip she had on your wrist. “Come along now” she hummed, letting you go as she made her way out of the room and back towards the front of the store. You stood there for a minute, looking towards her and back at the book before shrugging your shoulders and following. Once she was behind the counter and seated onto the high stool, she rested her hands on her lap and stared at you with a bright smile. After a minute or two of you both staring at one another, she finally decided to break the silence when she figured you weren’t going to speak.

“As I was saying, that book right there belongs to you—I’ve had it for years now and it just keeps calling your name" she cheerfully explained. "Who knew I would finally find you in such a deserted little town like this” she laughed, causing you to furrow your brows in confusion. Calling your name? What exactly did she mean by that? “I know you must be greatly confused, but I’m telling the truth," she assured as if reading your mind. "That book right there holds your true desire, your desire for something adventurous to happen!”

You looked back down at the book...this book held what you desired? How? You won't lie, the woman was right, you did crave for something adventurous to happen and drive away this mundane life of yours. Craved for something out of the norm to appear and change your boring and dull life forever. But how would this book help you with that?

Hell, you didn’t even know what was in the damn thing! For all you knew, this was all just some scam and nothing more. Just as you opened your mouth to speak, the woman released a loud gasp after taking a look down at her bare wrist as if there was a watch there.

“Oh my, look at the time! You must be heading off, don’t want to be late for work!” she jumped up off her stool and scurried around the counter before you could even react, both hands already pressing against your back as she started to roughly shove you towards the door.

“H-hey! Wait just a minute!” you sputtered out, trying to plant your feet on the ground and stop her from throwing you out of the store.

“I do hope you enjoy the book, [Your Name], I know they'll be glad to finally meet you!” she waved bye as you stumbled out onto the sidewalk, arms shooting outwards in an attempt to try and balance yourself as not fall flat on your face.

“Wait, who are—” you were cut off by the sound of the wooden door being slammed shut right in your face, causing you to flinch back in fear of being struck. You were alone now. With a heavy sigh, you looked back down at the book before shaking your head and shoving it underneath your arm as you started to head onto work...like the woman said, you didn't want to be late.

Chapter Text

“You’re late” you blinked as you stared at the blond-haired man that stood before you, arms crossed across his chest as his foot impatiently tapped against the tile floor of the kitchen. You couldn’t help but wonder if he had been standing there this entire time in front of the back doors as he waited for you to appear. Holding this one position as he patiently waited for you to poke your head inside all so he could snap.

“By a minute” you couldn’t help but say as you pushed past him and started to walk further into the kitchen, being mindful of the cooks and serves that came and went with orders. Hastily did the blond follow after, face red as he seemed to fume at the response you had given. Patrick was name, he was your manager and a person you greatly despised. A sentiment you were sure he gladly returned due to his constant expressing of hatred towards you every day of every minute. If there’s one word you could use to describe Patrick it would be...

Narcissistic.

His ego was the size of a planet, maybe even bigger. He absolutely thrived off the praise the owner of the restaurant gave him and the not so secretive compliments your fellow coworkers said about him. You wouldn’t lie, he was indeed handsome what with his golden locks and emerald eyes. If he wasn’t an egotistical asshole, you probably would have found yourself complimenting him as well alongside the others. But sadly you had your standards and men like him threw you off.

You didn’t always hate him. In fact, when you had first met him, you had wanted to be on good terms with him just like everybody else...

Sadly, he didn’t want that.

At first, you had been confused as to why the man seemed to have it out for you, but sadly it didn’t take you more than a week to eventually find out the reason why. Such a reason made you feel pity for the man due to just how pathetic it sounded whenever you said aloud to yourself. It made you realize just how fragile that giant ego of his truly was. Your manager hated you solely because you treated him like any other person. He despised how you didn’t treat him like he was a sex god or the prince charming that every woman dreamed about.

Apparently, he was so used to people treating him like royalty that it felt strange to meet someone that treated him like everyone else...then again, the man has probably never interacted with anyone outside of this small town.

“It doesn’t matter if you were late by a minute, you were still late!” Patrick irritably snapped, following you towards the employee backroom that held a set of lockers on both sides and a unisex bathroom near the very back. You rolled your eyes, passing by a few lockers that were decorated with stickers or had small doodles drawn onto their metal surface with a sharpie before finally coming to a stop in front of your own. You only hummed in response, blocking out the ranting and raving blond behind you as you simply pulled out the key to your locker and opened it. There wasn’t much inside, only a stick of deodorant and your uniform that you would take home with you on Fridays to wash and then bring back on Monday to put back in your locker for the week.

Patrick only continued to rant as you switched the book out for your uniform and closed the locker. He continued to follow you all the way to the bathroom before finally backing off when you slammed the door in his face and locked it. By the time you finished changing, he had already sulked away. Probably to go and feed that ego of his by listening to the other coworkers who tended to quietly gossip about him. You were sure that next time you ran into him, there was going to be hell to pay for your rude actions. But for now, your mind was only focused on getting through the day with only the slightest of whispers in the back of your mind thinking about the book that was safely tucked away inside your locker.

Just as you walked back out into the kitchen, you ran into one of the others waitress—a young woman who you never bothered to learn the name of.

Why would you?

You both rarely ever talked to one another. Perhaps only sharing a few words here and there, but other than that, you never really got to know each other. You were quite a private individual, barely knowing any of the names of your coworkers due to your lack of engagement in their lives outside of simple greetings and work related issues. 

“Hey!” she happily greeted you, giving a sly smile as she rested a hand on your shoulder and leaned forward. “What did you do to piss off the cutie over there?” she whispered, motioning her head over to Patrick who was currently hovering over one of the new chefs. Observing his every move with an unusual scowl on his face and a critical eye.

“I was late by a minute” you shrugged, watching how she hummed and nodded before getting back to work with you quick to do the same.

-Later-

You were tired by the time you closed your locker, already back in your normal clothing and clutching that strange book of yours close to your chest. Around you, your coworkers were doing the same as they chatted with one another while gathering up their belongs. Everyone that had come in for the afternoon shift was now being replaced with the night shift...the restaurant's hours had always confused you if you were being honest. It always opened at exactly six in the morning and closed exactly at eleven at night.

You didn't know why.

People very rarely came in for breakfast and after eight, it was lucky to ever get more than twelve people at most. It seems the people in this town only came to the restaurant during the afternoon, if they wanted breakfast then they made it themselves or went to the small café on Crimson Lane. By eight o'clock none of them saw any reason to leave the comfort of their homes. Only couples out on a date every stopped by and even that seemed rare. Despite knowing this, the owner of the place refused to change the opening and closing times—refusing to really consider fixing the hours and making them more appealing to the people of the town or her employees. You stood there for a few minutes, lost in thought as your eyes bored holes down at the book in your hands.

Curiosity was still clawing away at your mind as if begging you to open the book and quench its thirst in wanting to know what exactly was inside. You let your eyes look from side to side, already finding that the two workers who used the lockers on either side of you had already left for the night. In fact, everyone else seemed to have already left as there was now only you and two other employees that were still hanging around. I mean...it wouldn’t be strange if you decided to open it, it was your book after all. It’s not like all hell was going to break loose the minute you flipped it opened to the first page...

Right?

Without a second thought, you did just that, opening the book up and peering down at the first page to see what it held. Owlishly did you blink, lips twitching downwards and eyebrows furrowing as you stared down at the blank page before you.

“What?” you couldn’t help but ask aloud as you started flipping through the pages of the book, only to find more blank pages waiting to greet you. ‘What did you expect? Something magical to happen?’ you bitterly asked yourself as you huffed and slammed the book shut in slight embarrassment at your own jeer. Tucking it underneath your arm, you turned on your heel and left.

Upon stepping out the back door, you were met with a cool breeze of the late summer night air. Your expression was stoic as you walked down the nearly empty sidewalk—only a few people were out and about and most of them were teenagers that found some sort of enjoyment from being out so late without their parents. But...you noticed something different this time as you were passing by the park, a place that most of the teenagers normally hung around this time of day as there were very few places for them to loiter without being hounded by the elderly or police. You noticed that lent up against one of the street lamps was a young man, just looking at him you guessed that he might have been a year older or younger than you maybe more. You couldn’t really tell which one it was, but he was dressed normal enough that you didn't see why he had suddenly caught your eye at first.

A tattered and worn out white hoodie—you wondered how he could be wearing something like that during this time of the year—and a black pair of slacks. His hood was up and obscuring most of his face as long, black strands of hair spilled their way out from underneath it, falling in front of his face and making it even more impossible to make out any identifying facial features. Despite not seeing his face clearly, you could tell that he seemed to be focused on the two young boys currently skateboarding on the blacktop, neither of which taking any notice of the stranger that seemed to be creepily watching their every move. Instead, they both seemed rather busy taking turns in recording each other with their phones as they tried to land tricks that neither of them knew how to really do. You didn’t realize you had stopped walking to stare at the strange man until your body tensed up when his head suddenly turned in your direction.

Not all the way, but just enough to let you know that he was well aware that you were standing there across the street and staring at him in the same creepy fashion that he was staring at those two kids. Feeling your face flush with embarrassment, you turned your head away and continued onwards, now feeling humiliated by your own actions. It didn’t take you long to reach your apartment building—a plain, red brick building that looked no different from any other complex and only contained at least five floors. You weren’t exactly sure how many there actually was, not really caring enough to count how many floors there were or rooms for that matter. In fact, the only thing you bothered to remember was your floor and room number, that’s all that mattered really.

“You’re a bit late, did something happen?” was the first thing you heard as you pushed opened one of the glass doors and walked right into the main lobby.

“Huh?" you blinked, looking around for a moment to see who had spoken before your gaze fell upon the older man behind the front desk. "Oh, hey, Max” you boredly greeted as you made your way over to the brunet who stared back at you with dead eyes the color of bark. 

“What took you so long? First time I’ve seen you arrive this late back from work” he raised an eyebrow as he curiously looked at the book underneath your arm.

“Got caught up in my thoughts” you answered with a shrug as you moved the book out from underneath your arm and onto the table, placing your hands on top of its blank surface.

“What’s that?” Max’s eyes followed the movement, reaching a hand out before snatching the book out from underneath your hands, so that he could get a better look at it.

“A book I got from that new place that opened up a few weeks back” he hummed in response, mindlessly dragging the tips of his fingers over the surface and right when he moved to open it...

He stopped.

It was almost as if he no longer was interested in the book at all.

“Aren’t you going to look inside?” you asked with the tilt of your head.

“Nah” was the only response you got as he sat the book down and stretched out his back. “Doesn’t look like it’s my kind of book” you raised an eyebrow before shrugging as you gathered the book back up in your arms and turned away from the brunet with another wave.

“Well, okay then, I’ll see you around” and with that, you walked away from him and towards the elevator.

“Yeah, see you later...if I haven’t blown my brains out by then that is” you heard grumble underneath his breath as he went back to boredly staring at the front door. You didn’t react to the morbid sentence, having grown used to it since moving into the apartments and interacting with the brunet on a day to day basis. You didn’t know much about his personal life, all you knew was that he had hit a low point and didn’t really care anymore about anything. Whatever happiness he had in the past has long since died and didn’t show any signs of coming back, that was obvious enough. It seems everyone who lived in the apartment complex knew this and accepted it with a grain of salt.

Some laughed whenever he made comments like that and others just awkwardly walked away. Sometimes you’d get a few people that would smile and comment back with an equally morbid sentence of their own and even on rare occasions you'd occasionally get some poor soul trying to play therapist towards the man. It just became the norm around here and part of you wouldn’t have it any other way no matter how gruesome of that sounded. When you made it up to your small, cozy home, you immediately shut the door and locked it behind you. Instantly did you go straight into your normal routine of fixing up an easy microwaveable meal for that night's dinner.

Your apartment was rather plain and simple, made up of whites and beige colors with the only sign of color coming from the few pictures of family and friends you had bothered to hang up on the walls. There were also the books and movies you had shoved into their respective shelves that brought a little color into your humble abode. Mindlessly sitting the book down on the kitchen counter, you swept yourself over to the freezer and dug around, looking through your options of the microwavable meals you had left...did you want steak or chicken?

Occasionally, you would find your attention drifting away from your food and back to the book as you went about your business. Silently wondering about its blank pages and what exactly you should do with it. Could you use it to doodle in or should you use its pages to write down random information that would seem important? You weren't really sure what you wanted to do with it now that you discovered just how useless it was. Maybe you should just return it—just give it back to the bubbly blonde that gave it to you. Once again did your mind change its course of thought as you now started to think about the strange woman you had met.

Absentmindedly grabbing one of the microwavable meals in your freezer without looking, you walked over to the microwave with a frown on your face. ‘She was certainly a strange one, probably even had a few screws loose in that noggin of hers’ you thought, punching in the numbers and starting up the microwave until you found yourself boredly watching your food spin around and around.

“[Your Name], he's coming tonight” your head snapped up when you heard the faint whisper of voices saying your name. With a quick glance around, you found that the room was still just as empty as it had always been. It didn’t take you long to just shrug it off and gather up your food the minute the microwave loudly beeped and proclaimed to you that your dinner for the night was prepared. Removing the barely heated meal, you headed over to the small kitchen table to eat in peace, mind now starting to wander back into the daily thoughts of what to do for the rest of the evening ‘til bedtime.

-Later-

You tiredly stared down at the book in your hands as you sat on your bed, dressed only in short shorts and a tank top. At the moment, the only light in your room was that of the small television set on top the dresser that was currently playing reruns of some adult cartoon. You weren't really paying attention as you once again opened the book to a random page, finding that it was still just as void of any contents as before. ‘At least I got it for free’ was the only positive thought to cross your mind before heaving sigh as you mindlessly tossed the book onto the floor and flopped back down onto your bed. Grabbing the covers, you yanked them up and over your body before turning onto your side and shutting your eyes...

You were probably only asleep for about an hour or two before your eyes snapped open to the sudden sound of your television abruptly flickering off as a cold breeze swept through your room, informing you that the window was open. Staying perfectly still, you hoped that the intruder would just take what they wanted and leave as well as never taking notice of the fact that you were now fully awake. But instead, you were met with the soft sound of someone chuckling as they made their way from their spot next to your dresser and towards the bed. Tightly screwing your eyes shut, your body tensed up the second you felt someone hovering right over top of you before slowly leaning down close to your ear. Shivers racked up and down your spine at the sudden sensation of warm breath now being blown against the shell of your ear as your nose instinctively scrunched up at the disgusting smell of your intruder's breath.

“I know you're awake” your eyes snapped open.

Chapter Text

Right now you found yourself in a predicament, one that could lead to multiple, messy endings if you didn’t choose your actions carefully. Currently, you had a stranger hovering right over top of you—their horrid breath hitting against the shell of your ear as they patiently waited for you to respond to the words they had suddenly whispered. Should you continue to pretend that you're asleep...or should you face them? Your mind and instincts seemed to scream for you to just run, begging you to flee so that you could live another day while your body stayed perfectly still, content with not moving an inch. Your own fear had paralyzed you as your body viciously defied you and demanded that you stay in place and not let your unwanted guest know that the words they had spoken were true in hopes that maybe they'd move one.

“Playing possum, are we?” the intruder chuckled, speaking much louder this time that you could now automatically identify them as male—their voice far too deep and raspy to belong to a woman. “Do you honestly think that’ll save you? Think I’ll leave if you continue to lie there like some dumbass?” he loudly mused as you felt the springs of your mattress moan beneath the extra weight that was suddenly added onto it. “Well, I’ve got some sad news for you, sweetheart. It’s not going to work!” you cried out the second he lashed out and snatched up a handful of your hair, roughly pulling your body up towards him.

You felt the way your eyes started to sting at the sharp pain that shot through your scalp as your hands automatically shot up and grabbed hold of his wrist, wishing for his hand to relinquish its hold on your [Hair Color] locks. Slowly peeking your eyes open, you tried your hardest to peer through blurred vision that seemed to just take forever in adjusting to the surrounding darkness around you in order to make out the strong built of your attacker. His face was hidden in the darkness of his hood as he seemed to just tighten his hold on your hair—twisting his hand as he quietly chuckled in amusement when another painted cry slipped past your lips. Standing, you groaned as his hand jerked and roughly dragged you down from the bed—tossing you down onto the floor without remorse.

“I’m not a patient man, you should know better than to test me with such trivial shit!” he sneered, watching as you curled up into yourself—hands gently rubbing the top of your scalp in a pitiful attempt to soothe the burning pain that was currently traveling through it. You only whimpered, head tilted downwards as you continued to comfort yourself, barely able to bring yourself to look up when you soon heard the sound of shuffling before hissing in discomfort when the lights to your room suddenly flickered to life without any warning. “Let’s shed some light—set the scenery for tonight’s fun” as your eyes slowly adjusted, you hesitantly peered up at the man before you—eyes quickly widening in shock upon the sight of him...

Could you even consider this person before you a human being? Were you certain that he wasn’t just some monster that crawled his way out of the latest horror flick just to come and terrorize you? Everything about him from the neck down looked so…so...

So normal!

A familiar tattered and worn out white hoodie and black slacks greeted you while his face this time around was now no longer hidden by the shadows of his hood. Black charred and scraggly hair fell just past a pasty, leathery white face and down to the man’s shoulders. He seemed to stare with never blinking, icy blue eyes that looked so tired and painfully dried out that you wondered if he could even truly see with them. But none of that seemed to disturb you as much as his smile did...it was a smile that stretched far too wide with scabs growing and desperately trying to naturally stitch the damaged flesh back together again...

You felt nauseous just looking at it.

Tightly clutched inside his hand was a rather large kitchen knife, one that's blade looked like it was slowly dulling down as darken stains dimmed the shine the steel might have had at one point in time. Yet despite it's dull and filthy state, it still sent a jolt of fear through you just looking at it.

“Like it?” he spoke with such a raspy voice, one that sent shivers up and down your spine as you scooted back when he finally  took a step towards you. You didn’t quite understand his question until he lifted up his knife and looked as if he was admiring his own reflection off the dim blade…or more importantly, admiring the carved smile. “I did it myself a long time ago, hurt like hell for the first few years, but slowly the pain has started to numb” he said, lifting a hand to gently brush his own fingertips over the scabbing wound, cracked and dirty nails looking almost tempted to claw and peel them away in an effort to reopen the wounds.

“Who…who are you...?” you quietly asked, voice wavering as your eyes slowly started to wander around the room—slowly started looking for anything to grab hold of and arm yourself with. Very slowly did the man look away from the knife, annoyance twinkling in his eyes as he noticed that you were no longer paying attention to him. Instead, looking around the small bedroom like some dumbass who truly believed the useless trash and few scattered clothes you had strewn about the room would be of any help to you. 

“I’m sure you have plenty of questions bouncing around in that tiny skull of yours, but we simply don’t have the time to answer them all” he said, now slowly starting to stalk towards you. “If you must know, our time together is rather limited before I’ll have to take my leave, so let’s not waste any more time and—” he stopped as his foot kicked against the hardcover book you had mindlessly tossed on the floor before going to sleep. It slid across the surface of your floor and only stopped when it bumped into your leg. Without a second thought, you snatched the book up and jumped up to your feet, holding the thick book up like it was some kind weapon. Such a sight caused the man to burst out into a fit of laughter.

“What are you going to do? Read me a—” he was cut off by the book smashing into his face, causing him to stumble back with a cry of surprise as you bolted right past him and out of the room. You didn’t really have a plan as you tore through your apartment, squealing when you heard the loud, thunderous footsteps of the man chasing after you once he regained his senses. You just knew that your apartment was no longer safe, that you needed to flee out towards the hallway and pray the racket you’d kick up with your screaming and running would catch one of your neighbors' attention. Just as your fingers brushed against the doorknob of your apartment door, you cried out in shock upon feeling the back of your shirt being snatched up and your body pulled back—roughly thrown onto the floor of your living room.

Your screams were quickly cut off by a hand grabbing at your neck, pressing down on your windpipe until you were chocking. Hastily did your hands reach up and grasped at the man's arm, dull nails clawing at the flesh of his arms and wrist in some pitiful attempt to make him let go. He was now straddling your waist, lips twitching and smile growing even wider until it started to bleed as those icy eyes of his soon began to gleam with giddy excitement like a child on Christmas day. He seemed to only tighten his grip around your neck the longer your squirmed beneath him. Raising his knife up high as you gave out chocked cries, limbs flailing around the best to their ability in an attempt to push him away.

Just as you screwed your eyes shut in defeat, refusing to let his grotesque face be the last thing you see...there was a sudden chime of a clock, one that was loud and grating on the ears to the point that practically reminded you of when you were a mere child staying on your grandmother’s farm—it reminded you of that old grandfather clock she had owned that would loudly chime when the clock would strike midnight. Such a sound confused as you were certain that neither you nor anyone in your complex owned such a clock...

Once the final chime sounded out, everything fell silent.

No longer was there pressure being exerted onto your neck which caused you to slowly peek an eye open only to find that there was no smiling man straddling your waist either, choking you as he prepared to gut you like some animal. Instead, you were all alone—lying flat on your back in the middle of your darkened living room, staring all around you as if waiting for him to just pop back up any minute now. Hesitantly, you shakily stood and quietly crept your way towards the kitchen. Cautiously poking your head in just to sneak a glance at the built-in digital clock on your stove just to discover that it was indeed already midnight like you had assumed the moment you had heard the chiming of that clock. Nervously did you go around your apartment and flip every light on from the living room to the bathroom—not a single light was left off by the time you were finished. Next, you slowly went back to your room and began shuffling around in your bedroom closet in search of something that could be of any use to you.

Your hand patted around the top shelf of your closet, soon brushing against a metal box that had you furrowing your brows as you curiously pulled it down to examine it in your hands. It was rectangular and covered with a thin layer of dust—a big indicator that you had left it up there for a long time now and never bothered touching it since. Shaking it around, you listened to how the object inside loudly jostled about as it slid around along with the sound of a smaller box sliding around inside as well. You were confused about what was inside, ready to open it up and take peek before stopping when you realized that it was locked.

“Well fuck...” you muttered, turning the box around in your hand once more before flipping it completely around to find your father’s initials written out on masking tape in sharpie on the bottom—you were suddenly hit by an old memory.

-Flashback-

“Dad, I don’t need this...” you awkwardly muttered, peering down at the handgun your father had given to you as a house welcoming gift after he finished helping you bring all your stuff into your new apartment. You were never a huge fan of guns and despite your father’s efforts to teach you about them, you knew very little about the various kinds that were out there. At most you understood gun safety, but that was it.

“Come now, you can never be too sure” your father shrugged. “Oh, right! Almost forgot” he said, quickly ruffling around inside his car as you awkwardly stood there...you just wanted to say your farewells to him before he left back home, not really expecting at all to receive a gun as a goodbye present. “Here” he finally turned back around to face you, now holding out a metal box as a single key on a silver ring dangled from his forefinger. “Just so you have somewhere safe to keep it, there should also be some ammo in there as well” he smiled, there was little time to really argue with him on this as you found the box and key suddenly shoved into your hands and he quickly bid you farewell.

Making you promise to call home once in a while as well to visit come the holidays so that your mother wouldn't worry. You nodded before trudging your way back up to your apartment the minute his car drove out of sight. Once you were hidden away in the safety of your new home, you quickly tossed the gun into the box—locking it up tight before tossing the key into one of your kitchen drawers and putting the box itself away on the highest shelf of your bedroom closet. Sure of yourself that you would never need to use it.

-End of Flashback-

You blankly stared at the metal box, mindlessly snorting as you realized that you had a weapon yet no way of getting access to it as your mind had long since forgotten which drawer you had shoved the key into. For all you knew, you could have found it at one point and simply threw it away when you couldn’t find what it went to. You were certain you were dumb enough to do something so idiotic as throw away such an important key. Besides, even if you still had it, you had no knowledge of how to properly load a gun or even use it…would you even have the strength to use it if you could? Could you pull that trigger and take another living beings’ life to save your own?

You weren’t sure and part of you didn’t want to know the answer.

With a heavy sigh, you placed the box back up on the high shelf of your closet, making a mental note that it was there if you were ever lucky enough to find that key and once again started searching through your closet. It wasn't long before you found the wooden bat that your [brother/sister] had sent you as a late birthday gift—a shitty last-minute gift that they had most likely gotten from their own closet as not to waste any of their own money. You had also shoved this into the farthest corner of your closet to let it be covered up and hidden by your dangling clothes. Taking it with you, you soon started the nerve-wracking task of checking your whole apartment—looking in every last nook and cranny for your unwelcomed gust just to make sure that he was actually gone and you were truly alone. You weren’t sure how many times you walked around your apartment, checking out each room again and again just to make sure that they were actually empty as your paranoid mind ate away at you before finally, you collapsed onto your couch, tiredly staring up at the ceiling.

There was nothing.

There was not a single soul except for you in this apartment. It made you wonder if you had only been dreaming...if you had simple just sleepwalked your way into the living room to escape whatever nightmare you had been suffering from until your tired mind had finally jostled awake when you felt like you were being choked. Such a thought seemed to linger as you raised a hand to brush against your neck...you were being choked one minute and then the next there was nothing. Standing from the couch, you made your way into the bathroom and peered at your own reflection in the mirror, head tilted upwards as you looked at the flesh around your throat. It was a little red as if something had irritated the skin...

Almost like a rough hand gripping too hard.

Part of your mind whispered that you were just overreacting, that these red marks on your skin were simply caused by your tired mind and that come morning they’d be gone. That thought seemed to bring you comfort as your shoulders sagged while the adrenaline pumping through your veins finally subsided. Not wanting to waste any more time, you sluggishly dragged yourself back to your room—not bothering to turn off any of the lights—as you flopped down onto your bed and fell asleep.

-The Next Morning-

You were awoken by the sound of your alarm blaring, causing your bleary eyes to sluggishly blink open and glare at the way the annoying machine screeched for you to rise and prepare for the day. You weren't really looking forward to work, more tired than usual thanks to the wild events that had occurred last night...still, you pushed yourself up and dragged your feet across the floor. Ready to grab a fresh pair of clothes before taking a shower, only to halt when you suddenly felt your foot hit against the hardcover book you had received yesterday. It was just innocently sitting there on your bedroom floor...but there was something strange about it this time. Squinting your eyes, you bent down and picked it up off the floor.

“Wasn’t it…wasn’t it’s cover blank before?” you frowned, fingers now tracing the “C” that was suddenly written out it in black ink on the books surface. Tracing the letter over and over, you slowly started to turn the book around in your hands once again to see if anything else had changed…only to find nothing out of the ordinary as it looked exactly like it did when the blonde had given it to you yesterday. Staring down at it, you had a sudden urge to flip through it once again...

You stopped yourself right before you could open it.

You were well aware that all that laid inside the book was blank pages, nothing else. With that reminder of a thought, you carelessly tossed the book onto your bed before continuing preparing for the day like usual.

Chapter Text

They weren’t gone.

In fact, the once redden marks you had spied upon the flesh of your neck last night had only seemed to darken overnight. Granted it wasn’t as bad as it could have been—nothing that a bit of makeup probably couldn’t conceal…

Nonetheless, the sight of such an unsightly mark was more than worrisome as you found your mind already drifting back to the events of last night. It had only been a dream…right? It had to be, the lack of evidence outside of the bruising on your neck and the unnatural disappearance of your unwanted guest upon the clock striking midnight all pointed towards it being nothing more than a dream. A nightmarish hallucination that had resulted in nothing more than sleepwalking and blinded fear…perhaps you had done this to yourself—perhaps the hand that had been choking you last night had been your own…

Such reasoning didn’t make you feel any better as you continued staring down your own reflection in the bathroom mirror, fingertips barely hovering and gliding over the raw flesh of your bruised neck. You only stared for another minute or two before finally letting your hand drop and turning away from the mirror, no longer wanting to dwell on the troubling thoughts that now bounced around inside your skull as started to strip.

You still needed to get ready for work.

-Later-

Work came and went like normal saved for the occasional remarks about your exhaustion and the blotchy makeup on your neck—you weren’t an expert in the field of blending and had been in quite the hurry this morning to get to work. Clearly you had done a decent enough job in covering up the bruising even if the application had been sloppy enough to warrant a few remarks here and there. Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen on your walk home, even as you found yourself coming to a stop right in the middle of the sidewalk across from the park, tired eyes curiously peering across the street as if in search of something that wasn’t there. There were no hooded men across the way nor any kids loitering about, a sight that both relieved and unsettled you…

When was the last time you ever saw the park this empty?

Shaking your head, you thought it best not to dwell on such thoughts as you looked ahead once more and continued on home.

-Later-

“You got a package.”

“What?” you halted the moment you stepped through the front doors of the complex, owlishly blinking at the older brunette who called out to you.

“A package” he repeated, chin propped up by the palm of his hand as he mindlessly motioned with his head towards the box which innocently sat atop his desk while never once removing his gaze from the paper in front of him.

“Who’s it from?” you asked as you stepped towards the desk, eyeing the box in curiosity—it was of a decent size and completely blank on all sides, no signs of any sort of postage stamp nor return address to be found…well, that wasn’t completely true. The box wasn’t completely blank you found once you finally turned it around and discovered your name boldly written out in thick marker. “Well?” you asked, gaze now flickering towards Max when you realized that he still hadn’t answered you. He was silent, eyes now staring straight ahead and practically glazed over as he appeared almost lost in thought like he truly had to think over what exactly it was you were asking of him.

“Don’t know” he finally answered with a shrug and the blink of his eyes before his gaze finally dropped back down to the paper in front of him. “It was just sitting here when I got back from the bathroom” you stared at him for a moment, mulling over his actions and his words for but a moment before slowly nodding.

“Okay…you don’t think it’s anything dangerous, do you?” you worriedly asked.

“I don’t hear any ticking, do you?” he asked, not even bothering to spare you any sort of glance. “If you need helping carrying it up to your apartment then please, don’t ask” you only rolled your eyes as you reached up and took hold of the box, pleased to find that it wasn’t all that heavy.

“Bye Max, see you later” a grunt was all your received in response as you continued on your way towards the elevator and up to your apartment. Upon entering your humble abode, the first thing you did instead of getting dinner started was set the box in your hands down on the living room table before fetching a knife from the kitchen. Curiosity got the best of you as already were you tearing away at the tape that sealed the box lids shut before pulling them open so that you could look inside and find…

Owlishly did you blink, brows furrowing in slight confusion as you reached inside, pushing aside the packing paper and bubble wrap before finally pulling the old N64 which rested inside out. Despite how old the system was, it looked to be in pristine condition as if it was brand new. There wasn’t a single scratch to be found along its sleek casing.

“Why would someone send me this…?” you murmured in thought as you sat back on your couch, still holding the N64 in your hands as your curiously turned it around. You never personally owned one as a kid though you vaguely recalled a few of your friends owning one. “I bet these things probably cost a fortune nowadays, wonder who sent it” you hummed as you sat the console aside and began digging through the rest of the box's contents. Other than the console, there wasn’t anything else outside of the standard controller and a few cables that you had no doubt were meant to help you in hooking such an outdated system to your more modern and slightly up to date television. Only one game seemed to have been sent with the console and as you picked it up, you frowned.

It was your standard N64 cartridge…although it clearly had seen better days as you noted how the colorful sticker that should have been on it had been cleanly ripped off and in its place was simply the word “Majora” messily scrawled across in permanent marker.

“Majora…that’s a Zelda game isn’t it?” you asked aloud to no one but yourself, already digging out your phone to look—it never hurt to double check. It’s been years since you last played any sort of game, school and later work taking up most of your energy to the point that such luxuries had become nearly nonexistent in your day to day life…

You’re pretty sure the only gaming system you currently owned was a 3DS that was certainly lost somewhere within the depths of your closet in a box that held all the things you had been too lazy to either unpack or had no real place to put since moving into this apartment.

“Hm” you hummed in thought for a moment as you looked between the cartridge in your hand and the gaming system beside you. “I guess I’ll play it later.”

-Days Later-

“I’ll play it later.”

It was like a mantra at this point the way you kept saying it anytime you’d spot that box in your living room containing that old system you were gifted. It’s been days since you received the package and you still had yet to really touch or play it, always getting swept up in something else before you could even consider touching it...

But today was different, today you actually meant it.

It was your first day off in forever and what better way to spend it then to play with your new toy. It was tedious at first getting it all hooked up as multiple times you considered giving up, the multiple wires making your head spin and your blood boil as you moved about. Oh how annoying it was to plug everything in alongside fiddling with the settings of your television in an attempt to get the damn thing working. You were practically a huffing mess by the time you plopped down onto your couch after struggling a minute or two to push it closer to the television as well.

“Alright, now we can play” you huffed, puffing up your cheeks in annoyance as you leaned forward and started up the system before comfortably leaning back into the cushions of the couch. For the most part, everything seemed normal as the game booted up and before long you found yourself staring at the only save file currently on the cartridge.

BEN

That was the name on the save file that ate up the first slot, a simple and rather common name. You started to wonder if this Ben fellow was the person who had sent you the system, brows furrowing in thought as you tried to recall if you’ve ever personally known a Ben in your life. No doubt you knew a few Bens back in school, but there were none that you could recall ever befriending…then again, the game was rather old and clearly used that you wouldn’t doubt that whoever sent it to you had gotten it secondhand and had no relations to the name on screen. You ponder what you should do about the file, wondering if you should just delete it seeing as this Ben fellow was sure to never see the game again…yet something compelled you to instead make a new file, leaving the old one alone for now.

Other than a few hiccups, the game seemed to run decently alright at first in the beginning. Sure some textures seemed to be missing or in the wrong location and there were times when a cutscene or two would flash at an odd interval, but it wasn’t really anything you couldn’t deal with. There were times when the NPCs would refer to you as Ben, a bug you assumed caused by a malfunction within the cartridge itself resulting in the game mixing your and Ben’s files together…at least that’s what you told yourself. You weren’t a tech whiz as shown by the way you’d occasionally freak out anytime an electronic in your apartment did something unexpected that you didn't understand. For all you knew, you were just spouting bullshit at yourself in an attempt to sound smart.

Despite the occasional mix-up in names, you continued to play and slowly the more that you played the more noticeable the glitches started to become. It was as if the further you progressed the more the world around you degenerated, more and more texture started to disappear alongside NPCs, random bout of texts would pop up every now and then as you’d occasionally find yourself in parts of the map you were never near to begin with.

Then came the statue.

It was a rather simple, albeit creepy statue if you were being honest. Despite its likeness to Link himself, the design itself was rather eerie, not helped at all by the lifeless expression on its face. Mindlessly did it seem to follow you, popping into existence with little warning—no matter how far away from it you ran, it always seemed to pop back up a minute later. Eventually, the glitches got to a point where you couldn’t do anything but sit there and watch Link die over and over and over and over and over and over and—

You turned off the system.

Frustration was clear as day on your redden face as you irritable tossed your controller aside and stood from the couch. Storming your way over towards all the cables you had spent forever fiddling with just to get this dumb thing to work. You barely paid any mind to the flickering words that appeared on your television screen as you harshly yanked at the cords, erasing them before you ever had a chance of seeing them.

“Who the fuck thinks it’s a good idea to give someone a broken game?” you bitterly spat as you began packing the console and all its components back into the box you had received them in before picking it up and carrying it towards your room. “I thought games were supposed to be fun and relaxing, not frustrating…” you continued grumbling to yourself, throwing your closet door open and shoving the box towards the far back with the rest of the boxes in there, no longer wanting to play let alone see the system inside. Perhaps one day if you were ever able to come into contact with any other games from the distant past you could give them a try…

That is if you could afford them.

You were a lot gentler in shutting your closet door as you dragged your way back towards the living room, fixing the television settings before mindlessly digging your phone out and chancing a peek at the time. It was well into the evening by now, a sight which surprised you as already did you feel your gaze flickering towards the window only to find that the sun had indeed long since set…surely you hadn’t been playing for that long. It had only been early afternoon by the time you had plopped down onto your couch and began playing, by now you would already be in the kitchen making that night’s cheap dinner.

“Guess time really does fly when you’re having fun…” you grumbled with a sigh as you pocketed your phone and made way for the kitchen, once more paying little mind to the flicker of the television screen.

-Later-

Bed time had come a lot quicker than you would have thought as you tiredly trudged through the apartment…

One…two…three…

One…two…three…

One…two…three…

Three times did you make your rounds in checking all the windows that could be found in your apartment—three times did you silently creep through your own home, tugging and pulling at ever known entrance just to make sure they were firmly shut and tightly locked. Checking every corner along the way with wary eyes. Ever since that alarming dream of yours a while back, you’ve started take extra precaution in making sure your home was fully secure before bed each night. Despite your constant reassurance that that night had been nothing more than a dream, it did very little to quell the fear you felt once the sun went down and it was time to retire for the night.

Once satisfied, you practically flung yourself onto the bed the second you entered your room and flipped the lights. Almost instantly did your eyes flutter shut, breathing already slowing down before you even had a chance to do your usual nightly routine before fully falling asleep. It was as if the day had left your drained despite how little you did outside of play that buggy game—perhaps your constant days of working and nothing else were finally catching up to you as already you found yourself drifting off…

You weren’t exactly sure how long you had been asleep before you jolted awake, a skip in your breath resulting in a startling snort as your head warily lifted. Déjà vu overwhelmed you in an instance at the near familiarity of this action…except this time instead of hearing the sound of your television being turned off, it was the opposite…

White noise filled the air and lit up your once darken room. You didn’t sense any immediate danger and the shadows that danced on your walls thanks to the glow of your television revealed nothing out of the ordinary. Through bleary did you cautiously look towards you television set, squinting against the discomfort that was the blinding light of your screen as your body twisted and turned atop your mattress, crumpling up the sheets in your movement.

Static.

That’s all you could see the moment your eyes adjusted and as you shifted around your bed even more, you flinched—back arching in discomfort at the sudden sensation of something hard pressing and digging its way into the middle of your back, causing you to jolt upwards and harshly twist around...

It was just the remote.  

Yes, that’s all it was and as your groggy mind looked from it to the static filled screen of your television, you soon found yourself huffing. Cheeks puffing out in slight embarrassment at the realization you had only scared yourself. Hastily snatching up the remote, you turned the television off, once more bathing the room in utter darkness.

“I really got to remember where I put this thing” you tiredly murmured, yawning as you placed the remote off to the side on your bedside table away from your bed before settling back down and closing your eyes. Faintly you thought you heard the sound of the television flickering back on followed by faintest whisper of laughter, but by then you had already fallen back asleep and began dreaming of static and grinning salesmen.