Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Galloway was, to put it in the simplest terms he could think of, fucking weird. Rolan couldn’t claim to be surprised by the fact, it was the main reason he had chosen to come live there after all, but still. Going from the relative normalcy of Chicago to a town filled with the constant buzzing and clicking of insects he couldn’t see, shadowy figures that everyone seemed to try and ignore, he was pretty sure he’d seen some kind of purple goo creature crawling into the sewers? It was giving him whiplash, and he didn’t know how the hell to deal with it.

Especially when it seemed like everyone else in the town saw all those things as completely normal. And, well, it was also good, since that meant nobody paid too much attention to Rolan’s own inhuman features either, but still. He’d always thought Rand was making shit up or exaggerating when he complained about how weird his hometown was, but if anything, Rand had been underselling it. This place was weird, and unusual, and terrifying, and it was probably going to be Rolan’s home for the rest of his life.

There was no way he could go back to living a normal life in the normal world with the changes his body had gone through. He’d known that since he woke up a few days ago after a night filled with unimaginable pain that felt like his entire body was falling apart and piecing itself back together, only to discover in the morning that to some extent that had been exactly what had happened.

His eyes had turned from the dark blue they’d always been into an endless void of deep black, his teeth had sharpened into something that almost resembled the mandibles of a bug, and there were jagged antennae sticking out of his head, which warped and confused his senses in a way he couldn’t understand. And then there was his arm. Or what used to be his arm, he had no idea how to describe it anymore. It looked almost like a scythe, although it was probably more similar to the arm of some kind of bug, like a mantis or something. And it was fucking terrifying, the thing was sharp, and far longer than any of his other limbs so he had a hard time controlling it, and just… horrible.

If it weren’t for the arm, he might have been able to just go back to living his life. All the other features could have been hidden away with minimal difficulty, some sunglasses or colored contacts would have worked fine for his eyes, the antennae were basically the same color and length as his hair so just figuring out a way to keep them slicked back with it would have done a fine job hiding them, and the mandibles… Well, those were actually a bit harder. But worst case scenario, he could have just… pulled them out. It would have hurt like hell, but he could have done it.

Not with the arm, though. It was way too big to hide in any meaningful sense, and it was definitely inhuman and monstrous enough that people would notice and get freaked out by it. Which was exactly why he’d had to come to Galloway instead.

He’d heard about the town a lot from Rand ever since they became online friends around five or so years ago, and while before he’d always assumed the shit Rand told him about it was either some weird prank or attempt at scaring him, or just Rand being genuinely insane, after what had happened to him? He’d kind of just had to trust Rand on it.

He’d just sent a message to the other (with some difficulty, figuring out how to use a phone or a laptop with the scythe arm was hard), asking him to please swear on his fucking life that all the things Rand had told him about Galloway was real and not just some elaborate prank, and then telling him that he was moving there when Rand confirmed it.

Rand hadn’t questioned why, not when Rolan had managed to take a picture of himself and send it to the other, and had just offered to pick him up from the airport when he landed instead. And so he’d quit his job as a lawyer, looked for any houses that were available to either buy or rent in the town (he found one almost immediately and decided not to worry about why it was so cheap and what might have happened to the previous inhabitants), had called the few friends he had as well as his family to tell them he was going through an early mid-life crisis and moving to the middle of nowhere, and then he’d packed his shit and left.

And now he was here, in this weird fucking town, in a house he somehow managed to fucking buy in this economy because they were basically giving it away (honestly, he might have moved there even if it weren’t for his bug features with how cheap it was), and now he was just… trying to figure out what to do.

It was late, the sun was getting close to setting, and most of his stuff was still being moved, so he didn’t have much to do. Especially since a lot of the things he liked doing were made much more difficult by the scythe, he couldn’t even read books without accidentally ripping into them with it. Maybe he should start knitting or something, that could have been made easier by having what was sort of a giant needle for an arm? He’d see about it later.

As it was currently, the only thing for him to really do was to listen to the radio that the house had come with. It had had a few pieces of furniture when he bought it, namely a couch, a dining room table with three chairs, a bed in one of the two bedrooms, as well as the radio. He didn’t really understand why on Earth there was a radio in the house, or who even used radios anymore, but it was at least nice to have some music to fill in the silence with.

He was starting to consider just turning the radio off and going to sleep already as one of the random country songs he couldn’t care less about slowly faded out, but right as he was about to get up from the couch to do exactly that, rather than another song starting to play out of the speakers, he instead heard a slightly gravelly and oddly melodic voice speak from the radio.

“A friendly bayou community where the insects are loud, the moon is beautiful, and mysterious lights pass overhead while we all pretend to sleep. Welcome to Galloway.” The words were followed by what he could only assume to be a theme song for whatever broadcast had started, with a strange and almost unsettling, vaguely rock-like melody.

Rolan relaxed back down onto the couch, it seemed like the town had some kind of news broadcast, then. It would probably be a more interesting listen than the music that had been playing earlier, and maybe it could give him some insight into Galloway? Or at least help him keep himself safe from anything in it that might have been dangerous.

The theme music faded out slowly, and the voice from earlier spoke again, this time filled with much more energy. “Hello listeners! To start things off, I’ve been asked to read out this brief notice.”

The host cleared their throat, and Rolan got the uncomfortable feeling that he’d heard their voice before, although he couldn’t actually place where or when. Sometime recently, that much he was sure of.

When they spoke again, the host sounded much more professional, clearly trying to keep their voice monotone. “The Town Council announces the opening of a new dog park near Galloway Shopping, the grocery store. They would like to remind everyone that dogs are not allowed in the dog park. People are not allowed in the dog park. It’s possible you will see hooded figures in the dog park. Do not approach them. Do not approach the dog park. The fence is electrified and highly dangerous. Try not to look at the dog park and especially do not for any period of time look at the hooded figures. The dog park will not harm you.”

He was maybe a minute in, and already any and all hope of this being a normal news broadcast went straight out the window. Not that he’d really expected it either, but he could always hope for even a little bit of normalcy. Well, at least he’d know to avoid the dog park. And the hooded figures. What was the point of even opening a new dog park if it was so dangerous? Why was he looking for some kind of logic in any of this, he should have realized he wouldn’t get that by now.

The host spoke again, their voice back to the lively and happy way it had sounded before the notice. “And now the news! Mr Dic- sorry, my apologies, Mr Rick man says the angels revealed themselves to him.” Alright then. Angels apparently existed in this town, shit, was he going to have to go back to church? Or were they talking about something other than the biblical angels?

“He said they were ten feet tall, radiant, and one of them was black. Also said they helped him with various household chores, one of them changed a light bulb for him! The porch light to be more specific. He’s offering to sell the old lightbulb, which has been touched by an angel- it was the black angel, if that sweetens the pot for anyone- and asked us to pass along the message that if you’re interested, just contact Mr D- Rickman. He can most often be found teaching at the high school, or in his secret underground bunker in his backyard.”

There was a brief pause of complete silence, and Rolan was just about to start wondering if he’d somehow managed to accidentally unplug the radio while sitting completely still, before the host spoke again. Their voice was softer now, far quieter than before, similar to the way you might talk to a scared kitten or a crying child.

“A new man came into town today. Who is he? What does he want from us? Why his perfect and beautiful pitch black eyes? Why his neatly fitted tan suit? He says he came here to hide from something. Well, I’m sure we’ve all had to hide from something at one point or another. But why now? And why here? And just what does he plan to do in that long since abandoned house he’s living in, the one near the Stack Shack? So many questions that surround this man. So many answers we will most likely never receive.”

Honestly, he shouldn’t have been surprised to hear about his own arrival in the news. It was a small town, new people probably didn’t move in too often, of course people would talk when someone with his features moved in. What was more surprising was what they chose to actually say about him. Nothing about the scythe, or the antennae, barely even a mention of his eyes- which, wait, did they fucking call his eyes beautiful? What the hell was that about?

He barely even had time to react to what he’d heard before the host began talking again, once again loud and energetic, moving onto another topic like it was no big deal, like Rolan wasn’t going through a slight crisis at the moment.

“Just a reminder to all the parents out there, let’s talk about safety when bringing your kids out to play in the swamps and forests! You need to give them plenty of water, make sure the bayou isn’t too deep where they’re wanting to play, and keep an eye on the helicopter colors. Are the unmarked helicopters circling the area black? Probably World Government, so not a great area for that play that day. Are they blue? That’s the Sheriff’s Secret Police, they’ll keep a good eye on your kids, and hardly ever take one.”

Rolan remembered several conversations with Rand where the other had complained about the ‘Secret Police’ and how they kept listening in on everything he did. He’d always dismissed it as some sort of weird conspiracy theory bullshit or something, but apparently not. Galloway just had a Secret Police. Although, he wasn’t really sure if it could be counted as ‘secret’ if the entire town seemed to know about it and talk openly about it.

“Are the helicopters painted with complex murals depicting birds of prey diving? Nobody knows what those helicopters are, or what they want. Don’t play in the area, just return to your home and lock the doors until a Sheriff’s Secret Policeman leaves a carnation on your porch to indicate the danger has passed. Maybe cover your ears to blot out the screams. Also, remember: Gatorade is basically just soda, so give your kids some plain old water and maybe some orange slices while they play. Oh, man, I could go for some orange slices right now… Wish I’d bought some from the store earlier.”

The topic really changed that fast from unmarked helicopters that sometimes stole children to just regular parenting advice that easily, huh? He couldn’t even pretend to feel surprised at this point, the town clearly needed to figure out its priorities better. Or maybe just the radio host did, who the hell knew if other people in this town were more normal. Rand definitely seemed more normal than this, even if just barely.

“A commercial airliner flying through local airspace disappeared today, only to reappear in the Galloway Elementary gymnasium during basketball practice, disrupting practice quite badly.” That definitely wasn’t the most noteworthy detail about that piece of information, but sure.

“The jet roared through the small gym for only a fraction of a second, and before it could strike any players or structures, it vanished again, this time apparently for good.” Well, at least it didn’t sound like anyone got hurt. Or, wait, what about the people in the plane? What happened to them? He didn’t really like thinking about that.

“There is no word yet on if or how this will affect the Galloway Hornets’ game schedule, and also if this could perhaps be the work of their bitter rivals, the Deadwood Phantoms. Deadwood is always trying to show us up through shi- things like fancier uniforms, better pre-game snacks, and quite possibly by transporting a commercial jet into our gymnasium, delaying practice for several minutes at least! For shame, Deadwood, for shame.”

Rolan heard the host take in a deep breath before they continued speaking, the slight anger and disapproval that had started rising in their voice completely gone. Their voice was back to the same soft tone they’d used earlier, although a bit less quiet.

“That new resident, who’s name we know to be Rolan, went shopping earlier today.” Oh fuck, they were back to him now? How did they even figure out his name? And why did they know he’d gone shopping, also, why the hell was that newsworthy?

“He has a sharp jaw, and mandibles that slightly poke out from underneath his lips. His hair is perfect and black, slightly graying on the sides, and his eyes are like a gorgeous, never-ending void.” They kept talking about him with a fond, clearly intrigued voice, but it was like they weren’t actually saying anything important. They hadn’t even brought up the fucking scythe arm yet, and why the hell did they keep describing him with such… overly positive words?

“I actually got the chance to speak with him briefly at Galloway Shopping, dear listeners. We only talked for a very short while, but let me tell you, it was an absolutely wonderful experience.” …oh, he remembered why the host’s voice sounded familiar, now. He had spoken to them at the store, but there had been something so… uncomfortable about them that he’d kind of subconsciously just tried to forget about the interaction, it seemed.

Not uncomfortable in the sense that they’d done or said something weird, everything about them had just seemed almost uncanny. Too smooth skin that seemed to almost glow under the fluorescent lights, long, blonde hair that shifted and moved like it had a mind of its own, and large, round eyes with bright blue irises that genuinely fucking sparkled. Even their movements had been too smooth and calculated. Everything about them had just been so… close to human, but somehow beyond that, like a living doll or a creature disguising itself as a human but going too far to make themself look appealing. It had just been unnerving to look at them. It was unnerving to really even think about them.

“Rolan told me that he’d come to Galloway because his friend had told him our lovely little community was by all accounts somewhat unusual, and he wanted to find a place to stay where people wouldn’t look at him weirdly for his ‘bug-like’ features, as he himself described them. He gave me a somewhat nervous smile, and everything about him was perfect, and I fell in love instantly.”

Wait, what? What the hell? That- who the hell said something like that on a live broadcast to their entire town? He wasn’t given any time to process what had just happened, since the host just kept on talking, like there was nothing strange about what they’d just said.

“Government agents from a vague yet menacing agency were also in the store, watching the two of us from between the shelves. I worry what they might have planned for our lovely new resident, but I’m sure it’s nothing too bad. I hope it’s nothing too bad, at least. Maybe they were just jealous I got to speak to him before they could! I would certainly get jealous if I saw someone else talking to such a gorgeous person.”

Jesus, that was worrying. He hadn’t even noticed anyone watching them, too busy trying to figure out whether he wanted to look at who he now knew to be the radio host and his inhumanely beautiful features, or if he wanted to look away to avoid the uncomfortable feeling of wrongness they brought up inside him. He should probably ask Rand if he had any idea what Rolan should do about that agency or whatever, he really didn’t want to end up in some lab being tested on. Or imprisoned. Or just straight up killed.

“We received a press release this morning!” Were they really just moving on from that? Why had they even brought him up again, the only actually beneficial information the rest of the town might have gotten from that was his name and how he looked. Mostly it was just ‘the new resident bought groceries for himself and also I’m in love with him after talking to him once’, in what world did that count as news?

“The Galloway Business Association is proud to announce the opening of the brand new Galloway Island Paradise and Beach Resort. I got to visit this area myself recently on their invitation, and let me assure you that it is absolutely top of the line and beautiful. Plenty of places to lounge around and sunbathe, and some small, comfortable beachside cottages for people to stay in during their vacation to the beach. Now, there has been some concern about the fact that, given we are in the middle of a bayou, there’s not actually any sand at the beach, or really much ‘beach’ at all.”

Why did he choose to move here? Maybe he should have just tried cutting his own arm off to pass as a regular human or something, this place was going to drive him insane if ‘news’ like this was just going to become a daily occurance. He felt like there was a spotlight pointed straight at him, like no matter what, he was just going to be the center of everyone’s attention and he couldn’t escape it. The thought made his skin crawl.

“And that is a definite drawback, I agree. For instance, the beach huts are currently sat at the edge of the cemetery. The Business Association didn’t provide any specific remedies to this problem, but they assured me that the Beach Resort would be a big boost for Galloway nonetheless. And hey, they’re the business experts here, so I’m sure they know what they’re talking about!”

He felt like his brain was about to explode. He needed a drink, or preferably multiple, and to just turn off the radio and go to sleep already or something. But he didn’t, instead he just kept sitting on the couch, listening to the slightly raspy, melodic, and terrifyingly hypnotizing voice of the radio host.

“The local chapter of the NRA is selling bumper stickers as part of their fundraising week.” Sure, why not at this point. It was certainly a better topic than Rolan himself. “They sent the station one to get some publicity, and hey, we’re here to serve the community, so I’m happy to let you all know about it! The stickers are made from good, sturdy vinyl, and they read: ‘Guns don’t kill people. It’s impossible to be killed by a gun. We are all invincible to bullets and it is a miracle.’ Just stand outside of your front door and shout ‘NRA’ to order one!”

That… definitely sounded like a crime. It wasn’t his expertise, he usually dealt with traffic laws and shit like that, but it definitely sounded like the purposeful spreading of dangerous misinformation or something. Actually, maybe that wasn’t illegal. But it probably should have been. Someone was going to read that and actually shoot themselves or someone else to test it, people were stupid enough for that to happen.

The host paused for a brief moment, before continuing with what was once again a very soft and… lovestruck? Lovestruck sounded like the right word. A very soft and lovestruck tone.

“I spoke with Rand today.” That caught Rolan’s attention, possibly even more than when they’d talked about him before. Of course the radio host would know Rand, everyone in this town probably knew everyone else, but it still somehow surprised him.

“He warned me that one of the houses on Willow Street, just two houses down from the Rands’ own home, doesn’t actually exist.” Rand never really talked to him about specific people in town, just about Galloway in general, so it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t know about Rand seemingly being… friends? With the radio host. It was honestly just a bit surprising that Rand even had friends other than him, he’d always described himself as a shut-in who never spoke to other people. But the tone they were talking about Rand with, it sounded like the two of them were definitely very close.

“‘It seems like it exists,’ Rand explained while waving his soft yet calloused hands frantically. ‘Like it’s just right there when you look at it, and it’s in between two other near-identical houses so it would make more sense for it to be there than not.” But, he says that he did some experiments, and the house is definitely not there. I asked him what he thought of it, mostly just to hear him talk more, but he seemed unsure. He went back inside soon after, muttering something to himself.”

The way they kept talking about Rand, combined with how they’d talked about Rolan himself earlier, it was starting to seem like maybe the host was just very affectionate, rather than actually in love with him. Maybe they just talked about everyone that way, very complimentary and almost flirty with how they described people. It at least would have made more sense than them falling in love with a complete stranger after talking to him for like a minute.

…he kind of hoped that was the case, honestly. Because otherwise, yeah, ‘lovestruck’ was definitely the only word he could think of to describe the way they talked about Rand, and- it wasn’t like he and Rand were dating or something. He didn’t even know if Rand was into guys, he’d never asked and Rand had never brought it up.

But… he’d definitely started developing a crush on the other at some point during the past several years. He’d just never done anything about it because again, he didn’t know if Rand was queer, and he hadn’t wanted to even attempt a long distance relationship. He’d kind of hoped he could have actually gotten the courage to tell Rand how he felt now that they were living in the same place, but if there was already something between Rand and the radio host? That- that’d probably be out the window. Unless they were poly, or in an open relationship, or something?

“A great howling was heard from the Galloway pharmacy yesterday. The pharmacy workers claim no knowledge, although passersby described the sound as being a little like ‘a human soul being destroyed through Black Magick.’ Officer Dudes- now, I don’t know if you’ve seen this guy around. He’s the guy that wears a very low-quality police costume and walks around town claiming to be a member of the police force. He appeared at the scene, and swore he would discover the truth. No one responded because it’s really hard to take him seriously in that costume of his.”

Well, that slightly threw out the possibility of them just being very affectionate and flirty with everyone. Unless that ‘Officer Dudes’ was just an exception. He hoped so, it would have been way easier to wrap his head around the radio host just being like that rather than them genuinely being in love with him after a single conversation.

“Lights, seen in the sky above The Diner. Not the glowing sign of The Diner, no, something higher and beyond that. We know the difference. We’ve caught on to their game, we understand the lights above The Diner’s game. Invaders from another world. Ladies, gentlemen, and those beyond human comprehension, the future is here. And it’s about a hundred feet above The Diner!”

That sounded like some of the conspiracy type shit that Rand would tell him, but he didn’t even care to check if it was actually real or not. He could have pretty easily just looked outside one of the windows, he was close enough to The Diner that he could probably see those mysterious lights above it, but he really didn’t care to. At this point a possible alien invasion was the least of his worries.

“When I spoke with Rand earlier, he told me something very interesting! Of course, he always tells me things that are very interesting, but this was especially interesting.” Oh, they were back to Rand now. He sat up a bit straighter without even really meaning to, fully focusing on what the host was saying. Mostly in hopes of getting some more context to what their relationship might have been like.

“Rand and his… protege? Friend? Replacement younger sibling? Well, Richie Rat, have been monitoring the seismic shifts near the town’s exit, and they’ve found something truly incredible!” It was genuinely concerning that Rolan couldn’t be sure whether the host was talking about a literal rat that Rand was apparently friends with, or if that was just a nickname for a person or something.

“Apparently, their monitors have been indicating wild seismic shifts, meaning that the ground should be going up and down all over the place! Now, I don’t know about you guys, but the ground has been as still as the crust of a tiny globe rocketing through an endless void could be, in my opinion. Rand says they’ve double checked the monitors, and they are in perfect working order. Simply put, there appears to be catastrophic earthquakes happening right here in Galloway that absolutely no one can feel! How cool is that? Well, I’d recommend you all submit an insurance claim anyway. See what you can get out of this, right?”

That sounded like insurance fraud, but whatever. He was mostly just kind of disappointed that the news didn’t actually really give him any more insight into what was going on between Rand and the radio host. Maybe he should just ask Rand about it? He should probably just ask Rand about it.

“Traffic time, listeners! Now, Police- the actual Police, not Officer Dudes- are issuing warnings about ghost cars on the highways. Those cars only visible in the distance, reaching unimaginable speeds, leaving destinations unknown for destinations even more unknown. They would like to remind you that you should not set your speed by these apparitions, and doing so will not be considered following the flow of traffic. However, they do say that it’s probably safe to match speeds with the mysterious lights in the sky, as whatever entities or organizations responsible appear to be cautious and responsible drivers.”

He didn’t even own a car, so that part didn’t really matter to him. Should he get a car? He’d never needed one while living out in the city, the public transit had always been somewhat manageable enough, but maybe he should get one now. It’d make things easier if he ever needed to go somewhere further than a walking distance in the small town or its surrounding areas.

“And now, the weather.”

Instead of a weather report, though, a song started playing out of the speakers. Rolan didn’t really know enough about music to be able to describe it in any meaningful sense, but it did sound good. It was an odd mix of high-energy and loud instrumentals mixed with a slow rhythm and a somber feel.

When the vocals started, he realized they were being sung by the radio host. He couldn’t tell if it was pre-recorded or sung live, all he could really tell was that it sounded nice. He closed his eyes and let himself focus on the music, listening to the host’s nearly hypnotizing voice.

The lyrics to the song were melancholic, almost heartbreaking. They read like a love confession that the writer knew would never be responded to, a deep yearning mixed with a feeling of loss and fear. He almost never cried when listening to music, no matter how sad or upsetting the subject material was, but he felt a tear rise to his eye as he listened to the lyrics and started to grasp what they meant.

Who they might have been about. He’d never heard the song before, and if the host was singing it, it made sense to assume that they had written it as well. And if that was the case… well, he’d hoped they and Rand weren’t dating, hadn’t he? With each passing second that the song continued it started sounding more and more like they weren’t. The host clearly loved someone who didn’t love them back, or who they at least believed wouldn’t love them back, and Rolan doubted they were talking about him. No, most likely they were singing about Rand, confessing their love to practically the entire town through the song, knowing the feeling wasn’t mutual. It somehow felt worse than if he’d found out the two of them were actually just dating.

What the hell did Rand think about it then? Did he know how they felt? Or did he somehow miss the way they spoke about him, completely unaware of the way they made this person feel? No, there was no fucking way anyone was that dense. Even if Rand hadn’t noticed Rolan’s feelings for him either… maybe he just didn’t notice.

The song quieted down slowly as it came to an end, before cutting off completely as the host started speaking again. “Welcome back, listeners.” They sounded a bit quieter than before, definitely softer, maybe even a bit sad. Rolan seriously felt bad for them at this point. Their voice was back to the same energy levels from before when they continued, though.

“The sun didn’t set at the correct time today, Becky let us know during the break. She’s very certain about it, she checked multiple clocks, and the sun definitely set ten minutes later than it was supposed to. I asked her if she had any ideas as to why, but she didn’t offer anything concrete. She told me it wasn’t anything I should worry myself about, though, just wanted to make sure I let all of you know. Oh, and she brought me orange slices! Isn’t she amazing? She’s truly the best girlfriend an almost human entity could ask for!”

Rolan didn’t know who Becky was, but it was starting to seem like the host was in love with far too many people for their own good. At least it sounded like Becky actually loved them back, if they called her their girlfriend. Also, ‘almost human entity’? He guessed the host wasn’t a human, then. What the fuck were they?“I think we should all be more appreciative of the things that we have, like the sun for example! Sure, it’s a bit unusual for the sun to set ten minutes later than it’s supposed to, but shouldn’t we be grateful to have the sun at all? Just imagine how much harder life would be for us if we didn’t have it! The next time the sun rises, whatever time that turns out to be, I suggest you take a moment to feel grateful for all the warmth and light it chooses to gift our bayou community with.”

That was… kind of nice, actually. Worrying, that the sun apparently chose not to follow the laws of the universe, but they were right. People kind of tended to take the sun for granted, especially ever since humanity realized that eclipses and such weren’t the sun literally being destroyed by some cosmic monster. They should appreciate the sun more.

“The Town Council would like to remind you about the tiered heavens, and the hierarchy of angels. The reminder is that you should not know anything about this. The structure of heaven and the angelic organizational chart are privileged information, known only to Town Council members on a need to know basis. Please do not speak to or acknowledge any angels that you may come across while shopping at the Galloway Shopping grocery store or at the Nerdy Game Store and Movie Theatre. They only tell lies, and do not exist. Report all angel sightings to the Town Council for treatment.”

Alright then. No acknowledging the angels. That a highschool teacher had gotten help with his chores from. Because they didn’t exist, sure, okay. Why not at this point.

“And now a brief public service announcement. Alligators. Can they kill your children? Yes.” He couldn’t help the choked laugh that left his mouth at that, just… the bluntness. The slight snicker he was pretty sure he could hear from the host. That definitely didn’t even count as a public service announcement.

“Along those lines, to get personal for a moment-” They’d been getting personal all throughout the broadcast, why were they only acknowledging it now? “-I think the best way to die would be to be drained by a giant spider. Having my insides melted and then sucked out of my body, leaving me empty and hollow, would just give my life such perfect symmetry.”

What… Did that even mean? How would that give it symmetry? Jesus, he had to ask Rand about the radio host the next day. Figure out what the fuck was their deal. Hopefully also find out their name so he could stop calling them just ‘the radio host.’

“Speaking of the Nerdy Game Store and Movie Theatre, its owner, Michael Leou, reports that he has found the entrance to a vast, underground city behind some shelves in the backroom of the store. He said he has not yet ventured into it, merely peered down at its strange spires and broad avenues. He also reports voices of a distant crowd in the depths of that subterranean metropolis. Apparently the entrance was discovered when a large collection of fifth edition D&D books fell from the shelf they were on and into it, clattering down to the city below with sounds that echoed for miles across the impossibly huge cavern. So, you know, whatever population that city has, they know about us now and we might be hearing from them very soon.”

That sounded pretty interesting, actually. He was kind of curious what a giant underground city might have looked like, maybe he could go ask the game store owner if he could look down at it? It just sounded cool.

There was a brief pause before the host continued speaking again, and once again, their voice was back to the soft and loving way it had been so many times during the broadcast already.

“You know, listeners, when Becky came to see me during the break earlier, I realized that Rolan’s- that new resident’s, if anyone forgot- perfect and beautiful black eyes really remind me of her. Just the never-ending deep abyss that threatens to pull you in the longer you stare into it… it’s truly amazing. I could stare at those gorgeous eyes for hours.”

What was he supposed to feel about that? He felt a heat rising to his cheeks as he sighed, and brought up his human hand to rub at his eyes. How was he supposed to deal with constantly being complimented on live radio? Also, calling your girlfriend a never-ending deep abyss sounded kind of rude. Unless she was literally just like a living black hole or something? It sounded disturbingly plausible that the host was just dating a literal black hole at this point.

“Becky is actually still in the studio with me, although she did refuse an interview when I asked. She’s now looking at me, or at least I think she is, it’s always a bit hard to tell, and I’m looking at her, and she’s beautiful. I think she would be blushing if she had blood. Oh, she just called me adorable! I don’t know if she’s close enough to the microphone that you all could hear that. You’re adorable too, babe.”

Rolan did hear something right as Becky apparently spoke, but it definitely didn’t sound like a human talking. It sounded more like some sort of indescribable humming or static, like the sound a broken TV makes when you try to get it to work. Also, Becky didn’t have blood. Good to know.

“Unfortunately, dear listeners, it is starting to get very late. And as much as I enjoy sitting here, talking to you sweetly to all of you out there, it is time for all of us to settle in for another clear and beautiful evening here in Galloway. I hope all of you have someone to sleep through it with, or at least good memories of when you did. Good night, listeners. Good night.”

Their voice quieted down slowly, until it was barely above a whisper, and then it cut off completely, and Rolan was left alone in the silence of the house he was now living in. A few seconds of silence passed, and then the radio started playing a song instead, a random pop song he was sure he’d heard somewhere before.

He was left feeling… oddly empty. Like without the radio host’s voice in his ears there was now something missing from deep within him, leaving him feeling hollow and cold. There really had been something almost hypnotizing about the way they spoke, he just wanted to hear more of it.

The feeling subsided slowly, as the minutes passed without the radio host’s melodic voice, and eventually he was left feeling almost normal. Almost the same as before the broadcast had started. He doubted he was actually the same, though. It felt like there was something inside him, infecting him, slowly taking over all rational thought and leaving him just craving more of that slightly gravelly and beautiful voice.

Jesus, what the fuck was going on with him? Was the whole radio program genuinely just some sort of ploy to hypnotize this town’s citizens or something? Maybe. He wouldn’t put it past this place. Or maybe there was just something about the host that stuck to him, in the same way that there apparently was something about him that stuck to them.

He shook his head and finally stood up from the couch, turning off the radio that had once again gone back to playing just some random music. It was starting to get late and he should probably start heading to bed, and then… tomorrow he’d go see Rand. Ask him about the radio host, figure out what the fuck was their deal. And maybe figure out a bit more of what this entire town’s deal was as well.

Chapter Text

Without a doubt, one of the weirdest parts about Galloway was just how normal it seemed at first glance. Which, yes, sounded like an absolutely insane thing to say about a town with hooded figures nobody was allowed to acknowledge, Secret Police that sometimes stole children, and a radio news broadcast where the host very publicly confessed their love to a complete stranger like it was no big deal, but outside of all the insane things, things were basically the same as they would be in any other small town in the middle of nowhere.

The people were friendly, if not a bit wary of outsiders from what Rolan had seen so far, there wasn’t just, like, a ton of destruction and chaos everywhere like he’d first expected when arriving into town, and really, the place just seemed like a… small, nice, friendly community, that just also happened to include inhuman horrors and plenty of unnerving government conspiracies.

Especially now, during day-time, Rolan didn’t feel unsafe or anything just walking outside. Maybe he was just losing his mind very quickly, or the radio broadcast from the previous evening had genuinely just hypnotized him into viewing everything about this town as normal, but he was already mostly getting used to all the unsettling and frankly terrifying parts of the town he was now living in.

The actually dangerous and terrifying parts of his environment didn’t scare him, at least not as much as they probably should have. Instead, now he was facing one of his oldest, most ridiculous, and extremely normal fears: Meeting and talking to new people.

Namely, Rand’s family.

It wasn’t anything special, he was just going to see Rand, but since the other still lived with his parents (no shame in that, Rolan hadn’t asked directly but he was pretty sure it was for mental health reasons), that meant he was also going to have to see his family. And the thought was frankly terrifying.

He wanted to make a good first impression, especially considering his stupid fucking crush on the other man, but he honestly just had no idea how to do that. Especially since he had no idea what Rand’s family was actually like. He’d mentioned them only in passing, never going into detail about anything even when Rolan asked, which meant that Rolan had no way to really prepare for the meeting.

Especially knowing what Galloway was like, there was really no way for him to even try and guess what kind of people they might have been like. Or… if they were even people. He knew better than to expect even that level of reasonableness from this town by now. And Rolan had frankly just never been good with any kind of authority figures because of his own fucking helicopter parents, being around basically anyone that had even a little bit of authority over him immediately made him way too anxious and hyper aware of everything he did that might have made them upset.

He kept telling himself that everything was fine. That if Rand’s family was completely insane or something, then surely the other would have mentioned it. Would have given Rolan literally any warning. But at the same time, it was Rand. And this was Galloway. Rolan didn’t really trust either to have a reasonable standard for what counted as insane.

He reached Rand’s home fairly quickly, a simple, slightly run down wooden house that clearly needed some basic repairs done, but was far from looking actually abandoned or something. Even if it was clearly a bit old, it still looked homey. Much more than Rolan’s own place did, at least.

As he walked through the front yard, he noticed a fairly big, clearly hand-built dog house, with a black, medium sized dog laying partly inside it. Rolan didn’t really know anything about dogs or different dog breeds, but it looked like maybe some kind of lab mix? He wasn’t at all sure.

The dog was staring at him with big, brown eyes, tilting its head to the side a bit like it was trying to get a read on him. Rolan almost subconsciously tilted his own head to mimic it, which caused the dog’s tail to wag a little, its tongue flopping out of its mouth as it walked up to him.

As it got close to him, Rolan knelt down to be closer to it, reaching his human hand out for the dog to sniff at. Looking at it closer, he could see the several gray hairs mixed in with the black fur, showing the dog’s age, as well as a red collar around its neck with a small, diamond shaped dog tag on it that had the name 'Barcode' written on it.

“Hey there little guy. I’m Rand’s friend, please don’t bite me.” The dog didn’t seem inclined to do so, it just licked his hand a couple times after sniffing it. If Barcode was supposed to be a guard dog, it definitely didn’t seem to be too good at its job, but at least it was cute.

Just as Rolan was starting to finally feel a bit more relaxed, maybe even a little bit reassured about the whole “meeting Rand’s family” thing, Barcode walked away, before returning to him with a clearly pretty well loved tennis ball that it dropped at his feet. Rolan picked it up, trying not to feel too disgusted by the dirt and drool covering it, and gave the dog a questioning look.

“You want me to throw this for you?” Its tail began wagging even more, and its feet patted around with no real direction a few times, before it… barked.

It made the movements of barking, raising its head up a bit and opening its mouth, it looked like the dog should have barked. The sound that definitely came out wasn’t a bark, though. It was indescribable, like a high-pitched screech, or nails on a chalkboard. Just a horrible sound that physically hurt to hear, definitely not any kind of sound that a dog should be making.

He winced at the sound, dropping the ball on the ground as he went to cover his ear with his hand, which then caused the dog to drop to the ground, a sorry look in its eyes as it stopped wagging its tail and just stared up at him, its head hanging close to the ground. Rolan just shook his head and sighed, he probably should have expected something like that, huh? A seemingly completely normal dog, of course there had to be something weird about it.

“It’s fine, you probably didn’t mean for that, huh?” He gave the dog a few scratches behind its ear to hopefully make it clear that he wasn’t upset with it, which caused the dog to begin wagging its tail again, leaning into his touch.

They only stayed like that for a few more seconds, though, before Barcode stood back up again. It licked his hand a couple times again, grabbed the tennis ball off of the ground where Rolan had dropped it, and walked back over to the dog house. He watched as the dog laid back down, curling around itself with its eyes closed, before standing up himself as well, and walking the rest of the way through the yard to the house.

He hesitated at the front door, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, before slowly reaching over and pressing his finger to the doorbell. No going back now, then. There was a short moment of nothing, before the door opened, revealing a… shockingly normal looking older woman standing inside.

She had a kind smile on her face, slightly grayed brown hair, and she was wearing jeans and a simple blouse. She looked like just a perfectly normal sixty-something year old woman, whose only really unusual trait seemed to be just how unaffected she was by Rolan’s bug features.

“Oh, hello there darling, how can I help you?” She spoke with a thick southern accent, her gentle smile somehow even reaching her voice as she spoke. It almost managed to push down Rolan’s fear and anxiety, somehow.

“Uh, hi, I’m… looking for Ra- uh, Tim? Timothy?” He barely caught himself on time to use Rand’s first name instead, calling him Rand to whom Rolan could only assume was his mom would probably just be weird. And confusing.

“Oh, you must be Rolan! Come on in, gosh, it’s so nice to meet you, I was so happy to hear that Timothy had made a new friend! He really doesn’t socialize enough, you know, I was starting to get worried. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the friends he has, but-” She continued speaking, quickly devolving into just excitedly rambling about practically nothing. Rolan could definitely tell where Rand got that particular trait from.

He followed her inside to a warm and homey entryway that almost perfectly matched the exterior of the house, a smell of something almost sickly sweet in the air. Rolan felt an odd and sudden nervousness overtake him as the front door closed behind him, he couldn’t describe it, but something just felt… off. It was the same feeling the rest of the town gave him, of just everything seeming normal at a first glance but there being just something wrong right underneath the surface.

And as soon as he started looking for what that wrongness might have been, he noticed it. There were small, black insects scurrying across the floor and walls, not so many that it was immediately noticeable or disturbing, but enough to be worth noting. They seemed to be different types of bugs, flies and beetles and centipedes and God knows what else, all moving around the small entryway, letting out odd clicks and buzzes as they moved.

Just as he was trying to decide whether or not to point them out, if doing so might be considered rude, the insects suddenly just… stopped. They all froze for a few seconds, before they began to move again, this time all in the same direction with an almost frightening speed. More and more of them kept appearing, down the stairs and out of the open doorways, as they slowly began to combine together into a huge mass of what must have been thousands of different bugs and arachnids.

The mass they formed started off mostly featureless, just a huge pile of insects, before it began to shift into a humanoid shape, those black, tiny creatures joining together to form humanoid arms and legs, a torso, a head, they even created an illusion of clothes and hair onto the person they were shaping to become. In just a few seconds, they’d gone from just a bunch of individual bugs, to a huge pile of bugs, to now what one could maybe mistake for just a normal person. If one was somewhere very dark. And couldn’t hear the constant skittering of the insects.

Rolan continued to stare at the… person? In front of him for a bit, while they- it- they?? She? The figure almost looked like a preteen girl or something, maybe she, but it was formed of a bunch of bugs, so they? In a literal sense? Should he just ask? Would the creature even be able to answer? Creatures?? How the hell was he supposed to address something like-

“He- hello- hello Rolan- Ro- Rol- Rolan.” It spoke in a voice that was nearly physically painful to hear, switching from what was barely distinguishable from the clicks the bugs had made individually but just louder to a chorus of hundreds, maybe thousands of different voices speaking as one in what was barely a whisper, before eventually settling on a regular girl’s voice as it- they- she- whatever spoke his name. Rolan could only watch, downright impressed as its face moved in an imitation of a mouth, the bugs scrambling over each other in what must have been a well rehearsed and communicated dance of almost perfectly mimicking an actual human being.

“Uh… hi?” He waved at the thing a bit awkwardly, and it waved back, an oddly hypnotizing feel to the way it moved and shifted in front of him. Rand’s mom walked next to the being, the same happy smile still on her face, not wavering even as a couple of the insects split off from the main group and began climbing over her instead.

“Oh, this is Rachel, Timothy’s little sister! She’s such a bright young girl, has been top of her class for over fifteen years! Of course, we’re so incredibly proud of Timothy as well, even if his strengths aren’t quite in the academics, but he has those dragons and conspiracies of his that he’s so passionate about.”

Rolan just nodded along with a polite smile, like what she was saying was making any actual sense, and like he was actually paying attention to it when her… daughter was still just standing there, the bugs that made her body skittering around, he swore he saw one of them crawl into the older woman’s ear.

He let her keep going with her ramble for a while, a few minutes, maybe, but he barely caught any of it. Especially when some of the insects began crawling towards him, as well, and he had to try and focus on shaking them off and stepping away from them without actually killing any of them. He didn’t really know if killing them was bad, but the last thing he needed right now was to get thrown out of the town for murder or something.

After a few minutes of the slightly awkward, extremely disturbing and mostly one-sided conversation, Rand’s mom just suddenly let out a slight gasp- at which a couple of the insects crawled into her mouth, although she didn’t acknowledge them in any way- and slapped her hand to her forehead.

“Oh, gosh, I went on a tangent again, didn’t I? I am so sorry darlin’, sometimes this just happens, you should go ahead and go see Timothy now, that’s why you’re here, right? His bedroom’s in the attic, just take the stairs up and look for the latch on the ceiling with the ladder leading up to it. It’s right in the hallway, you can’t miss it.”

He nodded, side-stepping again to avoid some of the insects, giving her his best attempt at a genuine smile.

“It’s no problem at all, uh, Mrs. Rand. I was hoping to meet Tim’s family, and… I- well- I certainly met you two? But, yeah, I’ll- I’ll go ahead and go see him now, uh, nice… talking to you both.” She smiled at him, which was getting increasingly more and more disturbing as nearly half her face was completely covered by the bugs at this point, while the now significantly reduced in mass girl -Rachel? Was that her name? He hadn’t really been paying that much attention- gave him a small wave again from next to her.

“Telll tell Ti m tell him we we I said hi.” She once again switched between multiple different voices, before settling on the same young girl’s voice from before. Shivers ran down Rolan’s spine as he waved back at her, before walking up the stairs nearby at a slightly faster speed than what might have been necessary.

Rand’s mom had been right, finding the ladder to the attic wasn’t hard at all, it was right in the middle of the upstairs hallway. Other than the ladder, the hallway also had four doors, which Rolan hesitated only a bit about before quickly peeking into them. One of them was a bathroom, fairly nondescript, while the other three seemed to lead into bedrooms. One was a simple master bedroom, with some pretty basic furnishings and decorations. The next door he opened had some glow in the dark stars stuck to the door, and the inside revealed a fairly normal kid’s room, with a single bed, some toys, Star Wars posters on the wall and books scattered on the floor. The final door lead to another bedroom, this one almost entirely bare of any decorations, just a bed, a dresser, a desk pushed against a window, and some nails and left-over pieces of tape on the wall from where something must have been hung at a point in the past.

Rolan closed the door before anyone could catch him snooping, and finally climbed up the ladder, trying to open the latch on his own at first before pretty quickly realizing that it must have been locked. Or there was just something on top of it, either way, he couldn’t get it open. He tried knocking on it a few times, but when a minute passed and he couldn’t even hear anything from above him, he just gave up, dropped back down, and pulled out his phone out of his pocket.

Im here

Let me in pls

It took a few more seconds still, but pretty soon after he heard what sounded like a lock rattling, followed by the latch finally opening, which let the smell of weed and a puff of cigarette smoke out directly on Rolan’s face.

“Hey man, uh… come up. Fast. I don’t want any of those fucking bugs getting in here.” Rolan did as he was told, climbing the ladder to the attic, after which Rand immediately pushed the latch to the room back closed and locked it again.

Rolan took the moment to look around Rand’s room. It was far more messy than the rest of the house, with a slightly overflowing trash can in the corner and some clothes on the floor, but it wasn’t that bad by any means. There was a room divider in the middle of the space, separating what Rolan assumed was Rand’s actual sleeping area from the space they were in currently, which had an old leather couch and an ancient looking TV, as well as some desks and… a lot of computers and other electrical equipment. Rolan had no idea what most of it was, but all of it looked pretty old and used as well, as well as hand-made.

“I’d recommend you close your mouth and eyes.” He turned to look at Rand as he spoke, mostly to ask why the fuck he should do that, which he then immediately regretted as Rand sprayed something onto him, most of it landing directly on his face. He really should have taken the other’s advice, as whatever it was smelled horrible, and tasted even more-so, Rolan couldn’t do anything but gag as some of it entered his unfortunately open mouth.

“Wh- what the fuck is your problem-” His complaint was cut short. The taste and smell was bad, sure, but what was far worse was how the thing felt on his skin as it got a few seconds to really sink in. It burned, like someone had poured acid directly onto his skin, or like there were paper cuts all over his face that were now getting rubbed with salt.

He did his best not to screech in pain, trying to rub the liquid off his face with his sleeve, nearly cutting himself with his scythe-arm in the process- he didn’t even want to imagine how the thing would feel in an actual cut- but it wasn’t doing much. He was mostly just spreading it even worse, and an actual scream did rip out of his throat as the bit that had sprayed into his mouth really began to take hold as well, it was torture. His mouth, throat, everything felt like it was on fire, it hurt, God it hurt so fucking much.

“Shit, you alright? That’s not really-”

“What the hell did you fucking spray on me?!”

“It’s just some bug spray! I asked if you had any allergies and you said no, why-”

“Did you fucking forget why I moved here?!”

He waved the scythe arm around a bit, gesturing at the antennae and mandibles, forcing his eyes open through the pain to see the realization dawn on Rand’s face. At least he looked apologetic when he realized, raising his hands a bit as a sign of defeat and grabbing a half-full water bottle off of the nearby desk, alongside a shirt that Rolan really hoped was clean off the floor.

“Shit… okay, uh, stay still? I’ll- I’ll try to get it off.” He sighed and let it happen, closing his eyes again as Rand poured some of the water on the shirt and used it as a makeshift rag to clean some of the bug spray off of Rolan’s face. It still burned like hell, but at least once he was done, it all felt a bit more manageable. Rand gave the rest of the water to Rolan, who used it to rinse his mouth of the spray as well to the best of his abilities.

“Fucking… God, you could’ve given me a bit more of a fucking warning!” Rand did still look ashamed- or at least Rolan was pretty sure that he did, it was a bit hard to tell when the other was still wearing those orange sunglasses even though they were inside- but it didn’t really do much to improve Rolan’s mood when his skin still felt a little bit like it was on fire.

“I didn’t fucking know you’d react like that, okay? Just wanted to kill any bugs that might’ve fucking hitched a ride on you.” He could just sigh, at least the worst of the pain was gone now, he didn’t have the energy after just moving yesterday to continue this argument. He might bring it up again later, but right now, he just wanted some peace and quiet with his friend.

“Jesus, alright, fine. I’ll drop you trying to use chemical warfare to kill me-”

“I didn’t know!”

“-let’s just move onto something else, okay?”

Rand nodded, and Rolan did so too, and then they both just sat there for a bit. There was an awkward silence in the air, shit, what should Rolan talk about? It was way easier to keep up a conversation over messages, they hadn’t even called too often before because of that very reason, what the fuck did you talk to people about? The weather??

He took another look around the room, trying to find any good conversation topics, but he couldn’t fucking think of anything. Okay, this was starting to get seriously awkward, he had to just say something already.

“I, uh… I saw your dog?”

“Oh, Barc? Yeah, he’s great, just showed up randomly like nineteen years ago and hasn’t left since.”

“...how fucking old is he?”

Rand just shrugged, didn’t seem like he really cared to know. Again, Rolan didn’t know anything about dogs, but he was pretty fucking sure they didn’t usually live past fifteen. Was he really even a dog? He definitely didn’t sound like a dog. But also, did it really matter?

“Fair enough I guess. Oh, also spoke to your mom, she seems nice.”

“Oh, fuck off, don’t you dare start fucking flirting with her or something, I’m not dealing with that shit from you too!”

“Wha- not like that! Rand, I’m literally gay!”

“...oh. Yeah.”

“Yeah.”

“Well my dad’s off-limits too-”

“I’m not- Jesus, I’m just trying to make small talk! I don’t wanna fuck your parents!”

“Alright, good! Great! Thank you.”

They quieted down for a moment again, and now Rolan was faced with a problem: should he bring up Rand’s… sister, or not? She didn’t exactly seem malicious or anything, but considering that Rand had nearly killed him trying to make sure parts of her wouldn’t get to his room… it didn’t exactly look like they had a great relationship. And Rand was clearly already feeling stressed enough just having Rolan in his room, and he didn’t really want to add to that-

“I’m guessing you talked to that fucking thing too?” In a town like Galloway, Rand definitely should have clarified exactly what ‘thing’ he was talking about. Rolan could think of at least ten different ‘things’ that Rand could have been talking about, but at least he was somewhat confident that he could guess the correct one.

“...your sister?” Rand flinched at that, his brows furrowing as he glared at Rolan, so much rage and disgust in his eyes that Rolan couldn’t help but shudder away from it. He’d seen Rand upset before, during their rare video calls, but not like this. Nothing like this.

“Don’t. Don’t you fucking dare call that thing my sister, I don’t give a shit what anyone says, it’s not her, if you call it her again-”

“Okay, okay! Sorry, not your sister, got it! I didn’t- that’s what your mom called her- it- I just assumed-”

“Yeah, well you shouldn’t have! That thing isn’t my fucking sister, and I’m- fuck, I’m so fucking tired of people acting like it is.”

“I won’t. It’s- sorry, I get it, I won’t… call it your sister.”

“...good.”

Rand relaxed, practically collapsing against the nearest solid object- which happened to be the extremely worn down couch in the room- letting out a deep sigh, before rummaging through his denim jacket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He took out one of them and lit it between his lips, before stuffing the pack back to his pocket. Rolan tried- and failed- to ignore how good he looked with the smoke blowing out of his mouth.

“...what is that thing, though? Why did your mom call it your sister if-”
“I don’t fucking know, okay? Can you just- just drop it, man. Let’s talk about something else. Literally, like, anything else.”

He nodded, chewing a bit on his lip- which he quickly regretted as the mandibles poked at it weird and caused a small trickle of blood to drip from it- as he tried to think of something else to talk about. What was there? He could always ask about some of the things in Rand’s room, but the other might take that as him trying to snoop or being weirdly pushy about his personal stuff or something. So what, what else could he bring up, what-

His mind went back to the radio show from the previous night. The uncanny and perfect radio host he’d run into at the grocery store, their love confession, their love confession directed at Rand, kind of just… everything about it. All of that felt like a pretty interesting topic of conversation, honestly.

“I, uh… listened to a radio broadcast yesterday? It was… weird.” Rand let out a somewhat amused chuckle at that, blowing a puff of smoke out of his mouth as he raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, the ‘Welcome to Galloway’ thing? Yeah, can imagine, what’d he talk about this time?”

“You don’t listen to it, then?”

“Nah, pretty sure I’m, like, the only one in town who doesn’t. Those radios are fucking listening devices for the town council man, I’m not risking shit for any broadcast. Don’t get me wrong, Kian’s nice and all, but-”

“Kian?”

“The radio host. Her name’s Kian, Kian Stone. And, like I was saying, they’re cool, I don’t, like, think he’s got any ulterior motives about this shit, but it’s just not worth it. Besides, she usually tells me if there’s anything I should know just one on one, so it’s not like I really need to.”

Rolan took a moment to really just… let the name sink in and connect to the person he’d seen, their voice, their… everything. Kian. Kian Stone, it was a nice name. Almost sounded like the stage name of a rockstar or something, which definitely fit what he’d seen of her. It felt almost weird to have a name to connect to the face now, a name that he could associate with the impossible smooth and pale skin, blonde curls, bright turquoise eyes. Kian. The name sounded almost like a prayer in his mind.

“You never answered my question.” Rand snapped him out of his thoughts, and Rolan had to shake his head to clear his mind out of… whatever haze he’d trapped himself in. Rand was just staring at him, one of his eyebrows raised, clearly a bit amused by Rolan’s reaction.

“Huh?”

“What’d she talk about? You know, you said it was weird, I’m just curious how weird. Like, typical Galloway weird, or the special flavor of ‘Kian Stone’ weird.”

…well shit, he’d kind of trapped himself into a corner there, hadn’t he? If Rand didn’t listen to the broadcast… he definitely couldn’t tell him about the host’s- Kian’s feelings for him, that’d just be a dick move. And on a more selfish level, he was maybe a bit worried that if he told Rand, then… Well, it was always possible that he had feelings for them as well. And even if it was extremely selfish, Rolan didn’t really want to risk losing his crush like that.

“Uhm… well, there’s apparently a new dog park opening in town? That… people aren’t allowed in. Or dogs. Or anyone. And that you shouldn’t even look at or acknowledge.”

“Sounds about right.”

“He said something about an airplane appearing in the elementary school gymnasium…”

“Oh, I fucking swear if that’s Deadwood trying to sabotage the little league again, I’m gonna fucking snap, they’re-”

“Rand, I doubt an elementary school level sports team would have the ability to cause an airplane to disappear and reappear somewhere completely different.”

“You don’t know that, those shits are crafty.”

“...sure.”

“Anything else? ‘Cause I’m gonna be real, that’s pretty much just… the standard. Not exactly super weird.”

Was there anything else, yeah, definitely. But Rolan had no clue whether or not he wanted to tell Rand about that. About their short interaction at the store, his love confession on live radio, did Rolan want to tell Rand about that? He didn’t know, and as soon as he started considering it, he could now only think about Kian’s horrifyingly perfect face, and the way their voice sounded while singing, and-

“You’re blushing.” Shit, Rand was right, wasn’t he? He could feel a heat on his face, why the hell was he blushing, how was he supposed to explain any of this to the other?'

“I- I kind of met him. Kian, uh, she didn’t, like, introduce themself or anything, we just- saw each other quickly at the grocery store last night.”

“Mhm?”

“And… she talked about me on the radio for a bit-”

“Oh, don’t fucking tell me-”

“He said she’s in love with me?”

Rand just groaned at that, bringing the hand that wasn’t holding his cigarette up to rub his forehead, very clearly disappointed by what he’d heard but not exactly surprised by it. Rolan was pretty sure he heard him mutter a quiet ‘not again’ under his breath, alongside several curses.

“This- that’s happened before, then?” He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. A part of him felt relieved that it wasn’t just a one-off occurrence or something, that maybe it was just a weird quirk of them and that her ‘love’ for Rolan would pass as quickly as it came, but another part of him was… oddly disappointed by it. Saddened by the thought of him not actually fully being in love with him.

“Yeah, a couple times… fucking Christ, you’d think he would’ve fucking learned after that last chick…” It sounded like he was talking more to himself than to Rolan, and Rolan made the deliberate choice to not ask what ‘that last chick’ had been like. Rand finally lowered his hand from his face again, and looked Rolan right in the eyes, much firmer and more serious than he usually seemed to be.

“Look, Kian- she’s a great guy, okay? They’re just- they’re passionate about shit. He falls for people fast, and he falls hard, but she’s not- he’s not gonna, like, be a pain about it, okay? Like, if you ask her to leave you alone then they will, he’s not gonna try to pressure you into anything. Just… be fucking nice about it, okay? Both for her sake and your own, honestly, ‘cause Becky’s gonna kill you if you hurt him, and honestly, I’m not gonna try to stop her. I don’t fucking care if we’ve been friends for years, I’m not taking chances with their well-being.”

“Yeah, got it, I’m not a fucking asshole, Rand. I just… didn’t really know how to feel about that.”

“I guess I can’t really blame you for that… but, also I mean, if you- I don’t know, if you end up liking her or- something like that, then, uh… good for you. He’s- he’s seriously an amazing person. Just don’t tell ‘em I said that, she’s gonna get so fucking annoying about it, but he’s… yeah. He’s cool.”

There was something about Rand’s expression as he spoke that made Rolan feel almost uneasy. He looked too… neutral, like he was very purposefully trying to keep up a poker face or something, and it was just weird. Mostly because he had no clue why Rand would be trying to disguise his expression, if it was because he was lying about Kian being nice or something- probably not, why would he lie about that- or if he maybe also had feelings for Kian and was trying to hide that, or if it was something else.

A more hopeful, lovesick part of him wanted to believe that maybe he was jealous over the thought of Rolan having feelings for her. That maybe he was into Rolan like Rolan was into him. He didn’t dare even consider that option too seriously.

“Yeah, I mean they… seemed nice. I just don’t really know her yet.” Rand nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer, before standing up from the floor and putting the cigarette he’d been smoking out on an ashtray sitting on his desk.

“I can, like, properly introduce you two if you want, I guess? Kian and I, uh… we know each other pretty well, and she usually comes to see me at least every couple days, so if you’re in luck-” He was cut off by a sudden knock on the window, which scared the shit out of Rolan, but seemingly not Rand. He just sighed with a small smile, which probably meant that this was a common occurrence, while walking over to the window.

“Speak of the devil, I guess.”

Rolan tried to lean over to look out of the window, but with Rand now standing in front of it, all he could see was a small bit of blonde hair and a little bit of just general scenery. He heard the sound of a lock opening- and then another, and another, and then some kind of passcode being entered, before one last lock and then a latch, how fucking paranoid could Rand possibly be- before the window opened, and he heard a small thud as black platform boots hit the wooden floor of the attic.

Rand stepped a bit further away, and Rolan got to fully see the person- Kian- again. He could immediately feel his heart leap to his throat, every instinct in his body fighting against each other as he looked at the person in front of him, unsure whether he wanted to hide or run away or spend the rest of his life staring at him or just go over and fucking kiss her.

The pale, impossibly smooth skin, like that of a porcelain doll. Features that were so close to being human but fell just short, eyes that were just a bit too round, hair that moved like it was animated rather than real, movements smooth and unnatural. Every piece of her screamed uncanniness, like a hyper-realistic animation of a person brought to life. It was uncomfortable and somehow mesmerizing enough that it took Rolan a few seconds to even notice how flamboyant the clothing they were wearing was, even when usually that would have been completely impossible to ignore.

He had on bright and over-the-top makeup like you’d typically only see on someone performing on stage. A deep red flapper dress that sparkled with each movement, and on top of that, the same white leopard-print coat that he remembered her also wearing the day before. Black stockings that had some kind of moth pattern on them, and black boots that reached all the way to his knees. And so much jewelry. He counted at least seven necklaces, rings on each finger, and maybe ten different bracelets. There were even some jewels braided into their wild, curly blonde hair, and he was moving so fast constantly that Rolan couldn’t even begin to count how many earrings she had.

“Hey, dude! Holy shit I’ve got so much stuff I gotta tell you about, wait, no, first, how’re you?” He talked fast, her melodic and somewhat raspy voice sparking something inside Rolan just like it had the previous night when he was hearing it from the radio. Like their voice was the only thing in the entire world that could have mattered, like it was the only thing he ever wanted to listen to. No, what the fuck was he thinking? Jesus, he needed to get a fucking grip.

“Ki, I love you, man, but chill out a little, okay? You’re kinda being a lot right now.”

“Sorry, sorry, shit, there’s just so much shit that’s happened since yesterday, man! Oh, first, there’s a new-”

“-new resident? Yeah, I’m aware.”

Rand gestured towards him, and Rolan felt a heat rising to his cheeks as Kian turned around to face him, confusion on their face at first, before realization and recognition dawned on her. Rolan just gave him a small and awkward wave at them, trying to act even a little bit casual.

“Uh, hi? We… met at the store yesterday.” As if he wouldn’t remember the interaction after publicly talking about it on live radio. Kian just blinked a few times, looking between Rolan and Rand in clear shock and confusion.

“You… know each other?” Rand nodded, grabbing two cigarettes out of the pack he had, and tossing one of them at Kian and lighting the other himself, before shutting the window that Kian had climbed in from and locking it again.

“Yeah, I told you I had an online friend who was moving here, didn’t I?”

“Well, yeah man, but I didn’t know it was him.”

Rand just sighed, blowing a puff of smoke into the- frankly by now, barely even breathable- air, while Kian also started lighting his own cigarette. It was almost hypnotizing, even that small act, the flame flickering against their face as she sat down on the floor a bit further away from Rolan than what was necessary, a light blush on their cheeks.

“Kian. I tell you that I have a friend who’s moving to town and less than a day later someone new moves into town. Nobody ever fucking moves in here. How do you not connect the dots there?” The blush on Kian’s cheeks deepened as he pouted slightly, clearly embarrassed by the way the conversation was going.

“I don’t know, dude! You didn’t tell me what he looked like or anything!” Rolan almost felt bad for them, but also, Rand wasn’t really wrong. She probably should have been able to realize that there was a connection between Rand’s online friend and Rolan.

“...I did also mention that I’d moved here because I had a friend who lived here, so… I feel like that should have helped you figure it out.” Kian just groaned now, looking away while still pouting like a little kid, wringing her hands together as he seemingly tried to think of something to say.

“Well- that’s- fine, okay, I fucking considered it, but I kinda also didn’t really want to think that you were Rand’s cr-” They were cut off by Rand suddenly being at her side, covering their mouth with his hand, a panicked look on his face. It was pretty clearly a bad idea, though, since Rand had apparently forgotten about Kian also having a cigarette in his mouth, and he immediately pulled his hand back away as the sound of sizzling and the smell of burnt meat filled the room.

“Ow, fuck!” He was holding his hand while continuing to swear, and Rolan kind of just felt frozen. The whole thing had happened so fast that he barely had time to register any of it before it was over, he was still kind of stuck just trying to figure out what the fuck Kian was going to say before Rand interrupted them. And Kian herself didn’t seem to be doing much better, eyes wide in shock and his body tense, though he did seemingly recover before Rolan did.

“Shit, sorry, dude. You okay?” She leaned over Rand, gently grabbing his hand to inspect the burn, while Rolan also managed to shake himself out of the shock of just everything and move over next to the two of them. The burn was small, obviously, but it did still look pretty painful, and while it wasn’t really something Rolan had particularly much experience with, he was pretty sure cigarette burns got infected easily. They should probably figure something out to take care of it.

“It’s fine, both of you stop fucking hovering over me like I’m some injured fucking baby animal or something!” They did back off a little to give him some more space, and Rand sucked in a few breaths, before standing up and stumbling over to his dresser. He began to dig through it, throwing the clothes inside on the floor with little care, before pulling out a small first-aid kit and settling down on the floor again with it.

They sat in silence while Rand took care of the burn, working too fast for Rolan’s brain to really keep up with it, but before too long his hand had a small bandage on it and he was stuffing the kit back into the dresser. He sighed as he collapsed back onto the floor, and Rolan and Kian just looked at each other a bit awkwardly.

He should probably say something. Just… start some kind of conversation, get to know her a little, at least. How? How was he supposed to just get to know someone who had met him once and had already professed their undying love for him? He was usually pretty good with people, he knew how to get others to feel comfortable and how to carry a conversation in normal situations, but there was absolutely nothing normal about any of this.

“Uh… I listened to your broadcast last night?” That seemed like either the best or the worst way to start the conversation. They could either have an actual proper conversation about something that Kian was clearly pretty passionate about, or she’d just realize that he knew about the fucking love confession and feel too embarrassed to even talk to him anymore.

Seemed to be the first option, though, since their eyes once again fucking literally lit up as she leaned forward with an almost too-wide smile, looking at Rolan expectantly.

“You did? Did you like it? What was your favorite part, oh, what about least favorite? I should get some proper feedback, any time I ask anyone else they either just look away and act like I’m not there or just start talking about how they loved everything and neither of those are very helpful so-”

“Kian, slow down, you’re talking way too fucking fast.”

“It’s- it’s fine, uh, I liked your singing? The… song during the weather report, it was… it was good. Kinda sad, but in a nice way.”'

Kian was absolutely beaming at the praise, she looked like they were just genuinely glowing from how excited they were. His eyes were sparkling, her lips were curled in the most perfect smile that Rolan had ever seen, and fuck, he was pretty. Even if they were definitely kind of weird and unsettling, Rolan couldn’t lie and say that she wasn’t the prettiest person he’d probably ever seen.

“Thanks, dude! I wrote it myself, uh-” Some of the excitement seemed to fade as he turned to look at Rand with a bit of hesitance, and Rolan didn’t have to think too hard to figure out why. The song had almost definitely been about Rand. And Rand… presumably didn’t know about it. And even if Kian hadn’t seemingly had any problem letting the entire town know about his feelings for Rand, it was probably very different to actually let Rand know about it, especially now that Rolan knew Rand didn’t listen to the broadcast.

"What song was it? Like, is it one I've heard before?" Rand asked, seemingly either completely unaware of the nervousness radiating off of Kian, or just willingly ignoring it. Kian's cheeks got a slight dusting of pink on them as she looked down for a moment.

But the show of discomfort was gone as soon as it appeared, Kian smiled just as wide as he had earlier, flashing their perfectly white teeth to Rand. It was… fucking unsettling. Everything about Kian was unsettling, the way they moved and spoke and looked, and now even the way he was seemingly able to hide her emotions perfectly within seconds. Rand hadn't seemed to even notice the shift in their mood, or was he just used to it and didn't think to question it anymore?

"Yeah, man, it's that song I showed you, like, a week ago! You know, the one about getting your mind stolen by an alien hivemind looking to use your body to expand their control?" She lied so effortlessly that Rolan would have never known they were lying if he hadn't heard the song last night, and didn't know that it was absolutely not about what Kian was claiming. There was no tell, no nervous fidgeting or avoiding eye-contact or explaining too much or anything.

Rolan had gotten pretty good at telling when people were lying over the years. He had to be, he was- had been- a lawyer, after all. He needed to be able to know the facts of any given situation to have the best chances at helping his clients. But Kian gave off none of the tells that Rolan was used to looking for.

"Oh yeah, that one. I thought you said you weren't gonna play it on the broadcast, though? That it was too 'basic' or whatever?"

"Yeah, I know, dude. Just couldn't come up with anything else on time for yesterday's broadcast, had no other choice. It was either that or nothing, and you know station management would've fucking had my ass if I didn't do my job right."

"Sure. I don't know why the fuck you keep putting up with those assholes, honestly. Seems like more trouble than it's worth."

"Dude, you just worry too much, it's fine. I love the job, and the management threatens my life only a couple times a week or something! It's no big deal, everyone's got shit like that at work!"

Rolan probably should have pointed out that no, everyone absolutely did not have shit like that to deal with. Shitty management was one thing, but threatening an employee's life? And often enough that this seemed to be a repeating argument between Rand and Kian? Yeah, that shit wasn't normal.

But also, maybe it fucking was over here, since Galloway didn't seem to follow any rules about what was normal and acceptable. Who knows, maybe this was just how all workplaces in this God forsaken towns were! Which, Rolan was now very concerned about needing to get a job here. Maybe he could just find some work outside of town and suffer from the long commute each day?

What kind of work would he even be able to find here? He should have thought about that before moving, probably. There was a grocery store, but stocking shelves or operating a cash register might be hard with his fucking bug arm. Same with working in the factory he'd briefly heard about, he didn't… really know what went on in a factory, or what the work was like, but he imagined it required the use of both hands.

Rand would probably never trust him again if he started working for the secret police or any other government organization, so that was out of the question. Maybe he could ask Kian about helping him get a job at the radio station? No, actually, he didn't want to deal with that management. He had no qualifications to become a teacher either. What the fuck did people even do for work in small towns? Could he just open some small law firm here? Or would that put a target on his back?

He was getting side-tracked. And he also had clearly gotten too distracted by his own thoughts, since he'd completely missed Kian and Rand moving on from the previous conversation, and they were now instead having a lighthearted argument over some movie or TV show Rolan had never heard of.

There was something a bit upsetting about it, honestly. Just… that reminder that the two people he was sitting with had so much history that he could never really be a part of. And especially knowing that Kian was… kind of his competition for Rand, wasn't she? They both liked him, but Kian had known him for much longer, and Rolan hadn't even gotten to meet him in person until yesterday. If Rand was going to have feelings for either of them, Kian just made more sense to be the subject of his affection.

But that was an immature way of thinking about it. There was no competition, Rand wasn't some kind of prize that Rolan would need to fight for, he was just both of their friend. There was nothing to say he liked either of them in any way that wasn't platonic, and Rolan shouldn't expect that, either.

And even if Rand did like Kian back, it wasn't like that would mean he couldn't have feelings for Rolan as well. Rolan had never really explored relationships that weren't monogamous- not that he'd dated much at all, especially since coming to terms with his sexuality- but he didn't really have anything against the idea.

Who cared if the person he loved loved someone else as well, so long as they also loved him? Jealousy had always felt like such an alien emotion to him, it was as nonsensical as the thought of being upset over his friends having other friends as well. It just felt weird and possessive.

Not to mention that Kian pretty clearly wasn't into monogamy, either. After all, he was dating whoever Becky was, while being in love with Rand, and having a crush on Rolan. And even if Rolan wasn't really a hundred percent sure how to feel about Kian yet, he could at least see himself liking her as a friend if nothing else. Honestly, he could absolutely not imagine himself disliking Kian. Though, maybe that was a result of… whatever the hell Kian's whole deal was, and not how he actually organically felt, but did it matter?

Kian seemed nice. And, as he'd thought many times before by now, he was really fucking pretty. Which obviously wasn't the most important thing in a person, but Rolan wasn't going to lie and say it didn't add to their appeal. And Kian was also clearly very talented if his music was anything to go by, and just a kind person.

Though how easily he seemed to lie her feelings was… uncomfortable. If Kian ever lied to him, would he even know? Could he trust someone like that? Rand seemed to, at least, and Rand was usually really fucking paranoid and slow to trust people. Hell, he'd taken forever to give Rolan even just his age, he'd been so sure that Rolan could use that to fucking find out his identity or something. And he trusted Kian. So surely Kian had to be at least somewhat trust-worthy?

…maybe he was overthinking this. He knew that relationships weren't really a thing you could predict, so shouldn't he just go with the flow? Give Kian a chance, see if they click as friends, see if they can click as something more. See where things with Rand end up going, or if they'll end up going anywhere. It definitely sounded healthier than trying to micro-manage his relationships with other people. Or whatever Kian was.

He'd just see where things would end up going. And for now, he could enjoy hanging out with the two of them, and ignore how fucking weird his life had gotten just in the past 24 hours since he'd first gotten to this town.

~~~~~~~~

The sun was setting by the time Rolan finally said his goodbyes and left the Rand household. It was a bit of a process, having to reject Rand's mom's offers of dinner while trying to avoid the insects that were Rand's 'sister'- even if Rand had made it clear that killing them was fine, Rolan still felt a bit bad about it- and exchanging awkward greetings followed by immediate goodbyes with Rand's dad who was now back home, but he was able to leave the house soon enough, Kian walking alongside him.

At least Rolan had gotten an answer as to why Rand had seemed so worried about Rolan potentially hitting on his parents seeing the way Kian interacted with them. Kian was still laughing about how upset Rand had gotten as the door closed shut behind the two of them, his smile as bright and wide and easy-going as it had been all day.

They both give Barcode a few scratches behind his ears as they walk past him, a comfortable silence falling over them for a while. Today was… nice. A bit weird, but nice. Which, funnily enough, is about the perfect description for the person walking beside him as well. Nice, but weird as hell. And the more time they spend together, the more Rolan's starting to appreciate that weirdness as well. There's just a sort of charm to it.

"Do you want me to walk you home? It's getting pretty dark, I don't- I mean, I guess you'd know how to stay safe here better than me, but I figured I'd offer-" Kian waves a dismissive hand, giving him a soft and genuine smile, her eyes sparkling, his hair glowing like gold in the light of the setting sun.

"Nah man, I've gotta get to the station. The show's not gonna run itself, ya know?"

"Oh, it's tonight as well?"

"Mhm, it's on every night, same channel, same time, each and every day! Somebody's gotta make sure the folks around town know what's happening, after all."

That sounded… exhausting. And like a great way for Kian to burn himself to the ground. Every day? She seemed to speak pretty literally most of the time, so they probably meant genuinely every day. Did he not even get holidays off? Weekends? There was no way that was healthy. Even if Kian wasn't human, surely he still needed breaks like humans did?

Before he could voice his thoughts out-loud, though, they had arrived at an intersection, and Kian had stopped walking. He gestured to the path on their left, which seemed to go directly into the woods after just a small bit of walking.

"Well, I think we're gonna have to split off here, dude. At least, assuming you're going back to your home?" He nodded, shifting his feet a bit awkwardly, what was he supposed to say at this point? Just 'bye'? How was talking with Kian so much harder than talking with anyone else he'd ever met?

"It was- it was nice getting to properly meet you? I mean, uh- I- I had fun. Getting to know you. I'm… I hope I can see you again sometime soon?" He stammered through his words, but despite the awkwardness of them, Kian was absolutely beaming in excitement. His smile was just as wide as ever, but it felt like there was something a bit different about it, something more pure, more genuine. Or maybe Rolan was just imagining it.

"Yeah, me too! Oh, do you wanna, like, exchange phone numbers? So we can keep in contact?"

"Uh- yeah, sure."

Kian seemed to almost be vibrating from excitement, pulling out a phone from her pocket. It was a phone that Rolan was pretty sure would have been extremely cool for a teenager in the early two-thousands or so to have, a bright pink flip-phone with a bedazzled back and some charms hanging from it. Rolan could definitely remember some of the rich popular girls in his high school having phones like that back when he was a kid. Not that that was a bad thing, of course, even if it was a bit odd to see someone using a flip-phone in the 2020s. But then again, that was also by far not the oddest thing about Kian.

Once they'd finished exchanging numbers, they finally said their goodbyes to each other, going their separate ways. And yeah, Kian definitely walked just straight into the woods. Rolan was honestly regretting not offering to walk Kian to work now, who the hell knows what was in those woods? No, it was probably fine. Kian had probably walked the same road hundreds, or even thousands of times, there was no reason for Rolan to worry.

He simply continued his walk through town and back to his new home as the sun continued to set and the few street-lights began to turn on. Looking up at the sky, he could see starts starting to show in the darkness, depicting constellations that felt entirely unfamiliar to him. Though, he'd never really known much about them before. He had no clue if their weirdness was a result of Galloway, or of just his own ignorance after living in the city his whole life up until now.

He walked up the last few steps to his house right as the last remnants of sunlight started to disappear, fiddling with his keys for a moment before getting the door unlocked. He stepped inside, shut the door behind him, and switched on the light while kicking off his shoes.

He only managed to get one of them off before noticing the fact that he wasn't alone in the room. He felt his body go cold as his eyes locked onto the strange… thing on the other side of the entryway, his brain unable to make sense of it no matter how hard he tried.

It was just… nothing. A darkness without any stable form, that seemed to warp the space around it, small tendrils of pure nothing reaching out of the center mass, moving in erratic, seemingly nonsensical patterns. He could feel a deep, unnatural coldness set in the room, almost like everything was stopping and freezing around it as it pulsed and twitched like a living organ.

His eyes were glued to it, just like his feet were glued to the ground, his thoughts slowing and freezing as did everything else. There was an odd hum that came from it, almost like static from an old television, that embedded itself into his very being, settled into his bones with a heavy weight. There was something familiar about the sound, but Rolan couldn't place what, or how, or when, why, who, with how his body and mind seemed to slow and freeze around this… being.

He could only watch helplessly as one of the black tendrils reached out towards him, slithering through the air in jagged yet fluid motions- and that was a contradiction, but it didn't matter to this thing. It hummed, and everything around it hummed in response, warping and shifting and moving with invisible wind, slowly pulled towards the void inside his home, as it reached closer and closer towards him, before-

Rolan screamed.

The tendril touched him, and he was born, he died, he was born and he died and he saw a million lifetimes and a billion deaths, he witnessed a country be born and grow and then fall and then another and another and needless wars were fought and children were born and marriages were celebrated and a single tree was planted and it grew and grew and grew and it aged and then it fell with a soundless thud and a funeral is held for a man and his grandson is named after him and a little girl holds a kitten for the first time and an entire nation is destroyed and millions are killed and a forest grows over their graveyard as a fuse is lit and a meal is served to a family and the entire world is born and it grows and changes and dies and dies and is born and dies and is born and-

He fell to his knees, heaving, his entire body wrecked with tremors, sweat dripping down his back, his arms, his face. He felt broken, he felt alive yet dead, he saw the face of a child and then that same child dying a million times, he heard laughter and screams and everything. The tendril wasn't even touching him anymore, but he still felt all of it. He felt fire under his skin, felt water filling his lungs, felt what it's like to be born and die over and over.

"Sorry, that's never a pleasant experience. It'll pass soon, though, you'll forget most of it by tomorrow." He heard a voice, a distinctly human, female voice, a bit deep, strangely melodic, that seeps into his soul and refuses to leave. He coughed, and his body shook, tears streaming down his face as he slowly, carefully, looked up from the floor.

The nothing was still there, though it looked… different, now. It's form has changed- or maybe his perception of it has- it was still the same empty void, but there was a humanoid likeness to it that wasn't there before. Arms and legs and a torso and a head, only the silhouette of a person, but still something. Rolan stared at her for a moment, coughing a few more times, before speaking, his voice broken and raspy.

"You're- you're Becky, then?" He didn't know how he knew that. He didn't know how he knew that the humanoid void standing before him was Becky, or how he knew that her favorite color is purple and she enjoys metal music and long walks on the beach, but he did. He didn't know why he saw her differently than before. He didn't know how he could understand her. He didn't know why the world was no longer frozen around them. But it wasn't. And he knew now. And he knew to be afraid.

"Mhm, sure am. And you are Rolan Deep. Your parents are Nancy and Richard. 33 years old, worked as a defense attorney, lived in Chicago your whole life until yesterday. Complicated relationship with your parents, lots of acquintances but not many friends, no pets, no romantic partner. No serious crimes on your record, you stole a pen from a classmate when you were nine, though. You don't do much with your time, you have few hobbies and you don't like going out much. It was raining the day you were born."

She quieted down for a moment, before continuing.

"You got an autism diagnosis when you were ten, by the way. Your parents never told you because they didn't want you to feel different from other kids. Figured you'd want to know now. Also, your blood sugar levels are low, so do something about that."

Rolan could do nothing but stare at her, his mind scrambling to make sense of everything. Even if the world was back to moving at a normal pace, he was still struggling to catch up. This was Becky, or… Rebecca, Kian's girlfriend, and she'd just shown him millions upon millions of human lives, and she knew details about him nobody knew- wait, what the fuck did she mean an autism diagnosis? No, not the point. Definitely not the point right now.

"You- fuck, what the fuck was that?" Maybe he should have gone about asking a bit more nicely, especially considering everything he now understands and can't forget. The being in front of her might look more human now, but it's- she's not. She's something far more powerful, far more dangerous, far more terrifying. Older than humanity, older than the world, maybe. The kind of creature that gets worshipped as a god and deserves that treatment.

But he knew more as well. And he knew she might have been dangerous and terrifying and capable of ripping him to pieces without trying, but she wouldn't. Not unless he gave her a reason to.

"I don't have any other options, it's the only way I can get mortals to understand what I'm saying. Again, don't worry, it'll pass soon enough… or, well, some of it will. I made sure a few things are going to stick. But the things you don't need to know, you'll forget." Cool, that wasn't fucking terrifying at all. There was just an otherworldly, maybe fucking omnipotent being in his house, that could put memories into his brain that would then get taken away, sure, why the fuck not at this point.

"Okay- okay, sure, cool, sure. Can I know why? Why you need- I'm guessing you're not just here to get to know a new neighbor?"

"Oh, I basically am, actually. So, let's just get this over with…"

She kneeled down slowly, far enough away to not be touching him again- thank fucking God- as she spoke, her voice seeping the warmth that had started to finally come back to the room back away.

"What are your intentions with Kian?"

Oh, fuck. Jesus, fuck Kian, actually, for fucking professing their love for him on live radio. Was she jealous? Was she about to fucking murder him? No, wait, Kian also liked Rand, and Rand was still alive. Not jealousy, then, probably. Protectiveness? Rand had said Becky would kill him if he hurt Kian, hadn't he? Had he hurt Kian? Not intentionally, at least, but shit, how the hell was he supposed to know where Becky drew the line?

"I don't- can't- didn't you just fucking look through my entire life, don't you know that already?" She shook her head, the room chilling more and more with each passing second.

"I saw your life, but I could not see your thoughts. For me to do that, I would need to reach much deeper, and you would need to see much more, and unfortunately, that would fully, and entirely, break you. So, to avoid killing someone who to my knowledge is a perfectly innocent person, I will ask again. What are your intentions with Kian?"

"I- I don't know, okay? Fuck, look, he seems- she's nice, but I barely know them, I'm not- I'm trying to just go with the flow, I don't have any plans or intentions, I definitely don't fucking intend to hurt him, I just- I don't know yet."

"So you're unsure how you feel about her?"

"Yes? I mean, I- I do like them, I just don't know in what way, I-"

"And you don't plan on hurting him?"

"No! Definitely not, I promise-"

"Alright then. I'm glad to hear it."

She stood back up, and Rolan slowly, hesitantly, did so as well. Standing up, he was a fair bit taller than her, but it felt like she was still absolutely towering over him.

"I am choosing to trust you, Rolan Deep. But I'll be keeping an eye on you, and if you do anything to intentionally cause Kian pain, I will fucking end you. I've done it before, and trust me, I'll do it again if need be." He gave a shaky nod, and she stepped past him, close enough to almost touch him- close enough that he was scared she would- but luckily still far enough away that he didn't have to experience what had happened earlier again.

She unlocked the door without even touching it, turning around one last time to presumably look at him- though her lack of eyes made it a bit hard to say for sure- before stepping outside.

"I'll be seeing you around, Rolan. Don't make me regret my decision." He barely had time to nod his head before the door slammed shut behind her, and he finally felt like he could breathe again. He collapsed against the wall, sliding down until he was sitting on the floor, taking heavy breaths to calm his racing heart.

Chapter Text

Rand inhaled deeply, letting the smoke from his blunt settle into his lungs as he stared up at the sky. It was late, the stars were blinking like tiny lights above him one by one, even if they were a bit hard to see through the massive, bleeding, red cloud that had appeared over the town several months ago.

There was something equally comforting and terrifying about being on the roof. He was exposed, far more than he liked to be, an easy target for a monster or a member of the secret police. His only defense was the old shotgun he'd 'borrowed' from his dad, and a can of bug spray. He was vulnerable. He wasn't safe. That thought should have terrified him, and it did.

But the terror brought with it something familiar. The paranoia, the fear, the constant need to look over his shoulder, it was all he'd had for so long. He barely had a family, and certainly not one he could trust or rely on, and his friends…

He cared about them. He loved them, for fuck's sake, no matter how hard he might have tried not to. But to say that he could trust or rely on them… it was giving himself too much credit. Kian was too open with his heart, always had been, and Rand knew if he trusted her with too much, it'd be the same as trusting the rest of town with it all as well.

And Rolan was just… hard. Even in the past six months- had it really been that long- since he'd moved to Galloway, it felt like there was still a distance between them that he just couldn't seem to get over. Though, even that distance was a bit… comforting, in a weird way. It was familiar. It was reliable. It was safer than letting Rolan in fully would have been.

He didn't let people in. Not Kian, not Rolan, not his parents, not anyone. You couldn't, in a town like this. Where one wrong word could lead to him getting sniped by the secret police, where every day was walking on eggshells, where no matter how many times he looked through his room for hidden cameras or microphones, he knew they were still there.

He loved his friends. He loved them more than he could ever describe with words, and that was exactly why he couldn't trust them. Especially not with his love for them, because he knew, he knew, that his love wasn't reciprocated. He knew that Kian would have said something a long time ago if it was. And he knew the way Rolan looked at Kian, no matter what he might have said.

They'd be happy together, once Rolan just got his act together and actually fucking asked Kian out. And Rand knew there was no space for him in that dynamic. It was just better to not let himself trust them too much, when he knew that trust was misplaced.

He wasn't going to lie to himself and claim it didn't make him jealous. Of course it did, how could it not? His two best friends, his two crushes, dating each other and not him… it hurt. It made his skin crawl and it made him want to scream on most days.

But he wasn't selfish enough to get in the way of their happiness with his own shit. He knew, even if they didn't have feelings for each other, they would have never wanted to be with him. Why would they? Why would anyone? A paranoid hobby scientist still living with his parents at thirty-three, he wasn't exactly a catch. He should have been grateful they even wanted to be his friends.

His thoughts were interrupted by a rustle from the woods nearby. Within seconds, he was sitting upright, holding the shotgun in shaking hands, aiming it at the darkness. A second passed. Another. He didn't lower the gun until a full minute later, when he couldn't hear or see anything else.

He sighed, collapsing on his back, staring up at the clear night sky. A quick look at his- Rachel's- watch showed the time to be 11.57, only three more minutes. His eyes drifted to the small radio sitting on the roof next to him, still turned off for now.

It wasn't his. He didn't own a radio, he was probably the only person in the entire town who didn't. The radios didn't only go one way, and even if he trusted Kian not to listen in on his shit, no way he was trusting anyone else with the same. He didn't trust the radio. He didn't listen to it willingly. He never had.

Except for tonight. Maybe. He still hadn't quite decided, even though he needed that particular decision to be made two minutes from now. He'd spent most of the day with Rat, trying to figure out what the hell was going on with the swamps surrounding the town- because there was something different about them than there'd been just a few days ago- before getting home, and finding the radio on his windowsill.

Alongside the radio was a note, written in Kian's perfect, cursive handwriting. The note was stuffed in his pocket, the paper no doubt scrunched up and ripped from how roughly he'd handled it, but he doubted Kian would care. It wasn't like the note really mattered, but rather the contents of it. And even that wasn't much, shockingly.

Kian was a being of many words. Who could turn something that really only needed a single word to be communicated clearly to take up at least a hundred. The note, in comparison, was short. Just a few sentences, asking him to listen to the broadcast tonight. Reassuring him that he'd never have to do it again. That he could destroy the radio afterwards. Just for tonight, please, listen to the broadcast.

He didn't know what was supposed to be so special about today, or why Kian wouldn't just ask him directly. He had considered the possibility that maybe the note wasn't from Kian at all, and was instead some kind of trap laid out by the secret police or something, but… he didn't feel like it was. It felt like the note was from Kian, it felt genuine. He just couldn't explain why.

It was 11.59 now. Less than a minute before the broadcast started. He stared from the watch to the radio to the distantly blinking light of the radio tower. Half a minute. Twenty-five seconds. Twenty. Fifteen. Ten. Five. Three. Two. One.

His hands shook as he reached over, and pressed the radio's ON button.

For a moment, there was nothing. But after a short bit of silence, the radio crackled, and Kian's voice sounded from the old speakers, his tone neutral, almost chillingly so.

“This is a story about you, said the… thing on the radio, and you were pretty upset, because you hated the thought that everyone would hear what you were doing. Welcome to Galloway.”

A strange, uncanny theme song began to play, as Kian's words settled into his mind. He felt millions of eyes on him, and even if Kian hadn't said so directly, he knew what it meant. Who he was referring to. Why tonight of all nights he'd asked for Rand to listen to the radio.

Kian was right, he hated it.

The tune quieted down slowly before cutting out completely, as Kian began to speak again. “This is a story about you. You live with your parents, in their house on Willow Street, near the big oak tree."

Any hope he might have had about being wrong and this not being a huge invasion of his privacy were squashed. Yeah, Kian was really just doing a broadcast about him, apparently. Even though she knew he hated it.

He could have turned the radio off. He wanted to. He wanted to go over to that fucking radio tower himself, and scream at Kian for doing some shit like this to him. But he didn't, instead, he just laid there, and continued to listen, as Kian continued to speak.

"Occasionally your ‘sister’ will try to talk to you, whenever you run into her in the living room. You never respond. You used to be a good brother, back when she was still her, but not anymore. At night you can see the red light blinking on and off on top of the radio tower, a tiny flurry of activity against the implacable backdrop of stars and void. You’ll sit on the roof of your home, with the cicadas buzzing in your ears, watching the radio tower for hours. But only sometimes. Mostly you do other things. This is a story about you.”

There was something strange about Kian's voice. A hesitancy, a nervousness, almost a sense of fear to it. Rand worried, if only for a moment, that maybe Kian hadn't wanted to do this. Maybe they were being forced. But even if that was the case, did it really matter? It wasn't like Rand could do anything against the station management, there was no way he could help Kian even if she was being forced.

The thought made him feel almost as uncomfortable as the broadcast itself did.

“You’ve always lived in Galloway." Kian continued to speak, continued to talk about him to him and everyone else. "Your childhood memories are filled with trees and swamps and the buzzing of insects. You enjoyed solving mysteries, connecting the dots between different things to understand why things were the way they were. It was a simple childhood, maybe a lonely one, but you were happy.”

He was. Until he grew older, until he began to realize just how messed up the town was. Just how messed up he was. Sometimes he wished he'd never realized it at all, that he could have just been like everyone else and ignored the horrors plaguing the town he called home.

Why did he stay here? There was a whole world out there, he could have left whenever he wanted. Gotten in his car with the few belongings he had, and driven off somewhere, anywhere else.

But he hadn't. And he knew, deep down inside, that he never would. He might have hated this town, but he knew he could never leave. He would never be able to get out in any meaningful sense.

He shook his head, and focused back on the broadcast. Back on Kian, back on their gentle voice.

“You met a stranger, then a friend, maybe a best friend. The same person. Sometimes he helped you with your experiments, but other times you listened to her music. You treated them like a person.” He sounded nervous, almost fearful, and a small twinge of pain, of guilt hit him at Kian's words about herself. They weren't even particularly mean, but… still. 'You treated them like a person', that shouldn't have been noteworthy. It should have been the default from everyone.

Kian continued to speak, his voice almost rushed, like she was trying to change the subject and move on as fast as possible. And being on the other side of town, Rand could do nothing to stop them.

“One day you were coming home from a party at a classmate’s place, when you were supposed to be watching your little sister." No. No, fuck no, he couldn't listen to this, he didn't want to hear this. Kian sounded apologetic as she kept speaking, as Rand's entire body trembled.

"You came back to an empty house. You looked for her everywhere, you tried calling people, you tried so hard to find her. You went out to the swamps to look for her when nothing came up. That’s where your parents found you the following morning. But they didn’t find her.” They should have. They should have found her instead of him, it should have been him. She didn't deserve whatever fate she had faced, his little sister, his baby sister. The one he was supposed to protect. The one he failed so fucking badly.

“She was found eventually, but it wasn’t really her anymore, even if it seems like you’re the only one who seems to recognize that. Her body is a mass of insects working together to look like her, her voice a chorus of inhuman calls, and she hasn’t aged a day since then. Nobody else seems to acknowledge those facts.” …he didn't know how to deal with that. Kian was right, nobody else acknowledged it. Including him. The few times Rand had seen Kian interacting with 'Rachel' after her disappearance, they'd acted like he didn't notice anything was different. Like anything was wrong.

Why would she say something about it on live fucking radio but not to Rand directly? Why let him feel like he was slowly going crazy, as everyone else acted like that thing was his sister?

He didn't get a response. Kian simply kept talking, changing the subject once again.

“You live your life trying to ignore that now. You still try to figure out how things work, studying your strange hometown for answers. You do experiments nobody else seems to understand. Trying to find solutions. Sometimes they tell you what you want to know. Mostly they do not. When you are done, you go back home to your attic bedroom, and shut away the rest of the world. You do not trust it.”

“Except some time ago that changed. You do your experiments. But you can’t shut the world away anymore, not like before. Because you’ve made another friend, and he lives nearby now as well."

Rolan. God, he couldn't handle it if he'd have to listen to a bunch of Kian's yearning for their mutual friend right now. He was already feeling shitty enough, he didn't need to listen to his crush talk about how much she loved his other crush or some shit.

"He comes to see you sometimes during the evening. You told him about your friend. They met. You three talk sometimes. It’s nothing special. But it’s there." Nothing special? It was his entire fucking life, it was all he had anymore. It was special to him. It used to be even when it was just him and Kian, before Rolan moved in.

"You have two people who stop you from hiding away. And maybe you secretly want that as well, because you always let them in, always let them talk to you. By the time your first friend needs to leave for work, you’ve talked for hours. They work as a radio host. You never listen to the radio, you don’t trust it. You don’t know who might be listening from the other side.”

“But today, when you got home, you found a radio on your windowsill." They were up to actual current day now, then. He stared at the cloudy night sky above him, letting himself get lost in Kian's voice. "There was a note on it. The note asked you to listen to the broadcast. Just tonight, never again, you could destroy the radio afterwards."

"You considered it. Your friends didn’t come see you today. The red light on the radio tower blinked on and off in your peripheral vision, a message that was there and then wasn’t, and that you could never quite read. You took the radio with you onto the roof. You turned it on when it got to midnight. You might not trust the radio, or the government, but you trust your friend, you trust that she asked this of you for a reason.”

He did. Maybe he shouldn't have, considering who Kian worked for, but he did trust them. He was maybe the only person who actually did.

“Which brings us to now, to this story. This story about you. You are listening to the radio. The announcer is talking about you. And then you hear something else, the clicking of insects, and you know you should be afraid.”

He sat up, Kian was right. He could hear an unnaturally loud clicking of insects, the buzzing of invisible bugs all around him. He looked around him, more out of instincts than because he was expecting to actually be able to see whatever was watching him. His eyes drifted back to the radio. He might have been right, maybe someone really was listening to him from the other side of it.

“The radio, well it sits, on the roof next to you, that's all. You're afraid to touch it, you scoot away from it on instinct." He did. He looked around again, but couldn't find who might have been reporting this info back to Kian. "It sits still, and you look at it in fear. You don't want to be near it, you want to destroy it. It does not appear difficult to break. All you would need to do is hit it against the roof tiles."

He didn't want to be near this thing. Fuck, even if he did break it, there was no guarantee that that would stop everyone from knowing what he was doing. It'd just ensure that he couldn't tell what was being said about him.

He sat up slowly, stepping back towards the window he'd climbed out of in the first place. Right before he got inside, he managed to hear one last comment from Kian. "You do not break it. You decide, instead, to go downstairs, and see your family."

His room was blessedly quiet, especially once he closed his window. There was no radio, no Kian commenting on his every thought and action, nothing. He took a deep, shuddering breath, he could have just stayed there. In his room, alone, where he was safe. Where he could pretend that nobody could see him. Where he couldn't hear the constant buzzing of the insects that had ruined his life.

But Kian had asked him to listen. Just tonight, just this fucking once. There had to be a reason, there had to be a reason Kian would do this shit to him. His family would be downstairs, listening to the radio as well, sitting around the dinner table, eating food his mother had prepared. They'd no doubt heard what Kian had said. They'd be expecting him.

It wasn't like he'd been opposed to disappointing them before. But just tonight, just this once, he unlocked the trap door on his floor, and climbed down the ladder to the rest of the house.

The hallway was empty, quiet. There were no bugs around for once, it was only him. Climbing down the stairs, the sound of the radio slowly began to creep into his ears as he got closer and closer to the kitchen.

His mother was looking at the doorway with a hesitant smile as he entered. His father was only looking at his plate. He couldn't tell where the millions of insects that made up his 'sister' were looking.

"The kitchen is painted a pastel yellow, an outdated stylistic choice from decades ago." Kian sounded gentle, like he was speaking to a frightened animal. He supposed that was what he was.

"You squint your eyes as you enter, like the light hurts your eyes, but it does not hurt your eyes. Your family sits at the table. Your mom looks at you with concern, but you don't know how to reassure her, so you look away instead."

He hesitated, feeling out of place and unwelcome in his own home. He should have stayed in his room. But he was here now. Kian's voice continued to narrate his every action as he slowly walked over to the dining table, sitting in the only free chair available. "You sit at the table next to your sister who isn't really your sister, for the first time in several years. The radio speaks soothingly to you from an old radio set on the counter. It is telling a story about you, your story, at last."

He looked at the plate in front of him. It had been filled just as the rest of them had, with mashed potatoes and peas and some sort of meat. The table had been set for four. Had it been like that from the beginning? Or had his mom rushed to fill a plate for him as well when Kian had said he'd be joining them, worried about making him feel out of place?

He gathered a small bit of the potatoes onto his fork, bringing it to his mouth slowly. He didn't know what he was afraid of, but he was. The food was warm in his mouth. He couldn't remember when he'd last eaten something warm.

His eyes met the gaze of his father for a moment. He looked disappointed, he always did. Kian chose that moment to begin speaking again.

"A man sits across from you. You recognize him, vaguely, though he looks much older than you remember. In your mind he is in his forties, a heavy set man with brown hair and a square face, always with a beer in one of his calloused and scarred hands, the man who called himself your father. Except now, it's difficult to miss, he is far older than in your mind. You wonder if you should get a beer as well. Your father smells of cigarette smoke and sweat. You wonder if he ever held any love for you. You will never accept the fact that he still does."

He ignored Kian's words. He didn't know what else to do. His mother spoke up, and Kian spoke alongside her.

"You should eat with us more often." She said to him. "We miss you."

"'You should eat with us more often.' Your mother says. 'We miss you.'"

"You nod. She taps the table, a nervous habit you've picked up from her, she purses her lips and taps the table again. You nod again." A pitch black ant from the creature pretending to be Rachel has found its way to his plate, and is now walking across the peas he hasn't even touched yet. His eyes are locked onto its small form, the small amount of food he's eaten threatening to rise back up to his mouth. It's disgusting. He looks at the ant, and it's fucking disgusting.

"I'm not hungry." He spoke, and Kian narrated alongside him. It was weird. It was uncomfortable. He wanted to go back to his room.

"'I'm not hungry,' you say, unnecessarily, as you wouldn't eat with them even if you were. You do not eat with the insects. You hate the insects."

"Your mother looks at you for a long time, then lets her head hang, disappointed." She did as Kian said at the same exact moment he said it.

"You need to be kinder to Rachel, hon. She's your sister."

"'You need to be kinder to Rachel, hon. She's your sister.' You look away from her. You'll never agree with her."

That thing wasn't his sister. He didn't know what it was, but it wasn't her. His sister was gone, almost certainly dead, and it's his fault. The pile of insects next to him was nothing but a constant reminder of the fact.

"You sit still for a few moments, then stand up." Kian narrated as he stood up, copying the words he spoke as he spoke them.

"I*m going back to my room." Nobody said anything as he walked out, Kian's voice growing quieter and quieter as he left the kitchen behind.

"'I'm going back to my room,' you say, muttering it with no expectation of a response, then turn around and walk out of the kitchen."

He climbed up the stairs, the fourth one from the bottom creaking as he set his weight on it. He got to the ladder to his bedroom, climbing up the ladder with more rush than what was necessary. He shut the trapdoor behind him, locking the several locks on it, heaving for breath even when he shouldn't have had to.

The radio was still on the roof. He couldn't hear it, but he knew it was there. He knew it was still speaking of him. He sighed, cursed under his breath, and stood back up. He opened the window, and climbed out of it, back onto the weathered roof of his weathered home.

"As you get back up to the roof, the being on the radio says something about the weather." A song began to play from the radio, a slow, mournful melody that Rand had never heard before. A full minute passed before vocals joined it, Kian's equally slow and mournful lyrics filling the air around him.

Rand didn't pay attention to what they said. It was hard for him to even make out individual words from the song, never mind how they might have connected together. The song was probably about him. It'd make sense with the entire broadcast being about him. He didn't know how to feel about the thought of Kian writing something that sounded so depressing with him in mind.

The song came to an abrupt stop. The song didn't end with the music slowly quieting down before cutting out, the chorus repeating again and again at a lower and lower volume. It was just there one moment, and then it wasn't. And then Kian continued to speak. Rand stepped over to it, reaching his hands toward it. Had it gotten louder? It felt like it had gotten louder.

"The radio is on your rooftop, where you left it, and you get down on your knees and pick it up in your hands. It has gotten louder, almost deafening. It is still not hurting you."

He squeezed his eyes shut, a single, pathetic tear slipping down his cheek. He wanted to cry. Or maybe scream. He wasn't even sure why.

"It had taken you no time to get back to your room. Now that you think about it, were there any insects skittering in the hallway? Where did all the bugs go? The pitch black creatures that have haunted your life for the past fifteen years, they were nowhere to be seen. Your heart pounds."

He couldn't take this. His family, his home, Galloway in general. He couldn't handle this fucking town. He needed to get away. He didn't know where. He just needed to go somewhere, anywhere else.

His hands gripped the radio tightly as he stumbled over to the rusted ladder from the roof to the ground, the entire thing shaking from his weight as he rushed down it. His car doors were unlocked. He hadn't left them unlocked. The key was sitting on the driver's seat. He'd left it on his desk. He tried to ignore all of that as he got in.

"Without allowing another stray thought to wander through your mind and delay you, you rush down with the radio and set it on the passenger seat of your car. You turn the ignition, and your car comes alive with a concerning sound, just as the announcer says your car comes alive with a concerning sound."

He pressed on the gas, and began to drive. His heart was pounding, his head hurt. Why had he taken the radio with him? He didn't know. Why was he suddenly so panicked? He didn't know that, either. He just knew that he needed to get away. Far away. Far from home.

"Where to now? You don't know, but you go there anyway, a pair of headlights, a pair of eyes, and through shaky hands speeding through the silent night." He glanced at his rear-view mirror. "Behind you, you see mysterious, unnatural lights sweeping down onto your home. There is a soft hum in the air. A reddish cloud hangs over the town, weeping occasionally as it rotates. The whole works."

"You drive away from your home and family, where your parents are still eating dinner with a monster they pretend is their daughter, and Nerdy game store, which has taken to not only locking, but barricading its doors at closing time. You pass by the community house, which, as always, is completely shrouded after dark in black velvet."

"Moving farther out, following the pull of the distant, uncertain moon, you pass by the high school, where the students have been put away for the night, and Mr Dickman's house, where the only sign that the unassuming little home could be a place of residence for angels is the bright halo of heavenly light surrounding it, and the sign out front that says 'Angels Residence'. Then the town is behind you, and you are out in the woods and swamps. By the road you see a sign telling you you are now leaving Galloway. You hear a screaming as you pass by."

He did. He heard a scream that almost sounded like Rachel, or Kian, or his mom, or Rolan, or Rat, or his dad, or himself. He ignored it. He tried to.

"And then you are alone. Just you and the bayou." He couldn't breathe. He needed to get out. He needed to get out, or away, or… something. He didn't know. He just needed.

"You stop the car, and get out. Grass bends under your shoes in response to your movements. The radio murmurs behind the closed door of the car. The headlights illuminate an endless forest and the wide dumb eyes of some nocturnal animal. Looking back, you can just barely see the light of your Galloway."

His Galloway. His home. The only home he's ever had. The sky above the town was a bloody red, a sight both unnerving and familiar by now. What if this time it was Rolan? Kian? Rat? His parents? His sister? He shook his head. They'd be fine, they had to be fine.

"The red cloud, now floating over the heart of the town, reaches its tendrils in and out of buildings. You hear screams and gunfire." He paced back and forth, trying to calm his racing heart but failing to. He opened his car door. "You step back inside your car. The radio is even louder. You feel it shaking your bones. It still doesn't hurt you. You don't look back. You don't want to see the horrors that you know will always haunt your home. You just want to sit here, in the car, and listen to your friend speak to you."

His head hurt. His everything hurt. His ears, from the horribly loud sounds of the radio, like Kian was screaming on the passenger seat. His lungs, from struggling to breathe, from the feeling of panic overtaking him. His heart, from the grief, the pain, the knowledge that he could lose what little he had at any moment. His hands. His feet. His back, his neck, his face, his eyes, everything.

"The world shifts, like it was startled." He couldn't hear the screaming anymore. A moment passed in complete silence, he couldn't hear anything. He wasn't sure how long that moment was. A second, a minute, an hour, a year. He didn't know. He didn't really want to know.

There was a tapping on the passenger side window.

"There is a tapping on your car window. You turn and see a familiar man, wearing a dress shirt, with eyes as black as his hair, and lines underneath those same eyes."

He stared at Rolan, and Rolan stared back. He looked worried. He looked caring. Rand felt tears slipping down his cheeks. "You nod at him. He opens the door and steps onto the passenger seat, moving the radio onto the dashboard."

"How did you find me?"

"'How did you find me?' You ask."

Rolan glanced at the radio, and then back at him.

"Everything you do is being broadcasted on the radio for some reason. That made it pretty easy."

"'Everything you do is being broadcasted on the radio for some reason. That made it pretty easy.' Says the man, your friend."

Fucking obviously. Why had he asked? He didn't know.

"Yeah," he said, "I see that now."

"'Yeah,' you say, 'I see that now.'"

Another moment of silence passed. It felt both shorter and longer than the last one. He felt tired. He felt scared. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to go home, he wanted to run away. He wanted to be with Rolan and Kian, he never wanted to see them again. He felt scared. He felt safe. He felt everything and nothing all at once.

"Are you okay?" Rolan asked. He said nothing, what could he say? Rolan slowly opened up his arms, and Rand couldn't help but collapse into them.

"'Are you okay?' The man with black eyes asks. You say nothing. The man with equally black hair opens his arms, and you collapse into them."

"Yeah, thought so." He muttered.

"'Yeah, thought so,' says your friend."

"You sit in his arms, quiet sobs leaving your lungs with each breath. Your friend holds you, and your other friend speaks on the radio. His voice sounds strained. You don't understand why, but then again, you never understand her. Not when you were kids. Not now."

He wanted to scream. He wanted to curse Kian out for doing this to him. He wanted to pull him close and never let him go. He wanted, he wanted, he wanted. He cried, getting tears and snot all over Rolan's shirt. He was so fucking gross.

"'I love you,' says the friend speaking to you from the radio. 'I love you, more than you'll ever know.'" More sobs wrecked his body. What the fuck was he supposed to say, to do? He knew that Kian loved him. He knew. But he never quite believed that. And it was never quite how he wanted it to be.

"You don't know what to say." Rolan's arms tightened around him, his hands gently petting Rand's greasy, disgusting hair.

"Your friend who is with you pulls you even closer, holds you like your lives depend on it. Neither of you say anything. You think the radio host may be crying. Their voice is broken, wet, lost. He's repeating all of this aloud. You hear it louder than you've ever heard anything. You can't stop crying."

He wished Kian were here. Actually here, instead of just through that fucking radio. He wished he could have buried himself against both of them, forgotten how awful and pained he felt even for a moment. He wanted to be with them, both of them.

"For once, you don't feel alone. For once, you accept that you are loved. You cry into your friends arms, just this once. Life, isolated, lonely, pulls you towards other people. The red light on the radio tower still blinks in the distance and every message in this world says you're needed. It all makes sense and you are finally being accepted. You can't think of a time you've been sadder." His ears hurt. His head hurt. Everything hurt, all at once, he screamed against Rolan's chest. Rolan just continued to hold him. He didn't know what he'd done to deserve this.

"The radio abruptly goes back to its former volume. Your friend doesn't seem to notice. He rubs your back gently and soothes you as you continue to cry. His body is colder than your own, a nice, comforting chill in a world that seems way too hot otherwise. From underneath his skin, you think you can hear the crawling and buzzing of insects."

"I love you." Rolan whispered.

"'I love you,' says your friend."

"You wail against him. He holds you tight, tight enough that it almost hurts. Your eyes wander up, and you see his face, sharp and familiar and beautiful. A monstrous being that reminds you of everything you hate, with too many limbs and dark eyes and antennae sticking out of his forehead. Your best friend."

He looked beautiful. He couldn't think of any other words to describe Rolan with. His eyes were wide, surprised, confused. Beautiful.

Rand loved him so fucking much that it hurt.

"His face is so close to yours. You see him right in front of you. Maybe, even, if you reached over just a little, you could finally have what you wish for." Rolan glanced at the radio, opening his mouth like he was going to say something. He didn't have a chance to, before Rand finally did what he'd wanted to since Rolan moved into this horrible town half a year ago.

"You lean over." He leaned over, and pressed their lips together. Rolan gasped against him, shocked, scared, and for a moment, Rand felt nothing but dread and fear. And then he felt Rolan relax, as he responded to the kiss.

Rolan's lips were chapped, and Rand could feel his mandibles scraping against his skin. He didn't care. He pushed himself even closer towards him, chasing the feeling of his friend. Rolan, in turn, pulled Rand even closer as well. Like he was trying to pull him into himself, join their bodies together.

He tasted of blood, of earth, of something alien and unfamiliar. It was the best thing Rand had ever tasted. It was the only thing he could ever want. He barely even heard Kian's words as she began to speak again, his voice horrible quiet and strained in a way Rand could not understand.

"This has been your story. The radio moves onto other things. News. Traffic. Political opinions, and corrections to political opinions. But there was a time, one day, one single day, in which it was only one story, a story about you. And you hated it, because you never wanted to hear about yourself on the radio."

He willed himself to pull away from Rolan, locking their eyes together. There were tears in Rolan's black eyes now as well, and Rand brought his hand up to wipe them away. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. He let himself collapse back against Rolan's chest, feeling so horribly, awfully safe as his arms wrapped around him. He just wished Kian were with them as well.

"Good night, Galloway. Good night."