A Sinner's Forgiveness (Alastor x Reader)

Chapter 14: Nightmares

| | Artist: Lanveril | Original Source: https://www.deviantart.com/lanveril/art/The-Devil-863187199 | Captioned: The Devil| |

It's so cold...

Your muscles refused to obey your howling instincts as you remained blinded by darkness. You tried struggling against the black sludge that consumed your entire body with fear. It was suffocating. The pressure exerted on your chest made it impossible to breathe. It felt like you were drowning in the ocean depths.

You pulled and pulled against nothing, becoming more panicked as your oxygen depleted. The darkness absorbed your violent swinging and other attempts at escaping. Just as you thought your vision was getting darker than the void itself, your head was yanked out into a blinding light.

You peaked around to find yourself floating in a sea of this black sludge under a sunless ruby sky. The only hint of life was the occasional deer corpses drifting along the void. The viscosity of the sludge decreased a little bit, allowing you to swim more freely. You didn't know where you were heading, but you forced yourself to keep moving so your fear wouldn't settle in.

Eventually you found some driftwood to rest yourself on. What happened to the hotel? Was I sent to a different circle or something? Just before you resumed swimming, the sludge thickened around you again. Your body stiffened as your shivering pupils landed on the rippling water nearby.

A bloodied figure emerged from the dark water. It was none other than Alastor.

A scream threatened to rip your throat, but an eldritch tentacle quickly covered your mouth. You continued to struggle and thrash as a multitude of suction cups hooked into your bleeding flesh. Alastor continued to drag himself through the sludge with his claws gliding against the nearby deer corpses.

His radio dials where now just inches above your face, staring you down with a deathly hunger. The combined strength of all the tentacles dragged you under, swallowing up your extended hand and ghastly screams.

Your chest jerked upward with sharp gasps. Your breathing steadied after realizing you were back in your bedroom. "Agh, another nightmare. What is this, the fourth one this week?" You pinched the bridge of your nose with a grumble, "...It's always about him..."

You stripped the sweat-soaked bedsheets and clothes to wash later. You showered yourself to dress up in fresh clothes. You wiped the steam off the mirror and reflected on your looks. The dark circles under your reddened eyes hollowed out your skull, making you appear malnutrition.

You ran a hand over your exhausted face, "I don't even know how to use makeup well..." Angel seemed like he could help cover up your zombie look, but then he would probably question why you were so tired. "Best not to say anything then."

You transformed into your Devil attire while hopping out the window. "It's only 02:00, I can kill some time with bounties until sunrise."

Your hunt was consistently interrupted by your racing mind. You kept thinking back on all the nightmares you've been having. So far, that makes it 4 this week. It was always about the battle, or how Alastor would kill you in numerous ways after breaking your heart. This often caused you to gain only a few hours of sleep a night.

And your only solution was to actively avoid sleep with bounties.

Shink. Your blade sliced through the crocodile demon's neck with a swing more violent than normal. You grumbled to yourself "I'm a coward, aren't I?"

Alastor accompanied Niffty's cleaning rounds for (Y/n)'s room to help out where he could. They heard the window slam open when (Y/n) gracefully slid in. She gave them a weak greeting, "Oh, morning guys."