FellPoth Short Stories and One-Shots

The Road to Hell: Chapter 1

This chapter deals with some pretty heavy themes, so read the warnings and tread carefully.

The featured song is Farewell Life by Nights Amore and Arn Andersson.

Chapter Warnings: Domestic violence, depression, suicide attempt, swearing

***

"You're a real bastard, you know that?!" Lotus screeched as his housemate walked through the door. Rurik's star-shaped eye lights narrowed at his tone.

"What the hell are you on about now?" Rurik groaned and slammed the door, kicking his boots off and trudging over to the kitchen seeing as dinner wasn't prepared. The smaller skeleton followed him as he began rummaging through the cupboard.

Lotus shouted, "You know full well what I'm 'on about'! You were screwing around with my pansy cousin again!" Goth wasn't the only monster or human Rurik would fool around with by a long shot; his partner had always been promiscuous... but his cousin was definitely the one that pushed his buttons the most. Was his boyfriend really so dissatisfied with his presence that they felt the need to seek out someone that looked just like him?

"Oh stars, not this shit again," the taller grumbled, grabbing a bag of chisps from the cupboard when nothing else appealed.

A single red eye light wisped with agitated magic, "Yes, this shit again! You're always out at all hours of the day messing around or fighting, then you come home and expect me to cook, clean, and give you everything you want as if everything's fine! Why can't y-!" Rurik's temper snapped and their hand made contact with Lotus's face, cutting his tirade short and sending him to the linoleum floor with a throbbing mark on his left cheek.

"Don't you ever tell me what to do, you whiny little shit!" Rurik's voice rumbled; his expression grew darker as he glared at the cowering figure on the floor, "I'm the one in charge here, not you! One of your jobs in return for living under my roof is to have dinner ready when I get home... so yeah, I expect dinner instead of a lecture! In case you forgot, this is Underfell! If you're so damn unhappy with the way things are, then do the world a favor and go kill yourself 'cause nobody wants to hear it!"

Rurik stalked off to his room, slamming the door as Lotus remained motionless; the fight was completely sapped from him as he laid there, clutching his stinging cheek as he fought the tears welling up in his sockets. It took a minute before he was able to pick himself up from the ground and stagger to his room, flinching at the sound of crashing from his boyfriend's room.

Wrenching his door open, he stumbled through and let his back press it closed once more. Within the silence of his room, he slid down the wood, letting his tears fall.

What the hell was he even doing here?

That one was easy enough to answer. He spent the first sixteen years of his life being tormented and beaten by his parents; it was supposed to toughen him up and make him strong enough to survive the hardships of life. Unable to cope with the constant stress, he eventually ran away from home where he quickly found their LOVE had done nothing to prepare him for a life on his own. He was small and looked weak; a perfect target for bigger, stronger enemies. His only saving grace that fateful day in the alley had been Rurik happening by and running off the monsters trying to dust him.

Afterward, Rurik had given him a new place to call home away from his abusive parents. Lotus did everything in his power to show the other his gratitude, even giving up his first time when it was asked of him. A year and a half into his stay, they had agreed to start dating and things finally looked good; as the years wore on, though, the ex-soldier grew colder and more violent toward him.

Why wouldn't he? Lotus was useless... nothing but dead weight. Sure, he could cook and clean, but meals nowadays passed in silence if they even ate together at all. He made a decent income as a reaper, but Rurik really didn't need the money; the house was already paid off by an absent father and utilities were a non-issue. Put simply, he was nothing more than a burden; he had no purpose or ambition outside of pleasing his boyfriend, and he couldn't even do that right anymore.

His parents hated him and now Rurik was sick of him... was there a point in anything...?

'do the world a favor and go kill yourself'

The words echoed in his skull, driving him to a grim conclusion... that was the only thing left that would make Rurik happy.

Pushing himself off the door, he reached back to flip the lock before shuffling over to the worn desk next to his bed. Pulling out a piece of paper, he sat in his chair and began to write; the words flowed alongside his tears as he poured his final thoughts out onto the paper. Signing his name, he tossed the pencil and stood... the only question now was how he planned to carry out his final act.

Rurik kept all the medicine in the master bedroom's bathroom, and he was currently in there. Lotus couldn't stand knives and blood would just make a mess to clean up after he was gone, so stabbing or cutting himself was no good. His eye light fell on the closet and an idea popped into his head. Opening the sliding door and searching the shelves revealed a length of rope; it was an old prop previously used for the pair's 'roleplay sessions', back when he was still considered an appealing distraction.

Pulling out his phone, a quick internet search and some scrolling past pointless warning labels provided him with an easy tutorial for a hangman's noose; he followed the steps, throwing the end of his finished noose over his ceiling fan once he completed the knot and securing the end to a bedpost.

Grabbing a chair, he stepped up and grasped the loop in the rope, taking one last look around his room; it was sparsely decorated, only holding objects that held sentimental value to him and some books. One of the items, his most precious, was the first rose Rurik had gotten him; it was dried and pressed in a frame alongside a small picture of a grinning Lotus and a grumpy Rurik... it was also his last.

The evening had started off fine, but one mishap had gotten the proverbial ball rolling; one thing led to another and by the end of it, Rurik had stormed off in a rage, leaving Lotus alone at the table for hours before he finally went home by himself. They never went out again after that; it probably should have been his first sign... he supposed better late than never...

Slipping the rope over his neck, he was nearly startled off the chair when the door rattled with a resounding bang and a shout, "Lotus, you piece of shit, open the door!"

It was Rurik... no, he couldn't handle this; not now, not when he... he was so close...

"Just go away!" Lotus howled, his voice descending into a scratchy sob toward the end, "I'm giving you what you want..." Taking a final shuddering breath, he slammed his foot into the back of the chair, upending it and letting gravity take over.

Farewell, life...

***

Word Count: 1,225