𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝚁𝙾𝚂𝙴𝚂

Chapter 4

A/N: To help you better imagine the appearance of Y/N's curse, look up a picture of the Crooked Man from The Conjuring 2. I took inspiration from it, so imagine the curse's appearance similar to that.

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It was dark out now. The moon shone its dim light onto the world, piercing through the darkness. A boy with (h/c) hair tossed and turned on his bed. He was unable to sleep as unintelligible whispers filled his ears.

The whispers were followed by crazed cackling. His eyebrows knit together as the cackling gradually grew louder. Then, all went quiet. Unconsciously, Y/N grabbed hold of his blanket, clutching it tightly in his fists.

Out of the dreadful silence, a deep, gravelly voice began to slowly hum an eerie tune. Heavy footsteps accompanied the tune, getting louder and louder.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are... You can't hide..."

It went silent again...

The only sound that pierced through the silence was that of a beating heart. Just then, a figure began to emerge from the curtain of darkness. Its mouth curved into a twisted grin.

"Not even in your dreams."

Y/N sprang up from his bed in a cold sweat. His breathing was heavy, his eyes wide with fear. His eyes darted around his room, expecting that figure to once again be in his room. But he was relieved to see it nowhere in sight.

He tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths. Gradually, he got his breathing back to normal. When he looked down at his hands, he could see that they were shaky. He was feeling on edge, goosebumps running up his arms.

The figure was the very same one Y/N had seen before. Regardless, it still filled him with fear. He pushed away his blanket and got up from his bed. His eyes darted all around him, cautious of his surroundings as he made his way to the bathroom.

Down the hall, a door opened up. Y/N's mother stepped out, having heard some noises. She walked toward the sound and saw the (h/c)-ette splashing water onto his face.

"Y/N, are you okay?"

The (h/c)-ette dried his face off before turning his head toward his mother. She wore a worried expression. "Sorry for waking you up..."

"It's alright, sweetie. Is everything okay?"

Y/N shook his head. "I... had his nightmare... And I couldn't go back to sleep."

(M/R) looked down at his hands to see that they were trembling. She put her arm around his shoulders and led him back to his room. Once there, she coaxed him into getting back into bed.

She then sat beside him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

After some debating, Y/N nodded his head. He then began to tell her what happened. With each word spoken, he could recall every single detail of the figure. The figure's appearance haunted him even if he had only seen it for a split second.

(M/R) smiled softly. "It's alright. You're not alone."

She took hold of her son's hand. "No matter what happens, I'll be here. Dad too. We'll both be here to protect you."

Those words brought Y/N a sense of comfort. A small smile tugged at his lips. When (M/R) felt that his shaking had calmed down, she felt relieved.

"You know, we were thinking of going on a little trip."

"A trip? Where?"

She nodded. "We haven't decided yet. Got any ideas?"

Y/N got to thinking. There were many places in mind. Perhaps a trip to the beach? Maybe the mountains? An amusement park? Possibly sightseeing? It was only a matter of picking one. But that... would be rather hard.

(M/R) noticed his conflict and laughed. "It's alright if you can't decide now. You can think about it for a while."

Y/N continued to think about it. But eventually, he was overcome with fatigue. His eyelids began feeling heavy again. Gradually, he fell back asleep. (M/R) smiled softly and quietly made her way out of the room.

When she got back to her room, her husband stirred awake. "Where'd you go...?" he asked.

She laid down next to him, pulling the soft blanket over herself. "Y/N had a nightmare so I stayed with him for a bit..."

(F/R) hummed in acknowledgment. "He said he saw a figure... The same one that appeared in his room a few days ago..."

At hearing that, (F/R) grew worried. It seemed that his wife felt the same as she voiced her worry aloud. "Hopefully, nothing bad happens... "

"It'll be alright," (F/R) said, taking hold of her hand.

"Yeah..."

--

The next day at school, Y/N found himself straying away from the class discussion. He was daydreaming, gradually tuning out everyone's voice. 

It was nice to be at peace. Nothing to pester him. Just him living in la-la-land. But like all good things, it didn't last. 

Faint whispers pierced through his daydream, destroying every bit of peace he had felt. The noise snapped him away from his thoughts and back to reality.

His classmates were all sitting at their desks, either engaging in the discussion or being bored out of their minds. For a moment, the whispers faded. But they slowly came back.

He ignored it, thinking that it had been his classmates talking amongst each other. Yet, he continued hearing the voices faintly. He turned his head and scanned his surroundings, hoping that he might be able to locate the source.

The whispers began getting louder and louder. He couldn't pinpoint the source's location. Rather, the whispers seemed to be coming from all directions. It was like in his nightmare. The same, unintelligible mutters filled his ears, muffling all the other sounds in the room.

The (h/c)-ette could hear his heart beginning to beat faster. A chill ran up his spine at the thought of seeing that figure again. Goosebumps ran up his arm. 

He was starting to feel on edge, his eyes darting all over the room, expecting to see the figure emerge from out of the shadows.

His body began to shake with fear. He was more scared knowing that no one else would be able to see what he saw. To be alone in feeling scared terrified him. It was as though he was stuck in a horror game.

Then, all of a sudden, out of all the unintelligible muttering, he heard one word quite clearly that made his face go pale.

"Run."