~𝕹𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖒𝖆𝖗𝖊'𝖘 𝕾𝖊𝖈𝖗𝖊𝖙 𝕻𝖆𝖘𝖙~

Chapter 8: Nightmare

Killer woke up from his bed. He still had the arrow in his hand from last night. As soon as they got back, Horror took Dust's sleeping form to bed and went to bed himself. He just sat and stared at the arrow. Did he really wanna do this? Was it...necessary? There's no way he could do it himself. He sighed and sat up, getting out of bed. By the sound of it, he slept in, which he never did. He walked out and saw Dust and Horror dusting the halls. That's right, they still had 5 days left before they were off punishment. Horror looked very angry about doing it.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Dust chuckled, glancing at Killer before going back to work. "I know you ain't talking, you fell asleep on the grass last night, my dude." Killer laughed, jokingly nudging him. He has the arrow hidden in the back of his pants. It was being hidden by his shirt and hoodie. "Well, there's some bacon in the fridge. Your lucky Boss made us leave you some." Horror growled, kicking the wall. "Well, thank you for being such a kind sport. I'll... go face Nightmare now. Wish me luck." He whispered.

He walked down the hall and into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and grabbed a piece of bacon. "Why hello their." He heard from behind him, causing him to jump. "Oh, boss. Sorry, didn't see you their. Good morning." He nervously chuckled, turning around. "You slept in. That's very unlike you. Something happen?" He asked, approaching him, arms crossed. He nervously gulped. "I-I guess I just messed up my sleeping schedule at Errors. I didn't have to wake up as early their so I guess I carried that over to here." He lied. He knew Nightmare could see right through him though. Maybe he should just tell him. If he gets kicked out, then he'll just camp out in another timeline.

"I guess, would you come meet me in my office? I'd like to talk with you privately." He said, teleporting himself into his office. Killer grumbled nervously and hugged his arms, walking down the hall. He took a deep breath before opening the door. "Sir." Killer said as he entered. Nightmare motioned to the chair in front of his desk. Or one of the chairs rather. Killer did as told and sat down, not leaning back too much.

"So, how was your stay at Error's? Anything...interesting things happen?" The Killer's gut immediately started to twist. He knew. He had to have known. Why else would he ask him that? "Uh, n-no sir. I mean,me and Gradient had a few bonding moments and we had a run in with Ink, b-but that's it." He stuttered, trying to divert the conversation to another part of his stay. "Hm, bonding with Gradient huh. Which brat is that?" Killer gulped. "The silent one who's always drawing on his sketchpad." Nightmare seemed pleased as he nodded in understanding.

"So, have you been feeling any different since that staff hit you?" Their was no way he didn't know something was going on. "U-uh no. Like a little I guess, but I've been feeling fine." He explained. He technically wasn't lying. He was feeling fine. "B-but what about you? It hit you as well. Have you been feeling alright?" Nightmare slightly nodded. Was he playing with him? He definitely was.

"So, how much did you find out?" His soul dropped. He knew. That was literally a dead giveaway that he knew. How? What did he do wrong? Was it Error who told? Maybe Horror did last night. He literally couldn't bring himself to say anything other than, "...what?" Nightmare leaned back in his seat. You forget I watch whenever Error has any contact with the Star Sans'. Including Ink. I saw you walk up to him, and then he inked you away with him. All I needed to do was track you to know what was going on. Not to mention my memories that usually play through my head every now and then haven't been their. You should know you can't hide anything from me."

Killer gulped. He could feel himself shaking slightly. He was trying to hide this. "U-uh. well... Not m-much. Just like... that you and Dream are related a-and um... that you were like, bullied and uh... apples." You couldn't even finish his sentence. He was too scared to. It felt like he was staring into his soul, ready to kill him. "Is that all? Nothing else you wanna tell me?" "...and I went and asked Dream for help last night. But that was it though. Horror had a knife at his throat the whole time if that makes you feel any better." Killer explained, basically rambling. "So Horror was their? Anywhere else?" "Dust." Killer mumbled. Was this considered outing his friends? He was way overwhelmed.

"I see...I can read your facial expression right now. You have nothing to worry about. I understand why you did everything you did. Though I love feeding off of negative emotions, I don't like how you all fear for your lives just by me being around." He said, getting up and walking around his desk and bending down in front of Killer. "I-I'm sorry Sir." "Hey," Nightmare, lifted Killers hung down head. Killer nervously gulped. Why was he acting so childish? He never acted like this, this was considered weak to them,

"You have nothing to be sorry for. If anything, i'd be Horror who I'm jumping at. But you don't have to be scared of me. I've noticed that all of you tend to avoid me and not trust me. Though I want you all to respect me as a boss, I care about all of you and want to be your friend as much as I am your boss. I want y'all to trust y'all can talk to me without me having to spy on you guys and confront y'all. I'm not gonna just kick y'all on the curb and I need you to understand that." He muttered, comforting Killer by rubbing his arm as he spoke. "That includes you two hididng at the door. Come on and get in here."

Killer turned around as he heard a squeak from the door opening. Horror sighed. "Sorry sir. I was just curious. And Dust just followed me." He said, glancing over at Dust. Dust shrugged. He was never much of a talker, especially around Nightmare. "Now, I want y'all to be completely honest with me, do y'all hate me?" He asked everyone. "What no, of course we don't hate you." Horror quickly shot back. "Yea, we're just.... Terrified. But not really of you. Yes you can kill us but that is not what gets us the most rattled up. We're scared of being kicked out and killed by them." Dust added. "If we're gonna die, it's not gonna be by those start sans'. That goes against everything we are.Everything we fight for."

Nightmare smiled slightly. That was a big deal for them. He never smiled. "That's good to hear you three. But no more secrets, got it?" He said. We all nodded. "Good. Now, you two, back to work. Killer, go eat breakfast. I'll see you all for lunch."