That Wasn't Wine... - Sanders Sides Vampire Au

Chapter 51: In case it wasnt obvious, this be gasslight

5,8k pog

Come on fam, we can make it to 10k... can we?

TW: subtle gasslight, hints of manipulation, past trauma, smth that could be interpreted as attempted murder, bla bla, i'm depressed

Janus awoke to the ringing sound of his alarm. The device besides his bed wasn't one of those fancy, digital alarm clocks; it was one he'd had for several years, maybe even decades. When it got any sort of breakdown, he would take it to repairment, or attempt to fix it himself (which tended to result on him looking at it for 10 minutes before asking for Remus's help, who was handier with anything that had to do with crafting)

He silenced it up as soon as he was relatively awake, not wanting to annoy Remus too much, who preferred sleeping in, typically being able to fall asleep again with ease. The vampire didn't get up, just staring up at the ceiling. He had to get up, but- he was simply too tired to do so. He looked over at the clock and-

Wait, 6pm?

It wasn't supposed to be 6pm... Janus was sure he had changed it, to make it ring at 7, now that the sun started to set later in the afternoons. At 6pm now there was too much light, and when time went on, it'll mean more and more hours of sunlight. At 7pm, he had some more nighttime hours, and even tho there would be still some sun, he could be able to get more things done.

So why did it say it was 6pm?

He had made sure to change it the day before, hadn't he? He had... unless- unless he just thought of doing so. Maybe he just thought of changing the alarm, forgetting to actually do it instead.

Janus sighed, turning in bed again and closing his eyes; he could get some more time of sleep. He was still too tired for this.

...

The next time Janus woke up, it was around an hour later. This time he had no excuse to stay asleep; he got out of bed, got dressed, fixed up his hair, and went out of his room, leaving Remus still sleeping. He would wake up soon enough, hopefully in around 10-15 minutes when he noticed the absence of a body beside him.

As Janus stepped out, he looked into the hallway, and the thing he saw froze him in space, heart jumping to his chest. One of the hallway windows- it was open.

There weren't many windows in the house, that was one of the things Janus had made sure of when buying the house. Some where necessary for fresh air, and sometimes the stars where nice to watch, but it was important to keep them few in number, to avoid accidents.

This was an accident.

It was a lonely window, the other one in the hallway being far away. The curtains were drawn, the blinds where up, it was open, you could clearly see the sky. The sun had now set, no rays could reach it, specially since it set down the other side of the house. But Janus didn't think about that.

All he could think about is that, if he had actually gotten out of bed when his alarm clock sounded, he would've gotten hurt. If he had stepped out of his room, he would've walked into the open window with the rays of sun shining towards him. The sun was still up at 6pm, and the window was close enough for him to be hit by direct light. Only Remus was home, he could've gotten killed and no one could be of help. If he had remembered to change the alarm, none of this would've happened, but-

Janus's breath quickened. He trailed his hand through the tip of the scar he had running down his left side. It was a massive burn, starting little bellow the ear and running down his arm and torso. A tickling sensation had spread through it, as Janus watched the open window, his fingers slithering down the textured skin.