The Butchery | Bob Velseb x Gender Neutral Reader [discontinued]

Day 4 | Preparation

What the hell?

Something must have been wrong with you, what even was that dream?!?!

You could help but look back on what you just dreamt, remembering how you felt. Your dreams are normally odd, this one must have just been another nonsensical figment of your imagination. Maybe it represented something??

You shuffled in your sleeping bag, which was supplied by the police station. Your house was still under investigation while the police search it for DNA evidence and proof of who might have attacked you. The floor of the station was uncomfortable but at least you had a cute pillow themed after your favorite animal.

Sleep was not a possibility for you at the moment, despite it being the middle of the night. You pulled out your phone and began typing into the search engine, "What does biting in a dream represent?" hoping to see results answering your question.

The first few results all said the same thing, it represented the feeling of helplessness and fear. Despite how much you tried to convince yourself, it was true. Every time he was near you, you couldn't help but feel helpless.

Maybe you could fix that?

The next results online explained it in deeper detail. Biting in a violent way was related to fear and hopelessness. Aggression.

But if you were bit in a non-aggressive way then it would mean something like a relationship. There were also some references towards addiction hidden in the writing.

Relationship is definitely a no-go. Addiction is a maybe? What if that guy is addicted to killing, that definitely seems possible.

Or he could be addicted to something else.

All you knew was that he probably won't be backing down anytime soon. You needed to buy a weapon to defend yourself, no more relying on other people to save your ass.

You began searching the internet for the best self-defense weapons and decided to stock up on some pepper spray and a knife.

You weren't going to be the victim anymore.

Then you placed down your phone and spent most of the night staring at the ceiling and planning.

–

"Alright, that's five small cans of pepper spray and a single knife. You another one of those paranoid people?", the store clerk asked as he bagged your items. His voice was a bit nasally.

He seemed a bit tired, eyebags ghosting his face. "Yeah, you could say so, I need this stuff to defend myself."

He nodded and yawned out," I'm so glad I'm getting out of this job soon. You're actually my last client before I leave, funnily enough."

It couldn't hurt to have some small talk. "Where are you gonna work after this?"

He didn't seem to be expecting you to ask him about his own life," Oh? Uh, I'm going to work in a haunted house this month, actually. Seems way more fun than bagging groceries, no offense." When talking about his own life, he seemed a bit more enthusiastic.

"That sounds fun, I still can't find myself a job. I wanted to be some sort of illustrator for a big company but that feels a bit too out of my reach at the moment. Hey, maybe I'll just swoop in and steal your spot at the market?" you joked with him.

He chuckled and handed your items back along with the receipt.

"Have a good one!", He said as you left the store. At least there's still someone holding onto hope in this godforsaken town.

You began walking back to the police station, staring down at your feet in thought. While walking, you bumped face first into someone at a traffic light.

"Sorry, I need to watch where I'm going mo-"

He looked familiar.

"Oh, no need to worry. I didn't even notice you in the first place. Be careful around traffic lights though, don't want to become roadkill haha."

Oh, it was just the town butcher. Your shoulders sank at the realization it wasn't who you thought it was.

He looked over at the bag in your hands, trying to make small talk," What you got there?"

"Oh, just some self-defense stuff. You never know with this town."

He nodded, "Fun fact, did you know that pepper spray actually contains real concentrated peppers? Each one is measured in Scovilles for how strong the spray is."

You were a bit surprised he knew exactly what you bought at the store, but maybe it was just a lucky guess. Pepper spray was probably one of the most common things bought for self-defense.

"Oh wow, I actually didn't know that. I'm not sure what I thought was in pepper spray, I just assumed it was named after peppers and didn't actually use them. Does that mean you can technically cook with it?"

He nodded, "It's actually classified as a food item, so I guess, yes? It would just be incredibly unpleasant because it's pure pepper concentrate."

The light finally went red for cars, and you walked across the sidewalk, you completely forgot you were going to the police station for a second. The butcher followed next to you, seemingly going in the same direction.

"Where are you heading?", You asked curiously.

He shuffled his hands in his pocket," Oh uhm... I'm visiting a friend nearby. Maybe doing a bit of shopping too."

Simple enough of an answer, nothing suspicious at all, but you couldn't help but keep prying. "Shopping? The only store in this direction is specifically for hunting. Do you hunt?"

His eyes widened a bit, "I guess you could say that. I am a butcher after all."

"I just assumed that butchers got the meat from suppliers, not actually hunting it themselves."

"Hunting is a hobby of mine; I don't really sell the meat I hunt."

The wording was so cryptic, but he seemed to be telling the truth. Tons of people have hunting as a hobby, you were just paranoid.

You waved at him before walking into the police station with your bag in hand. He remained outside for a while, seemingly contemplating something. It was none of your business, so you didn't look too much into it as you continued walking.

Your mother was sitting silently in the waiting room of the station. She looked up and smiled at you. "I'm glad to see you're back, I got worried that you went alone because of everything that's been happening recently..."

It was a valid concern, but that was exactly the reason you went out shopping in the first place. You handed her one of the containers of pepper spray. "I got some of these, so we don't have to be so worried all of the time. And if push comes to shove and these don't work for some reason, we can probably just use lemons or something."

"I'm glad you're prepared; I had a little chat with the nice officers about this whole situation. They said we would be fine to return to our house in a few days. Our neighborhood will be put under watch for a week or two, while the search goes on for the killer."

This entire week had been so stressful, the only time you had even the slightest bit of relaxation was with Lila. Even then, your break was cut short immediately with a threat to your life. A slight buzzing could be felt in your pocket, coming from your phone.

You picked it up and checked who the message was from, it came from a friend of yours who worked in a local candy store. Maybe helping him out would be a good way to distract yourself?