Twisted Tales: Vampire Bites By Midnight (Malleus x Reader)

Fang 3: Nightmare

You walked with Grim to the bus stop, a small bag of crystals and whatnot from Jack's store in hand while the talismans you both wore were shimmering brilliantly in the Summer sunlight.

"Hey, Y/n," he began, "Jack was acting kinda strange, wasn't he? I mean I knew the guy was rigid, but..."

"I know what you mean, Grim. But at least the weather is more amicable."

You spotted Gwendolyn wearing a large sunhat. She didn't notice you yet.

"Speaking of amicable!"

She beamed when she heard you, her dark eyes shimmering almost as brilliantly as the gems on your talisman.

"There you are! The dynamic duo!"

She petted Grim on the head (much to his annoyance) and glanced at the talismans you were wearing.

"What lovely necklaces! Where did you get them?"

"We got them from a metaphysical store. Turns out the owner is a friend of ours so we were able to get some discounts."

"Ya should have been there, Gwen!" Grim beamed. "The store was pretty swank! It had all sorts of weird but cool and expensive nick-nacks! It seemed like it had everything!"

Gwendolyn blinked in surprise, still containing her smile.

"I never took you as the superstitious type."

You chuckled.

"Yeah, well, normally I'm not but my friend insisted I took this for 'good luck' and it looked pretty, you know?"

She nodded.

Grim was growing restless and decided to take his boredom on a grasshopper while they talked.

"Say," you began as you rummaged through the bag of charms, "I got one for you as well if you were interested."

You pulled out a beaded talisman with a feather as its centerpiece and handed it to Gwendolyn.

She decided to take it and put it in her pocket.

"Thank you."

"No problem! Oi, why don't we exchange numbers?"

Grim's ears perked up at the word "numbers" and giggled.

Ignoring him, you continued to exchange contacts and talked again until Gwendolyn's stop came, and eventually, you went to your apartment.

While you prepared dinner, Grim gave you a weird grin.

You raised a brow.

"Don't act so oblivious. Ace says when humans exchange numbers with each other that means you like 'em!"

You sighed and explained to him that you only exchanged numbers to keep in touch with Gwen, not because of a crush or anything-- though you were sure he'd brush it off.

"Yeah right!"

You were right.

You decided to leave it at that and simply finish dinner.

++++++++

The bus stop was empty, though this time it was night and a thick ominous fog filled the air, the only light coming from the moon.

You called out for someone, though no one returned it.

A hint of worry crept from your stomach, but you swallowed your fear and took a walk toward the usual route that lead to your apartment.

Instead of your apartment, barren, black trees took its place and the soft cooing of an owl could be heard far off in the distance.

You looked around the beaten path and realized you were surrounded by a thicket of dead trees and fog, with no one in sight.

Or so you thought.

The soft clicking of heels hitting the pavement could be heard behind you as the fog thickened, making the already minuscule amount of visibility even worse.

You decided to make a run for it but the footsteps acted in kind, matching your speed and growing louder at each step.

Despite your running, it felt as if you weren't going anywhere; everything blended together and you couldn't tell if you were getting further or just running in circles.

You felt your legs and arms throb in pain from the constant running and your lungs were hot as you caught your breath.

You crouched and set your hands on your knees, wondering when this would end.

Realizing it was inevitable, you braced for the worst as the clicking stopped and a hand reached toward you, the fog completely consuming you-

"Hyah!"

The voice of a familiar friend followed by a lash of his tail woke you up from your nightmare.

Your eyes popped open as Grim stood over you, his paws on his hips.

"You kept thrashin' and groanin' in your sleep so I went and woke you up! You okay?"

You got out of bed and realized you were sweating.

The next day after coming from work, you took the bus to Dire Park, where Deuce and Ace were waiting for you.

After they greeted you, Ace noticed you and Grim were wearing talismans.

"What're those gaudy-looking things around your necks? They look goofy as hell."

Grim grew crossed.

"They ain't goofy! These cool little thingamabobs were given to us by Jack when we went to visit his store!"

Ace shook his head.

"Can't believe a guy like that would be owning a shop that had superstitious charms. Why'd he give you those anyways?"

"Cause of the fog, I guess."

"He grew agitated the moment we brought it up," you added, "he demanded that we kept them on at all times."

Ace cocked a brow while Deuce blinked.

"He's certainly changed since he took up marketing courses with Sam. Oh, Y/n, your complexion looks a little off, you okay?"

"They had a bad dream," Grim explained. "I had to give 'em a good whip of my tail to get 'em to wake up!"

"You? Suffering from a nightmare?!" Ace couldn't believe it.

"What was the nightmare about?" Deuce asked, looking worried.

Reluctantly you explained the details of your nightmare.

They seemed perplexed, not seeing why such a thing would bother you.

"Like anybody would let some knucklehead bastard abduct you!"

"Yeah! There's no way we would ever let that happen! So if you ever feel worried about anything, just call us! We'll beat their asses and call the ambulance later!"