DISCONTINUED - Promise // Ray X Reader

25 | Music, Monsters, Survive

"Where... am I?" I finally awoke on the ground, in bright daylight, the smell of dew hanging in the air, so there was a hint that it was still day time. After rubbing my eyes and brushing stray hairs out of my face, in front of me was a colorful village, a familial resemblance of Glory Bell, only it was much more vibrant, with balloons on posts and stuffed animals.

"Ray? Emma? Skunk?" I called out, the village seeming deserted, there were no sounds of kids running around laps for training, or people coming in and out of buildings. Running down the paths, I peered through windows of buildings, only for no one to be in sight. Though in normal circumstances, it would be rude to look inside, I was desperate, alone, and slightly hungry. As I continued a scan around, I went through the village into a field, and in the distance a mansion. But this was the demon world, right?

'It was just wintertime, yet it's as warm as a spring day, and the plants here are nothing compared to what I've been in, and they resemble more the ones about the human world in books.. I don't feel the effects of my migraine either.. has it really only been a day since I last remember? I can always figure it out once I find Ray, Emma, and Skunk, and we can discuss my findings.' I was deep in thought, someone with short lavender hair ran past me, and I bolted after them, shouting for answers, to come back, to at least help me.

"Damn it! Where did he go.." I rubbed sweat off my forehead, and there I spotted lettering on the palm of my hand, that wrote, "use your pen." I slapped my head instead, and dug inside my pockets for the pen, which luckily hadn't been lost in my transit from where I last was to here. Opening up the pen, I finally realized where I was:

"I'm here... Goldy Pond." I breathed out to myself, where I got a better look of my surroundings, and a sign with rules were in bold letters.

"Rules... music, monsters, survive? What does that mean?" I inquired to myself, before the first rule was shown, auditorily to me, by the blaring of loud obnoxious music through speakers all over. As I covered my ears grunting as I hoped quietly that my ears wouldn't bleed, the mysterious figure suddenly stood in front of me, face dark and voice full of pessimism.

"The monsters are coming. So you should go and hide now." He told me, as my heart dropped to my stomach, and I felt the color drain out of my face. Luckily, I was prepared, but I had never done this alone before.

"This... tell me, now. Is this also another farm? The poachers.. are the monsters.." I started, trying to get a grasp of everything going on, but with the loud music, I had to yell just to talk to him right in front of me, and it felt like the music was scrambling my thoughts.

"You really are different from the other kids. You know. About them and the farms. This isn't a farm though. This is private property. A garden belonging to an aristocrat named Lord Bayon. All of us, including me, you, the other kids... are allowed to live here to be hunted. It's a secret from the farms. A secret playground." His voice was calm, looking at me with light purple eyes that reminded me of Dominick.

"Who are the other kids?" I asked, trying to get more information out of him.

"Normal newbies. They're brought in once a month to replenish those who have been caught and killed." His simple answers also reminded me of Ray, and I really wished right now that someone was by my side, I was starting to quiver slightly from fear.

"Where do they come from? The farms?" I probed, really hoping a demon wouldn't come upon us any second.

"Yes, mostly from the farms. Using some special privilege, they're able to get stock of living children." He shrugged, and I was starting to get even more anxious by the second.

"So what did you mean earlier, by the other kids don't know?" I bit the inside of my cheek nervously, but I had bit so hard the taste of blood coated my mouth.