Six Paths of Infatuation: Yanderes X Reader

Stryker: Of Loners and Bad Boys

(STRYKER'S POV)

"Carton of menthols."

The gas station attendant lazily pulled out my carton and I laid down my ID and my card.

"On me."

A pale hand slapped 3 $20 bills onto the counter, standing next to me. I'd recognize that mask anywhere.

"Hawthorne. I haven't seen you around." I said plainly. "How's Wade? You've seen him around, haven't you?" She laughed loudly, getting her change and stuffing it in her pocket.

"Don't fuck with me Manson, I'm not stupid. I know where Wade is." She said. "After all, he never did stop to smell the roses, did he?" I tensed up and faced her, eyes wide open. She pulled off he headphones, the music blaring RWBY's Red Trailer theme song, Red Like Roses. Roses, huh?

She knows.

"Take it easy, I can keep a secret. What am I, a parole officer?" Mika said. "Have a little more faith in me than that." I glared at her, but I could tell under that mask she was grinning like the cat that ate the canary. She leaned casually up against the counter.

"Your little knives can't stop lead Mika." I growled. "Remember that next time you poke your head into my business."

"But that's just it. I'm here on business." Mika told me. "And if you think my pocket knives are all I've got, you're in for the mindfucking of a lifetime. I've had you and four others by the balls for so long you've forgotten it." She winked, leaving the gas station and heading out to her motorcycle. I scoffed. She was bluffing, and she knew it. Still, she had this uncanny way of finding out things. And what the hell was she talking about? Mika only ever had pocket knives.

And five others?!

I picked up the carton and headed out the door, catching Mika as she was putting on her helmet. She rolled her eyes.

"Now you want to talk? Make up your fucking mind." She spat.

"Four others. What does that mean?" I asked. She shook her head.

"That's what you're concerned about? Wade's gone and you can only think of your pretty girlfriend?" She asked, a hint of resentment in her tone. She shook her head.

"No. I won't cheat the game. I'm just relaying information." Mika said. "Arran. Riker. Kyren. Johnny. Remember the names. Past that, why the hell should I help you? I didn't give two shits about Arzan, but he was 'your best friend'. You just kill him just for taking interest. Hope that keeps you up at night."

"If you hate me so much, why did you pay for the cigarettes?" I demanded, fists clenched.

"Fingers crossed you die sooner. Slowly, and painfully, with no one else to miss you because you killed them all." She spat. She put her helmet on, backing her motorcycle out and speeding out of the gas station. I gritted my teeth.

Johnny.
I knew that loner freak.
He's next.

***

I drove up to my house and quickly got out, carton of cigarettes thrown into the passenger's seat. I didn't want whatever came from Mika, I didn't trust it. Not like I ever trusted the Masked Bitch anyway; no way that mask was for medical reasons. It was probably to hide her face from some Most Wanted report. I came inside, slamming the door behind me.

"(Name)!" I shouted, going up the stairs. I didn't have time for games. What did she know about Johnny? I burst into my room, where I had left her earlier.

There she was.
Still fast asleep.

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I used too much sedative. It could have killed her. Instead, it just knocked her out for a bit longer than expected. I could have really scared her, forced her to try and run. I didn't want to force her hand unless I needed to. I sat down on the edge of her bed, pulling my phone out and doing a quick search.

"Johnny Ringo...most of them are that Crown the Empire song. This is going to be harder than I thought." I said to myself. What kind of name was "Johnny Ringo" anyway? It just sounded like a bad alias. I finally settled on a deviantART link, finding a page mostly covered in photography.

Nevermore_Photography
(Johnny Ringo)
Member for 4 Years
210 Deviations

Scrolling through his page, I found most of his works were just dramatic photos, most of them skillfully taken. He definitely had the talent for it. One of them was him sitting in a circle of old Polaroid photographs on fire, his eye burning in the light of the flames. His face was overall stoic, but there was something behind his eyes.

"And thus the work that failed its duty returns to the brightness from which it was born. May the souls captured within this film be freed to its host, return to fleeting life forms."

Firmly named "Artist's Lament", it had gotten raving reviews about how great it was. Most of them I recognized as girls from our school...

(Username): Wow, these are really creative! I never knew you had such a talent with that camera you carry everywhere! 😍 (1 Reply)

...

So. He had been talking to her all along. Before she even gave me the chance.

(Reply):
Nevermore_Photography - thanks for the support! If you want to hear more about my artistic process, I'd love to discuss. 🙂 If you can, please support me through Patreon or buying prints of my art.

Before I could even get angry, (Name) suddenly woke up, breathing heavily. Her eyes were stretched wide, as if she was terrified of whatever woke her up. Even then, at the sight of me she quickly backed away.

"W-What have you done?" She demanded. "Where have you been, why did you...why did do this to me?!"

"How do you know Johnny?" I said, ignoring her questions.

"Don't fucking ignore me! I asked you a goddamn question!" She screamed, throwing a pillow at me. I stood up, gritting my teeth and standing at the wall, ramming my fist into it. It cracked and shattered like glass underneath my force. I heard her yelp, and I shut my eyes tight. You're scaring her Roy.

Good. Maybe she'll realize you're not fucking around with that emo shit.

Blood began to trickle down my knuckles as I took my fist out of the wall. I turned back to her, seeing (Name) huddled up with her knees to her chest. She was truly, genuinely horrified by me.

"I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to be the bad guy. So please...don't push me over the edge like that." I said, trying to calm down. "I don't want Johnny coming between us. Between what we have together. I...I can give you anything. Just...stay here with me, okay?"

"H-He...He was a friend. A classmate, really. Johnny didn't like people or large crowds, but we had a lot of the same classes together." She explained. "We'd do projects together, mostly. The last time we hung out, I was helping him with a photography project." I nodded, staring down at my bloodied hand.

"Stay here and get some rest." I said, closing the door behind me.