| Plaything | Antisepticeye x Reader

Chapter 7

The Jack-faced creature crawls out of the screen, with thin limbs and a bony torso. Even through his black shirt, I can see the outline of his ribcage and where it caves in toward the stomach. His entire body seems to only consist of pale tissue-thin tissue stretched over an elongated bone structure.

My hands trace along the wall, trying to find any sign of a door or way out of the room. Instead of a crack or break in the wall, I find a leather handle on the floor. I pick up the object, finding that it's a large knife.

Though I don't want to get any closer to the thing, my fist tightens around the object. I slowly rise to my feet, trying not to attract the thing's attention. It's head turns from left to right, dripping the fluid. It holds its slender hands in front of it like talons, crouching on two lithe legs. This thing would be over ten feet tall, if it were able to stand up straight. The ceiling prevents it from doing that.

Even though the static from the tv brightens the room, somewhat, it's sockets don't land on me. It stares straight at me for a few seconds, but it doesn't move toward me in any way. Though its eyes are gone, its ears are still perfectly intact, and they twitch from time to time.

It's listening for me, I think. It's weakness is the base of its neck.

I take a shaky breath and begin to move to the left, trying to make my way around it. After a few steps, the figure's head whips to face me. The momentum causes its slackened jaw to drag behind it, a trail of black goo dripping along. My muscles tense in terror and I stay as still as possible, unable to fight the trembling of my body.

The creature moves in my direction, and my breath catches in my throat. I swallow hard, pressing my back against the wall. I shrink, so that my shoulders are pressed together, and I cross my arms over my chest to make myself even more compact. It moves closer, arms poised in front of itself to find its next victim. I remain silent.

It leans over me. It's significantly taller than I am, so it's head hovers over mine, facing the wall behind me. I hold the knife tighter. Some of the charcoal liquid drips onto my arm. The pain is horrible. It feels like my skin is being corroded by the goo, like acid is stripping away each layer of cells. I clench my teeth tightly and stifle a whimper, tears forming in my eyes.

As the thing's hands meet the wall, it decides that I'm not there and moves away. I let myself breathe again, then continue my journey behind it. I'm much slower, this time, and much more careful to not make any sound. When I finally make my way to its backside, I find the point that Anti told me about. There's a point just above the base of the thing's neck where a single bone juts out. Right below that is a softer bit of flesh, which is where I need to hit it.

At a miserably slow pace, I walk up to it. When I reach it, I crouch and jump, sinking my knife into the creature. I use my legs to keep myself on its back as it rears back for a moment, and twist the knife in place. An unearthly screech shakes the room, creating a throbbing headache in my mind. I lose my balance and fall off of the thing. The wind is knocked out of me as I land on the ground with a 'thud'.

The Jack-faced monster whips around to where I fell and reaches its spindly arm out to grab me. Before I can crawl away, it snatches my leg and begins to drag me toward it. Then, it wraps its long fingers around my torso, screeching at me, once more.

Finally, it stretches its mouth wider than ever before, swallowing me whole. The acidic pain lasts for only a few moments in the suffocating blackness, but then...

I snap my eyes open and sit up on my elbows. A stinging sensation covers my skin, but it ebbs to a tingle, and then nothing. Anti sits in my desk chair, watching me intently. Dim light leaks through my closed blinds. I flop back down onto the bed. Then, I realize that I didn't bother to put another shirt on last night and just have on pants [and a bra if you're a girl]. I tug the blankets up from mid-chest to my chin and try to slow my heartbeat.

My uneven breathing eventually finds its usual pattern.

"Was that so bad?" Anti giggles.

"Horrible," I reply honestly.

"But it was more creative than a quick death," the demon remarks.

I take another breath and close my eyes, immediately opening them when I see the eyeless Jack again.

That thing's gonna haunt my nightmares, I think.

"Unfortunately, that's not true," Anti says. In a flash, the image of his grinning face fills my vision.

" I   a m . "

With a shrill giggle and another bright flash, the image is gone. I try to remain calm.

"What was that thing?" I ask.

Anti shrugs. "It was a little something I made up, just for you."

I shudder at the thought of it again.

"You should be grateful – I've worked so hard on these nightmares. I customized them for you, and all you do is try to ruin it," he adds. Though his words seem ridiculous, his tone and expression appear genuine, like he's actually frustrated that I don't appreciate his work.

"How sweet. I'm honored," I reply emotionlessly.

"I guess simple humans like you just can't understand the art of nightmares," Anti says, standing up and going to my bedroom door. Before he exits, however, he has one more comment accompanied by a quick glance at my chest:

"You look decent without a shirt on."

My cheeks begin burning as he closes the door behind him, laughing. The heat is from 1) embarrassment at the weird compliment and 2) indignation at being called "simple".

Shaking my head, I jostle off the feelings and get out of bed, immediately putting on clean clothes.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter of "Plaything" as much as I enjoyed writing it. Comments and votes are super appreciated. Thanks for reading! ~Blue