Take Me Home ((SANS X OC))

Chapter 1

It was a windy, dry October afternoon. Dark clouds hung low in the sky overhead, and multicolored leaves fell from the branches of shedding trees. Birds sang within the thinning canopies, and squirrels squeaked as they searched for shelter.

Everything appeared to be normal on the peak of Mount Ebott, all for the tiny human girl that ran away from home.

Regan Parker was sure that she saw her neighbor — a small kid named Frisk — climbing the mountain. She was prone to running away from her house, and it was normal for Regan to chase after her. Frisk's mother was sickly, and Regan was always the first volunteer to babysit Frisk when her mother needed time for herself. Despite Frisk's concurrent episodes, Regan had never seen the small girl troubled enough to run up the mountain.

There was a legend that surrounded Mount Ebott, and one that usually kept kids like Frisk away from it. It was once said that monsters roamed the surface just as humans did, but after the war, the monsters were sealed underground; and the only way there was the gaping hole at the top of the mountain. Regan had never personally been to the peak, but she did know people from grade school who had, and those kids never returned home.

So, naturally, Regan was desperate to catch up to Frisk before she could make it to the top. The last thing her neighbor needed was for her daughter to fall fatally into the seemingly endless pit that allegedly laid at the top of the mountain; and even if the entrance to the monster lair was just a myth, there was clearly something up there that caused kids to go missing every time they climbed the mountain. Regan always assumed it was some child molester, or a crazed murderer.

Either way, Regan didn't want anything even remotely life threatening to happen to Frisk, and so she moved her own fears aside to go after her.

Regan adjusted the strap of her violin case over her chest, thinking that she could play a song to calm Frisk down once she found her. It had always worked in the past, and the young adult was sure that Frisk would need it.

"Frisk!" Regan called, stepping over a fallen log whilst tucking a strand of short auburn hair behind her ear. "Come on, kiddo! It's gonna be dark soon, you'll get lost out here!"

Regan squinted her eyes as she stared into the distance, knowing in the pit of her stomach that she was nearing the top of the mountain.

"I've got my violin," she tried again, ignoring the anxious sick forming in her gut. "If you come out, I'll let you play it! I know how much you like to practice!"

However, despite Regan's efforts, Frisk neglected to respond. She hastened her pace once the trees began thinning out, and soon came across a clearing. A few leaves and dead roots littered the brown grass at her feet, and at the very center of the clearing there was a sunken in portion of the ground.

Regan inched closer to it, and quickly realized that the only thing covering the massive gap in the ground were overgrown tree roots. Regan gasped at the sight of it, recollecting the legends of the monsters being sealed beneath the peak, and hastily backed away from the opening. Her back hit a tree, and she clutched the strap of her violin case as she frantically skimmed the clearing.

"Frisk!" Regan called, her voice echoing around the trees. The ricochet startled a few crows out of the branches. "It's time to come out now! Your mom's gonna be worried sick!"

She waited a moment, and when Frisk showed no signs of revealing herself, Regan quickly shoved her hand into her book bag and pulled out her phone. She turned away from the void in the ground and dialed Frisk's mother's number, hands shaking as she brought the device to her ear. On the third ring, she answered.

"I don't see Frisk up here," Regan began, free hand tugging at a strand of her hair as she inched further into the tree line. "Did she go back home?"