Wolves

18

happy spooky season!!! the most wonderful time of the year
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(Y/N) wasn't quite sure where she was. The sky was a wondrous array of reds, reflecting the shimmering sea from across the way. The air was still and cold and not a sound ventured to pierce the silence. A cathedral proudly stood before her and refused to collapse despite the ruin that tormented its shoulders. The roof was gone, the tips of stone crumbled away to nothing, and the stained windows were shattered to pieces. Yet it still remained, somehow managing to look beautiful amongst all the ruin, and calling to (Y/N) like a bell chiming in the distance.

She decided to listen, if not for the cathedral, then for answers to what was inside. Something was waiting for her, good or bad, just behind the mahogany doors.

As she climbed up the crumbling steps, she couldn't help but wonder what demons wanted with a church. She doubted they held the same kind of reverence as some humans did, so was it there merely for decoration? After all her time in the realm, she wondered why she'd never seen it before. She would ask Bill about it later.

She pushed open the doors to be greeted by mass stones. Dust and rubble tainted the marble floor and gaping holes where mighty windows once hung allowed for any kind of weather to leave its mark inside. At the front of the room, right in the center where everyone could see, was a stone altar. It's design was accented by cracks of age and wear, and dark spots of burgundy painted the white surface dark.

(Y/N) realized the cathedral was nothing as she dreamed. It was a sacrificial tomb, and it had called to her.

She turned at once to leave, but the doors were gone, and when she turned around again to find another way out, she stood right before the altar. There was a moment of eerie calm, then her back was slammed against the stone, and she cried out. Her legs were lifted from underneath her and pressed onto the altar, and before (Y/N) could try to sit up, chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles.

She fought against the hold, but the chains grew hot and seared into her skin. She couldn't smother the scream that clawed at her throat and soon she began to smell burning flesh. Bile rose in her throat, but she suppressed it. Just when she thought she would pass out, from the pain or the fear, she saw someone approaching, wearing a masquerade mask and dressed for a special occasion. As they grew closer (Y/N) began to recognize his features; the sly grin, the scheming eyes, even his walk, so confident and teasing. But soon she couldn't focus on him, and all she could bring herself to look at were the tools lined up behind him, and she realized they were there for her.

Feeling afraid, confused, and in a world of pain, (Y/N)'s eyes began to sting, and the demon before her merely laughed.

"Aw, what's the matter, Princess? I just wanna play a little game~"

Before anything else could happen, (Y/N) sat bolt upright in her bed. She found herself in the palace, in her room, safe. Bill sat beside her, a comforting hand pressed to her back and confused eyes searching her own.

She was only dreaming.

She hadn't had a nightmare in a long time. Bill always did his best to keep them away.

(Y/N) reached up to touch her temple, but winced at the movement. She couldn't do much before Bill seized her hand and pulled her wrist closer to see. His other hand lit up with flames and as he brought the light closer, they found her skin was etched with a reddened ring.

"What happened?" He asked, immediately looking to her other wrist to find the ring was there, too.

"I–" (Y/N) tried to remember, but she felt vast amounts of pain. It was hard to focus on anything else. "I had a nightmare..."