Ghost Stories (A Sanscest Story)

A Lurking Low

The sound was barely noticeable, but hell, did it get Dust's attention. He set down the half-peeled apple on the counter with shaky magic. His grey-stained fingers twitched up to his scarf. Something had been slipped through the mail slot in the front door.

He was in the kitchen, just having come down to get a snack. Papyrus materialized next to him for a moment as his eye sparked. He made his way over to the door. It was a package. Unmarked and in a brown paper packaging. Thin, yet clearly full of something. Dust furrowed his brow. "Suspicious..." Papyrus commented gleefully. Dust nodded.

He used his claw-like, skeletal fingers to slowly tear open the top of the packaging. The sound made his twitch and a shiver went up his spine. He tipped his head as he slipped his fingers inside and pulled out something. He froze up.

"Brother." The word alone was menacing and he glanced over at Papyrus before looking down at the papers. Articles. News clippings. Dust recognized some of them. It had been him. But the others. Some spoke of a black-eyed murderer with a glowing chest. He paused as he noted Nightmare's passive form smiling on the front page of an arrival.

Police Call off Two Year Search for Missing Student

He continued to pick the articles apart. Some spoke of a dark shape that would attack those who were happy and miserable alike. Another spoke of a cannibal. Someone that ate other monsters. That wasn't what concerned him. It was the pictures. The pictures were haunting.

He could see it. It was him. He was standing in an alleyway, a bloodied bone in his hand and the faintest hint of Papyrus drifting over his shoulder. How had someone gotten that picture?? He furrowed his brow. Then, he felt a chill. That article.

That was a much older article. But he recognized the monster's face. That monotone coloration was recognizable even in the yellowed, uncolored news clipping. He pulled it out with shaking fingers.

Undefeated Soldier Finally Killed?

Dust blinked. This article was old. VERY old. But he didn't care. He did care about what it implied. SOMEONE knew about them. SOMEONE had been stalking them. SOMEONE...

"They know too much..." Papyrus almost seemed to sing out softly next to him. Dust twitched.

"Someone knows too much for their own good." Dust muttered, thumbing through the papers. That... He knew that name. Lust. This was another old, yellowed article.

Well-Loved Performer Slayed in Brutal Murder

So THAT was how Lust had looked when he was alive. He hadn't changed one bit. The photo attached to that was a picture of Horror. Lust's outline was drifting above him. Dust felt a spark of repulsion. Whoever this was, whoever had sent these... "How DARE they..." He hissed.

Had the person assumed that they would be okay with this?? Then why had they run?? He thumbed through more pages and felt a chill as he found another.

Local Student Lost to Suicide

Oh, he knew that face. Error scowled at whoever had taken the picture. It was an older one as well. There were more photos. Ones of Error now that he was back. Other were more obscure to Dust. Vials? He recognized them as the ones that were constantly on Ink's sash. What the fuck did they have to do with anything??

This was infuriating. Whoever had sent these. They had a fucking death wish. "That is from the other day, brother." Papyrus drew his attention to a recent-looking picture. Him and his friends waiting in the lobby together. It struck him. Someone HAD taken a picture of them. Someone had mentioned it.