Hostage | Creepypasta Reader Insert

• 𝑬𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆 •

Y/N'S POV

It's hard to argue against the fact that it's a little weird to keep large vats of who-knows-what in your backyard. I've never met my neighbors, but I think they ought to be pretty weird. I have mentioned to my pen pals over the years about my freaky neighbors, but they always seem to be stuck on the fact that I live in Waukesha. I know that Waukesha, Wisconsin, is a famous place, but other than the stabbing which happened that one time, it's pretty normal. I wish my friends would give me a break, it's not exactly my fault that I live here.

    "Lunch!", screamed Mom. I'm literally chillin' like six feet away from you. I peeled myself from the couch and stomped my way over to the dining table. "You look like a zombie, you're lucky I've got a little job to wake you up." Oh Lord, help me. I raised an eyebrow. "The neighbors' mail was accidentally delivered over here. Hurry over to them and give them back their mail. You better be fast, or your food is going to be cold when you get back." Mom extended her arm to me. I hesitantly grabbed ahold of the envelope. I checked the address. It's the creepy neighbors, you have to be kidding me.

    I fell silent for a few awkward seconds. Mom looked at me with that questioning gaze she'd use every-so-often. That woman didn't trust me one bit. "I'll be back, I promise. It'll be fine.", I reassured. "If my food gets cold, I'll just put it in the microwave." I slipped on a pair of tennis shoes. "I love you, bye Mom!" I hurried out the front door and carried on to my left.

    The neighbors' house was different from the others because of the color. It was a swampy green color that was accented by a burgundy roof. The most jarring bit of the old, unkept home was the brand-new white fence. I hadn't even realized that someone was living in the old house on Second Street until I had noticed the new fence. As far as I could remember, there wasn't anything to hide in that backyard. The only thing that confused me were those damn vats. They looked as if they had been shipped straight from a hazmat lab. I'm sure they were probably just some weird-looking compost stores, but I've always wondered about them.

    As I walked down the small sidewalk leading to the neighbors' porch, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. There was nothing to really be afraid of, but I had never met these people before. Was it going to be an old couple? Maybe some kid in college? A family of six? I had no clue. What if they got aggressive over the mail mix-up? As my thoughts came pouring in, I felt the temptation to put their mail in their mailbox and just leave. Curiosity, however, had caused me to quickly dismiss that thought. Before I could conjure up another idea, I knocked on the door. I knocked with a force that the neighbors would be certain to hear.

Footsteps. Somebody was coming to the door. I took one last breath and braced myself. I watched the doorknob turn. The large door opened with a loud creaking noise to reveal a man. "Hello?", he asked.

"I-I've got your mail.", I managed. I raised an arm to display the envelope to the man. "I live down the street. There was a mix-up, and your mail ended up getting delivered to us." The man grabbed the mail and examined it. He relieved the weight of his right leg by leaning on the doorframe. He let out a small huff and adjusted his striped scarf.

I locked eyes with him for a moment. "Yeah, it's our water bill. Thanks, kiddo.", he replied. The man patted me on the shoulder and shifted his weight once again. "Think you could do me a little favor? I need someone who's strong enough to do it."

Shoot, I need to be back for lunch. I don't want to tell this guy no, though. The man brought a strand of brunette hair behind his ear. "Mom needs me back for lunch, soon. If I'm fast I think I can help.", I reasoned.

He smiled. "Perfect, I'll have you back. I need you to pull a few weeds out in my backyard. Normally my brother helps me out, but he's been gone.", the man explained. He motioned for me to follow him as he stepped into his home.

Should I be doing this? I shook my head and followed him. The first room in his house was small. It only had a little shoe rack along with washing and drying machines. In the next room, I noticed several piles of neatly folded clothes on the sofa. The clothes consisted of a bunch of black jeans and white hoodies. Not very much variety here, I guess. "What does your bother do?", I blurted. Oh my God, why did you seriously ask something like that? "You know, since you said he's on a business trip..." Nice.

The man opened a little screen door that led to the backyard. "He works...independently. I guess you say he's his own boss.", explained the man. "Pretty cool, huh? I bet Jeff would've liked meeting you, he's got a soft spot for kids."

Despite the man pointing at a patch of weeds, I couldn't help but catch a glance at the large vats which I hadn't seen in so long. I just couldn't stop wondering what the Hell was in there. The man snapped his fingers. "The weeds are here. Pull.", he ordered. I felt my eyes widen. I looked down to make sure he didn't notice and immediately began pulling weeds. My whole body tensed. It was as if his whole personality has changed in a matter of a few seconds. I didn't dare look in the direction of vats. "Oh, and I guess I never mentioned, my name is Liu." I watched his feet leave my peripheral vision.

As I picked in between the cracks of gravel bits, I could hear activity happening behind me. I was too nervous to look, but I could tell that the sound was something similar to that of a large tarp being moved around. Mom is gonna' lose it when I'm not back. Maybe she'll come to get me. Liu's backyard was already tidy, I was running out of weeds to pull.

Crash! The screen door leading to the backyard was forcefully opened. I kept my eyes low. Please be Mom. "You won't believe what I've got toda-", started the voice of another man. Rapid footsteps followed the direction of the house. There was a quick sound to indicate back door shutting. Soon after, silence. I peeked over my shoulder. A tarp was now covering the group of vats in the middle of the backyard. Liu and the other man were inside of the house. The only thing left to hear was the rustling of the wind and the stirring of leaves. Something felt very off to me, and I knew that I needed to leave. For some reason, I couldn't leave without satisfying my strong desire to figure out what was going on with those vats.

    Y/N, you're crazy. This is crazy. I shook my head. In one swift motion, I leapt about a foot away from the gravel and landed dangerously close to the vats. I was just too curious to contain myself! I put my ear up to the tarp. There wasn't a single sound other than that of the tarp crinkling. I followed the tarp down with eyes until I found myself gazing at one of the edges. I gingerly lifted one corner of the tarp. The loud crinkling of the movement make me uneasy. Before looking under the tarp, I took a moment to listen to Liu and the other man. I could hear faint chatter coming from inside the house.

    The chatter sounded like arguing. Both men weren't near the back door, but I could tell that they were raising their voices. I'm going to have enough time. I threw the tarp over myself and felt around for one of the large vats. It was pitch black. It didn't take long to find one of the large containers.

Then a door opened. Shit. I knew I needed to run, but I was taken over by my fear. Footsteps came barreling for me. "Fuck!", one of the men shouted. This was the man who wasn't Liu. "Damn it, give me that!" A large thump came from the ground. Something cylindrical stuck me on the top of my head. Upon impact, it felt like a thousand little shards of pain spread from the point of impact down to almost my shoulders. It was still pitch black, but I could feel my vision blurring.

And then I was gone.

•••

[Author's Note] - Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed my writing style. I prefer writing stories with slower progression, but as you can tell, after this little buffer chapter we're going to be getting into some serious action!