Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

To say Hide freaked out would be a bit of an understatement.

There were no intruders in the hotel at the time, so Hide was doing what they did every time there was some blissful silence: being left alone. They didn’t mind the isolation, they are a solitary entity after all, though the odd interaction with other entities could be tolerated. Barely.

But this… this was something Hide had to ask others about. Or at the very least bring to their attention.

Hide was already freaking out when they told Jack, and they were near enough having a full blown panic attack when the rest of the entities showed up. Because when Hide asked them to tell someone who could help them process what was happening, Jack naturally told everyone they could possibly find. A worst case scenario for Hide.

“Hide! Is it true?!” Rush loudly shouts as they enter the room, shaking the wardrobe slightly as soon as they reach it.

“Not the kind of thing Hide would lie about” Ambush grumbles, following shortly behind the other speedster.

“Yeah, but, I didn’t think we had souls!” Screech chimes in, having decided that they too wanted to be in on Hide's dilemma.

“Of course we do, idiot! But this would mean one thing: Hide actually has a soulmate!” Rush snaps at Screech, angrily.

Yes, Hide has a soulmate. They didn't see it appear, but they only noticed today that they had a little red string attached to their body. Its trail is likely long and far, and it can only be seen by Hide and one other. Someone who had very recently been born, and was apparently fated to be Hide's perfect someone.

“Man, can't believe that Hide of all of us got one first” Jack whistles out.

“Yeah! Why haven't I ever gotten one?” Rush snaps.

“Too ugly” Ambush retorts. Screech lets out a small giggle.

“You don't have one either” Rush announces pointedly.

“Did I stutter?” Ambush returns.

“Ooh, self burn! Aren't those rare!” Laughs out Jack, Screech also snickering along.

The entire conversation outside of the wardrobe devolved into them calling each other ugly real quick. All of them forgetting the main reason that they were there in the first place...

Meanwhile, inside the wardrobe, Hide was still having an absolute crisis over the whole situation.

They have a soulmate. Them. They should be really happy, and a part of them is, but.. It is going to make things so complicated. If they're another entity, would they get themselves trapped in this hotel? But if they're human… What if one of the others kills them before Hide has a chance to get to them? Would their soulmate even end up in this hotel in the first place? What if years pass and Hide never even gets to lay their eyes on them before the day that they die? Why must fate be so cruel and confusing…

Hide, being the CEO of anxiety, could never stop worrying about it. Everytime a human enters the hotel, they'd be left wondering ‘maybe this one is the one?’. They weren’t, fortunately, and they would usually end with a horrific fate. Still, Hide had to keep fretting over the chance that their own soulmate might walk through the many doors of the hotel, and that they might miss them.

You'd think that after so many years, they'd stop worrying about it so much, but they didn’t. Hide would anxiously stare out from under beds and through the cracks in wardrobe doors every time a new intruder came, only breathing a sigh of relief when they noticed that their string didn’t connect to them.

Of course, the day would soon arrive where their fated partner would step into the precipice of the hotel.

Like the many that came before you, you had no idea how you ended up in the lobby of the hotel. You were going about life like normal when suddenly you were waking up on the solid wood floor of a strange building. Trying to leave through the front doors didn’t seem to be a viable option, aside from them being fastened shut, the raging storm outside had it so you could barely see even a few metres out. It would be unwise to go out into such a thing ill-prepared.

With there seemingly being no one in the hotel’s lobby, the only option left before you was… to wait for the rain to let up, of course. And that was what you fully intended to do, until you noticed something very peculiar.

The little string that was attached to you seemed to go into the elevator for some reason.

Did that mean… that the person who was on the other end of the string was also in this hotel? Wow, that sure is some weird coincidence! When people said that ‘fate works in mysterious ways’ you didn’t expect fate to hit you round the head with a baseball bat and drag you off to an undisclosed location. Besides, the rain is rather heavy, so you’d be waiting a long, long time if you sat around up here. Perhaps whoever is on the other end of the red string can help you find your way back home.

With that in mind, you scampered over to the elevator and got in. You stare at the buttons for a few seconds, they didn’t have any labelling, so you had no idea which to press or where they would send you.

You didn’t need to press any, apparently, because the door shut of its own accord and you felt the little box begin to move to its next destination.

“Ok then, fate” you offhandedly say to yourself as you wait, listening to the weird jingle being played, for the elevator to reach its destination.

Ding.

The door of the elevator opens and you step out into a small reception room. Approaching the desk, you tap the bell a couple of times, not that you necessarily expected the noise from it to attract anyone’s attention, but it was worth a try. Nothing happened.

There’s only one key hanging on any of the hooks, so you vault yourself over the desk to go retrieve it. 01, it read. The only door in this room also had that number on it, as well as a massive padlock. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what lock this key unlocked. You approached the door and unlocked the padlock, watching it fall to the ground. You shove the lock off to the side with your foot, out of the way, before pushing the door open and stepping forwards into the next corridor.

The door in front of you reads 02, and you have a feeling that a pattern is about to form…

Naturally, by this point, Hide is freaking the fuck out.

They’re usually one of the first to spy the appearance of an intruder, even before the whole ‘you have a soulmate’ thing. It allows them to inform the other entities if Seek hasn’t already.

This time, Hide didn’t immediately run off to inform anyone, because this time the intruder had a little bit of string attached to them, one that only the two of them could see. They just hopped between hidey-holes nervously as they tried to think.

They had no idea what to do! If any of the others came through, you might die! But how else was Hide supposed to get you to come into a wardrobe or under a bed!? Wait! They could find and tell Rush! Hopefully Seek hasn’t already told Rush there’s an intruder and Hide can be like ‘hey, this intruder is my soulmate, could you, like, spook them or something so they’ll join me in a wardrobe?’ Yeah! That’ll work! It also means Hide could make sure Rush runs real slow so they don’t have to worry about your imminent demise!

Hide quickly flees in search of the other entity.

Meanwhile, you are just a little bit baffled by what the string attached to you is doing. It seems to rapidly shift direction, like it can’t seem to figure out the location of the other person it is attached to. Or maybe they are moving really fast… and really erratically. It would frustrate you a lot more if the rooms weren’t pretty linear, there only seemed to be one path you could take, and it was following along the numbered doors. So that is what you did.

Your journey continued with relative ease, you being left alone with nothing but the rain outside and the odd creaking noise to accompany you.

You opened the next door, and the lights rapidly flickered. That’s new. You stare up at them for a few seconds, not sure what to make of that. Just as you take a few steps forwards, that is when you notice it: there’s a strange noise in the distance, coming from the way you just came. It’s loud, and unlike anything you’ve ever heard before, and it is getting closer… gradually.

You don’t know why, but as it gets closer your fight or flight response suddenly kicks into overdrive. You need to run! But… These rooms are very linear, as you previously noted, so you might not be able to get away from whatever is coming. You should hide then! Hopefully it won’t come searching.

Your eyes scan around the room for a few seconds. There aren’t exactly many places that could conceal a whole human body, except for one of those oddly placed wardrobes. Well, they’re your best shot in avoiding whatever is coming your way. It sounds like it is getting pretty close. You quickly beeline your way over to one and hop in.

In the dark of the wardrobe, you watch through the crack with bated breath and tense nerves.

Something did indeed run past the wardrobe, something large, something dark, something inhuman. You didn’t know what it could possibly be, except for a monster.

You nearly scream when you feel something rest upon your shoulders, softly pulling you backwards, deeper into the wardrobe that should have been so small, only enough room for one person, or creature. The hands of whatever was behind you snake their way down your chest, crossing over each other above your torso, holding you in a gentle yet secure embrace.

Its fingers are long and spindly, so thin they might have been twigs. They’re so long… and clawed with an ashen tinged to them, they’re definitely nothing human.

You're hyperventilating, expecting the creature to attack you or something; visages of those sharp claws pressing deep into your chest and ripping out your heart flying behind your eyes. It takes you a few seconds to notice…

You didn’t see it lead to here when you ran for this wardrobe, but there’s a little bit of red string attached to the creature, and it conveniently leads to the little bit of red string that is attached to you. You just stare, wide-eyed, in utter shock. Your breathing calms, if just a little, but you are still struggling to process what you are seeing.

“Stay… here…” the creature behind you whispers out, voice so close to your ear that you can feel the cool breeze of its breath against your skin. It’s quite nice, actually… and their voice is oddly soothing, truly like whispers in the wind.

Slowly, and with a degree of caution, you bring your own hands up to rest on top of their own as they continue to hold them against your torso. They flinch slightly at the initial touch, and they seem to take in a sharp breath of air, but other than that they don’t make any attempt to push you off of them. In fact, their grip gets slightly tighter, pulling you in even closer to their form, facing nuzzling into the crock of your neck. An intimate proximity they’ve never really held with another.

You stay.

Chapter Text

While unfortunately not a universal fact, most parents want what's best for their children, from the moment they are born. It is one of the reasons that after the euphoria and pain of giving birth has subsided, they check the wrist for the mark, the writing, the little tattoo. They want to know, or even just get a hint, at what the circumstances of their child meeting their soulmate shall be. They want- expected to see something pleasant: happiness, gratitude, releif...

No one wants to see the word ‘fear’.

Unfortunately, that is what your parents saw on your wrist the day you were born. One word, only four letters long, but it was not something they could forget. There was a deep seated dread that immediately began to fill their core, a worry for their newly-born infants' future. What trouble or danger could you be in to have a meeting with your true love be one filled with terror?

Of course, they rationalised it. There are many scenarios in which one could feel fear, scenarios which they wouldn’t have to worry about too much. Perhaps you’ll catch a glimpse of them at the cinema whilst watching a scary movie? Perhaps you’ll be riding a rollercoaster or some other high adrenaline fairground ride? Perhaps your soulmate would be a heroic fireman, rescuing you from mortal peril? They could only speculate.

Of course, being protective and worried, they sheltered you from many things in life. The first signs of danger always set off your fight or flight reaction, usually into flight. You always hated how jumpy you were, wishing that you weren’t so much of a coward, wishing that you wouldn’t run and hide at the first signs of peril.

You never expected the cowardice to become such a lifesaver in the end.

You had no idea how you ended up in this god-forsaken hotel, you only remember coming to in the lobby, but now you are stuck here. You needed to find an exit, but… here there be monsters.

When the lights flicker, you flinched, every hair on your body standing on end as you froze in the spot, dread filling your chest. Had you remained frozen, you’d have been dead, but an approaching shriek sprung you back into action and you did the thing you knew most of all how to do: hide. That’s when you saw the first monster, it ran past the wardrobe you were hiding in with a wide, evil grin.

You didn’t want to leave the safety of the wardrobe, but the longer you stayed the more you got a similar feeling of dread you got when the lights flickered. You weren’t alone in here, you had to get out. You all but collapsed to the floor in your efforts to hastily vacate the wardrobe.

It took you longer than you cared to admit to get yourself going again, panic induced indecision leaving you pacing the room anxiously. You were stuck in a haunted hotel, with monsters, who you were going to go out on a limb and say would kill you if they got the chance. Your mind was plagued with fearful thoughts.

Your thoughts did eventually turn to the four little letters that have been staining your wrist all your life.

If fate was cruel enough to bring you to a place like this, then it could be cruel enough to bring your chosen other half here too. You let out a half-hearted scoff at the thought: you may bump into them trying to escape this place, and you'd either die together, be torn apart so soon or both escape. You'd hope for the latter, but knew there was every chance that if your soulmate was in a place like this, the two of you weren't going to be spending much time together in this mortal coil.

You continued, eventually, it was not like you had much else you could be doing.

It didn’t get easier, the wide grinning monster wasn't the only apparition that stalked these corridors. More creatures with massive teeth… a creature with too many eyes… another with way too many eyes... you just couldn’t catch a break. You were hurt, beaten and demoralised, tears silently spilled from the corners of your eyes in spite of your efforts to stop them. You wanted to quit, to curl up in a ball and let the floor beneath you consume you whole… but you also wanted to live, to get out of this place.

You were out of breath by the time you pushed your way into room 49, beelining over to the desk in the centre of the room so that you could have something to lean on. You just wanted a break so you could steel yourself once more.

The sudden growling that came from room 50 that you could hear through the walls didn’t help matters in the slightest.

Your heart froze in your chest as you stared, wide-eyed, at the large double doorway. You half expected whatever was on the other side to tear its way through the doorways and tear you to shreds. Fortunately for you, that was not the case, whatever was on the other side was apparently content to stay in that room, growling away and letting its presence be known to all who could hear. You.

As much as you would be content to stay here, sitting on this desk for the rest of eternity, you knew that you had to press on eventually. The thought of having to face whatever was on the other side of the double doors deeply filled you with foreboding, but you had no other course of action you could take, no other path to follow.

With slightly quaking arms, you push yourself upright on your feet, turning to directly face the doorway in question. It is a few seconds longer before you are able to convince your body to take that first shaking step towards the doorway, legs feeling as heavy as lead with each subsequent step. All too soon, you find yourself right in front of the door, a hand laying hesitantly against the knob. One last deep breath, and it is turned. You enter the next room.

You hadn’t even fully comprehended the fact that you had entered what had appeared to be a library when the source of the growling can racing around the corner of a bookshelf and stomping in your direction. You couldn’t help it; you cried out and cowered close to the floor. Right around the same time, there was a loud crash from somewhere to your right, and the monster that was heading towards you suddenly turned and charged in its direction.

When you realised that your life was not about to meet its immediate end; you looked up. The creature was now some distance away, storming around the library as if in search of something... You, of course. To your right, you see a lamp which had conveniently fallen (for some reason) which has been smashed on the ground. Your saving grace. The noise of the smashing must have muffled your cry and distracted the beast, but that doesn’t explain how it didn’t see you when it was right in front of you…

Unless, of course, it couldn’t see at all.

That realisation made you feel better about the situation, if just a tiny bit. So long as you make as little noise as possible, it shouldn’t be able to find you as you make your way over to the exit! This should be easy!

…

It's not easy.

After very cautiously making your way over towards the exit doors, making sure to keep as much distance from the monster as possible, you came to realise that the door was locked. But it couldn't have just been a normal lock requiring a normal key, oh no, it had to be a combination lock.

The weight in your chest could have pulled you to the centre of the earth, and you collapsed with your back against the offending door. The hopelessness… How were you supposed to get out of here now? Yes, the combination is likely in the library, somewhere, with the monster… How were you supposed to find it with that thing stomping around? You didn't want to go anywhere near it! Yet in spite of every single effort you made to be as quiet as a mouse, it always seemed to be just around the corner, like it always had some vague idea of where you might be despite you giving it no clues.

Pushing yourself to your feet once more might have been the hardest task that you had endured as of yet. There was no stability in your legs and feet, and even just standing up straight had you wobbly. You dread to think what the first few steps would be like.

Your eyes fall upon the beast, still stalking the main halls of the library. This would be the best chance to make the first stumbling steps in search of the code pieces, and you’d have to pray that your leg muscles get stronger and don’t give out the longer you go.

One step.

Two steps.

The unease in your legs makes it as if you were a newborn foal just learning how to stand and walk for the first time.

Three steps.

Four steps.

Five steps.

Six steps.

With much shakiness and unease, you’ve made it to the handrail, using it to balance your position a little bit. You would breathe a sigh of relief, if you weren’t in such immediate danger still. The creature was never too far away, and as of right now it seemed to be coming over to your location.

You move as quickly and as quietly as your hesitant legs will take you, scooting around behind the shelves near to the stairs as to let the creature pass by without getting a whiff of your location. It works, the creature walks right past and over towards where the blocked off stairs are. So you go down the unblocked one.

Or at least you tried.

Going down stairs whilst trying to balance on uneasy legs and maintain a degree of silence at the same time was a lot harder than you were anticipating. A foot gave way a few steps down, the initial wobble seemingly stopping time itself to expand the moment indefinitely, until it gave way completely and you went tumbling down the stairs with a small cry. The cry out was fairly quiet. The tumble was…

Loud.

Your ears were ringing slightly, so you almost missed the unmistakable roar of the entity a short distance away, swiftly followed by the heavy footsteps of it closing that distance. You had barely brought yourself up onto your knees, ready to sprint away as fast as your legs would let you, when you felt two large claws seize you roughly around the abdomen. Your connection to the floor is severed when it lifts you up to its own head level.

“No!” you howl out desperately, kicking and flailing and trying your best to loosen its grip and wriggle free, but its hold remained steadfast. ‘I’m going to die!’ you think to yourself as you are brought in close to the maw of the creature, teeth enclosing around your head as it goes to take that final, fatal bite that will end your life. You scrunch your eyes shut, not wanting to see the throat that will immediately consume your flesh.

Except… the immediate consumption doesn’t seem to happen. You can feel numerous teeth pushed painfully into various spots around your head and neck, deep enough to draw a little blood, but none deep enough to end your life. In fact, the pressure on the various points of skin suddenly diminishes as the entity’s jaw opens wide once more. Your eyes only open again after you feel it pull you out of its mouth.

Visible confusion etches across your saliva and blood trickle stained face as you stare across at the entity, which is also facing you. Judging by the slight tilt to its head and the low grumbling that seems to emanate out of it, it too seems to be confused- perplexed even. It twists you about in its claws as if it is inspecting you, trying to solve some great mystery about the human in its hands.

You squirm slightly, lowkey hoping that in its confusion its grip would have loosened enough for you to break free. You’re not that lucky, however. The squirming only serves to make it tighten its grip around you.

The creature's expression suddenly lightens up, both figuratively and literally, a low glow emits out of its maw. Its feet shift about on the spot restlessly, almost akin to a child who is barely able to contain their excitement. The low grumbling is replaced by quick, high pitched chitters. Its face leans in closer to your own, causing you to catch your breath and freeze in its hold, but instead of trying to bite your head off it just presses it into the side of your neck, taking in a sharp inhale.

You desperately try to push its face off of you, but it doesn’t budge an inch. All it does in return is growl, progressively louder, and tighten its hold of you closer to its chest, until you finally stop. Then it is back to the chittering to itself as it continues to get itself very familiar with your scent: sniffing, gentle nibbling and the occasional flick of its tongue.

Your heart was racing, the prolonged inescapable contact with the massive creature was not bringing you any ease. Mind spinning, you could figure out why this thing, which was so intent on bringing your life to an end, had suddenly decided that it no longer cared about bringing you to an end in the slightest. It just held your quaking form against it, continuing its intrusive investigations.

The sudden movement of the entity turning to move to face back at the stairs you had fallen down, with you still in its claws, made you jump, and also reignited your struggling. Your efforts remained as fruitless as all your previously struggling attempts, for the grip of the monster remained as tight as ever. It really wasn’t up for letting you go.

“Please… don’t…” you plead out quietly, still trying to break free, if with a little less vigour. You haven’t the foggiest what it was going to do to you, but you didn’t like it regardless.

The entity completely ignored your pleading. With quick steps, it ascends the small staircase and makes its way over to the corner of the room adjacent to the exit. There it slowly descended to the ground, sitting with its legs bent at the… knees? It has more joints than a human.

It feels a little mocking, being this close to the escape, even if you didn’t yet know the combination to the lock.

You find yourself being lower to the ground slowly. The instance you make contact with the ground, you try to scramble to put some distance between yourself and the creature behind you.

The monster growled loudly, aggressively, and was quick to seize you by the forearm with a claw once more, grasp tighter than ever before, it was going to bruise at best and snap the bone at worst. The intense pressure on the bone had you cry out in pain, free arm instinctively coming over to try and pull the offending hand off of you, but it wouldn’t relent.

With a hard yank, you are pulled flush against its body. Your arm is released, but the claw that was holding it snakes around your front to restrain you against its body. Like a dragon guarding its treasure. You wouldn’t be able to try and move away from it whilst it kept you there, obstructed. The entity lets out a small rumble, before falling relatively silent aside from the odd gurgle or chitter. At this point you know there is no point in trying to get away, lest it inflicts more damage to you than it already has.

‘This can’t be happening…’ you think to yourself as you bring your hand over to your pained forearm, rubbing it softly. What did you do to deserve this cruel fate?

Your eyes fall onto the forearm you are rubbing, and you take notice of those four little letters that have been staining your wrist all your life. Fear.

Fate must have been laughing at you. Were you really going to die in a place like this, never even meeting someone who could potentially be your one? You had been scared shitless this entire time, and no handsome hero had come save you from the monster, to sweep you off your feet and carry you to safety. In fact, the ironic thing was, the only thing to do something remotely similar to that notion was-

There was no fucking way…

That had to be a joke, right? There was not a single chance in a thousand years that fate would choose to disregard the literal several billion humans on the planet, and instead drop you into the palm of… this thing.

You turn your head to look up, flinching slightly when you notice it facing down at you, even if you already knew it couldn’t see. Unlike your internal turmoil, it seemed pretty thrilled with its own lot in life, enjoying the close company of someone who would (somehow) be its perfect match, who could never leave it…

Whilst thinking on this new revelation, you became more aware of the literal position you were in: sat between the entity’s legs, an arm wrapped securely around your body, pulled into a closely intimate proximity. You wanted to break away from the creature, continue to struggle and reach for freedom, yet… another part of you didn’t. You didn’t know whether that was because of how defeated you were or because some subconscious part of you wanted to be with the monster, but the conflict of should you stay or should you go kept raging in your heart.

It hurt you, it hurt you multiple times; first nearly biting your head off, then grabbing your forearm so hard it could have snapped. Staying with this thing was a health hazard, and that was putting it lightly.

Then again, you would hazard to say that it has never had any non-hostile interactions with a human before. You should give it the benefit of the doubt, a chance to better learn to restrain itself around someone it will care about.

You settled it, eventually. You were going to at least try to live with- accept the monster. If it truly was to be your soulmate, this shouldn’t be so hard, falling in love with it should come as naturally as breathing, even if the prospect of being in love with a monster was terrifying. And if you can’t make yourself love a literal monster, perhaps making it think you do would have it lower its guard enough for you to escape the library.

With your plan set, you sigh out a deep breath and lean back into the abdomen of the beast, getting yourself into a bit more of a comfortable position. Your breathing has stabilised a bit more, even if your heart still pounds heavily in your chest. At least you're finally feeling the adrenaline leaving your body.

The entity seems to delight at your sudden passivity.

Chapter Text

The dark room only had two inhabitants at the time, Screech and Seek. Technically. Seek was just an eyeball on the wall that Screech was nattering at. It was surprisingly easy to distract and entertain the smaller entity.

But then the room had a third occupant.

“Huh?” Screech exclaims when they notice it. “Seek? When did this bird get here?” The confused small entity inquires as they float down to be more on level with the animal. The two of them simply stare at each other.

Seek, for their part, frowned- or at least the eye narrowed in a look that could be described as a frown. The eye scanned the room but they could not see the supposed bird that Screech was talking about. Screech turns to face the other entity, and it gives them a sceptical look.

“You don’t see it?” Screech turns around again and points with a singular tentacle. “It’s right there?”

Seek, still not seeing what Screech was talking about, decided to manifest properly in the room. The way Screech was talking about this ‘bird’ led Seek to believe they weren’t having them on, but it still couldn’t see what the other entity was talking about.

“I don’t see anything” Seek states, now standing in the middle of the dark room, not that the lack of light inhibited their vision in any way.

“You’re kidding!” Screech exclaims, baffled. “It’s right there! See!” they float right up to the strange bird, pointing at it.

“There’s nothing there Screech…” Seek thinks to itself for a bit, before adding “Could you describe what it looks like for me?”

“Sure: small, white, weird neck, orange beak- what more do you need?” Screech replies with a substantial amount of grumbling.

“How big is it?” Seek asks.

“Uuuuuuurgh!” Screech groans, before stretching two tentacles from the head of the bird to the ground. “This”

“Is it a goose?” Seek inquires, getting the idea as to what might be going on here.

“It’s a bird” Screech replies simply.

“A goose is a bird” Seek mentally facepalms, but tries not to show it. “Screech, I think you have a soul goose”

“A what?” a confused Screech replies. “Is that bad?”

“Quite the opposite, in fact. It means your soulmate was just born” Seek explains. Entities live such long lives… the odds of them getting a soulmate is extremely rare. Hell, Seek has lived a longer life than Screech and has never had one themselves. It almost seems unfair…

“I didn’t know we could get soulmates!” Screech exclaims, the slightly increased pitch of its voice would suggest they are getting excited at the news.

“It is incredibly rare, so you should feel fortunate to have one”

“So! When will I meet them?” Screech bobs up and down around Seek’s head, barely able to contain the excitement now. Understandable excitement, the concept of there being someone out there who was perfect for you all in all ways would thrill just about anyone.

“They’ve only just been born!” Seek exclaims with a degree of exasperation at Screech’s impatience. “You’ll know when it is time when that-” Seek gestures vaguely to where Screech had formerly been. “-becomes more annoying than you could ever be” Why must the creature that is essentially a messenger of love be so annoying? Who knows! Fate can be confusing sometimes.

Screech looks down at the goose, which was still staring vacantly up at it, and then turns to look at Seek.

“Bet”

Aside from most of the entities giving Screech some small congratulations on this new development, the entities mostly went about their lives as they would normally; hunting and killing any human that was unfortunate enough to step foot in their domain. For many years, Screech had a silent companion that would waddle around behind them, occasionally flapping its wings at the small entity.

Although disappointed every time they saw it and it wasn’t being ‘more annoying’, Screech paid the goose very little mind.

Instead, they dreamt about what kind of character that its soulmate would be. Hopefully they’ll be a fun loving sort, able to tag along with Screech’s pranks. A great cuddle buddy would also be nice, if they’re bigger than Screech they can wrap around the smaller entity and keep it all snug like. Oh, and also-!

Honk!

A sudden noise snaps Screech out of their fantasising. The small entity looks around the room for the source of the unusual noise, but sees nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps the hotel was shifting or something…

Honk!

Nope. Definitely not. Screech was more aware of the noise this time, however, and was able to turn in its vague direction. It was strange, there was nothing out of the ordin-

Honk!

Oh! The bird! It made the noise! That was the first time Screech had heard it make such a noise, usually it only ever does the odd hissing and that’s about it.

“Why are you making such a racket?” Screech inquires aloud, rubbing their chin with a singular tentacle and floating down to be on level with the bird.

As soon as it is within reach of the bird, the goose lunges forwards and grabs Screech by the tentacle in its mouth.

“Ow! Hey, quit that!” Screech complains, smacking it hard around the head with a free tentacle. It doesn’t relent. “I said quit it!” No matter how hard Screech tried to make the bird let go, it wouldn’t budge.

The bird, for its part, kept trying to drag the small entity into the other room. That room had a light on, and Screech didn’t like the light so much.

“I don’t wanna go in there!” they winge. “Why do you want me to go?”

The goose finally lets go, much to Screech’s delight, but it keeps making that loud noise; over and over, it’s never ending.

Honk!
Honk!
Honk!
Honk!

Ugh, this thing can sure be annoying…

“Wait a second!” Screech thought back all those years to the time when this thing first appeared. “Didn’t Seek say something about you becoming real annoying when it’s time to meet my soulmate?” Screech lets at a small gasp, excitement building up inside of them. “Does that mean they’re here!?” They took the goose’s constant flapping and continued honking to mean ‘yes’.

Suddenly Screech was all the more willing to step into the disgusting light, if it meant they would get closer to their one true love. Well, they had very little choice in the matter anyway, for the goose would almost angrily follow them through the corridors, not letting them turn back even if it wanted to.

Screech knew they were getting close when a second honking could be heard, a few rooms back from the room that it had just entered. Excitedly, Screech races through the next rooms until all but rip open one last door.

They didn’t expect to see a human, bleary faced, being dragged along by a similar angry looking bird. They didn’t care in the slightest. If they could see your bird, then that meant you could see their bird, which could only mean one thing…

“Yippee!” Screech exclaims, bouncing over to the confused human with much joy. The small entity seizes the human by the hands, incidentally the annoying little birds disappear without a trace at that exact moment, and spins the two of you around. And around. And around. And around. It is a struggle for the human to stay on their legs the entire time. “I found you! I found my soulmate!” Screech exclaims, still spinning the two of them around joyfully.

“My soulmate? You?” the human queries, disbelief at the situation, not that Screech could really fault them for being in shock at the sudden turn of events.

The entity stops spinning the two of them and floats up so that they are inches away from their face, wide, gleaming smile never faltering. With two tentacles, the tiny creature smooshes the human's cheeks together as it stares into their face.

“Yep! I had an annoying bird-thing. You had an annoying bird-thing! We were meant to be!” Screech is buzzing with enthusiasm. “Oh, all the fun things we can get up to!”

“‘Fun things’? Like what?” the human inquires, words coming out a little awkwardly due to the whole face-smooshing situation that was going in.

Screech, at least, releases their face at that. It rubs the two tentacles that were formerly holding the human’s face mischievously.

“Oh, all kinds of things! I think we should introduce you to good ol’ Seek in a very… memorable way…” Screech had so many ideas of what they could do, it was going to be hard to pick just one… Tear up all of Seek’s suits… Steal the wine stash they 100% have… Spread scandalous rumours about it… See how many items they can cram in its body whilst it sleeps…

“Wha- who’s Seek?” the human asks, innocently, a quirk in their brow. Ah, it is even better that the human didn’t get far enough into the hotel to meet any of the others. A mischievous grin adorns the entity’s face.

“I’ll introduce you” Screech replies quickly, grabbing the human by the hand and pulling them off into the depths of the hotel, whilst they trundle along behind.

This is going to be so much fun!

Chapter Text

You weren’t too sure what to make of the image in your hands when you received it. It was unlike anything anyone you knew had received. Everyone else in your life had received an image of their fated match, the one person they’d be perfect with, happiest with. Yet, when the time came for you to receive yours…

The image looks distorted. You couldn’t make out even a single feature, no eyes, no nose, no mouth, no face. It was just a strange distortion of hues.

No one knew what it meant. The image wasn’t blank, so it couldn’t mean that you had no soulmate, but no one knew what having an image so distorted like this could possibly mean. It had never happened before, as far as anyone was concerned.

It was a little frustrating, to say the least. This was to be the one clue that you ever received which could point you in the direction of your soulmate, and it gave you nothing. Actually, it gave you something: false hope. It wasn’t completely devoid of an image, so it had to mean that you had someone, but it was going to leave you forever wondering.

Until you simply decided that you had no soulmate. It would be easier on yourself to pretend that the distorted image had in fact been blank, and that you were going to enjoy a comfortable existence alone. Nothing wrong with that, many people did it. And If you so happened to bump into them, hopefully they’d recognise you because lord knows you wouldn’t recognise them.

So you went about your life, and everything was normal.

Until it wasn’t.

You have no idea how you ended up in a place like this, but you could suppose the ‘how’ doesn’t matter anymore. What does matter is that the front doors won’t open, and the only way forward seems to be to take one of the elevators that lined the floor to who knows where. You didn’t like it one bit, but you felt that you had little choice in the matter. So, you picked one and let it carry you off to your destination. Hopefully somewhere better than the lobby.

It was not, in fact, better than the lobby in here.

You didn’t know how you avoided the first monster, perhaps it was pure instinct, but when you began to hear strange things you practically flung yourself into a wardrobe. Right move, apparently, something large and fast raced through the corridor you were just in, smashing out all the lights with the force of its movements. You couldn’t go back the way you came. You persisted.

A few rooms in and you found yourself in a bit of a predicament. It was nothing too major, just that the next door was locked and you had to go searching for a key. There were multiple suites for you to search in, with multiple drawers inside each one, and a few in the hallway to boot. This was going to take a while…

You were halfway through the search when you got this… eerie feeling of being watched. It was strange, and sent a shudder down your spine, and yet it oddly didn’t feel malevolent. Strange, considering the location that you currently are in. You looked around for the source, half expecting to see another monster lurking in this room.

You weren’t expecting to see one of the unopened drawers suddenly glowing a strange ethereal blue. The sight of it gave you pause, unsure what to make of the mysterious glow. It caused a tightness in your chest that you couldn’t explain either. Well, for whatever reason, you didn’t get the sense that it was malevolent or anything, in fact it felt almost… calming to look at it.

Hesitantly and on light feet, you approach the glowing drawer. There’s a slight… twinkling noise coming from it, which you only really notice as you lay a hand on the handle of the drawer and slowly pull it open. You were anticipating something jumping out at you.

You weren’t anticipating the key out of this room to be in there.

You snatch it up quickly, turning it over in your hands as you continue to observe the sparkling light; it persists even after you have taken the contents of the drawer out. You can’t shake the feeling that-

-Hold up!

Hastily, you reach into the deepest recesses of your old backpack and pull out an extremely crumpled item. There were lots of white damage lines across it, from the years of being left crumpled at the bottom of a bag, but the image (or lack thereof) was still just about visible. You're honestly a little suprised that you still had it after all this time. Eyes darted between the distorted image and the glowing drawer, baffled and filled with confusion.

It looked the same: same specks, same shade, same everything.

“What does this mean?” you say quietly to yourself, continuing to look between the picture and the light in front of you. It couldn’t be a coincidence, right? You end up in some strange haunted hotel and then see something that resembles the distorted image that has plagued you?

Regardless, you couldn’t very well stay here, you had to move on.

“Heh, maybe my soulmate is a ghost…” you jokingly say to yourself as you move towards the door, unlock it and move on. Still, you kept thinking about that light, about how the sight of it made you feel.

Ok, but now you keep seeing the light, like a lot. Anytime the next door is locked, or the room is dark, or you need to find a lever, that blue glow would appear. Like, immediately. It was also way brighter than the first time, making even the darkened rooms as bright as those with the lights still on. It made things a lot easier, sure, but you were still baffled by the sudden change.

“Maybe that ghost comment is true…” you mumble to yourself as you continue through a not-so-dark room. After all, poltergeists can move stuff and all. Does that explain how it is able to light things up? Maybe, but it definitely would explain how it was able to slam the door (really, really hard) on the slime monster and knock over the lamp to distract that lamprey-faced creature.

The residents of room 52 seemed to know about the blue glow you were talking about, but weren’t very helpful in the matter beyond that. They were helpful in another regard, well, Jeff was. You were able to buy some tools to help you on your journey.

“If you’re a ghost, can we get a romantic pottery scene?” you ask jokingly as the slime man, once again, has a door slammed into it. Boy does it sound angry as it pounds on the door, but the door doesn’t relent, so it has to. There’s no response from your guardian ghost, so you continue on your journey.

It’s a little unnerving how much more destroyed the rooms are becoming as you go along, but with the aid of the blue light you’re able to find your way through just fine.

You're a little surprised when the sound of the downpour outside gets a little louder.

Pushing open the next door, you find a gate in front of you leading- outside!? You momentarily let your hopes rise thinking that you might finally be getting out of here. Except… It's not an escape. It’s a courtyard. The four walls around the little outside area keep you as imprisoned as the rest of this damn hotel. You let out a heavy sigh as you walk out into the middle of the sheltered path.

One side of the courtyard has something that the otherside does not; tall and imposing, there stands a giant statue. It would appear to resemble an angel holding a sword. It’s a little out of place in a hell hole like this, as far as you are concerned.

You decide to take a rest there, on the small steps leading out towards where the statue stood. It had been such a long journey to get to this point, you deserved a small break. You did, however, notice the sudden absence of the blue light that had been ever present during your travels. You didn’t want to think too much about it, but it was a little upsetting to find that your constant companion had suddenly decided to vacate the area.

“I always assumed you were some sort of ghost… but perhaps you were a guardian angel?” you think aloud as you continue to stare up at the statue.

There’s a slight pressure on your shoulder, as if someone standing behind you is gently squeezing it. You can’t see any fingers in your periphery, not that you care anyway. It was nice, reassuring, and gave you the sense that everything was going to be alright… even though a monster could technically show up at any given moment and end you…

Wouldn’t that be something? If they’re a ghost, maybe you’d become a ghost too. If they’re an angel, maybe dying is the only way you’d ever be able to see them… Fate can be cruel sometimes, huh?

“I’m just… gonna sit here a little while longer…” you say, stretching your legs out until they start to get caught in the rain a little.

There’s something sitting next to you, you think. You can’t see it, but you can feel an unearthly presence there. It’s not malicious, it never has been, so you need not worry about it. You close your eyes and face the sky.

You’re just going to stay here for a little while… or you might end up staying here forever.

Chapter Text

A-62. As of late, anytime A-60 goes to sleep, they see that room, that number. At first, they couldn't believe it. They knew what it meant, to have such frequent dreams about a location, but… they just couldn't believe it was happening to them. ‘Ecstatic’ would be an understatement.

As happy as A-90 and A-120 were for their fellow entity, they were getting sick of listening to A-60 go on about it near constantly. It was relentless.

“To think; a soulmate! Me! After all this time!” A-60 rambles, yet again.

“Mhm…” a barely listening A-90 responds. They've heard this all before, for the last… how long has it been now? Ah, time is so hard to gauge here… Which doesn't help the exhaustion A-90 is starting to feel at being subjected to this conversation... again.

“I bet they're the prettiest creature in the world! Ooh, I hope they’re smaller than me! I wanna be able to fit them under my arm. And carry them! And-!” A-90 began to zone out even more, A-60's rambling just repeating things they've heard before.

A-60 didn't even notice when A-90 was replaced by A-120, who had taken up the duty of giving noncommittal acknowledgements of A-60's chatter.

“Hey, I've had a thought!” A-60 loudly declares, just about snapping A-120 out of their absent daydreaming. The squiggly face focuses in on their companion.

“Really now? A new one?” All they've been doing this whole time is sharing their thoughts…

“Well, I was thinking; if my soulmate arrives here before you and A-... 90-” A-60 finally notices that they are talking to a different entity from earlier, not that they care “-get one of your own, then we could share them for a bit!”

“Share?” repeats back a confused A-120.

“Yeah! It’ll be nice to have more company around the Rooms, there’s so few of us after all, and not many come through anyway. It’ll also give you and ‘90 a chance to practise all the emotional stuff before you get your own soulmates!” A-60 explains, giddily. “But I get most of the smooches, obviously. And the other fun stuff” they quickly add.

A-120 had to admit, it would be nice to spend some time with someone other than A-60 or A-90. Not that they don’t like their fellow entities and all, but being stuck with the same people for… however long they’ve been in the Rooms could really be tiresome. It might be refreshing to have some new intimate company to keep, even if they were going to be occupied by A-60’s attention mostly.

The Rooms entities are quick to work out the details of the arrangement; of course, A-60 would take priority being the soulmate of their soon-to-be new roommate, but that didn’t mean that A-90 and A-120 were going to be left out in any way shape or form. All they had to do now was wait for them to wander into the Rooms… Which, in itself, was a hard feat to accomplish, but at least they knew for definite that at least one life form would be doing it, and hopefully some point soon.

Of course, the difficulty of the feat that you had just accomplished would shock anyone, but you were beyond flabbergasted.

Having found yourself in the middle of a spooky hotel was bad enough, but then for it to be filled with all kinds of monsters that were out to make you a dead thing? Worst time ever.

Fortunately for you, you survived your initial encounter with the speedy smoke monster, which led you to be much more cautious going forwards. You carefully had your ears trained to sounds which could indicate the approach of the smoke monster, or even just another one entirely. As you went, you searched the drawers for anything that could be remotely useful to you. The coins were nice, though you didn’t know why you were so inclined to collect them, you found a candle on a table and picked up a couple of lockpicks… for some reason. Not much else other than them.

The journey forwards in search of an escape was… difficult to say the least: smoke monster, tiny tentacle monster, slime monster, that thing in the library, it was all almost too much.

It was such a relief to find friendly faces, even if they were, strangely enough, also non-human. El Goblino, as you learnt they were called, was really friendly, and Jeff, although completely silent, didn’t seem to have an ounce of hostility in their tentacled form.

Jeff was, incidentally, a shopkeeper whom you could spend your many gathered coins at. All the gear they had laid out before them looked really appealing, from a I’m-trying-to-not-die standpoint. A flashlight, some vitamins, a lighter, all so tempting. Yet, in spite of those very obvious choices, your eyes kept being drawn towards the strange key with a skull. Perhaps it was just intrigue, but you really wanted to know what kind of door it opened… even if the skull was a little foreboding.

So, in spite of your survival instincts begging you for the flashlight, you spent most of your money on that key, and donated what little you had left to Jeff’s tip jar. Jeff’s reaction was a little endearing, but you had to move on. Your escape awaited you.

The following rooms were like a blur to you; aside from a single appearance from the smoke monster it was a relative breeze. The rooms were pretty straightforward and without the sudden appearance of any new monstrosities you felt like your luck might finally be beginning to turn.

You hadn’t gotten much further from room 52 when you felt… strange. The sensation was hard to describe, it was like there was an unconscious pull tugging at your chest, trying to direct you off the path. And wouldn’t you know! There was a huge crack behind a bookcase that you could just about fit into. Curiosity getting the better of you, you squeeze yourself in and follow the hidden path all the way into a strange hidden room. It was… a little underwhelming, to be honest. There were a few chairs and an unnamed painting, but that was about it. There was another path going forwards, and a strange noise emanating from the other side, but it was blocked off by a gate. Unlike the gates you’d seen prior, there was no lever for you to pull to open it. With no way forwards on this hidden path, you returned to the main path and went forward.

What a coincidence! The next room was one of those cellar rooms that had a lever switch to open the way forward. It was slightly different from the prior ones… but you were able to find the lever with ease. It was kinda strange that the screechy, small tentacled creature didn’t make an appearance in this room but it’s not like you're complaining about that. It just made it easier for you to continue your journey.

Yet you hesitated at the door. You kept thinking about that strange little side room, and the strange noise coming from beyond the gate. It called to you like a siren on the rocks. After all, you pulled a lever, perhaps that gate opened too? It wouldn’t hurt to check, right? A scratch to satisfy the itch of curiosity. You went back.

Much to your delight, the gate had indeed opened. Quick on your feet, you round the corner to see the source of the mysterious noise and the mysterious orange glow.

There was a door. That in itself wasn’t too surprising, this place was filled with many of them. What was surprising was the amount of locks that kept it sealed, and the sign above the door, which read ‘A-000’. Something about that number felt important, but you couldn’t quite put your finger on it at the moment. Three locks, two regular and one in the shape of a skull. Two lockpicks and a key with a skull on it were in your pocket. Surely that in itself couldn’t have been a coincidence?

You hesitated for a few moments, but in the end your decision was clear. With the lockpicks, you pried apart the locks. With the skeleton key in a shaking hand, you inserted into the skull shaped lock and turned. It fell to dust the instance it clicked, leaving the doorway completely exposed and ready to be entered.

There was no turning back now, you laid your hand on the door and pushed it open.

You must have blacked out, for the next thing you were aware of was waking up on the red carpeted floor in a large, empty room. Mostly empty, there was a machine with a green flashlight on it. When you approached it, it only asked for ten coins for it, which you had happened to pick up after your mass donation spree, so you took it.

It’s a shakelight. Neat, that’ll help you with… wherever you’ve found yourself.

You tentatively push open the first door to see that you are in some sort of abandoned office space, which seems oddly familiar to you…

The dream! That one dream you keep having! It shows somewhere in this place! That’s why the number above the door felt so relevant, you kept seeing a similar one! A-62… that is where you are supposed to meet your soulmate! No wonder you felt such a pull towards this place.

Oh, how exciting! You wonder what they are like. Maybe they’re big and tall, strong enough to carry you around, that would be nice. The two of you could team up to get out of these weird locales full of doors too. That could be a fun story to tell people on how you met; ‘oh yeah, we met inside a haunted office space inside a haunted hotel, no big deal!’.

You were positively buzzing as you made your way towards A-62. Yes, you were still cautiously aware of noises around this place, listening out for any would-be killers that might put a stop to your life, but as you went on nothing seemed to appear. Your journey was one of relative ease.

Nerves mounted exponentially with each door that brought you closer to A-62. You were excited, yet nervous. You probably looked like shit after everything you had just been through, so wouldn’t be making the first impression you would have desired, but hopefully they would understand and be able to look past that.

When you were before the door, you had to compose yourself. You had yet to see anyone on the journey here, so they had to be inside already, right? With a deep breath, you pushed open the door.

…

…

…

…Empty?

Why is it empty? Where’s your one true love? Are they not here yet? You walk into the centre of the room and spin around a bit, as if that would magically uncover the hidden person you were looking for. A sigh of disappointment leaves your lips, and you begin to wonder if you should wait for them to show up or if you should just forsake the whole dream thing and continue on your journey. No, no, you should stay, at least for a little while, to make sure that you give them a chance to catch up to you. But what if there are monsters here, like in the hotel? It would be dangerous to loiter around, you should move on. But what if you miss your one chance at meeting your soulmate because you were too hasty. Indecision just kept plaguing your mind.

Perhaps that is why you didn’t notice the unusual noise, loud and shrieking, it was rapidly approaching your location. You only realised what was going on when you noticed the red glow in the prior rooms, getting closer and closer, and by that point it was too late. You barely had enough time to react before the monster pounced on top of you, sending you flying onto the floor. So much for meeting your soulmate… you were going to die here!

“Oh, yes, yes, yes!” the monster… squealed? Excitedly. Large claws pull you off the ground and into the air, leaving you dangling in its grasp a few feet off the ground. “It’s you! Finally! Look at you!” The entity pulls you into a hard embrace, near crushing in its excitement before it pulls you back out again. Have to wheeze for your next few breaths. “Small, carriable, really, really nice-looking! Everything I wanted out of a soulmate!”

Wait. Soulmate? It thinks you’re…

Big and tall? Well, it is more than double your height, soooo… Check. Strong enough to carry you around. You are dangling in midair… Check. It seems to match some of your hypotheticals. This… had to be a cosmic joke.

“Can you… put me down?” you ask gingerly, not too sure how to go about this. You were nervous, but if it believed you to be its soulmate, it likely wasn’t going to try and bring harm to you. It lets out a small laugh.

“Why? I wanna hold you!” it says as it pulls you into another tight, air-constricting hug. It took a lot of squirming on your part to get them to even ease up just a little. “So, what do you think?” it asks as when it eventually pulls you back again.

“What do I think?” you mimic back in confusion.

“Of me, of course!” it exclaims. “Am I pretty? Handsome? Beautiful? Fetching? Pleasing? Adorable? Bewitching? Hunky? Sightly?” With each word its face inched a little closer to your own in its own excitement, to the point that it was pressed right up against your own.

“You’re… something alright” you respond uncertainly, still not sure what to make of the situation. Having a literal monster for a soulmate could have some perks… right? You could make the most of this. Maybe it’ll help you escape?

It seems happy with your answer, despite your uncertainty.

“Aren’t I?” it spins you around in the air happily. It makes you a little dizzy, so you’re glad when it stops. “Now, I should introduce you to the others! They’ll love to meet you!”

“Others?” you inquire, less sure about meeting other entities. They might have no qualms about bringing you to an end.

“Yes! They’d love to meet you! We’re gonna share after all!” It quickly bundles you securely in its arms before racing off through the many doors of this place, smashing them open with much force and ease.

“Wait! What do you mean ‘share’?” you shout over the sound of air rushing past your ears.

“Yeah! Hope you’re ready for lots of smooches!” It replies happily as it continues forwards.

If you thought having one monster partner was going to be a bit weird, get ready to have three!

Chapter Text

You don’t know how to get out anymore. The cycle just keeps repeating and nothing you do ever changes it. You avoid all the monsters, scramble through the dark rooms, push open door 24 and…

You’re back in the elevator, listening to the accursed music once more.

What could you possibly be doing wrong? Why are you stuck in a purgatorial loop? You hadn’t done anything to deserve such a fate…

Even after the doors of the elevator opened once more, you found yourself unable to get up from against the wall, where you had collapsed to the ground. Shoulders and head slumped, you didn’t even have the energy to muster to get yourself to even look into the first room.

“I can’t do this…” you mumble numbly to yourself, staring vacantly into the ground. “I can’t do this anymore…” There was no end in sight to this whole thing, no matter how many times you tried to escape, you would be sent back to the beginning before you even had a chance to try and finish. You couldn’t escape, you couldn’t bring this to an end.

Listlessly, you pull yourself off the ground once more, shaking legs barely able to carry you forwards. You barely even register the motions that you are making anymore. You just… move, like a puppet on a string.

You reached door 14, a trembling hand on the doorknob. The first entity appears when you enter this room, every single time. You have to hide from it.

With a deep breath, you open the door. The lights flicker as you slowly advance over to the centre of the room. Plodding steps have you taking a 180 to face the way you just came. And then you wait for the rumbling beast to arrive.

You welcomed the maws of death as one would when they greet an old friend.

The entity abruptly stops before you, staring down at your smaller form. You stare up at it, absent expression unchanging, waiting for it to rend your life from this plane. It does no such thing. It just… stares down at you with an expression that you do not recognise ever seeing on such a creature before. Disbelief maybe? That disbelief changes into something else: a gleeful excitement. The smile gets wider, and yet less malicious at the same time. You don’t understand…

“It’s you!” the monster exclaims in a deep, rumbly voice, one that sends shudders down your spine. “After all this time!”

For your part, you're taken aback. This one had never displayed the ability to speak before; the only one that ever said anything was the one that lurked in wardrobes and under beds.

“...What…?” you muster out, still staring up into the face of the monster.

A massive… hand? Paw? Something? Reaches out from the smoke of its body and grabs you abruptly, encircling your entire abdomen, causing you to let out a small scream. Lifted into the air, it turns you over in its grasp as if inspecting you.

“Humans are so tiny…” it muses to itself as it turns you over. You just let it happen, not motivated enough to fight back anyway. “...But you seem decent enough. At least now that damnable loop will end” Wait, it knew about the loop!?

“You… knew about that?” you ask slowly. It stops turning you over at your inquiry.

“Yes, we were stuck for… too long. It doesn’t matter anymore, I have what is mine now” You shudder at the statement. The beast pulls you in close and inhales deeply your scent. Should you do the same? You didn’t know what to do other than hang limply there in its hold.

“So… are you saying the loop has ended? I can go now?” you weren’t sure whether to believe it or not.

“Yes, and no. The loop has ended, but you aren’t leaving” the entity announces.

“W-why?” you stammer out, any bubbling hope diminishing almost as soon as it has begun to form.

“What part of you’re mine do you not get? You belong to me… as I belong to you” a second hand is used to awkwardly rub your head, petting you. An awkward attempt to soothe you. “You will be taken care of here, I’ll make sure that you are comfortable enough”

You sigh. That is… the best you could hope for to be honest. You hadn’t expected to survive the loop, nor had you expected… well, any of this. The loop had forced you to stay, but now there was something else doing that. Perhaps this reason will be a lot more pleasant.

So here you shall remain.

Chapter Text

You realised pretty quickly that you had to have your wits about you to survive in a place like this. Reaction times had to be on point; gut instincts had to be listened to.

But when you saw the floating mass of eyeballs, you just froze in place.

You stared at it, body rigid, wide eyed and jaw hanging open ever so slightly, flapping as your tongue tried to form words you couldn’t even comprehend. It was like the mere sight of the thing had turned your brain to mush and left you stupefied.

The sound it emitted was that of a lovely hum, like a lullaby for a baby. Between that and the pale purple glow of its body illuminating the room with its soft shades, you felt an overwhelming desire to curl up near it and take a nap. Perhaps you would… if you weren’t in such immediate danger. Maybe it would protect you as you slept?

It could be an angel for all you knew, and you, the lowly mortal beholding its magnificence.

“How peculiar…” Its voice is odd, monotonous yet strangely multilayered. You liked it anyway. “You behold us but do not perish? How could this be…” Was looking at it supposed to cause you harm?

“You’re… the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen…” you say, still dazed by the sight of it, but you are finally able to get your legs moving forwards, albeit slowly.

All the eyes of the creature widen slightly, briefly, taken by surprise at your words. There’s a small chuckle twinged with embarrassment.

“Are we now?” it replies. You stop a few feet away from it.

“Yes. Truly. You are… so beautiful” You reply breathily. Many of the eyes look away from you, with very few still able to meet the gaze that can’t seem to break from it.

“We… have never heard such words before…” it admits, much to your shock. Everyone that should see such a creature should feel the exact same way as you do now. How could they possibly not? “...We think you are… visually appealing too”

It is your turn to falter due to embarrassment. How could such a higher being give such a base creature such as yourself such high praise. You felt undeserving.

“Oh, thank you. You don’t need to say such things though…” you reply, modest.

“We feel it prudent that we do” it responds. “Perhaps you’d entertain our company for a while?” The offer lights up your eyes like no other thing could.

“Forever if I must” you return, accepting your fate with open arms, and open eyes.