Crys writing fort

honestly so proud of this so far, its been so long since i sat down and did a full body, but i really like how its going so far.

"Monsters like the dark, everyone knows that.

They creep under cloaks cut from the night sky, heavy footsteps and clawed toes- thump, thump, thump.

They crawl through inky hallways, ones that had looked so friendly in the day till the sun curled under the waving branches of trees so far away, the walls creaking with steady breaths while that one whining floorboard wailed up to your shut door.

They hide under beds, beady eyes and matted fur that crunches and cracks every time they move. They watch from ajar closets, too-long knees pulled up to their chests, elbows of hundreds bent and folded to fit the one space they didn't belong while peering out at your sturdy lamp wondering if they could swallow the light, blow it out like a happy birthday candle and creep in closer.

This is just a lil bit from a short story i'm working on, but so far i really like it, comin along real pretty i think? its one of those "tell the story from the end" challenges which are really tricky but also i'm having fun with it!

usually i don't do multiple wips of one piece but omg im so in love with this oneeee his hair i have hair envy how dare heeeee/j

ok, so guess whos finally over his phobia of heavy shadows? me bitch! i literally, i'm in love with this piece so far. also is it obvious im totally in love with the character, all my wips of late are him but can you blame meeee?

Hes not done yet, but omfg i already love it sm.

drew this for one of my friends, absolutely loved the character they were a delight to draw <33

and of course! me being me, i spelled half the words wrong and am too lazy to fix them <33 but ya! this is my baby, i love her sm.

this is a little wip i'm working on, honestly love it so far he is so precious <33 rendering has been a pain but its almost therapeutic when i get into the flow, his names allister and he is the mc in my second story! going fucking feral over the eye shading-

╔══ ꒰ ᵕ ᵕ ꒱ ═══════════════ Rain. It had started small that night, just a little pitter patter on the glass of coyotes dirty window, a thousand tiny fingers knocking as though politely asking if they could stop by for a cup of tea yet as minutes turned to hours and clouds grew darker those polite knocks turned to frantic pounds and those pounds to demanding thuds till the air was all but filled with static- pitter patter, pitter patter, burying their ears in an orchestra of voiceless whispers. 

A storm had rolled in, a storm in every sense as above them, beyond the house and beyond the now silent streets, stars fell blinded covered by thick inky black not even the blink of a passing plane could splinter- swallowing starving black taking all within its grasp to void-  the night of all nights, the storm tavia had come to know all too well, only the one she sat in that night remained silent, still, the aftermath of horror thick with unsaid words.

The room was still, dim light of a single brave lamp glowing from the wall opposite them highlighting the droplets tracked down the glass- a sight reminding her of when they were still little, maybe six or so racing rain drops down windows and cheering when they won, pointless competition just to pass the time till her mother got home or the car stuttered to a stop or the words “lets go home” reached their tiny ears. 

It was a scene that reminded her of a time things were better, a time before all this. A time before their world started to cave in.

A blanket was all that held them together now, yarn and string and half-snapped threads she believed kept him together like crusty old tape bound around his fractured frame, a fragile boy shattered like glass lying in a bed he looked all too small for. Coyote, her friend of twelve years, was cradled against her like a little boy who’d lost his mother in a store, shining eyes glassy with tears matching that look with pupils blown to the size of saucers, tiny universes holding a world she would never see eyes and for that she was grateful. She couldn't handle it like he could- she couldn't crack and put herself back together the way he did every year.

Coyote was sticky, pale, cheeks stained with the aftermath as his bones trembled in her grip- “aftershocks” as he called them like a quake the ground still rumbled with after the earthquake passed- a sound matching his breathing, shallow and slow while his greasy brown hair stuck up in every different direction tickling just under her nose as his heart thud thudded against her bare arm. 

It should have made her skin crawl, that racing in his bone-caged chest, but in that moment it was so different, in that moment it was the only proof she had that he- by some miracle- was still alive after all those years of this, clutched in her arms buried under a blanket in the room that had remained the same no matter the storm weathering the walls that never saw the lightning nor the thunder she bore witness too, memories burned to her brain as if she was one day bound to stand trial in a case she refused to acknowledge was ever a problem in the first place.

“..are you ok?” she asked, voice finally carrying threw the rain filled air as her fingers traced mindless circles against his clammy back, still hot with adrenaline, limp with exhaustion and clad with an orange shirt he now shivered in. The fire had long crackled away, icy chills left trickling in his veins.

For a moment coyote didn't answer, pitter patter, pitter pitter, clogging the air like static on an old radio till finally he’d rasp a simple “yeah.”, voice torn with screams she’d not soon forget.

“Good.” Tavia started, “But, you are totally crushing my arm.” she said in a whisper, one tight with theatrical anguish as he sniffled and squirmed to sit up for a moment, freeing her arm as the blanket crinkled and a tired smile broke those pasty cheeks.

That's what she was looking for, that smile, that one sign that the boy she loved was still in there somewhere.

He wasn't lost yet.

tavia pulled her arm back from behind him, sighing as he settled back against her chest while her fingers carded threw his hair and her eyes- dull and green tired with the years they'd been forced to battle- wandered for the wall tracing patterns she knew like the back of her hand- a bad paint job that became a hallmark of “we’re ok”, a memory she fled too each time the streets were drowned, floods of water rolling down the vacant road like they were that night, only the occasional passing headlight to flash by the window turning race-car rain drops into shimmering jewels slinking down to the sealed window cill.

For a moment, a quiet moment, the pair simply stayed like that- coyote tucked against her chest with her hand knitted in his hair as they listened to the rain rap against the window till finally her tongue curled with a question that had been seizing it for years- so many years.

“Whats it like?” and for a second the question hung heavy, the creaks in the floorboards fluttering silent as if giving her the stage to speak, her face cast in the same dim glow that made his bloom with post-shock white.

“You mean-” Coyote started, though she’d just as soon cut him off with a barely there “yes.”

He knew this question was coming one day, but he never would have guessed it would be today.

“It's.. like a bad signal.” and to that she’d just nod, urging him on as she shifted to look at him, the sheets beneath her stirring with her too-steady movement as if scared she’d shatter him if she moved too fast.

“Everything else goes away, gets fuzzy. Even you, it's like I look at you and I don't even know who you are- in your place is just this.. Monster, some stupid thought that gets stuck in my head and no matter how hard i try i just cant shake it off.” he muttered, voice shaking as his fingers buried in the blue cotton of her slightly soggy shirt as though somehow it might keep him from falling back to whatever world he’d just crawled from.

“I shut my eyes, and it just gets louder.” he mumbled, tavis’ eyes prickling with something salty as the break in his voice cut at her gut while she silently wondered “why him?” as he went on between sniffles and droplets at the glass, incessant as ever, desperate to be heard while their voices drowned them in their own echos.

“The more it talks the worse it gets till it feels like nothing i do can save me- or save you- like we're both just sitting here and waiting for the worst to happen and- and even if I run my laps, lie totally still or stay up all night nothing will stop it.” he paused, eyebrows furrowing as his gaze went all glassy, tears teetering on his lashes as if clinging to the edge of a cliff stumbling over the lip as they grew heavier and heavier while the rasp in his voice built like rocks poised to crush them both. 

“It feels as though we’re marked for some monster, and there's nothing I can do to save us.” and all she could think was “why didn't you tell me sooner?”

“My skin burns and my stomach wont hold anything down- and it's like anything that ever made me who I am is buried at the end of a tunnel and I'm lost in the dark where they are. It's just.. Out of reach. And i know- i know what they say isnt real, but in the moment i cant help the “what if” till the what if turns to an “its going to happen” and by them i just cant-.. I just can't breathe.” he trailed off, skin all clammy as he paused for another shaky breath, the world miles away as they sat in a room that felt entirely cut off from the rest of the world.

She’s seen it, one too many times, wheezes and gasps, pleading as he begged whatever was in his head, in the shadows, tucked from view to leave him alone. It never got any easier, yet somehow hearing him say it, hearing him say all of it, just made it so much worse.

“I just.. Every time it happens, it's like I get further away from you. I don't want to do anything anymore, I just get too scared to stay in bed because I know I'm wasting time I might not have.” he finished, and by the end she couldn't help but squeeze him tighter and to that he’d simply bury his face in her shirt.

“I don't want to go.” he whispered, and to that the world fracturing around them because he’d never said it before, he’d never said what he really thought but now that he had? She was lost for words. She didn't want to need those words.

She paused for a moment, quiet except the breath between them because what do you even say to that? “I'm sorry life has been so cruel to you?” “I'm sorry your world is falling apart?” “I'm sorry you keep forgetting your own name?”, or do you simply let the rain do the talking for you, let the pitter patter of your heart tell him you still love him no matter what monster is chasing him, let the warmth of your skin remind him you're not going anywhere no matter how many nights he keeps you up screaming at shadows that never moved when he’d sworn they did.

It took a moment, but she’d finally find the words buried in her gut, fished out with a little grit of her teeth.

“You're not going to go. We’ll look after you, I won't let you forget who you are.” she promised, yet in the back of her head there was the quiet nagging thought- she was promising more than she could give.

“If i do go.” he started, because he could sense bullshit a mile away, "don't let it be what gets me.”

Silence. Just tense silence. 

She knew what he meant, she knew what he was asking, and she hated it, but to deny him the right to go as himself? What a cruelty that would be.

“Ok. ok, if it ever gets to that i wont let you end like that.” she paused, reality hitting her in the face like a punch before adding a quiet whisper of hope.

“but you won't go, we would never let it take you.” though all he’d do was nod, it was a nice thought after all.

Her eyes found the wall for a second, just staring at the old paint work as if quietly pleading whoever was out there, whatever could hear them, whatever was watching: “please, not him.” while his breathing went soft in her arms, weight reminding her that for that second he was still there. The future could wait- he was hers for a little while longer.

“I love you.” he mumbled, voice that familiar fracture as tears stung at her eyes and her lip found itself bitten between bitter teeth to stop it from quivering.

“..i love you too.” she rasped, barely words at all as her throat tightened under the weight of them.

And just like that as soon as the words had started they stopped, quiet leaving the rain to chatter once as she held him in her arms watching his chest rise and fall while his face found itself hidden in her neck, wet eyelashes tickling in a way she’d never forget the rain outside filling the air with that familiar soft buzzing while their breaths mingled in a moment she wished would last forever.

Things only ever felt right when he was there with her. ╚══ ꒰ ᵕ ᵕ ꒱ ═══════════════

╔═══════════════════════ ⋆☾ ˖

“I didn't think grown ups got scared..” rial mumbled, a splash beneath her feet as they came to pause by a set of silver rails, the pool beneath lighting the scene with a soft blue glow, yellow velvet between.

“We can't all be sharks” was all her mother had to say, and to that rial simply nodded, pondering as she looked up at her mother. She always seemed like more of a jellyfish- soft and graceful, captivating in its entirety yet a force to be reckoned with should you try.

“Now..” her mother started, a deep breath filling the air as her shoulders melted to relax. “How’s about me and you go take a look at the lazy river, those noisy brothers of yours would ruin it anyways.” and rial couldn't deny, that sounded nice.

╚═══════════════════════ ⋆☾ ˖

╔═ . ☾ . ═════════════════ “..I'm sorry.” he whispered, and she knew exactly what he was apologising for.

“I'm sorry about-” he paused, voice caught in his throat as if the words were bound in chains of needles burying themselves deep in his vocal cords. 

“I'm sorry about kitty.” he finally cracked out.

For a moment the words just hung there, the air still around them, the water at her hands numb as the bubbling drained away to leave only quiet and grief- both her own and his hovering in the bathroom.

it didn't hurt the way she’d expected, not deep or dark, not twisted and cold, but light and teary because for the first time, for the first time ever, someone was apologising for the right thing.

For the first time ever someone was apologising for the truth, not the cover up lie dressed up in “you’ll feel better soon”s. ╚═════════════ . ☾ . ═════

,0>0

art trades ōvô ?

╔═ . ☾ . ══════════════════ It was just as her breath softened to a slow blooming butterfly that the moment was ruined. something was rustling behind her, something bigger than a mouse- much bigger than a mouse.

Rial went tense, shoulders up at her ears as if screaming “get down!” while her tummy went taught and get legs braced to spring up as slowly she turned to face the dark she'd foolishly left her back too- and the scene she found managed to suck the room of any air it might have had left- ice on her fingers, in her breath, biting to the bone as eyes stared from the shadows, tiny lit pin pricks like candles burning away in the dark, unmoving, unblinking, but there all the same.

She couldn't see the owner of those eyes, not really, but she could hear it.

Low wet breaths bloomed through the air, something close to a purr as clicks illustrated each step it took, cardboard boxes and plastic bags crinkling as it passed with an uncanny drip, drip, drip carrying as an undertone for the twisted orchestra following it threw the bordering shadows offering it sanctuary; sanctuary or hunting ground, only time would tell.

But, she wasn't going to wait to find out.

With a squeak, gasp and stumble rial shot up to her feet, fumbling back against the box behind her, tripping the over concrete behind it and pinning herself to the last inch the light would give her keeping her eyes fixed on it, whatever it was.

In a scramble she glanced around the room for a way out- the door was off limit, locked tighter than fort knox and there were no other exits she knew- none except..

Moonlight soaked in behind her, poured across the ground flurrying in from the window above, the window at least six, maybe seven feet off the ground looking out to the garden that watched on like silent bystanders, leaves trembling in the breeze, distant flowers shrinking back to curled up bulls as if screaming “i cant watch!”. and that was the only way out.

The bulb above her flickered like a taunt, “not long left” it mumbled, and each time the shadows plunged around her claws skittered closer- scratch scratch scratch! Till the light flashed back on again sending it fleeing back to its own hide out while she scrambled for the wall wheezing adrenalyn fueled breaths. 

It was worth a try.

She hopped, jumped, hopped again and reached for the window with her one free hand, photo still clutched in the other though each time she tried she failed, fingers falling short scraping against the rough cement of the wall bringing tears to her eyes and quiet “please please please”s from her breath-dried lips- shaking between every hop.

By the fourth jump the room went dark- pitch black all except that dull moon light leaving her all but blind to the dancing static feeding her eyes lies till in what felt like a second, a snapshot, a photo mimicking that which was still clutched in her hand, it set to charge.

She heard it coming, the snarl that suddenly roared in her ears, the scratching that jolted to a silent leap, the breath licking at her face as it lunged for her.

A scream jumped from her lips, hands flying to clutch herself tight as her back pressed hard against the wall, lightning strike lightbulb light waiting till the very last second as the talon-like claws carved across the ground till finally- flash!

light flooded the walls.

in that flash, that single exposing shudder of light, it was exposed; a sight that would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

With a screech to colour the silence it reeled, jaws split open, claws posed to gouge at flesh and eyes reflecting the light with little pointed ears pulled back lining the path to scrapes- bruises- littering its thin white skin shuddering over a bony frame painting each wrinkle and crevice black under the downlit glow of the swaying light bulb above them- though no faster had it appeared did it scurry away again, plunging for the dark, recoiling like a wounded animal as whimpers- yes whimpers- rippled out towards her.

Ok, new plan.

In a half-baked-barely-there vision, Rial grabbed for the nearest box while shoving the photo in her waist band- she wasn't leaving it behind. She dragged the box across the floor then snatched another piling one after the other with each one bringing the rope around her throat tighter and the slashing of claws, teeth and glowing eyes to creep closer, each flicker of light giving it an extra few inches. 

Four, five, six boxes high, a seventh for good measure then piles of junk cluttering around the base of the tower because if she'd learned anything from building blocks all those years ago it was that a good base needed good supports.

Finally, as the light burned out again and darkness swamped the basement once again the tower was done, a mighty sight swaying and creaking in the moonlight, but with the snarls and snaps rearing behind her she had no time to marble her creation. It was time to go.

A foot found the first box, a hand gripping the third then climbing up to the fifth, sixth, seventh; she was wobbling now, the cardboard under her shaking, folding, crumbling as if screaming “get off, get off, get off!” There was no time left, it was the final stretch.

The light jolted on again just as a breath swiped by her ankle, her eyes flicking down to find a mouth grazing her skin, drooling at the taste of her with those eyes, those voids, pits of glassy endless nothingness glinting in what she could only call satisfaction as it froze in yet another snapshot image while the ground plummeted beneath her and the boxes- her shoddy design- looking a lot more.. Wiggly, under the beams of light.

She screamed, it wailed, the boxes swayed and time stood still as the monster stumbled back to the dark as if it had been shot giving rial but a few seconds to get the window open. Her hands flew for the old rusted handle, broken glass clinking as she jimmied it mumbling out quiet “come on”s till finally- pop! The window burst out swinging to the garden with a whipping summer air gracing her cheeks like hands grabbing for hers, silently begging her to hurry.

Rial grabbed for the window cill with one hand, shoved the frame as far out as it would go with the other and made the leap for the opening just as the light flickered out behind her once more- a screech so inhumane her blood ran cold and her vision went white. The tower tumbled, her legs hung free, but her arms, they now found themselves outside, free from the dark, from the monster and the teeth. 

She scrabbled, heart pounding so hand the world spun as with one burst of sheer adranalyn she vaulted out the window crashing onto gravel and dirt kicking away from the wall hauling herself to the still-wet grass from fathers watering.

Scraped palms, muddy knees, dust coated hair and breath so tight it burned to swallow, but she was ok. 

════════════════════════════════ ⋆ ☾ ⋆ “I wanted to cry just as much as you, scream and shout, kick my feet and say “i wanna go home!” but, that's what being a grown up is about.” she paused. “having to be the brave one for the people who need you to be.” And at that the room went still, shadows at the walls flickering as if stunned by her words and the strength they held. ════════════════════════════════ ⋆ ☾ ⋆