Ough

Darkness.

Darkness was all Dexter had known since he had been locked up in this damn attic.

Darkness was all he had known since they put him in this damn metal bucket.

Darkness was all he had known since those two bitches and two brats tossed him in that damn oven. Twice. He had melted down into a disgusting, stinking mess, of melted plastic and latex, of burnt fabric and polyester hair, of four glass eyeballs. They had to scrape him out of the oven with a spatula, as if he was nothing but a wasted meal, never to be enjoyed.

God dammit.

And so he sat there, unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to do anything but stare at his soundings and think. He had no mouth, but he had to scream.

He was sat right beside his sticky trap, what started all this, the one he laid out for what he was tricked into thinking was a rat, a pest that he could capture and then torture to his heart’s content, instead it was a demon, a demon that possessed his body, snapped his neck, and got his soul stuck into that damn ugly doll.

He hadn’t been able to take care of his needs for months at the point, now, how long has it been? It could’ve very well have been years, maybe it was.

He was practically completely insane at this point, thoughts no longer completely coherent, just a chaotic mess filled with anguish and bloodlust.

He kept thinking about how much he needed to kill, to kill ANYTHING, he wanted to kill that giant spider he kept seeing crawling around the attic, he wanted to kill that purple haired bitch for tricking him and getting him stuck in this mess, he wanted to kill those kids for not letting him take care of his needs and for getting him stuck in this mess as well, he wanted to kill that demon for killing him.

Those first two wishes almost got fulfilled, some fat guy dressed as a demon broke in and hunted that lady through the attic, almost killed her, and from what he could hear, the kids almost got killed as well, almost, somehow those three keep seeming to evade death. At least the third wish was fulfilled, that demon came back somehow, and the priest, the one his mother used to spend a lot of time with, cornered him and turned him to stone. On one hand it was great to see some justice was finally served, but on the other hand it was infuriating that he couldn’t of been the one to do it.

And his mother, right, his mother, he was so worried about her, how is she doing without him? She must be heartbroken, thinking he must be dead, well in a way he was. He missed how she would hug him when it got cold, he was always to stubborn to admit he was cold, but she could tell, and she would wrap her arms around him in a warm and loving hug. He missed how after coming home from a busy day of work she would cook him up a hot meal alongside some delicious cookies, she would insist he needed to eat more, how he was nothing but skin and bones, how she would be very upset if something bad happened to him if he didn’t eat enough. He missed how much she’d tell him how proud she was of him for starting up his own business, how responsible and thoughtful he was, helping others with pest problems. He missed how she would tell him everyday that she loved him…

God… he just wanted to go home.

BAM!

…What the hell was that?

CRASH!

Great. Must be more burglars. Or that lady is coming home drunk again, her stupid son is currently out visiting his stupid friend. Or hell, maybe it’s another supernatural monster, come to destroy the house. Fuck, he was fed up with it all.

Crrrrrrrrrreak

…it was coming up the stairs.

The first step whatever was down there took was slow, old wooden board creaking under the weight, before it ran up.

Finally whatever it was had stopped at the entry way, at first he couldn’t tell what it was, it looked like another monster, but… it wasn’t, it looked like a costume, the red fabric folding as it stepped in. Now he could fully see it, it looked like the folded costume that had been kept on the wooden shelf right beside the entry way. It had a long robe that reached the floor, a tall triangular pointed hood with many circular eye holes, and most eye catching of all; a golden pendant, with a glowing teal diamond shaped gemstone in the middle, his mind felt fuzzy looking at it, yet he couldn’t pull his gaze away, he almost didn’t notice the figure staring at him.

The cloaked figure began to walk towards him, if he had a heart he would’ve felt it drop, he couldn’t explain why but he felt immense dread.

Fuck. Fuck. Did this thing know he was alive? What did it want? What was it going to do?

Oh god no.

The thing stopped in front of him and bent down, it began to reach for him, as it did it’s sleeves slid back, hands now visible, it appeared to be human, but that didn’t quell his worry.

Slowly it lifted him in the air as it rose.

It stood completely still.

He could feel it’s gaze practically burrowing into his mind.

The only noise that filled the attic was deep and heavy breathing.

———————————————

It was an ordinary autumn day, the sun slowly rose above the horizon, decorating the sky in orange and rose-y hues, families of birds were gliding through the air, headed south for the upcoming winter, the air already chilly.

The truck drove down the torn up road, past a wooden sign, welcoming text bold with a poorly written tagline underneath,

‘WELCOME TO SPOOKANE!’

‘A great place to live!’

After a bit more driving the truck rolled to a stop,

“Hey. Ma’am, we’re here.”

The trucker gently shook the lady awake, she rolled in her seat,

“Mmm.”

Slowly she opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings as she woke up, first looking out the window, at the empty house they were in front of, then at the trucker, the kindly man who drove her here, he was a jolly looking guy, rosy cheeks and rosy lips that contained a pearly white wide smile, above his mouth sat a well groomed mustache, of the color brown, not matching his hair, which was blonde, on his head sat a red truckers cap and silver headphones, the rest of his clothes matched this color scheme, a red handkerchief sat wrapped around his neck, a silver jumpsuit covered the rest of his body with a red short sleeved button up over top it, black leather gloves and boots on his hands and feet,

“I’ll be taking my green stamps now.”

The woman rose up and rubbed the crust from her eyes, before pulling out the wallet from her pocket, she fished out a good sum of cash and placed it in his open palm, his grin somehow grew wider like that of a Cheshire Cat as he counted it, satisfied with the amount he nodded and pulled out a pair of keys from his pocket and tossed it in the woman’s lap,

“Pleasure doing business with you!”

The woman nodded as she yawned and stretched, joints popping and cracking, before she grabbed the key ring, undid her seatbelt, and climbed out of the truck, nearly stumbling on her way out, the trucker giggled at the sight,

“Hehe! Need some assistance miss? You sure you can handle unloading all your luggage?”

She waved him off and he gave a salute,

“10-4 good buddy!”

The woman headed over to the back of the truck and unlatched the shutter door, before pushing it up, and pulling out the ramp, she set to work at moving the boxes out of the truck, making use of the large dollie that was alongside them, as she did she could hear the trucker talking on his radio, seemingly to his friends.

After about a handful of minutes all the furniture was out and in the front lawn, the woman gave a thumbs up to the trucker and he gave a thumbs up back,

“10-10, 8’s and other good numbers!”

He waved goodbye before driving off.

The woman stood there for a bit, arms crossed in front of her as she stood in front of the boxes and house, staring off into nothing.

“Hey there.”

She tensed up at the voice calling behind her, it didn’t sound like the trucker, his voice was high pitched, while this voice was smooth and relaxed, she turned her head. She was met with the sight of a police cruiser with the window rolled down, in it sat two police officers, the one with messy …orange? …blonde? …brown hair?? a manic grin and wide eyes gave a enthusiastic wave while the other with jet black hair and a smooth grin lowered his sunglasses, elbow placed on the edge of the windowsill while his other hand rested on the steering wheel,

“Need a hand?”

…

The officers were met with the woman turning her head back, facing away from them, she wore a faded blue turtleneck sweater, alongside purplish-grey bell bottoms, her hair was bouncy and colored chocolate brown, the arm of her sweater grew taught as she grabbed tight onto it, out of the police officers sight,

“…uh …ma’am are y-

The lady whipped around, arms folded behind her back as she leaned into the car, lopsided smile upon her face,

“GREETINGS OFFICERS! My apologies there, I was startled! I… suppose I could use some help please!”

The sunglasses wearing officer shrunk back a bit at her response, hand still on the steering wheel as his partner rested his chin and hands upon the arm, he also appeared taken a back, sight unbreaking from the lady’s, they all stood like this, unblinking, before the sunglasses cop relaxed, lips curling back up into a relaxed grin, he pushed his sun glasses back up, covering his eyes,

“Alright~”

As soon as he said this his partner’s smile returned, trusting that he understood that things were safe, they both stepped out of the car, the sunglasses one easily getting out and closing the door behind him effortlessly as his sight stayed on the woman, while the messy haired one jumped up on the hood of the car, the woman spoke,

“So-

The messy haired cop slid across the hood before stumbling as he landed, quickly grabbing onto his partner for leverage, said partner appeared shocked before growing annoyed at the other’s dangerous combination of energy and clumsiness, the woman attempted to speak again,

“…So, uh, who may I ask are you two?”

Her eyes wandered over them as the sunglasses one dusted himself off, looking fed up, while the messy haired one was rubbing his arm with a sheepish grin on his face, she studied their look. They both wore long sleeved police uniforms, the sunglasses one was a bit taller than the other, he wore a pointed police cap with a golden diamond emblem on it, there was a neat, black tie around his collar, he stood straight up and had a muscular, but thin build. The shorter one had a rounded police cap, he had a belt around his waist with a holster that held a shotgun, he stood hunched over and had a bit of a chubby build. They both turned to look at her, the taller one placed one hand in his pocket, his other hand reached out for a handshake,

“Well I’m Captain, although my partner here calls me Cappa.”

The shorter one pointed his thumb at his chest before doing air guitar as he spoke,

“AND I’M SHOTGUN MAN! THE BEST OFFICER IN TOWN!”

Captain chuckled, “I think you mean the second best officer in town.”

Shotgun Man beamed, “I know what I said!”

The woman stood there in stunned silence, mainly at the fact that these couldn’t possibly be their names, regardless she shrugged it off, the smile on her face softened,

“…okay.”

She grabbed Captain’s hand to return the gesture, her grasp firm, maybe a bit too firm, as she shook his hand,

“Well nice to meet you both! I’m Darcy! Darcy Smiller! Technically it’s pronounced S-Miller, but smile-er sounds nicer!”

She kept shaking his hand, his grin faltered as he gazed downwards, she was still shaking his hand, why was she still shaking his hand? He quickly loosened his grip and let go, Shotgun Man gave him a confused look before following his gaze, they both looked shocked, Captain spoke first,

“Your… hand.”

Darcy tilted her head like a confused puppy, smile still on her face,

“Huh?”

She looked down,

“What’s wr-

She stared at her bandaged hand, the bandages in her palm pink with old blood,

“Ah.”

She pulled her hand back and began rubbing at it with the other, also bandaged,

“My apologies, I forgot for a bit about that. There was a moving mishap. Anywa-

“And your tongue?”

Shotgun Man asked, staring into her mouth. Darcy unconsciously rolled her tongue in her mouth, the tip of it split in a fork,

“Burger knife.”

She tucked her arms back behind her and smiled as wide as she possibly could, unblinking, that’s what people do right? They smile and keep eye contact.

…

Once again they all stood in silence, the two officers stared at her face, now noticing a faded scar on her chin, her skin was pale, contrasting with the bruise-purple eyebags under her eyes, Captain stepped up to Darcy, he placed a hand on her shoulder and lowered his sunglasses,

“Well…

He smiled,

“No need to worry anymore, your knights in shining armor have come to the rescue. We’ll help you with getting unpacked, after all, wouldn’t want you getting hurt again, right sugar-pie?~”

Shotgun stood there staring at Captain, befuddled.

Darcy responded, still smiling,

“Yeah, okay.”

And so they set to work getting everything in the house and unpacked, it wasn’t too much, so it wasn’t especially difficult, despite that Captain occasionally stood there, admiring himself as he flexed his bicep, Shotgun glared at him as he walked in, having trouble with the rather large box he was carrying,

“Need some help Shotgun?”

Darcy said as she walked in, effortlessly carrying two rather heavy boxes in each arm, the two officers stared at her, stunned, Shotgun spoke up,

“I-I’m good.”

Darcy placed the boxes down and dusted her hands,

“Alrighty then! If either of you need help feel free to ask!”

Captain walked past her, patting her on the shoulder,

“Thanks but we got it, c’mon Shot, these boxes aren’t gonna unpack themselves.”

“Ugh.”

Shotgun huffed as he placed down the box and followed Captain, who proceeded to bend over to pick up another box, Darcy stood behind and watched.

Nice.

A couple of hours had passed as they made quick work of unpacking everything, they worked silently besides Captain and Shotgun occasionally muttering to each other, they began to unpack the last few boxes, Darcy stretched before warmly smiling at them,

“It sure was nice of you fellas to help me out like this, I never knew police officers could help with stuff like this!”

Captain chuckled as he began opening the last box he had with him,

“Well usually they don’t but your a special case, miss drop-dead gorgeous~”

Darcy responded, her voice sounding a bit off,

“Thank you.”

Captain didn’t notice the tone shift as he pulled out the contents from the box,

“Uh… a painting.. of a clown.”

Darcy clapped her hands together,

“Yes, clowns, I have a fondness for clowns! Usually people find them scary, but I think that’s silly! Uh, b-but if you’re scared of clowns that’s fine, sorry, sorry…”

She paused, nervously wringing her hands together, before halting, she stepped over to Captain and leaned down beside him, smile ever present on her face,

“What do you think of clowns Captain?”

Captain was transfixed on the painting,

“They’re.. uh, interesting.”

Darcy rose back up,

“Alright. You can just set it on the coffee table in here for now, I’ll need to buy some nails to hang it up later.”

Captain snapped out of his trance and turned to look up at her,

“Uh, right, about that, how about later I show you around town? Seeing as your new and all, I figure you wouldn’t mind me giving you a tour.”

Shotgun shouted out from the other room,

“HEY NO FAIR! YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME OUT!”

Darcy giggled,

“Hey, Shotgun it’s okay! You both can show me around town, I wouldn’t mind the company!”

Shotgun stumbled on his words,

“…really? I- uh, H-HECK YEAH! WE’LL SHOW YOU EVERYTHING!”

Captain chuckled as he shook his head,

“Well I guess we both will show you around then.”

Captain got up and put the clown painting on the table, he leaned over in front of Darcy, placing a hand beside his mouth, whispering so Shotgun couldn’t overhear,

“You can ride shotgun.~”

Darcy choked, eyes widening,

“Wh- I- p-pardon???”

Captain raised an eyebrow,

“I said you can ride shotgun, the front seat, next to me, Shot can ride in the backseat.”

“Ah- r-right, sorry, sorry, yes, that sounds nice.”

Darcy backed up,

“Could you go check on him? See if he needs help, I gotta check something.”

Captain tilted his hat,

“Will do.”

Darcy hurried out of the room, Captain stood there, staring at her as she left, before heading out the room in the opposite direction, down the hall into the bedroom where Shotgun was, on his knees and opening a box,

“She sure does have a lot of stuffed animals! They’re very cute!”

Captain crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame,

“She’s cute, very fitting.”

Shotgun rolled his eyes,

“Oh cmon! You think nearly everyone is cute! Besides-

Shotgun bounced up and over to Captain,

“I’m your true number two!”

Captain wrapped his arm around Shotgun, chuckling, unable to resist his partner’s chaotic but charming personality,

“Yeah, yeah, you know I love ya, but we could always use a third, you like her too right?”

Shotgun shrugged,

“She’s nice, really nice, but we just met her, and doesn’t she seem a bit… off.”

Captain’s brow furrowed,

“What do you mean?”

Shotgun rolled his wrist,

“You know… well- okay I don’t know how to put it, but she seems a bit strange.”

Captain scoffed,

“Like you’re not?”

Shotgun frowned,

“Yeah, but-

“Any of you guys thirsty?”

“AH!”

Both Captain and Shotgun jumped at Darcy’s sudden entrance, they turned, Darcy was standing there with a tray of three glasses and a pitcher filled with iced lemonade,

“Didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry.”

Captain responded,

“I-it’s okay, just warn us next time.”

Darcy nodded,

“Alright, sorry, again… anyways- I made lemonade, hydration is important.”

Captain smiled,

“Hey thanks!”

Captain took a glass off the tray, Darcy looked around for a place to set the tray before settling on the night stand, she placed it down and grabbed the pitcher, she carefully filled the glass in Captain’s hand, then grabbed another glass and filled it, handing it to Shotgun, who feverishly grabbed it, forgetting his previous conversation and worry,

“Aw nice! Thank you!”

Darcy nodded,

“You’re welcome.”

She turned back to the tray, beginning to fill the remaining glass,

“You two can take a seat wherever you’d like.”

Captain nodded and sat down in the rocking chair that was in the room, Shotgun practically chugged half the glass before kneeling back down on the floor and placing the cup beside him,

“Let me just finish getting this unpacked.”

Darcy waved her hand,

“It’s fine, you two already worked hard enough, you can stop and rest now.”

Shotgun interrupted her,

“No, no, I insist! I never leave a job unfinished! What kind of cop would I be if I didn’t get all my work done?”

Darcy bounced her leg,

“Hmm.. alright then.”

Captain sipped at his beverage, it was pretty good,

“So, Darcy.~”

Darcy turned to look at him, glass of lemonade in hand,

“Yes?”

Captain crossed his legs, getting more comfortable,

“Tell us about yourself, why’d you move to our little town?”

Darcy sat down on the side of her bed, right next to Shotgun who was still on the floor, he was currently having trouble opening the last box, she drank some of her beverage,

“Right, uhmmm yeah, well not much to say I suppose, just wanted to get out there, my previous town, the one I grew up in, wasn’t the best, kind of boring, didn’t really have many friends, or much experience with the outside world, so I thought a fresh new start sounded nice.”

Captain tilted his head,

“Not much experience with the outside world?”

Darcy nodded,

“Yes, mainly spent most of my life in doors, very quiet life, with my parents. Yes.”

Darcy nervously fiddled with the hem of her sweater, Captain noticed this,

“Hey don’t sweat it, moving can be scary, especially if you’ve never done so before, just know we’re here to help you, that’s what we’re here for, if you ever need us we’ll be there for you.”

Darcy sat there, staring at him, she opened her mouth, about to respond, before Shotgun tore the top of the cardboard box open and shouted victoriously,

“HA! FINALLY! I got you open you damn box!”

Shotgun reached into it,

“Now time to see wh- OW!”

Darcy shot up, placing her glass back on the tray,

“What happened?”

Shotgun pulled his hand out of the box, shard of glass stuck in his palm, blood began to drip freely from his hand, he grabbed his wrist with his other hand, wincing in pain,

“WHY WOULD YOU HAVE A BOX PACKED WITH BROKEN GLASS?!”

Darcy stared at him in shock, Captain stood up,

“Calm down! Something of her’s must’ve broke on the way here.”

Shotgun tossed his head back, never one to handle pain very well, whining,

“Cappa it huuuuurts!”

Captain placed his lemonade down in the seat of the rocking chair,

“I know! Hold on! Darcy do you have a first aid kit around here?”

Darcy didn’t respond, she was still staring at Shotgun, her face unreadable.

Then suddenly she dropped to her knees and grabbed Shotgun’s wrist, turning away from the both of them with his hand in hers.

“AH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

He felt a sharp stab of pain, before feeling something slimy and wet run up the cut, Shotgun grabbed her,

“CAPPA GET HER OFF OF ME! SHE’S-

Darcy stood back up, Shotgun’s hand was wrapped in gauze and a bandage, in one hand she held a pair of tweezers with the shard of glass in between it’s pincers, in the other she held a wet cotton round,

“There! All better… I probably should’ve warned you now that I think of it, sorry.”

Captain and Shotgun stared at the patched up hand, both thrown off and confused, they both spoke in unison,

“Where did-

Darcy threw the cotton round and shard of glass in the trash, before patting the purse she had on her hip, neither of the officers noticed it previously,

“I have a bunch of medical supplies in here, I’m always prepared for injuries, since, ya know, clumsiness.”

She let go of the purse and waved her hand, the other hand dropped the tweezers on the tray, needing to be cleaned.

Shotgun marveled at her,

“Wow, it doesn’t even hurt anymore! Thanks!”

Captain stepped closer,

“That was fast too! Say-

Suddenly the walkie-talkie at his hip went off, a female sounding voice came through,

“Captain, Shotgun, where are you? The mayor says he needs you, pick-up!”

Captain picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed it’s button,

“Copy that Patty, we’re on our way!”

He let go of the button and hooked the device back onto his belt loop, Shotgun shivered and jumped up,

“OOOOO! I BET HE NEEDS US TO CATCH SOME CROOKS!”

He hopped from one foot to the other as he pulled his name sake out of it’s holster, he rapidly pumped it, shells getting ejected and landing on the carpeted floor, Captain put his hands up,

“Calm down! Your getting your shells everywhere!”

Shotgun kept pumping until no more shells came out, he preceded to pick one up and load it back in before continuing until all the shells were back in, he shouted, unable to contain his excitement,

“OH I DON’T THINK SHE MINDS! SHE SEEMS PRETTY COOL!”

He hopped back up and proceeded to pump all the shells out again, Captain chuckled,

“Glad you like her now, anyway’s sorry Darcy, we gotta go, but here.”

He pulled out a notepad and pencil from his pocket, quickly writing down something before tearing it out and handing it to Darcy, Shotgun had already loaded all the shells back in his gun again by the time Captain started writing,

“C’MONNNN CAPPA! WE GOTTA GO!”

Shotgun turned on his heel and ran out of the bedroom,

“FIRST ONE THERE GETS TO DRIVE! BYE DARCY!”

Captain followed him,

“Hey wait no! You aren’t allowed to drive the cruiser anymore!”

As Captain excited he turned to Darcy, lowered his sunglasses and winked, he made a finger gun at her,

“See you later doll face.~”

He ran down the hall, following Shotgun, Darcy could hear them bicker at each other as they both simultaneously tried to exit through the front door before slamming it closed and speeding off.

Darcy looked down at the piece of paper, it was a phone number, accompanying it was a note,

‘Call us sometime~’

Darcy stared at the note for a bit before folding it and placing it in her purse, she left the bedroom, walked through the hall, made it to the living room, and plopped down on the couch, she sat in silence.

…

She grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and turned on the television, the news was playing, she pulled out a large notebook and pen from her purse, she flipped it open to a page and placed the tip of the pen against the paper, the tv chattered on as the ink pooled.

“In other news from the Fun Buddy company, a revamped classic hits the shelves, the brand new Hap-

“I’m bored.”

Darcy turned the television off, she stood up, putting the notebook and pen back in her purse,