#the obsessed

A sigh of frustration left you as you respawned on your bed, eye twitching in annoyance. August had ambushed you when you least expected, and slit your neck, killing you instantly. Well, at least you had keep inventory on. After dying so many times within the first 3 days, you had turned it on.

While you could have easily uninstalled the three, a part of you had grown attached to them. You were never alone, and you certainly couldn't get rid of Lenny - even though he was rather… well, weird, but oddly sentimental.

Knocker, well, he was an asshole, but something about him caught your eye, just like August had, just like Lenny. All three of them captivated you. But you were at your limit with their shenanigans, you needed someone to help - someone to bring balance to this headache you created.

So, you installed a new mod called "Verity", a helper that could assist you with day to day things and keep you company. Maybe that would help with your situation, right?

Closing the UI for the menu, you watched as not even 5 seconds later, a box spawned at your feet. You blinked in surprise, eyes widening a little. You were expecting the AI to spawn immediately, not for a box to come.

"Hello? Anyone there?" A voice sounded from the box. "Can someone let me out? Helloooo?" You tilted your head, and slowly, you crouched down, pressing your hand against the box. The moment you touched it, the box suddenly lifted into the air.

"What the…" You muttered, eyes locked on as the top opened up before it imploded in a puff of smoke, and what looked like a yellow ball falling from the puff. You reacted quickly, catching the ball in both hands before he could hit the ground.

He looked up at you with wide eyes, clearly not expecting you to have caught him - no one ever did. It felt…nice, not to have fallen on the ground for once.

"Hello, I'm Verity! Your personal helper friend! Ask me anything, I know everything!" Verity greeted with a warm, welcoming smile, his black eyes gleaming with interest as he took you in.

Your world was certainly different - he could feel different entities in here, watching him with either interest or jealousy. If he had his human form, he'd puff his chest in pride.

"Hello, Verity," you greeted with a warm smile of your own. "You're definitely going to be a great deal of help in this world." Slowly, you stood back up to your full height, looking down at his cute form.

"Since you know everything… where's the best place to farm bones and bone meal?" You asked him with a tilt of your head. Subconsciously, Verity followed suit. Bone meal? Usually players would immediately ask for diamonds, or even where netherite was. Yet instead, you wanted bones.

"There's an excellent location to build a skeleton farm just 400 blocks away from here! Coordinates are 400, 89, and-" He could not even finish his sentence when your hands suddenly disappeared, nothing to catch him as he landed on the soft grass.

He bounced once, then twice with a grunt, a frown forming on his lips. What on Earth made you do that? Just as he opened his mouth to talk, he heard you yell. Not in fear or anger, but pure annoyance.

"Lenny! Put me down, you spider!" You yelled, tossed over the shoulder of a tall, lean figure, spider fuzz all over it's body. His eight eyes glared at Verity, mandibles twitching in pure, unrelenting jealousy.

"Mhineee," he hissed, and turned on his heel to disappear. A massive cloud of black smoke erupted from where he stood. "Wait!" Verity yelled, eyebrows furrowing. He could feel his anger boiling - damn it, it looked like he had competition…

Verity contemplated on locating you and taking you from that creature, Lenny, as you called him, angry you were already taken away from him. He was just about to teleport himself over to wherever he took you when you appeared right in front of him.

You brushed the dirt and soot off your clothes, eyebrows furrowed. "Ugh, sorry, Verity," you apologized. "I didn't expect Lenny to get so angry that quickly." You gently picked him up from the ground, brushing the grass off of his form.

"It's alright, no harm done!" He reassured you, but internally he was seething. "I'm assuming he's the one the bone meal is for?" He asked as you began to walk through the grassy plains.

You gave a nod of your head, a sigh leaving your lips. "Yeah, I keep running out of poppies to give him… I'm trying to keep his mood up, but it's like every hour it drops back to the negatives." With your free hand, you pinched the bridge of your nose. "And I can't keep having him breaking my doors down when he's angry..."

Verity furrowed his eyebrows at this. You were certainly in an interesting situation, one he never thought he'd encounter. Not only did you have more than 1 horror mod installed, you potentially had 2 obsessed beings. He knew he was obsessed with players, his handlers, but knowing he potentially had competition? It stirred his emotions up.

"Well, in that case, I'll do my best to help you!" He spoke enthusiastically, pleased to know that despite these mods recking havoc, you'd need him. Knowing that he was needed made him smile a little wider.

After a few more minutes of walking, you stopped in your tracks. Your house still seemed intact - the planks weren't burn, the logs were not disturbed, no cobwebs, and no hooded figure lurking around. It was almost as if Knocker decided not to mess with you. But you knew him all too well.

You pulled your sword from your inventory and made your way towards the door, angling the sword to attack anyone who tried to ambush you. Verity watched with curiosity, eyebrows furrowing just slightly with fascination. It seemed you already were accustomed to ambushes, that's good to know.

Slowly pushing the door open, you looked around for any signs of him, any signs of them, but you found nothing. Everything was spotless. "Huh... Guess they decided not to mess with me today," you commented aloud, making your way towards the chest by the furnaces.

You placed Verity down on top of one and put your sword back into its slot. "They always ambush you?" He asked, tilting his little body just a little like a curious puppy. You gave a nod of your head, crouching down to open up your chest. "Yeah, especially Knocker... He always likes ambushing me when I least expect it." You pushed open the lip of the chest, and froze, eyebrows furrowing in frustration. Your stack of bread, it was already gone. You made that this morning! "Ugh! Knocker! You stupid fat ass, I just made that stack of bread!" You yelled out to the air, yanking your sword out once again.

Just like clockwork, you turned around and swung your sword, watching as the diamond blade came in contact with an axe. The Knocker stood before you, his signature smile plastered on his face, black ooze dripping from his lips. "Looks like someone finally learned how to predict my attacks," he taunted in a singsong tone.

You gritted your teeth in frustration, pulling your sword back and brandishing it threateningly. "I am not in the mood for your damn games, just go away!" You demanded. He seemed to not listen, when does he ever really, and turned his gaze behind you, staring right at Verity.

His eyes turned black, his smile widening even more as he tilted his head. "What's this? Another mod?" He rasped, taking a step forward. Verity furrowed his brows, his eyes darkening. He was about to shift into his humanoid form when you stepped in front of him, pointing the blade directly at Knocker's chest. "Stay away from him." You growled.

Your tone made him stop in his tracks, staring at you with unreadable eyes. You've never spoken to him like that before, never had gotten so protective of something. It made the corner of his lip twitch in irritation. "Oh?" He rasped, droplets of blood slowly mixing with the black ooze. You felt a shiver roll down your spine. Shit, you pissed him off.

"What makes that thing so special, huh?" The Knocker stepped closer, and closer, his gloves tightening around the handle of his axe, the leather creaking. "It's just another mod - surely it can handle a hit or two." His eyes were crazed with jealousy, with madness, with nothing but the urge to kill.

"[name]", Verity began, sensing the tension in the air. He could see your arm trembling, clearly startled by what was happening. "I can handle myself; you don't need to put yourself in harm's way," he tried to reason with you. But your attention was solely on the one standing in front of you.

"Knocker, last warning - get out," You demanded, a bead of sweat rolling down your temple. You were ready to defend Verity, even if it meant getting hurt. You didn't want him to die within the first day of being in this world.

In a blink of an eye, The Knocker lunged towards you, axe raised up above his head. You brought your sword up, blocking the blade with your own, but you were a fraction too late. Your blade only deflected it, causing his blade to slide from yours, and slash down right across your chest.

You cried out in pain, the burning sensation spreading from the wound outwards. He kicked you back, watching as you crashed against the chest. You gripped your chest, blood spreading across your shirt and staining the fabric, droplets hitting the ground beneath you. You gasped out in pain, already at half a heart. Shit, when did he get so strong!?

Just as he raised the axe above his head, a puff of smoke exploded beside you, and a hand grasped the Knocker's wrist, stopping him in his tracks. Verity stood between you and the Knocker, now in his humanoid form. He was taller than the Knocker, nearly the same height as August. He was built toned, strong in every sense of the word, his gloved hand tightening around his wrist.

"Do not hurt them again," Verity growled, his eyes darkened, white pupils visible. He was mad, no, furious. You got hurt protecting him, and no one has ever done that. No one has ever tried protecting him from anything, except you. You put yourself in harms way, got hurt and nearly killed to ensure he wouldn't get so much of a scratch.

His obsession and fascination with you flared even higher.

The Knocker gritted his teeth, lips curling into an amused, cruel smirk. He raised his free hand in mock surrender, taking one single step back. "So, you're not helpless after all, huh?" He asked in a cocky tone, head tilting to the side. Verity only continued to glare down at him, slowly releasing his grip on the axe.

The Knocker took another step back, the crazed look still in his eye. "Don't think you can keep them for long," he rasped, his eyes showing no fear. "You won't be able to protect them all the time; I will get them." His threat echoed through the empty kitchen, but it rang deep in Verity's mind. His eyes darkened further, and he moved quickly, fist bawled up, he raised it and threw a punch towards the psychotic man. His fist never connected, for the being disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

Glaring at where he once stood, Verity quickly turned his attention back to you, his gaze softening. "Are you okay?" He asked, turning on his heel to walk back towards you. He knelt down before you, reaching a hand to move your own out of the way. You winced in pain, gazing up at him with eyes filled with fascination. "I... didn't know you could turn human," you muttered.

His eyes met yours, and his lips curled into the softest of smiles. "It's not a form I always want to use, but I couldn't just watch as you protected me," he spoke softly, and slowly, his gaze moved back down towards your wound. "I have to dress your wound; can you stand and walk on your own?" He asked softly.

You gave a firm nod of your head and raised your hand up to grasp the chest behind you. Using it as leverage, you attempted to push yourself off the floor, trying desperately to ignore the pain that flared with every micromovement you made. But just as you almost rose up, the pain reached a new peak.

You cried out, your arm slipping from the surface of the chest, but you never fell back to the floor. Verity was able to wrap his arm around your waist, pulling you into his chest. He ignored the blood staining his own yellow shirt, instead focusing on helping you get up.

"Hold onto me," he ordered. You wrapped your arm around his shoulder, the other holding onto the arm around your waist. Slowly, he rose up to his height, making sure to keep a firm arm around you. You hissed in pain, tears pricking at the corner of your eyes, eyebrows furrowed tightly. It burned, pulsating with your own heartbeat.

Once fully stood, Verity wordlessly picked you up in his arms, adjusting his arms so that you were comfortable. You were in too much pain to protest, instead leaning into him. He quickly began to walk towards your bedroom, not needing directions. He knew everything about you - how you built your house, where you stored everything, which room had what.

He glanced down at you as he neared the room, looking at your pained expression. He would make the Knocker pay for hurting you, would make him pay for stealing your bread, your food. A cruel smile etched onto his lips. He would protect you from all three of them, regardless of if the other two were friendly or not.