To Live without Fear [Jeff the KillerxReader]

11

"PIZZA'S HERE!"
There was a loud crash and the front door swung open. Standing in it were two more of Jeff's supposed friends.

"And we brought Annabelle!" Said the boy. He looked around Jeff's age, but it was hard to tell with the blue mask covering the lower half of his face. He had flippy brown hair and bright eyes. In his arms was a stack of pizza boxes with a DVD resting on top.

"Should be good for a laugh." Grumbled the girl, standing a little bit behind him. In contrast with the boy, she was slouched and had a sour nature. She sort of reminded you of Jeff. She didn't cover her face at all, showing off stitches at the corners of her mouth and a small clock in place of one of her eyes. She was carrying two 12 packs of soda, one in each hand.

"Alright, pizza!" BEN zipped hungrily towards the two newcomers. The boy holding the pizza barely dodged the ghost.

"Save some for the living, Ben."

While BEN and the boy struggled over the stack of Pizzas, Jeff remained as rigid as he had been since BEN first appeared out of the TV. His permanent smile made his expression hard to read, and of course you had no earthly idea why he was so apprehensive. The group seemed pretty chummy to you, and this gathering looked like a regular thing.

You sensed someone staring at you and peeled your eyes away from Jeff. It was the girl with a clock for an eye, standing in the doorway. Her emerald eye was locked on you, giving new meaning to the phrase 'glaring daggers'. She regarded you with raw suspicion and disdain, but you were far too used to this kind of glare. You met her eyes and crossed your arms.

"Who the hell is this?" The girl asked flatly. BEN and the boy quit chasing eachother around as the stranger finally took notice of you.

Jeff cleared his throat, "...This is (y/n), she's..."

"-Jeff's girlfriend." BEN cut in loudly, flashing the biggest shit-eating grin you'd ever seen.

"BEN I swear to god I am going to exorcize you!" Jeff growled, pouncing at the ghost.

While Jeff swiped at the cackling BEN, the boy set down the pizzas and eagerly rushed over to you, with clock girl following a few feet behind him.

"Are you really Jeff's girlfriend-d-d?" He spoke. The left side of his face twitched and caused him to stutter. "I'm Toby."

You shook your head. "(y/n). And no, I'm really not." Now that he was up close, you realized he was kinda small for a boy your age. Two axes hung at his sides, chipped and stained, no doubt from many uses.

"Then why are you here?" The clock girl asked. You noticed a knife handle sticking out of her hoodie pocket. Was everyone around here armed to the teeth?

"A friend with benefits!" BEN answered, still floating several feet above Jeff's reach, narrowly evading the killer's wrath.

You rolled your eyes. "It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. I get protection, he gets real food."

"Yes! That!" Jeff grunted in agreement.

And so the tone of the night was set. Once Jeff was pried away from BEN you all settled around the TV with pizza and sodas. BEN introduced everyone to you, giving you names and facts. BEN himself was a ghost (a techno-ghost, to be specific), and despite being the smallest, was the oldest of the group if you counted years post-mortem. Toby was better known as "Ticci" Toby, and the girl was Clockwork, even though Toby affectionately referred to her at Nat. They had been dating for two years.Toby and Clockwork were a little younger than Jeff, and all three were human (which, apparently, was an important distinction to make).

After the small talk had subsided, BEN suggested they put in the movie. When he touched the old television set it flickered to life, playing the same static screen as before, even though the old abandoned house had no electricity. BEN further proved his skill as a technopath by controlling the DVD menu without a remote.

You all piled on the couch to watch the movie. Jeff cut BEN off from taking the spot next to you, making himself into a barrier between you and the rest of the gang. You'd noticed this kind of weird behavior from the killer ever since BEN arrived. From what you understood, they were all serial killers, so it would be reasonable to assume your life was in a certain amount of danger here, but Jeff being protective of you felt like a ridiculous assumption. You were certain he had some other reason for acting so weirdly. Maybe he violating some kind of serial killer Code of Conduct by keeping you around. Was there a code of conduct? There were so many questions you'd have to ask Jeff later.

The first few minutes of the movie rolled by. A feeling of dread overcame you. You hated horror movies. The core piece of entertainment value came from the scares that you never experienced. What's worse, horror movies had always served to highlight your 'condition', drawing people's attention to it. Whenever you'd watch them with friends, you felt out of place. They didn't scare you, and other people always noticed. You dreaded the inevitable interrogation, the curious questions about how it didn't scare you, the jokes and remarks about how 'brave' you are, or how you're just acting tough.

The Annabelle doll was ridiculous looking. It tried so hard to look scary, you wondered how anyone could actually be scared by it. The movie's first jumpscare happened, and to your surprise the room didn't fill with shrieks, but rather laughter.

"Oh, man. Did you see the look on her face?" Toby remarked, "Acting at its finest."

"Forget her, what about that stupid doll? Sally's creepier and she's ,like, a fuckin' five year old." BEN added. This produced another wave of laughter.

From then on the dread inside you slowly faded. The group mocked the movie, making witty jokes the entire way. They laughed at the movie's ridiculous effects and mimicked the screaming actors. Clockwork's dry, well-timed remarks had the group in stitches. Even Jeff laughed a little. They weren't scared by it at all, you realized. You joined in, adding your own snide comments to the conversation. Pretty soon no one was paying attention to the movie any more, instead you were swapping stories and telling jokes while Annabelle became background noise. You regaled everyone with the story of how you met Jeff, getting elbowed in the side whenever the killer felt particularly embarrassed. BEN added the tale of how he broke Jeff out of Holding after you'd gotten him arrested. Eventually Toby coerced Jeff into telling his side of the story, explaining how he'd escaped your hairtie prison and talking about his time in Holding with the jumpy police officers. Clockwork and Toby told a tale about stealing condoms from a walgreens and getting chased down by an overzealous checkout clerk.

Time flew by faster than you'd ever thought it could. Somehow you felt more welcome here than you'd ever felt at home. They understood you, and you connected with them. Every one of you had some sort of baggage, but they didn't seem to care. They were living in the moment, taking risks and not giving a fuck what tomorrow might bring. They were just like you, and in this dusty old building full of misfits and murderers, you finally felt at home.