A Little Warmth (Jeff the Killer x Reader) short story

chapter two

The footsteps receded as you froze in position. Your face, still held between his hands, was mere inches away from his. His breath fanned your lips as he grinned down at you. He forced you to stand and get out of the bath. You obliged as your fingers clutched the towel close to your chest. Your brows furrowed in confusion and anger as you demanded an explanation. "Who- What are you- Why did-" His hand clamped over your mouth, cutting you off.

"Hold the interrogation, will you? I've been bothered enough by those morons." He groaned as he took his hand off your mouth. You watched as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. His eyes darted back to you as he noticed you staring, and he smirked again. His face got close to yours as he teased, "You into me?"

Scoffing, your hand pushes his face away. "As if," You responded, deadpan. "Why are you here anyway?"

"The same reason why we're all here," His hands gestured around him dramatically, "everyone here is insane, or so the doctors say."

"That's not what I meant," you glared at him. "I meant, like, why are you in this room? No one uses this room."

"You were using it just now."

"God, if you don't stop-"

"Jeez, okay, okay," putting up his hands in surrender, he finally seems to respond to your question seriously. "Same reason you come here. The shower rooms are practically useless. They're filthy, or too many people in there make it impossible to shower properly."

Drops of water dripped from your soaking hair to your neck and back, the AC making the feeling unpleasant. A shiver ran down your back. "Hey, do you mind?" Gesturing to your towel, he understood you wanted to change into clothing. Turning around to fall the opposite wall, he faced away from you, giving you some sort of privacy. Hurriedly, you changed into a long white nightgown instead of your usual shirt and pants. After discovering where extra clothing was stored, you snuck inside the storage room and stole a nightgown from one of the drawers.

While you changed, you looked over your shoulder. "What's your name anyway?"

Silence passed. You thought he wouldn't respond to your question.

"It's Jeff."

-

Jeff mentioned that he had arrived at the psych ward shortly after you. You learned that his family had also sent him here after being a "problem child."

He confessed that he'd followed you after having seen your paintings once. He described being impressed initially and then drawn to the macabre feeling the paintings transmitted.

"Wait, PAUSE. So, you lied?" Your eyes found his as you stared at him in realization. "You purposely followed me into the old bathing room?"

Jeff shrugged as if it were nothing. "You don't know the potential you have."

Your brows furrowed in confusion. Noticing your puzzled expression, he sighed in annoyance. "Your paintings, I mean. They seem to infiltrate my mind and tap into my darkest thoughts."

Looking away, your gaze dropped to the floor where there were paintings you had been showing him. You frequently snuck him into your room after lights out to show him your newest artwork, unaware of its effect on him.

"I...didn't know you felt like that about it." You were taken aback, this was the first time someone didn't feel disturbed by your art. Was that somehow better or a sign that something was wrong with them? "Most people find them disturbing."

His chuckle made your eyes snap back up at him, seeing him peering at you in amusement. "I used to think I was the only evil thing in this world," his hand reached out to you to pat your head. Did he think you were a dog or a small child? "I thought, 'Maybe I have turned into a monster'. I stood lonely in a cold daze."

His voice became toneless as his sentences dragged on. It should have made you uncomfortable, but somehow you found comfort in his voice.

"Nobody can understand me," He went on. "Until I saw your art, I realized you are created from the same pain as mine. You also consider monstrous things beautiful."

His arm snaked around your shoulder, pulling your body closer to his.

"The two of us..." His head turned towards your ear, his breath brushing against the shell of your ear as he spoke. "Are we the other half of one another?"

-

Over the following months, you found that Jeff was somewhat of a friend, you indulged in each other's company at night. The feeling of having found someone similar to you, however, didn't last long.

Shortly after, you were abruptly removed from the psych ward and transferred to a hospital where a number of health analyses and tests were performed on you. After confirming everything was "fine". You were sent home.

Your family did not receive you with a warm welcome, not that you were expecting one after they had been the ones to send you to the asylum in the first place. Adjusting to life back at home proved difficult and after failing to succeed in your classes at your previous school, your parents thought it would be better for you to transfer. A "fresh start" they called it.

The so-called "fresh start" was at a boarding school across the country.

You spent the next few years away from your family and anything that could hurt you.