Dead In the Dark (Morro x Reader)

2: Simon Atcher

I find myself in a world I haven't set foot in a long time. "Home," I sigh in relief. I look at my arms to find them just like always. "I'm human," I grin and feel my spear on my back. "Finally. I'm back!" I laugh and look around my surroundings. The sky is finally something other than white. It's an inky purple, decorated by stars generously sprinkled across the plains. The moon shines brightly in the sky, lighting up the world. I'm atop a mountain looking over my old home. "I doubt much could have changed in two years," I think, climbing down the mountain and towards the village. I then realise that I'm supposed to be dead. It wouldn't be fair on my parents. What would the villagers think?

I look upon the town sadly and sigh, shaking my head as I walk the opposite direction. "I didn't exactly come back for my family anyway... Just a second chance," I sigh. I wander up the mountainside, using the staff of my spear to help walk. Finding the silence too overbearing, I quietly sing to myself, "Dead. Call me dead. Call me dead in the darker parts of the seabed. Under the gallons just like the gallows, take away the air, stab at me just like arrows. It just wasn't fair, I was so unprepared, for my life to end like that! So I kept fighting, chanting, my name through the dark. So I kept fighting, granting the same to the dark." I would constantly sing in the silence of purgatory. It was just another thing to keep me from going insane.

I reach the top and continue forward. That is until I sense something watching me. A creepy feeling of eyes glued to my every movement, staring at me, studying me, analysing me. The thought sends a shiver down my spine. I don't let my head stray from the path in front of me, merely moving my eyes around to check. Suddenly, I feel a dangerous shock go through my body and I dive forward, missing whatever tried to attack me by an inch. I spin around to see a young boy with short, scruffy black hair and bright, icy blue eyes. He wears a plain black shirt with white rims and some shorts with black boots. He looks thin and starving, freckles covering his face and arms. "You're trespassing! This is my land!" He shouts, his eyebrows furrowed at me. The small boy only looks around 9 or 10. "I'm sorry. I was only trying to pass through. I mean no harm. My name is Y/n," I answer calmly, keeping a soft expression. He glares warily at me before sighing and losing his angry composure, "I'm Simon Atcher. I didn't mean to be rude. It's just dangerous out here with so many snatchers about..." I feel pity for the kid and state, "How about you come with me? You don't have to if you don't want to but... We can go find some food?"

We walk through the forest, scoffing blueberries we found earlier. I hum quietly to myself. "I know that," Simon speaks out of the blue. "Hm?" I hum in confusion. "That song. I know it," He explains and goes forth to sing some of the lyrics. My eyes light up at this. I beam down at the child, "Really!? My mother used to sing it to me all the time!" He chuckles, "Yeah." I suddenly stop walking forth, dragging Simon to the ground with me. "What the-!?" I cut him off quickly, "Shh!" I listen closely, hearing the shuffling of something hidden in the shrubbery.

We stay silent and I pull my spear from my back, slowly rising from the floor. I pounce into the bush, pinning whatever was stalking us with the head of my spear aimed at its neck. Simon gets up and walks over. The boy whimpers, "Snatcher!..." The thing has long, thin, lanky limbs and an even more constricted torso, the skin a pale peach, almost pure white. It has a blank face. "I've heard stories about these awful creatures! They have no need for food, water or anything else to live. They kill anything they come across and can take the form and voice of that being. Including people..." I snarl, jamming the spearhead into the foul monster's throat, destroying its oesophagus. I get up, and turn to the boy, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the scene. I glower, "... I lost my mother to a snatcher..."