(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Fright Night - Chapter 3

Edit: It seems the notification for chapter two didn't go through for some people; rest assured, it was uploaded yesterday and is showing as publically visible on my end, so make sure to read that one first if you haven't already. If you're still having trouble navigating to it here, the chapters are also available on AO3 (Myou) and Tumblr (Myouki).

Chapter Warnings: Blood (and marrow), swearing

***

"Goth!"

Palette shoved Goth to the ground; the smaller latched onto his sleeve and pulled him along as the flashlight slipped from their hand, creating a strobe effect against the walls of the foyer as it rattled against the floorboards. No one else had time to react to the rough treatment as a rain of knives flew down the hallway, sinking themselves into the closed door as one sliced across the taller's back on the way past. He gasped, falling on top of his companion as a small red spot welled up around the slash across the back of his jacket.

Lotus gasped as Rurik glanced between the skewered door and the hallway, demanding, "How'd it get past us?"

Palette sat up gingerly as Goth quickly pulled himself to his knees. Worry danced in his eye light as he took in the wince of pain from the taller, "Palette? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's just a scratch," the injured monster attempted to soothe them with a smile; a thump down the hallway had everyone tensing up. Shuffling toward them was an emaciated woman with flat, stringy black hair, angry red lacerations winding up her left arm and around her neck, milky white eyes, and a toothy grin smeared with blood that was also splattered across a light brown spaghetti strap dress. Trying to struggle to his feet, Palette grunted, "We have to go."

"Upstairs," Goth quickly barked, slinging Palette's arms over his shoulder to help them up; Rurik rushed over and joined in with the other arm as the four monsters thundered up the old stairs.

"Here!" Rurik pulls them into the room directly to the right of the stairs. Lotus was the last one through, closing the door behind them as the taller quietly urged, "closet, now."

Everyone quickly piled in despite the close quarters as Lotus pulled the slatted doors shut, hiding the flickering flashlight inside his coat and shuffling as far from the doors as he could manage. There was a collective sound of panting within the closet, but any noise abruptly died as the stairs began creaking. Worry and uncertainty passed through glances between the four monsters as the noise rapidly ascended the stairs. Palette wrapped his other free arm around Goth, who reached up to grip the sleeve, as he leaned into the left corner.

Lotus clamped his sockets shut, hunching in on himself as the room's door creaked open; a guttural croak filled the room and Rurik eased the shaking monster behind him as the door slammed shut. No one dared to breathe as their pursuer shuffled across the carpet, around the bed, and stopped in front of the closet... after what felt like an eternity, the shuffling resumed and the door creaked open again.

The group let out a collective breath as the door to another room creaked open. Rurik reached for the closet door, but Lotus's hand darted out to stop him; lifting the flap of their cloak, the monster revealed the light proving the Oni wasn't done hunting yet. The taller balled his fist in frustration, pulling it back and crouching a bit in an attempt to peer through the narrow slats in the door. Palette let out a soft exhale of pent-up nerves, resting his cheek on Goth's skull. The smaller looked up, squeezing the arms around them; a weary smile was their answer.

"... It looks safe for now," Lotus cautiously whispered after another minute; every skull snapped to him as he revealed the solid beam of light before stowing it away in his pocket.