Chapter Text
You sensed something was wrong when the loud thumping and shouting noises stop rather suddenly, only knowing what you do best, you crawled in the space under your best, clutching your favorite bunny doll, its color had long faded and fur was frazzled and frayed.
Outside your bare bones bedroom, you picked up the faint sounds of heavy footsteps coming closer towards your room, holding your breath you could feel your heart rate fasten with every step that grew closer.
The door to your bedroom slowly opened and all you could see were black shoes followed by black gooey tentacles trailing behind, eyes following the footsteps into your room as they suddenly halt and you brace yourself, watching intensely.
Then a single black hand reaches down under your bed, held out to you.
“Do not be afraid…they won’t hurt you anymore” A deep watery voice spoke.
Despite better judgement, your reach out and grab one of its fingers with your tiny hands and this person pulls you out to get a better look at you, revealing yourself.
~~~
Nightmare never planned to kill anyone tonight.
He was running low on magic, he just needed to absorb a bit of negativity to teleport home and he just so happened to find a house in the suburb that was reeking of negative emotions, Nightmare could sense that broken home a mile away.
He wasn’t planning on killing anyone but that bastard hit him over the head with a fucking chair, he had to get back at him and his wife who joined in halfway, it was blind rage at that point as he torn into the weak bodies of human, blood splashing everywhere, staining the dirtied broken floors.
When he came back to his senses he was washing his hands of his crime, the color red swirling in the kitchen sink. He took a deep breath only to perk up as he felt another presence around, his single eye glances upward to the stairs and not wanting to leave any loose ends, he follows it.
This house, he could tell, was no full of good people, only the lowest of lows, a sense of bitterness fills his bones trying to suppress a past memory in his mind. Nightmare needed to be careful to not alert anyone else that might be here.
He was led into a small bedroom, a very bare boned ruined bedroom, a few papers of scribbles drawn and stuck to the wall, a few old stuffed toys. His eye scanned over to a corner….where it looked like someone used it as a bathroom and in another corner where rotting food was, maggots wiggling about.
Nightmare heard a faint breathing hitched and his eye darts down to the stained bed, sensing a young presence under the bed and when he managed to coax them out, his eye widens at the sight of how young the child way.
And yet the child lacked that youthful look, jaw lines very noticeable and their ragged clothes slumped off their skinny body, they stared at him, he stared back, now unsure what to do.
…he could kill them, he’s already killed their parents and yet as their hand wraps around his finger, his mind flashes a image of him, before his corruption.
Nightmare couldn’t bring himself to give the child a fate like that, against his better judgment, he carefully picks up the child who didn’t seem to react to a stranger picking them up.
Against his better judgement he….
~~~~
“Uh Boss? I know I’m not suppose to be questionin’ ya authority but…” Killer hisses in thought, “Why ya got a human child with you?”
Horror, Killer and Dust all stared at their boss, who was holding you in his arms, your eyes looking over them all with curiosity as you clutched your bunny.
Nightmare sighs, eye twitching, “This….wasn’t planned”
“Ta be fair Boss, children are rarely planned”
Killer’s hurmor wasn’t helping the grim situation, no one in this team had a good history with humans, humans were greedy bigoted assholes and the scum of the earth that would kill anything in their sight regardless if it was animals, monsters, plants or even their own kind--- so a human child here was frowned upon.
Nightmare rubs his forehead, “To set the record straight, we are not killing it, nor eating it”
“The what are we going to do with it?” Dust asks.
“I will train it” Nightmare informs on the spot.
Killer seemed pretty into the idea, or maybe he enjoys kissing Nightmare’s ass too much, “Hell yeah! We get another peep on the team”
Horror was shooting a glare at the eyeless skeleton, the fur on his jacket flaring up.
“Come on Horror! Think about it! we’ll have our own mini mass serial killer on our team” He remarks, gesturing to you, “Plus it’s a human, it can blend into society better than us”
“I don’t know, I think we’re pretty normal” Dust comments.
“Oh that’s rich comin’ from da schizo”
“Men” Nightmare firmly spoke, glaring at his crew, “it doesn’t matter how you feel about this, you will not have a choice, the child is staying and I will train it to work for us”
Killer seemed like the other one sort of on board while the other two were more or less on edge and frankly Nightmare couldn’t blame them, feeling human skin touch him was making him uncomfortable but he couldn’t show weakness in front of his men so he carries you off into the many long and maze like hallways of his castle, leading you into a door that turned out to be a room with a bare bed and sheet, it was atleast cleaner that your last home and seemed to be well kept.
Finally, Nightmare puts you down onto the floor, letting your shoeless feet touch the soft carpet flooring.
As your looking around your new room, Nightmare begins to speak, “Now, this will be your headquarters, unless an emergency you do not leave this room until me or one of my get you, do I make myself clear?”
You nod wordless.
“Good” he firmly spoke, heading out the door, “Dinner will be prepared soon, I will come get you when it is done”
“Okay Daddy” you murmur.
He halts midway through the door, the feeling that ran through his body made him feel sick to his stomach, gripping the doorknob, he slowly turns back to look at you with a stern stare.
“You will be referring to me as either Nightmare, Sir or Boss” he corrected, “Do I make myself clear?”
When you nodded to him, clutching your bunny a little tighter, it’s his cue to take his leave and close the door behind him. He could lock the door but lord knows what a child like you might do, he can’t let himself get attached to you or go soft, no matter how much he seems himself in you.
He’s the king of darkness, he won’t allow to fall into those traps.