Work Text:
Now, you might be thinking- Tommy , why are you walking through alleyways in the middle of the night?
Well short answer, just because he can. Let it be known that Tommy Innit is nothing less than spiteful. His mother tells him not to take the alley as a shortcut? He's going out of spite.
Sure it might get him murdered one day- but that's a risk he's willing to take just to get back at her.
He shivers a bit as he navigates the turns and twists, stepping over trash and feral cats, and raccoons. He wishes he had the forethought of bringing a jacket, not just a thin hoodie.
He blinks as a water droplet hits the edge of his nose, looking up in confusion before it starts to pour. He groans at the almost comedic timing, and starts to jog.
As he's running, he doesn't exactly stop to check his surroundings, so it's inevitable when his foot catches on something sticking out from behind a dumpster.
He grunts as he hits the ground and lays there for a moment in silence, before rolling to get his back and faces the rain. Finding it useless to try and get out of it, he pauses to breathe.
Grumbling he finally sits up and rubs his now sore ankle, glaring around to see what he'd fallen to.
He freezes for a moment when he sees a- foot? He crawls forward, his pants now completely ruined. He finds a doll laying there, it's dirty and hard to make out.
"What the fuck ?!" He then looks back at the thing, it's almost…sad looking. He supposes he'd be looking like that if he was stuck in the trash.
Grumbling under his breath, he gently plucks it from the ground, pulling the bits of trash stuck to it before using his soaked sleeve to attempt to wipe the grime off its face.
It works to some extent- but what's left staring back at him is kinda- disturbing .
He still for the life of him, can't tell what the doll is supposed to be, all he sees now are beady black eyes. They look as if they're looking directly at him, or through him .
It unnerved him, but he genuinely felt bad for it.
He laughs a little, sighing. "Un-fucking-believable…" He looks at the doll once more, "Let's hope your haunted ass can show me some mercy."
—-------------
"Thomas, don't you even think about stepping a foot on my carpet soaked as you are." Tommy's mother gripes as he walks in the door.
Tommy groans, "well what am I supposed to do? I can't dry off until I get to my room."
The woman looks up at him and raises an eyebrow, "maybe you shouldn't have been out." She states before going back to watching the TV.
Tommy huffs before taking his shoes and socks off, before sprinting towards the stairs. Snickering as he hears his mother sigh.
Once he finally gets to his room, he looks down at the doll that he had hidden under his hoodie. Now that he can see, he can tell it's supposed to be a doll of some kind of king?
It has a crown on its head but that's all he can really make out under all the grime.
"Looks like you need a bath, huh king?" He says, as if actually talking to the doll before snickering at his own antics.
He looks at the clothes the doll wears. There's holes under what looks to be a once white poet shirt, and at one point pants. All that's left of them now is rags.
"It's a good thing I know how to sew. You are in dire need of a new wardrobe."
Mumbling to himself, he walks towards his bathroom. deciding against using the bathtub, he decides to wash the doll In the sink.
Making sure he gets the grime off, he finally gets the doll clean. Unfortunately having to cut the last bit of remaining clothes it had off.
Now that there's no dirt in it, he can say he was right about it being some type of king doll.
It has really long pink hair that reaches to its knees, and a crown that kept trying to fall off. Its face is painted into a frown, its eyes perpetually stuck open.
The doll is actually really cute looking, besides the pure blood red eyes. Which still looks like they're watching him.
He stares into the eyes, getting quite lost in them, they stare back. He has no idea how long he stands there, he only comes to when the lights of the bathroom start to flicker rapidly.
Assuming it's the storm messing with the power, he shrugs and walks back into his bedroom. He then sits the doll on his bed looking in his closet for his scrap fabric.
"You know big man, it's a good thing I found you- who else could make you look as good as new?" He walks back towards the doll with a measure. "I'm going to make you look so cool- I was actually looking for a new project anyways." Tommy rambles as he measures the doll.
He pulls out some different colored fabric before putting them down, he finally pulls out a red one and some white cotton, and nods excitedly.
"Ohhh- I'm so going to give you a cape, would you like a cape?" Tommy whisper to himself giddily, not noticing the doll had turned to look at him
—--------
Tommy groans and stretches his arms, sighing at the pop from his back as he does. He's been sitting in the same spot for about two or three hours attempting to make clothes for… his doll?
So finally, after about three or four attempts of wasting fabric, he finally gets them done.
He made a white poet shirt, and with some of the extra lace, he made designs into the sleeves. The shirt is loose but curves inwards toward the bottom to make it tighter. The dark brown trousers he made to go with it made the whole outfit look more Victorian.
And finally, he's favorite part- the cape. He made it with the loose red fabric and cotton he had.
"There big man- now you look like a king!" Tommy says happily, quite proud of his work.
The doll obviously doesn't say anything, but it almost looks- pleased? He shakes his head getting rid of that though, it's a doll.
Hmmm.
Maybe he should braid the doll's hair? It might look good with the outfit, or atleast better than just the stringy hair it has already.
"I think you would look nice with a different hair style, what do you think king? Maybe a French braid? Or a fishtail? Hmmm.." Tommy rambles, turning around to look for his brush and hair tie.
Opening his bedside drawer he finds them, "aha! Found it! You know maybe you would look nice with space buns, make you look like an anime girl-" he pauses as he turns around, noticing the doll which he had left on his bed is no longer there.
"Uh…" The blond says dumbly, looking around the room.
He was around the bed looking around the floor thinking it fell off, but he still couldn't find it. Blinking he leans down on his knees deciding to check under the bed.
There it was. Directly in the middle of the floor under the bed, it was on its back but it's head was facing towards him- staring at him.
Tommy swallowed heavily before reaching out to gently grab it, assuming that it had fallen and rolled under the bed. Completely ignoring the fact that even if it had, there was no logical way it could have made it that far under. It was practically on the opposite side.
He figured the best way to go about that was to just ignore it.
'You know, like a classic horror movie protagonist' he thought to himself, giggling at the dumb thought.
He sat down on the bed, the doll in his lap. Picking up the hairbrush he starts to brush it out. Thankfully since he washed it there weren't many knots.
Once it was smooth and soft, he started braiding. He eventually decided to go with a classic French braid, feeling it would fit the doll's already gothic aesthetic.
"Almost done- there! You look great big man! Hey maybe I'll try a different braid daily, try to spice things up." He pounders.
Yawning, he puts the doll on his desk chair and picks up his phone. Eyes widening at the time, 2:45 am .
Jeez, he didn't mean to stay up so late. But it's strange, usually his mom comes up to tell him to go to sleep. Maybe he pissed her off more than he thought.
"Well, it's bedtime for me king. I know the desk isn't really that comfortable, but I'll have to figure out a better place tomorrow." He says tiredly.
Getting warm under his comforters, he curls up sighing in content, and finally falls asleep.
—----
Tommy wakes up suddenly, he's really warm, which itself might not be weird- but for him, in his cold ass room? That's strange.
It's like he's under a heater, but he weirdly feels comfortable. Like he's being hugged, if the person who's hugging him was on fucking fire. He kicks the blanket off of him, and sits up blinking tiredly, trying to get his droopy eyes to stay open.
He looks around not being able to see anything in the darkness, feeling around for his phone. When he finds it he turns it on, his eyes clenching at the brightness. When they finally adjust he finally reads the time.
3:37 AM
Huh. He could have sworn he'd been asleep longer than that. He flops back down onto his mattress, attempting to fall back asleep.
Moving his arm he feels something cold, not bothering to open his eyes he grabs at the thing. Pausing when he feels something large- solid.
When he opens his eyes he comes face to face with the doll. Its body completely turned towards him.
Tommy honestly has no idea how he's supposed to react to this.
"Um, hi king? I-I really hope I put you there and forgot about it, because if this is happening and I'm not going crazy, I will cry. So…um please don't do that?" He whispers, his eyes never leaving the doll's.
He stares at the doll for a minute, heart beating rapidly. Before he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes and turns his back toward it.
"You know what? Everything's fine. Just please don't murder me in my sleep. That would not be pog." He grumbles, trying to calm his adrenaline and go back to sleep, waking up at 3 am to creepy dolls gazes wasn't very pogchamp.
Before he falls back into his dreams, he feels faint pressure on his scalp, like someone is running their hand through his hair. The heat returns just before he falls back into the darkness.
—-------
Groaning Tommy finally wakes once more, this time it's to a knocking on his door. He's on his back, and he instinctively looks to his side trying to find the doll. Sighing in relief when he sees nothing.
Thinking It was some weird dream he finally sits up, pausing when he sees the thing at the edge of his bed, staring directly at him. But, one of its hands was placed on his ankle- almost comfortingly.
"THOMAS! UNLOCK THIS DOOR!" A woman's voice yells from the otherside of the door. Ah, it was his mom then.
"I'm coming! I'm coming-" Tommy says back, quickly going to open the door.
"What did I tell you about locking the door at night? That is a serious fire hazard!" His mom scolds.
"But- I didn't? It was open?" He says, confused.
His mom raises an eyebrow, and looks at him with her classic 'stop trying to lie to me, it's not working' face.
Tommy just furrowed his brows in confusion, trying to think of why the door would be locked. He couldn't think of a reason why he would lock it.
His mom sighs, "I wanted to come tell you, I was heading out for a bit. I'll be gone for a couple of hours."
Tommy nods and the woman walks away.
"Oh, and I'll turn the heat up. It's freezing in your room." She yells down the hallway.
Huh, he didn't realize it was cold. He feels really warm actually.
Looking back towards his bed he shuts the door, he makes eye contact with the doll.
"Don't think you're off the hook either! I know you moved yourself to the bed! I mean I know the desk probably wasn't that comfortable- but still!" He complains, picking the doll up gently.
He grumbles as the doll just stares at him, here's to hoping this was just a one time thing.
—--------
It was in fact not a one time thing. After that day, weird things kept happening.
He felt hot all the time, like he was being followed by a heater. The lights would randomly go out, so would the electronics.
Everyday when he woke up at some variation of 3 AM. he wouldn't be able to move his body, it was if someone was restraining him.
The doll was still as creepy as ever, it still moved around- but to a much more active degree. everytime he found the doll, it would be in the room he was in, always staring at him.
But the door would always be locked.
Like the thing was trying to keep others out, or maybe keep him in?
He felt like he and the doll had reached some sort of agreement, he watches over the thing and it doesn't kill him, Win win!
It all came to a head one day.
His mom had already left for work, so It was just him in the house. He was finally going to hang out with some of his friends today, maybe go to the park, or see a movie.
Once he was finally ready, he stretched his arms and glanced at the doll, which had moved from his bed to the desk chair.
"Welp, king it's just going to be you here for a bit." He says happily.
Turning towards the door, he finds it locked. He sends the doll a look before unlocking it, before he can leave through the door slams shut.
Jumping back he stares at the door with a racing heart. He looks back at the doll and smiles shakily.
"I know big man, you don't want to be alone, but I can't stay cooped up in the house forever! I'll only be gone for a couple of hours." Tommy's gone crazy, trying to negotiate with a doll.
The thing continues to stare at him, only for a second before the lights start flashing rapidly.
A screeching noise filling the room, loud, obvious and most of all painful on his ears.
His head spinning rapidly from all the noise, his senses overwhelming in his mind while adrenaline rushed down his spine, sending him to the floor, losing feeling in his legs.
Tommy covers his ears, trying to block the noise. It only gets louder, and louder-
Louderlouderlouderlouderlouderlouder-
"OK I WON'T GO! I'M SORRY, PLEASE- STOP!" He begs as he falls to the floor, covering his head in his knees.
Everything stops instantly, it's quiet besides the sounds of Tommys panicked breathing and sobs.
He sits there, on the floor not moving. He refuses to look up, flinching away when he feels something lean against him.
Looking up briefly he sees the doll beside him, it looks as if it's trying to be comforting. Tommy is still softly crying, his body shaking from the fear, and pounding headache he now has.
With shaky hands the blond reaches over and grabs his phone, fumbling with it as he sends a message to his friends that he can't make it. It's spelled horribly, and barely legible but they'll get the hint.
When he's done he drops his phone, staring for a moment before he locks his arm around his legs, and buries his head into his knees, trying to make himself as small as possible.
He'll have to try again another day, perhaps.
—--------
The next few hours are boring. Tommy left that god-awful doll upstairs and locked under his bathroom sink, he was still angry at it.
In all honesty, locking up a doll in his bathroom sink wasn't a very clever move, but Tommy was a big man. A big man who wasn't afraid of a petty fucking doll he absoutely didn't have a panic attack because of.
Nope, you couldn't prove anything.
His mother wasn't gonna be home for a few more hours, he was sitting downstairs on the couch and watching TV when he first heard the pounding.
It came from deeper in the house, maybe back in his mothers bedroom, or even the basement. Whatever it was, it sounded heavy.
“FUCK OFF!” Tommy yelled at the doll from the living room, tempted to punch one of the columns on the staircase just to prove a point.
The lights quit their flickering, it was as if they were trying to be gentle now.
He just wanted out of the bathroom sink, probably.
The faded thumping came again and Tommy quit his inner monologue, now wasn't the time to be the angsty main character in a shitty horror film.
Tommy slowly stalked towards the calling before deciding he didn't really know what it was. He sighed and turned and started to head into his own hallway and walked away from the room.
He was too fed up and tired of these stupid ghosts. He already had enough with king- he should probably give him a real name if he isn't getting rid of him. Maybe he'll call someone to exercise the creepy thing, he spent way too much time on those clothes.
Tommy went back to his own room, pointedly ignoring the doll had somehow found its way on the bed, barely acknowledging it only with his middle finger.
The lights flickered slowly and Tommy grabbed his bookbag, tossing it down the stairs- he could do what he wanted, he was home alone- before grabbing the doll and putting him back under the sink, this time in a spare shoebox he found full of his mothers paints. He didn't even know she painted.
Tommy picked up his bookbag, pulling out a book.
Yeah. He was that bored.
He was actually doing his summer homework.
Anything to get his mind off of the creepy fucking doll in a showbox. He suddenly heard a small thunk , it didn't sound like it was in the house so he actually went to investigate.
He walked out of the house, ignoring the wild flickering lights and even slamming the door out of annoyance.
He looked around the front of the house, not immediately noticing anything wrong, until he heard an unmistakable loud voice.
“TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYY!!!!!”
“Tubbo, stop disturbing the neighbors."
Even from this length away, he could hear Ranboo bickering at Tubbo. Tommy gave a small amused smirk as Tubbo chased through the grass, making footprints in the mud, that his mom would eventually yell at him for.
“Eyy, bossman!!” Tubbo yelled, dashing up to him. Tommy laughed softly.
“Tubs!! What are you both doing here?” He asked, shoving his hands in the pants of his pajama pockets very coolly. Were not mentioning said pajama pants that were covered in little cartoon cows.
The best animal ever.
“Came to see if you were good after bailing on us!” He huffed, patting his shoulder with a little too much strength.
“Ah, yeah, I’m cool. Just had a moment earlier, and mom doesn't want me leaving home while she's not here.” He excused while Tubbo and Ranboo raised an eyebrow but invited themselves in.
"What's with this creepy doll?" Ranboo asked, immediately motioning to the couch.
Tommy groaned.
"I found him the other day running through an alleyway." He muttered.
"The one your mom explicitly told you not to run through?" Ranboo asked.
"Not important to the story, but yes. Anyway- I tripped and bruised my ankle over his stupid leg, and I decided to take him home. on the off chance he was possessed and I could be an awesome ass angsty main character with a whole arc on how I realized how dumb this all was." He explained.
Tubbo started laughing while Ranboo was raising an eyebrow at him.
"Fair enough. Is he possessed?" Tubbo asked.
"Yeah, I assume so at least. Anytime I try to leave it messes with the damn lights." Tommy said, shaking his head in annoyance as he picked up the doll. "He was in a shoebox under my sink because he was being a prick."
Tubbo snickers at that. "What's his name?" He asked, crouching down to meet his eyes.
"No idea. I keep calling him king. He has a crown, it was in the shoebox though." Tommy explained. Tubbo snorted.
"Huh, well leave it to you to do something like this willingly." Ranboo mumbled, giving Tommy an eye roll.
The blond scowled.
"What? You're telling me you wouldn 't pick up a haunted doll, you coward." He started seriously.
"Yeah ranboo! Not very main character of you." Tubbo said, poking him.
Ranboo groans and bats tubbos hand away. "Why do I even try with you two?"
They stared at each other for a minute before breaking out into giggles.
"Ok- ok, come on Toms. Let's just play Mario Kart until your mom gets home." Tubbo suggested.
"Do you think she'll make her pot roast?" Ranboo asked, a little hope in his voice.
"Maybe If you ask her, she likes you Boob boy." Tommy says passively, patting his shoulder.
As they start walking their way towards his room, he sees the doll sitting there on the counter.
Tommy sighed. "Hey, promise me you're not gonna cause trouble while my friends are here, ok?" He scolded, the light flickering a few times in protest.
"Come on, now you're just being an asshole." He mumbled before placing the doll on the counter and walking upstairs.
Last thing he needed was for the dick to be angry.
"Tommy! Are you coming?!" Tubbo yelled, Tommy huffed.
"Coming!!" He called out, making an ' im watching you ' motion before dashing to his room, where Ranboo had moved his switch, both of them holding their own.
"Alright, let's play, I'm gonna kick your asses." Tubbo smirked.
"Oh its, on ." Tommy shot back.
—--------
A few hours later, the smell of his mom's cooking wafted through the house, courtesy of Ranboo and his charming personality.
His mom was sitting in the living room while they all tried to beat each other at Mario Kart as quietly as possible.
It wasn't very quiet to say the least, and his mother kept calmly reminding them to be quiet.
Tommy knew that they were getting on her nerves though. Eventually after getting tired of their screaming, She walked into the kitchen and immediately let out a yell.
"Tommy!" She yelled, Tommy jumping in surprise and immediately spotting what was the cause of his mothers surprise.
"Oh god dammit ." Tommy cursed immediately, seeing the fucking doll standing on the stove, right next to the crock pot where the roast was cooking.
It was sitting there, just casually on the counter. Well it was next to the knives. He doesn't know if that's something he should be worried about or not.
"Tommy what the fuck is this?" She asked him, rubbing a hand on her temples. No doubt trying to ease a headache.
"Oh that. So you know when I got home wet cuse I was out? Well I found that in the rain so now it lives here." He called out.
"You mean when you were in alleyways." Ranboo snarked.
"Oi, shut up ranboo! I would do no such thing- ever." Tommy yelled.
"Look, I couldn't care less at the moment. Just- get it out of my kitchen." She says, turning around and getting a drink out of the fridge.
Tommy grumbled but did as told, grabbing the doll and taking him upstairs.
"You're going to get me in trouble, you know? My mom looks like she's about to start yelling." He says laughing.
The lamp flickers a couple of times, and Tommy groans.
"So you are doing it on purpose. Good to know."
Tubbo and Ranboo eventually came in a little while later to Tommy talking to the doll.
“Man, did that doll make you go insane or something?” Tubbo asked, tilting his head as he heard Tommy call the doll a bitch.
“I dunno, maybe.” Tommy shrugged.
Huh, The lights had stopped flickering.
“Are you two staying the night?” He asked.
“If your mom will let us, yeah. My dad already said yes.” Tubbo shrugged, Ranboo humming a bit in agreement.
“I'll get the floor bed ready.” Tommy laughed. “Warning, there is a bunch of creepy shit that starts happening. King usually slams and locks doors.” He said nonchalantly.
“Wow and you just let it? Couldn't be me.” Tubbo laughed as he walked off to help Tommy get the assortments of blankets for him and Ranboo on the floor.
Tommy glared at him, sticking his tongue out in retaliation. He may have gone a bit crazy, but spending days with a possessed doll would do that to a guy.
Would definitely explain the cow obsession, and a moth hidden in his room he named Clementine purely because he didn't know how to get it out of his room.
He hadn't developed a relationship with a moth and accidentally got attached to it and lied to his mother that he got it out while he hid her in his lamp.
Who would do that?
Not Tommy, obviously.
They arranged the palette on the floor very seriously, more blankets for Ranboo, because Tubbo was a blanket hog anyway, and more pillows for Tubbo because he always complains about Tommys awful carpet.
Just because you can see some of the hardwood and nails under it doesn't mean it's all that bad.
When his mom eventually called them down to eat, she had her work binder opened, marking on the pages in her red pen.
They ate mostly in silence, his mom was still a bit annoyed from earlier, so they were all keeping quiet, lest they all face her wrath.
After they had all finished, he grabbed their plates and headed to wash them, not without kicking Ranboo on his way to the sink.
Walking upstairs he yawns, stretching his arms above his head.
Damn, he's surprisingly tired.
Groaning, he opens the door. Immediately glaring around to see if he can spot the doll. Letting out, a relieved sigh when he spots it.
Alright, he admits- He was getting a bit attached to it.
Before he could get lost in his own head, the sounds of footsteps carried his way.
"Yo, you ready to sleep?" He asked not turning around.
Tuboo moaned "what? But it's so early?" He pouted.
Ranboo snorted and sat down on the pallet, pulling his hoodie off and laying down.
Tubbo gasped dramatically, putting his hand over his chest in mock offense. "Ranboo- my beloved! You dare strip in another man's room?" He cried, pulling a heartbroken expression.
"You know I'm not even going to give you the satisfaction of a response bee boy ." Ranboo replies , burying his face into his pillows.
"Oh come on! I cried when you killed a bee, so what! That was like in fifth grade!" He exclaimed in annoyance. " Why do you keep bringing it up!?"
Snickering to himself Tommy finally lets himself start to drift into unconsciousness, thinking of the doll, but for a moment he's worried if it'll do something.
Nah, kings pretty harmless.
—--------
3:24 AM
Tommy glared at his clock, the crushing feeling of warmth on top of him wasn't unwelcome, listening to the rain on the window. It was both soothing and annoying. The crushing weight on him was suddenly replaced by a frozen feeling, he sat up quickly- looking for the source.
Nothing, as usual.
He could hear Tubbo snoring like a monster truck on the floor beside him, even a soft grunt from Ranboo as he struggled to keep some of the covers Tubbo usually steals.
Tommy felt strange, he felt uneasy. He tried to force his eyes to adjust to the darkness to look for Techno on his desk.
As he slowly woke up, his room cold as per usual- he faintly heard thumping. It couldn't be his mother, it's late and she's never up at this time.
Tommy shuffled out of bed, careful to avoid Ranboos' long limbs and the kicked blankets and pillows.
He made it to his desk, feeling around for it, when he couldn't find him, he panicked a bit. Did his mom throw it out herself?
He hadn't heard her come in.
Tommy walked around the hallway with his socks masking the sound of his feet. He walked towards the living room, the thumping noise growing louder.
He flipped the light switch, which had been a mistake for two reasons.
One, the power seemed to have kicked. Two, he sees there's a whole ass man standing there.
Or at least what looks to be a man. Even though the light is off, the creature stays almost bolded in the darkness.
It's tall with broad shoulders, but the most terrifying thing about it was the eyes. Red, and horrifying.
Tommy was frozen. all the muscles in his body stuck, as if something was holding him there.
The creature is holding him there
Tommy stared, his eyes wide. The being tilts its head, its eyes never leaving his.
The creature took a step, then another- and suddenly it was standing directly in front of the blond.
It reached its hand out slowly, coming towards his face. Tommy started to shake; still unable to move, but the deep rooted terror overwhelmed him.
Instead of cutting his throat, or whatever else horrific Tommy thought this thing was going to do- it placed its hand on his cheek.
It felt leathery, and somehow warm. As if the skin was left in the sun for too long.
It radiated unnatural warmth.
And if that wasn't fucking terrifying, Tommy didn't know what was.
Tommy didn't know what to do. The warmth felt familiar, and the longer they stood there the less scared he got.
When his body finally relaxes enough to move, he raises his hand slowly, until it sits on the creatures. It's hands completely dwarfing his.
The blond tried to pull its hand off, but all he got was a growl. It was deep and grovely- it didn't sound like anything he'd ever heard before.
He inhaled sharply, his heart speeding up as the thing moved. Suddenly a hand was on his throat-
It was squeezing so hard he's sure his neck would break. His arms wrap around the creatures- frantically trying to pull it off. Wiggling to get out of its grip as he gasped for air.
Finally the thing lets go, and he immediately falls to the floor.
His neck hurts, he can't breathe.
All he knows is agony as he keeps trying to gasp for breath. He realizes he's crying, quietly sobbing as he wheezes.
His vision is fading, his body fighting him on staying conscious. He falls limp, the last thing he sees is the creature looking down at him.
It reaches a hand out towards him, and all Tommy could feel was fear. He's going to die, he's going to die-
—------------
Tommy sits up with a gasp. His heart was pounding.
What the fuck.
He looks around his room, it's day now and light shines through his curtains. He sees tubbo still asleep but ranboo is gone.
Nothing too unusual, ranboo always wakes up early.
A dream. It had been a dream.
He turns to glance at his desk, the doll is still there, right where he left it. The only difference is now it's staring at him, it's head tilted in a way he didn't leave it in.
Its beady eyes looked almost longingly at him.
"That was you last night, wasn't it?" He whispered angrily at the doll, clenching his jaw.
The doll of course didn't respond.
After glaring at it for a minute Tommy scoffed.
'fine if that's how you want it to be.'
He gets up, not bothering to even look at the doll, and heads towards the bathroom. He grabs his toothbrush out of its holder and turns on the sink.
As he's about to put the thing in his mouth he looks up, and drops the brush into the sink with a quiet thud.
There- on his neck, is a fucking bruise.
In the shape of a goddamn hand.
His breathing picks up as he lays his fingers gently across it, and swallows heavily.
"But- that's impossible- it was a dream! I-i dreamt it- it wasn't real!" He whispered in panic.
He takes a deep shaky breath, taking another glance back into the mirror. "No- I'm imagining things. This isn't real- out of sight out of mind."
At least it didn't hurt.
He wasn't going to say anything, He didn't want his mom to worry. Plus- he wasn't going to give that damn doll the satisfaction.
—----------
It's a good thing it's been so cold recently, so when he walks down stairs with a turtleneck on, No one bats an eye.
He had completely ignored the doll as he got dressed, and the flickering lights as he walked out of the room.
When he got downstairs he saw his mom standing there at the kitchen counter, she was pouring herself coffee.
When she glanced up she sighed, "I'm fixing to leave. I got called into work early to cover one of my co-workers shifts. I won't be back until late tonight." She says tiredly.
He groaned, "are you serious? Which one called in?" He thinks he already knows the answer.
The woman snickers, "carol. She apparently went to the hospital to visit her dad before he died. Surprising, since she's said the same thing the last four times she's not shown." Ah so he had guessed correctly.
She looks at the clock and chocks in her drink. " Shit . I'm going to be late." She sputters as she runs around the counter grabbing her keys.
"I'll be back soon Tom, don't do anything dangerous!" She called.
"What about illegal?" He yelled back.
"As long as you don't get caught, go for it!" She said as she shut the door, leaving him standing by himself.
Well, at least he was until Ranboo walked in.
"Tommy? What are you doing up so early?" He asked, ever the early bird.
"Eh, just decided to." He said, waving Ranboo off who just shrugged.
Tommy hummed and turned to him. "Where's tubbo, by the way?" He asked
"Oh his dad called, said he needed him home. I was actually about to leave, just wanted to wait until you woke up first." Ranboo explains.
Tommy groans, absolutely baffled that tubbo would leave him poke this.
'His own best friend, is there no shame.' He thought bitterly.
"Well at least you waited boob." He mutters sadly.
Ranboo rolls his eyes, before grabbing his bag. With a quick goodbye Tommy is once again left alone in his house.
Standing alone once more in an empty house, his throat throbs. He feels nervous, his skin, like something bad is going to happen.
Shaking his head, he clears his thoughts and heads back upstairs. Once he gets back to his room he stretches, his arms rising above his head.
He branches when he smells his underarm.
'Yep, time for a shower.' He thought grimacing.
—-------------
Tommy yawned as he flopped onto his bed, stretching out.
After he'd gotten a shower he'd decided to finally finish watching his show. The only time he could watch it peacefully was when no one was home.
He had ignored the flickering lights, and even the TV glitching out, not wanting to give the doll that satisfaction of a response.
He could tell the doll was getting increasingly more angry with him, but he honestly didn't care enough.
Glancing up, he saw the doll above him, gladly tilted down to stare directly at him.
Face to face.
He made no reaction to it, only continuing to stare. Eventually it seemed that the doll had grown tired of their little staring contest and just flopped down.
Onto him.
Sighing he moves the doll away, before sitting up and moving towards the foot of the bed.
"I'm still upset at you." He snarled, "seriously, who chokes a guy out! Especially one whose home you're living in rent free. That's not ok dude!" Tommy
hissed.
Of course he got no reply.
Huffing he pulls back his covers, not before moving the doll mind you, and wraps them around his shoulders. Yawning softly into his pillow.
He really woke up too early.
He started to shiver a bit as the blanket did nothing to block out the increasing chill that swept into his room. wrapping the blankets closer to him he tried to ignore the dread creeping up on him.
And suddenly the cold was gone. Replaced by that warm feeling, of being hugged. Tommy sighed into the warmth and closed his eyes.
"You know, for a doll- or well possessed doll, you're really warm. How is that even possible? You're made out of porcelain." Tommy mumbles, drifting off.
It's a good one too.
—----------
As the boy fell asleep, it watched.
It watched very closely.
It doesn't know much about keeping humans alive, but killing them ? That it knows.
Unfortunately it doesn't want this child dead, so it's stuck trying to figure out how to keep this tiny thing alive.
When it'd been found in that well- disgusting ally - he thought this would be it's normal routine. Get picked up, torment his victims, and then rip them into tiny little bite sized shreds.
It never could have guessed this child - totally human, mortal, and oh so fragile child- could make it feel this….instinct.
It wants to wrap him in the softest of fabrics, spoil him with all the most luxurious foods, Show him all the love a monster could give.
It wants to tie him down, force him to never leave. Wants to take his heart so it belongs to it and it alone. Wants to stain his youthful face with the blood of every single pathetic human around.
It's never had these strange feelings before, doesn't know what to do with them.
So it does what it does best.
It tortures.
When the child had wanted to leave the house, leave its protection, it reasonably had the right to keep him there. It does feel a bit bad for scaring him though.
It tried to make up for it, allowing its child's little playthings to stay.
Oh how it wanted to rip their heads off. Drag them down into the darkest pits of the void and leave their souls to rot.
Being near its child.
Hugging and touching its child.
Even looking at its child should have gotten them killed.
But, it refrained. After all this was an apology, it would watch, and wait. Let the child have his fun.
Sure, it felt icy rage every time they got too close to its child. But only because it wasn't fair. How dare they be able to hug its child while it can't?
He's so small, and so easily breakable. He needs its protection, humans are so incredibly weak after all.
It doesn't matter though. It would gladly be its child's protector, his caregiver.
It's all that it's child needs.
Even through all that, it remained cordial to the pest around its child. Well- at least it did until…. that incident.
It hadn't meant to hurt him. All it wanted was to hold him, and while it's true it does that anyway- it preferred for there to be an actual physical touch.
Although it does love holding his child as he sleeps.
It had figures as everyone slept it would get its chance to grasp its child, hold him close and tightly.
It didn't account for it losing itself.
All it knew was that it's child, its tre asure was right in front of it, waiting for its embrace.
He wasn't scared, only curious. Looking at it with blue eyes, it made the sky look dull. Golden hair shining oh so vibrantly, even in the darkness.
Holding its child had been a euphoric experience. Even just the slight touch of his child's cheek made its chest rumble with purrs.
It was content, and oh so happy.
Until the runt tried to move away.
Away from it.
Away from its protection.
Away from its love .
No one is allowed to take its child away from it, not even the child himself.
So it did what it does best.
Tortures.
It grabbed him by the throat, squeezing the fragile thing. It doesn't know what happend, really it swears.
So yeah, maybe it messed up a tiny bit.
That still does not give the child the right to ignore it.
Yes, it messed up. Yes, it feels 'remorse' but it will not allow this little tantrum to go on much longer.
Thankfully the little leeches had left. Leaving just the two of them in this ' house? ' It's not sure what humans call them these days.
It's child comes back into the room, after flat out ignoring it. It does not really have any way to tell the child that it's angry, besides the lights and doll.
Ah, yes the doll.
The very thing that traps it in this plane. It was made to banish it, an old couple had made it after it had started to terrorize two women.
It did what it was made to do, it guesses. But not in the way they wanted it too. Now it just haunts anyone foolish enough to grab it.
It honestly doesn't mind that much, the thing was made to look like him- we'll somewhat- they had hoped in doing this it would agree to stay in the doll.
It's broken out of its thoughts by the child sitting on his bed.
"I'm still upset at you." the boy whined.
He is? It knows it was mean, but surely the child should be over it by now?
"Seriously, who chokes a guy out! Especially one whose home you're living in rent free. That's not ok dude!" Hmm, so it is called a home.
The boy huffed, and got under the blankets, laying for a moment before he started to shiver.
It stares for a moment, it didn't even realize how cold it had gotten. It has a habit of doing that when it's upset.
Tilting its head, it does what it's been doing for cycles now. It lays down, its form bent in an angled way to fit its large body on the small mattress, and hugs its child close.
"You know, for a doll- or well possessed doll, you're really warm. How is that even possible? You're made out of porcelain." The boy mumbles softly, sleep dragging him down.
It just got closer, its nose nestled in the boys golden hair. Its eyes never leaving the sleeping face.
……
It's been trapped so long in that doll it had forgotten what closeness felt like. Forgot what skin felt like.
You know, when it was put into t he doll, the spell had only meant to trap it in something . The doll was the thing offered.
But sitting here, in its arms- a perfect holder. Someone who it wants to hold close- closer than anything. If it was with its child, it could protect him.
Love him.
It hummed at the thought, moving a piece of hair away from the child's forehead, and laid its head down.
It will have to see how it goes.
—-----------
Tommy woke up quietly, opening his eyes and noting how heavy his body felt. Not letting that stop him he leans up, and stares at his wall.
Glancing at the window, he notes how dark it is outside. He must have been asleep longer than normal.
Scooting off his bed, he puts his feet on the floor. His first attempt at standing up failed, his legs giving out beneath him, causing him to fall to his knees on the floor.
He never says a word.
His head feels heavy, like something in it that wasn't hours ago.
His hands grab his b ed and the nightstand, and he pulls himself up. Standing still for a moment, he sighs shakily, and takes a step forward.
And another.
And another.
And another.
And another.
He's suddenly at his bathroom door, he lifts his hand. Frowning at how shaky it is, he clenched his fingers together, before grabbing the door handle and turning it.
He walks into the bathroom, not caring about how dark it is, and grabs the marble of the sink.
Looking into what he knows is the mirror, his hands fumble around the wall looking for the light switch.
His fingers freeze on it, before a flash- and the lights on.
He gazes in the mirror.
Red eyes stare back at him. He does not panic. He is not confused.
He is not scared.
He smiles, wide and unnatural, sharp teeth replace dull ones. He turns his head. And gently his hands come up to caress his face, lovingly.
Yes, it thinks. This shall work.
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