Summary: anon request - "y/n (she's dating Colby?) is with them when they finally go to the basement in the conjuring video and y/n tells him she went to the basement without them like how Sam did and he gets super upset/mad at her?"
This one shot will contain things some readers might find unsettling and/or triggering. PLEASE DONT READ IF THIS IS SOMETHING YOU'RE NOT COMFORTABLE WITH!!
Warnings include: strong language, being alone in the conjuring house basement, reader being touched and spoken to, hair pulling, pushing, reader feeling like they're being controlled by spirits, reader having visions, angry Colby, mild fighting, arguing, mentions of puking, general spooky stuff - read with care my lovelies ily!
I will be using Sam and Colby's SAWATCH Part 3: The Basement as reference in this one shot but only for when the three go to the gravesite and then into the basement together. I will be adding some stuff in to make it flow since the reader is being written in, so everything won't be 100% accurate to the video itself.
Word count: little over 13.k | not edited
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You don't know how Sam and Colby were asleep right now. You don't know why you even agreed to coming here for a few nights - if you can even last that long.
Maybe because you were more worried about Colby?
Maybe because you were actually really interested in the history that surrounds the house itself?
You were also an investigator. You'd think you'd be used to this stuff by now? But you're not. Nothing could have prepared you for what this house holds within the walls.
You sit up, glancing over at Colby who's softly snoring on his cot that, is in fact, under the table like he said he was going to do. You smile slightly as you lay back down, snuggling into your blanket.
You try to remind yourself that Abigail is there to protect you, and that helps, but only a little bit.
You suddenly felt a chill roll over your body, one that a few blankets wouldn't be able to calm.
"Y/n."
You slowly turn over on to your back, sitting up slowly, "Colby?" You whisper, but he doesn't move, "Sam?" He continues to lay there and you take a deep breath, realizing that it wasn't them who said your name.
"Y/n."
Your head tilts slowly as you watch a figure walk past the door frame, left to right, "Hello?" You call out quietly, but nothing answers.
Sam stirs in his sleep slightly, but nothing drastic.
Your eyes shoot back up to the door as you felt like you seen something in the corner of your eye, a face peaking around.
The spin chilling creak of a door opening slowly causes you to freeze, even your breath is held.
You stare at the dark opening for a few seconds before letting out the breath you've been holding.
You go to lay back down and you hear another whisper, "Go."
Your legs swing over the edge, feet planted flat on the floor as your hands move the blanket. Your stare is held on the darkness on the other side of the dimly lit door frame.
Mind on one thing. The basement.
You walk past Sam's cot, glancing back at Colby before slowly looking back into the darkness.
You know you shouldn't go down there at all, let alone by yourself.
Colby made you and Sam both promise not to go down there before going together. He even promised both of you that he wouldn't either.
As you round the corner, you stop as your eyes fixate on the specific door - that you know for a fact opened by something that wants you down there.
Are you going?
You wish you didn't, but you feel like you don't have any other choice.
You walk over to the door, placing a hand on the knob as you look around the door and down the lit stairwell.
Without taking another glance back towards the boys, you're heading down to the basement.
Alone.
But in reality. You're never alone when you're at the conjuring house.
You step gently on each step, careful not to make any loud noise. As you reach the small platform mid way, you stop, staring at the half lit room.
Part of you wants to turn around, high tail it back up the steps and go back to bed, but a bigger part of you wanted to try and get answers.
You wanted to know why, ever since you arrived, the basement has been - literally, calling your name.
You didn't want to give them, too much of your trust, no matter how human they sound.
"Abigail. Are you here with me?" You whisper, snapping your head to the table and chairs when a knocking sound comes from that area, "Knock again if that was you."
Another knock sounds and you walk over, slowly sitting down in the chair. Your eyes move from the well back to the table, "why am I here?"
"The woods."
Your body settles back into the chair and you get a sudden flash of the tree line, "The woods." You repeat, but in a much quieter tone, "Why?"
"Meet us."
You tilt your head, smiling slightly, "You're the trickster, Dave. Aren't you?"
It's silent for a few second, but then you're left in total darkness as the light turns off.
You can feel your heart rate pick up slightly, "I'm not going to the woods alone." Something clinks on the ground and you blow air through your nose, "Dave. Did you call me down here?"
You feel a light brush on your shoulder, but you don't jump. Something in you knew it was a loving touch, from Abigail.
"Do you want me to leave?" You lay your hands flat on the table, getting ready to stand up. A loud whisper in your hear causes you to sit right back down, "No!"
You close your eyes, slowly reopening them. You turn towards the direction of the stairs, staring for a few seconds before turning back to the table.
How did I get here, you think to yourself, but you already knew the answer to that.
Even though you were fully aware of what you were doing and what was happening around you, you didn't feel like you right now.
You knew you were sitting in the place you shouldn't be, but it's like you didn't have control over your mind and body.
As you're sitting there waiting for anything else to happen, you get a chill up your spine, and a feeling in the pit of your stomach that you cannot shake off.
You hear foot steps upstairs and your eyes are glued to the ceiling, waiting for either Sam or Colby to call for you, but nothing sounds.
As you turn your head, you get a quick vision of a soldier standing outside of the upstairs window, looking in.
"Are they watching Sam and Colby?" You ask and you can feel your hands start to shake. You wait for an answer but then it feels like you were released from your hold.
You shake your head and take a deep breath, "What am I doing here?" You stand up, laughing slightly as you turn to walk towards the steps.
Footsteps sounding behind you cause internal panic, now that you're.. yourself again.
You book it up the steps, quickly turning out to close the door and holding it closed for a few seconds before you turn and make your way back to where the boys were.
Still sound asleep.
You push your cot closer to Colby, what just happened in the basement haunting you. You lay down, facing him and basically bury yourself in the blanket.
Every little noise causes your body to jump ever so slightly.
Why did I do that?
Why did I break a promise?
It wasn't you, you try to convince yourself, it wasn't you.
.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.
You barely got any sleep the rest of the night. You were awake when you hear Sam stir around and sit up.
You closed your eyes, pretending to be asleep.
Colby moves his arm from over your body and you pretend to stir. He brushes hair from your face, "Hey."
You open your eyes, pretending that you just woke up, "Mm, hi."
"Get scared last night?" Colby asks with a quiet chuckle and your heart starts to pound, "Yeah, I couldn't really sleep without being close to you."
He nods, "It's understandable." He leans in, pecking your forehead with his lips. You sit up, forcing a stretch before standing up to move your cot.
"How'd everyone sleep?" Sam asks slipping on his sweatshirt.
"I honestly don't think I woke up once." Colby stands up, stretching, "I think someone got a little spooked in the middle of the night."
He nods towards you and you laugh slightly, trying to cover up your nervousness, "Yeah. It was pretty creepy."
"Glad to know that there was a cuddle party going on while I was over here all alone, hot and ready for whatever wanted to drag me away." Sam holds his arms out, trying not to laugh, "What the fuck?"
Colby tilts his head, walking over and hugging Sam, "Oh I'm so sorry, brother. Come here." He squeezes him and you laugh, shaking your head as you grab your little travel bag and head for the bathroom.
.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.
You felt different all day and you were scared either of them would pick up on it, more Colby than anything.
You kept drifting off, thinking about everything that happened when you were down there. How you felt, what you heard.
You were torn between telling Colby and just waiting until they were done filming for the night, but at the same time, he'd probably find out regardless because of the cameras the owners have set up in the corners of the house.
So you decided it'd be better to tell him sooner rather than later, but that was going to have to wait as you were on your way to check out the graveyard.
You kept thinking about how mad Colby was going to be. He was going to be far from happy. You hated when you argued, which honestly wasn't that often, but you knew this was going to be a big one.
"Hey." Sam bumps into you, "You alright?"
You look up at him, "Oh yeah. I'm just anxious because of the woods and it being dark, ya know?"
He nods, "I know what you mean. I'm actually quite nervous myself." He chuckles and looks behind him, "You ready Colby?"
Colby walks up, wrapping his arm around your waist, "Yes." He nods, "I am."
You lay your head on his shoulder, taking in the happy Colby as much as you can before your words, eventually, ruin his mood.
Sam turns the camera on, light shining towards Colby as he walks forward, "Before we go to the grave site, we thought we'd stop where I talked to Dave, under the Estes method, earlier this week."
You follow behind them, shining your light on the trees. You feel like your eyes are playing heavy tricks on you, but after that night, you just felt like you were going nuts.
"So again." Colby's voice causes you to snap out of your thoughts and you walk up next to Sam as Colby continues talking, "After the past few days, we've heard the name, Dave." He points, "Specifically, super clear, on the Alice box, in the forest over there when we camped out. But, we were introduced to him right around these graves, so.."
Colby steps back, opening his arms as he moves around, looking side to side, "Dave.. if you're around, or any other soldiers. Feel free to follow if you can hear me."
"We have a long hike." Sam says and you groan, "Oh great."
Colby chuckles, "I mean the last investigation last night.." he looks at Sam, "Come find out? Thats like, the scariest thing they can say."
Sam laughs, "that's like, the most ominous thing any spirit has ever told us."
As you walk, you keep hearing things in the woods behind you, "Jesus fuck." You whisper, walking quicker to be closer to Colby.
He reaches his hand back, wiggling his fingers for you to take his hand.
You grip his hand, not letting go for anything. You shine your flashlight with your other hand and it starts to flicker before going out then turning right back on.
Sam and Colby stop, turning back to look at you then down to your flash light.
"I'm not even going to say anything." Sam says and you nod once, "please don't."
Colby squeezes your hand and you look up at him, smiling slightly at him, "You're good." He nods, "I got you."
That made you feel ten times worse.
You feel like you could puke.
Your nerves, between the basement and walking through the woods you were warned not to go into, were almost shot.
"Here's what scares me.." Colby starts out as he stops walking. You let go of his hand as Sam turns the camera to him, "Most of the spirits have these, like quiet knocks, but the one downstairs was way louder. It had more power. It had more energy, and we were on concrete."
"Last time we were.. in the woods, the only things we really heard was that it wanted to attack and stalk us.."
Sam's words cause your heart to beat faster - now you really felt like you were going to puke.
What if you're what they, the spirits, were attacking, stalking?
You feel dizzy, but you weren't sure if it was from the woods or just your guilty conscience.
".. man in the woods might be following us right now." Sam finishes and you lay a hand on your head, thinking that it might just be whoever Sam is talking about.
"Y/n." Colby's voice causes you to lift your head, "Are you okay?" He walks up to you and Sam shines the light on you, "What's going on?"
"I'm just.. dizzy right now." You shrug, "It started when Sam said they wanted to attack and stalk us."
Now you're just totally confused on why you're dizzy because there's a dozen things that could be causing your dizziness right now.
Colby wraps an arm around you, "Do you need to sit or anything?"
You shake your head, "It went away now, let's just keep moving." You motion forward and you all walk on.
A little bit later, you push through some brush and Colby shines his light, "Oh god. Where'd the path go?"
Sam turns around, "This is where we came from, but there's three paths."
"Pink ribbons right?" Colby asks and Sam nods, "Yeah I think, they're supposed to be pink ribbons."
"There's a blue ribbon over here." Colby shines his light and Sam walks down another path, "I can't see anything down here."
You follow Colby and he yells to Sam, "Oh, here we go. Here we go!"
"Pink?" Sam asks walking over and Colby nods, looking back towards him, "Yeah."
Colby grabs your hand, leading you down the path as Sam points the camera to the pink ribbon on the tree.
"It's like a river up here." Colby says, "Oh I remember this from two years ago!"
"Yeah isn't there some sort of.. like pond? Or something?" Sam asks and you stare at the ground, trying not to trip over the rocks that are sticking out.
"It's right there." Colby points and Sam nods, "Oh, oh oh yeah! I-I just remembered going to the side of that. So we just gotta figure out - Wait." Sam says and you jump slightly as he turns the camera towards you. You laugh, "Just frogs, Sam."
"Oh god, that scared the fuck out of me." Sam laughs slightly you guys keep walking.
"Okay so you said this way?" Colby points his flashlight and Sam nods, "Well, we just gotta get to the other side of this." He points, "If I remember."
As you're walking through trees, Colby shines his light, "Oh yeah pink ribbon."
"Pink ribb-" Sam stops, "Wait." You and Colby stop, both looking at Sam as he walks up to Colby, "What the fuck was that dude?"
Colby looks at him confused.
"I hear two of your voice, like in that research section.. where like, it echoed." Sam says and Colby looks out in front of him, "Hello?"
Sam pans the camera and you guys wait for a second before Sam shrugs, "I don't know, that was weird." He sighs, "Let's keep going."
"I don't know why I agreed to coming here." You shake your head, laughing. Colby stops waiting for you to catch up to him and he leans in, kissing your head as he gives you side hug, "You love the adventure."
You smile, nodding, "Yeah, I guess so."
After a little bit more walking, the feeling of it being just the three of you, quickly started to subdue.
"We are really in the middle of nowhere." Sam says and Colby blows out air, "We've been walking, guys, for like ten minutes maybe? Fifteen?"
"fifteen." Sam nods, "Yeah probably. I just checked though, we have zero service, too."
Sam pans the camera, "We are really out in the middle of the woods, alone."
Suddenly a noise from the woods catches all of your attention, getting you all to stop in your tracks.
"What the fuck was that?" Sam whispers and Colby shrugs, whispering quickly, "Wait, whoa whoa." He turns, pointing to the woods.
Sam steps around and you move close to Sam.
"What? What was that?" Sam whispers and Colby presses his finger to his lips before pointing, and staring out at the woods.
Sam pans the camera to the direction Colby's pointing.
All you hear right now is the crickets and buzzing of other insects.
You feel a slightly eerie feeling wash over your body and you take a quiet and slow deep breath.
Colby's stare is held on the woods as he brings his hand to the side of his neck, "Alright, let's just.. keep moving, I guess?"
You walk down the dark path, all on high alert.
The woods were scary, and being told not to go there was even scarier.
"I think I see it." Colby said and you feel a slight bit of relief, mainly because you were over walking right now.
"What?" Sam questions and Colby shines his light ahead of him more, "I think that is it up here."
"Oh fuck dude." Sam says and you and Colby stop and look at Sam.
"What?" You and Colby say in unison.
"This-this light just died." Sam says and you take a deep breath as you tilt your head back, "Great."
"You're lying." Colby says, walking up to Sam. Sam shakes his head, "No this light had like thirty five minutes of battery left.. look at it."
Colby walks up to Sam and looks down at the camera that's pointed to the ground, "Let me look."
"Look. It's out of battery." Sam states and Colby shakes his head, "Okay. Let me film that because no body is going to believe that."
"Right there." Sam points to the screen, "That is actually so strange."
"Is this one charged at least." Colby questions and you lay a hand on your forehead, looking around. You feel eyes on you but you don't see anything whatsoever.
"Yeah, that one is charged." Sam nods, "That's the graveyard?"
"I think." Colby answers and Sam points to the camera, "And this just died?"
"What the fuck." You mumble, running a hand through your hair, "what the fuck."
There's a sound behind you and you all turn around, "What was that?" Sam whispers and you shrug, staring out into the woods.
Sam lays his arm over you, moving you back with him as he steps backwards, "Footsteps, footsteps."
Colby grabs your hand, pulling you with him as you run away from where the sound came from.
"I'm just scared of like, what's taking the energy. Like why did we get lured out here? And then what's like-"
Sam cuts Colby off, "Wait, dude. What if all of our lights just go out? Like there's no way we're gonna be able to get back."
"No I know." Colby nods as he continues walking, "that's why we should make this quick."
You walk up to the gravestones and sam shines the camera, "Here it is."
"This is it." Colby adds, "This was like, a lot more overgrown last time we were here."
You walk ahead a little more, shining your light on the stones as you walk by to stay with Sam and Colby.
"All the graves, guys." Sam says as he shows the camera.
Colby bends down in front of one, "George. George baker."
Sam whispers the camera away, "What the fuck was that?"
Colby continues, "Another George." You tap Colby to get his attention and you point to Sam as he speaks, "Footsteps. Footsteps. Footstep, dude!"
Colby shines his light into the trees and Sam follows it with his camera, "What the fuck is that? Dude."
You move between Sam and Colby, your heart beating faster and faster with each second.
You're all silent for a little bit as you look around to try and find the source of the sound.
"Is that tree-"
Sam cuts Colby off, "Something moving in the tree." He shakes his head, "Alright, let's just go over to James."
You move around to walk over and Sam sighs, "oh god, I can't see shit, dude."
Colby shines his light, making sure you're good before shining it onto a grave, "Oh wait, it's this one."
Sam points the camera, "There it is." He bends down slightly, "James had a god dang pentagram as if he was getting summoned into the house."
Sam talks about James and you zone out, the guilt of going to the basement slowly consuming you again.
"Eighteen sixty five. That's a hundred years before the Perron's were even here." Colby faces the camera and Sam nods, "These people might know, what's been in the woods. You know, if they've been here for this long.."
Colby nods, "okay so we have the EMF and we brought the Alice box, right?"
Sam nods, "Yeah." He looks to you and you raise your hand, "Yeah, I have it."
"Last time the Alice box gave us pretty much the direct intentions-" Sam stops talking, panning the camera out into the darkness.
You and colby shine your lights on the tree before Sam goes back to talking, the direct intentions of the people that were out in the woods so hopefully they can give us that again."
You walk over, standing next to Colby as he takes the camera from Sam. You take your backpack off, getting out the Alice box for him.
Sam takes it before walking over to crouch down in front of James' headstone, "James. We came here a couple years ago. I don't know if you recognize us, you came back to the conjuring house with us. We're really just.. coming out here to look for some answers."
He pauses before speaking again, "lot of people are scared of the woods."
The box beeps and Sam looks down, "Oh fuck." He stands up, looking between you and Colby, "Dude."
"What?" Colby asks and Sam holds the box up slightly, his stare on Colby.
"Knife." The box plays and Sam repeats it, "Knife."
"Knife!?" You and Colby ask at the same time.
"First word is knife?" Sam asks, completely shocked.
"What's that even mean?" Colby asks and Sam looks back down at the box as it beeps, "Late." He looks up, "Late at night?"
Colby shrugs and you wrap your arms around yourself as Sam asks more, "Do you happen to have any idea who the man from the woods is? He's being very cryptic with the way he was telling us to come out to the woods."
You press your fingers to your lips, watching as Sam moves around to set the equipment against the stone.
After a few minutes, the box beeps again.
Sam leans down and Colby gasps, reaching out to point, "Oh that just spiked up!"
"Violent?" Sam reads and the box replays the word, "Violent."
All three of you shout out the word, shocked.
"What ever was out here." Sam starts, "In the woods, a couple of days ago, was trying to attack us."
"You said, violent-"
The box beeping cuts Colby off and Sam leans down, "Violent land!"
A sound causes Sam to look to his right, and Colby moves the camera, "What!? What!?"
"I saw- I just saw something move to the right." Sam points and Colby taps you with his hand, "Wait, point your flashlight over there."
You point your flashlight and the Alice box beeps again, "Spell."
Colby whips the camera back to the stone and you keep your light to where Sam saw something, but you look over at the boys.
"Spell." Sam says and Colby tilts his head, "The alphabet."
You stare out at the trees, zoning out for a second before the beeping of the alice box causing you to look over, "Levitation."
"Levitation!" Colby says loudly as Sam yells, "Oh my fucking god."
"Oh fuck." You shake your head, "There's no way."
"Wait wait wait." Sam whispers quickly, "does that mean from the thing from the woods, was the thing that caused the levitation of the seance in Nineteen seventy four?"
"I don't know." Colby answers, "But it's like threatening a violent levitation, like I can do that, too."
Sam covers his mouth, same as you, "Oh my god."
"Or it, it, it's just mocking the story." Colby says quickly, right before the Alice box beeps again, "Cycle."
"Oh fuck." Sam says looking up at Colby. Colby holds his hand out, "It's like it's gonna happen again."
Sam repeats, "It's gonna happen again."
You shiver slightly, "This is fucking wild. What the fuck, I don't like this."
Colby looks at you and Sam, "I don't like this." Sam nods, "I don't like this at all."
The box beeps again, "Alignment."
All three of you repeat the word in unison, "Alignment."
"Something's about to happen." Sam waves his hand in front of him, "Levitation. Violent land."
"Colby. Colby." You tap him a few times and point, "There's like.. a light or something over there."
Sam stands up, walking over to you guys and turning to look where you're pointing, "A light? Where?"
"Yeah, there's like a flash of light over there." Sam point and you and Sam shine your flashlights in the direction it's coming from.
Your flashlight dies and you look up at Sam shocked, "What the fuck?" You look down as you tap it a few times against your hand, "it's.. it's not working."
Colby scoffs, "I don't like that we only have one flashlight now."
"I'm actually really anxious about that." You say and the Alice box beeps, catching all of your attentions.
Colby bends down with the camera, "Fight."
Sam repeats the word in a whisper and Colby stands back up, "What's that mean?" Sam shakes his head and Colby sighs, "We're gonna have to fight? It- dude. It's all like, malicious words. The fact that it said levitation, and cycle, and alignment?"
"Yeah, it's like something's about to happen." Sam stares up at colby who nods, "Yeah, it's like this is about to be the same thing, every few years."
Colby takes a deep breath, "So how do we figure out who we're talking to? I think that's the main thing here."
Sam stands up, looking at colby, "How bout this.. we're not talking to anybody else. Just you..."
As Sam continues asking questions and talking, you start to feel dizzy again.
Your heart starts racing and you can feel your hands start to shake, just like they did in the basement.
You close your eyes, trying to calm yourself down, but you start to feel like not yourself anymore.
You can tell that you're taking slow steps backwards, and you know that you shouldn't do that. You don't want to do that.
You open your eyes and gasp for air, it was almost like your breath was being held.
Sam and Colby's whip their heads around and Colby walks back to you, "Whoa, hey. What's happening?"
You shake your head, breathing heavy, "As.. Sam was.. talking.." you take a breath, holding it for a few seconds before you blow out the air, "I felt myself get dizzy, so I closed my.. eyes to try and get it to stop and I felt myself taking steps backwards. It felt like I wasn't breathing because when I-I opened my eyes I just gasped."
Colby wraps his arm around you, looking back at Sam, "okay, let's just go ba-"
"No." You cut him off, "I'm fine."
Colby states at you, "Y/n. I don't want you getting hurt. That's not why we're doing this." You nod, "I know, Colby. I know, but I want to keep doing this. This is.. this is stuff we need to get. If anything else happens, I'll tell you but.. I'm not stopping here, we're already deep into this."
Colby glances back to Sam and Sam shrugs, "She knows her limits, Colby. If she wants to keep going, I say we move to another spot because we aren't getting any names here."
Colby nods, looking back at you, "You sure you're fine?"
You nod, "Yes, Colby. I'm good."
He nods, taking your hand in his as you follow Sam to a new area. As soon as you stop walking, Sam holds up the Alice box, "Dog."
The Alice box goes off, "Dog."
Sam's head snaps to his left and Colby moves the camera to his right, "What is that!?" He asks, fear coating every word.
Sam shines his flashlight and Colby gasps, "What the fuck is that!?"
"That.. sounds like breathing." You whisper, holding onto Colby's arm, "What the fuck."
"Yeah, that sounds like.. h-heavy breathing." Colby pulls you close to him as he keeps the camera on Sam who tries to mimic the sound.
"Dog." Colby whispers after a moment of silence. Sam stares at Colby with his jaw slightly dropped. It drops more when the heavy breathing sound happens again.
"That's fucking insane." You whisper leaning out around Colby to look where Sam has his light shining.
Colby puts the camera back on Sam as he speaks, "Wait, that sounds like.. like an, instrument or something."
Sam imitates a horn sound and Colby nods, "Yeah, that's like a bass. I don't even know how to describe that." He walks a few steps away and Sam continues to ask questions, "What is that coming? Do you know?"
Colby stop, turning back around. Sam's voice goes down to a whisper, "Wait, wait. Voices."
Colby nods, "Voices, voices, voices. Wait!" He turns the camera to his right and then back to Sam, "I'm turning this off."
Colby switches the camera light off and Sam turns his flashlight off, leaving you in total darkness.
You get a strange feeling, feeling like you're back in the basement of the house.
You keep yourself calm, trying not to panic because this is a feeling you do not like, at all.
"Fuck." Sam curses, "What do we do."
It's quiet for a few seconds, then Colby speaks up, "Is that you, in the woods?"
The Alice box beeping causes you to jump, "Shit."
Sam whispers right before the Alice box says the word, "Teacher.. who is the teacher?" Sam switches his flashlight back on,
Colby gasps, his voice slightly louder, "What was that? That- dude."
"It's coming." Sam whispers and the next thing you know, Colby grabs your arm and is pulling you along as he walks away, Sam following.
"I don't want to go too fast." Colby whispers, turning back to look at Sam, "Because like, I actually think somebody's over there."
You stop and Colby shakes his head, "I'm not kidding."
The light turns off and you listen for a few seconds before Colby whispers, "You hear that?"
"No." You answer in a whisper. Sam shakes his head, "No, no I don't."
"Just wait. Just wait." Colby whispers quietly, squeezing your hand that's clinging to his, "Something is making noise."
"Something over there." Sam says as he's lit up by the red light blinking. Colby turns his head, "Now it's this way." He turns his body and sam turns too, "There's more voices?"
Colby turns again, "Now it's this way."
"Okay." Sam starts, "We're getting fucking surrounded."
"Again, again, again." Colby says taking over talking, "Okay."
The Alice box beeps and everyone waits for it to speak, "Dave."
Your heart falls into your stomach and you instantly feel your mouth watering like you're about to throw up.
"Oh my god." You lay your hand that isn't in Colby's, on your forehead.
"Dave, if you want to come back to the conjuring house with us, please follow us right now, we gotta go back." Sam speaks in one quick sentence.
"Please." Colby pleads and Sam keeps talking, "there's people surrounding us, we gotta go"
Colby holds your hand tight as he pulls you along with him, running after Sam.
"Wait, we don't have a light!" Colby yells after Sam to get him to stop. Sam turns around as you and Colby catch up to him, "Then we gotta stick together real close."
You guys run a little bit further before slowing down, "Look dude I don't want to go too fast."
The Alice box beeps and Sam looks down at it. Colby moves closer and the box sounds, "Special."
"Special?" Colby asks and Sam looks around, "Dave is special?" You walk a little bit more and Sam looks around, "there's probably actually people or something in the woods because we're hearing like weird voices-"
"Wait, wait, wait." Colby whispers, getting everyone to stop. You press your body against his back, closing your eyes as the feeling of puking returns.
What?" Sam asks and Colby leans in to whisper, "I just wanna see if we can hear what's actually out here."
It's silent, nothing but the insects for a few minutes.
"Is that a dog?" Colby asks, "It said dog."
"Dogs." Sam says with a nod.
"We're in the middle of the woods. That makes no sense." Colby whispers and Sam looks at Colby, "We're two miles in the middle of the woods-"
Sam stops talking as a noise close by makes you all freeze.
"What was that?!" Colby asks loudly.
"It literally sounds like a war horn or something." Sam says and Colby mimics the sound, "rrrrrrr."
"Like I said. Something is fucking about to start-"
Colby cuts sam off, "That's not like a car engine." Sam shakes his head, "No way. We should probably actually get back."
Sam looks at the battery percentages of the lights, "And our light's like halfway done, yours is out. Hers is out, too." Sam looks around for a second, "There's tons of dogs around."
Colby nods, "Okay. Let's go." He squeezes your hand, "Let's go."
The main focus for all of you right now, is getting back to the house.
Which you do, about twenty minutes later.
You make your way into the house, your eyes land on the door to the basement as soon as you walk in.
Your mind flashes back to you sitting down there in the chair, and you shiver as you remember the clinking sound that happened all over again.
"Everyone alright?" Sam asks as he walks through the door.
"Yeah I'm good. Are you good?" Colby pokes your shoulder and you nod, forcing a smile up at him, "Yeah, I'm good."
He nods, looking to Sam, "Ready?" Sam nods and Colby holds the camera up towards Sam.
Sam sighs, "Dude. We just got back to the house." He reaches back to close the door, "And it says one start of battery. We left and it was full. These things should last like, five hours?"
"Something was draining our power out in the woods." Colby's says and Sam nods, "genuinely. All of it. Something was taking a lot of the energy to follow us back. We invited it back."
Colby tilts his head, laughing slightly, "That could have been a mistake."
Sam pauses for a second, glancing over at you then back to Colby, "Well find out."
Colby turns the camera off and looks at Sam, "Are we ready?"
Sam stares at Colby and laughs nervously, "Now or never right?"
Colby looks at you, "Are you ready?"
You swallow, "I'm making myself not have a choice." You laugh and Colby walks up to you, embracing you in a hug.
You could cry.
You could puke.
You knew once you said something it was going to be a rough next couple of hours, even a day.
"Alright." Sam claps his hands together, "Let's do this."
Sam takes the camera and walks over to the door.
Colby walks over, standing off to the side and you're right next to him.
It felt like your heart was going to beat right through your chest. You weren't afraid of the basement. You were scared of how much disappointment Colby was going to feel when you finally told him.
Which you decided was going to be right now.
Sam reaches forward, grabbing the knob to twist. He pulls the door open.
Colby takes a deep breath, "Ahhh, my heart.. started beating faster as soon as I looked down there." He nods, looking to Sam then back to the stairs, "Abigail. Hopefully you were following us in the woods, but please, please please, I know you don't like it in the basement.. please follow us down here. We won't be too long. We need your help."
You get into a line, Colby first. Then you. Then Sam.
You felt like you were shivering because you were shaking from being so nervous.
Your heart was beating loud and hard.
Colby glances back, "Ready?"
Sam answers, but all you do is nod one time.
Colby goes down the steps, you force yourself to follow and Sam is right behind you. The camera light illuminating the stairwell.
You completely miss their commentary about the stairs. Your heart was now beating in your ears.
You knew that it wasn't you, that was down there last night. But you know Colby wasn't going to focus on that right away.
His mind is going to go to you being down there in general.
You reach the bottom and you lay your hand on your cheek. You can feel how nervous your arm by the warmth on your hand.
"Wait." Colby looks at you and Sam, "It's just us this time. This is the first time we're alone in the basement."
You sigh, forcing the words to come out of your mouth, "it's not."
Colby's head snaps towards you, "What did you just say?"
You clear your throat, "It.. um.. it's.." your voice goes quieter, "Not the first time.. for me."
Colby just stares at you, trying to fathom what you just said to him.
"Wait.. so.. you came down here? Alone? When?" Sam asks and you look at him, voice still quiet, "Last night."
"What do you mean last night?" Colby asks, "I don't.. I must not.. understand what you're saying."
"It wasn't.. um.." you wipe the sweat from your palm onto your jeans, "It wasn't me.. like.." you sigh, "It was me.. but it wasn't me, like I didn't feel like myself."
Colby looks away, jaw cocked slightly as he tries to wrap his mind around what's happening.
His silence was deafening.
After a few moments, Sam breaks it, "Can you elaborate, like what do you mean it wasn't.. you?"
You look down, trying to not look at Colby because it would just make it harder for you to talk, "I.. um. I heard my name.. being called. A few times actually. Um, then I seen a figure walk past the door way."
"Wait. Something walked past the door?" Sam asks and you can feel Colby's eyes on you, so you just nod.
"And then what happened." Colby states, his voice a little deeper, clearly with anger.
You look up at him, "I heard a door open, I wasn't sure which one u-"
"Until you got up and came down here?" Colby scoffs and Sam sighs, "Colby, just let her explain."
Colby motions and you swallow again "I tried waking both of you guys up, but neither one you heard me."
"Obviously you didn't do a very good job, now did you?" Colby shakes his head and you sigh, "Colby, I'm telling you. Something took over me. Something made me come down here. I was sitting up for a few minutes, I tried laying back down but something actually told me, whispered, go, and I just.. went."
"That's so weird." Sam says and you nod, looking at him, "Sam. I am deathly afraid of this basement, I told you guys this when you asked me to come out for a night or two. I never wanted to come down here, let alone all by myself. When I tell you that I had absolutely no fear at all about coming down here in the middle of the night, that honestly scared me more than this because you both know I wouldn't just do that."
"Where did you go?" Sam asks and you point to the table and chairs, "I literally just sat, right there in that chair."
You look at Colby and he smacks his lips as he wipes his face. He stares at the place you pointed to and stays silent for a few seconds before breaking his own quietness, "I just.. thought.. when we, uh.. first came here that we made a promise to each other not to come down here alone."
You clench your jaw, "Colby." Your voice breaks slightly, "I didn't feel like I had much of a choice."
He licks his lips, looking down at the items in his hand.
"I-I felt like I needed to come down here, like I just-" you sigh, "If I could have just went to sleep I would have done that."
Colby leans back as he looks at you, not saying anything.
He was mad. Disappointed.
He pushes his lips together, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he thinks about what he wants to say next.
"Colby.. she said something to- you can't blame y/n." Sam sticks up for you, "You and I both know that this house is.. this house is way beyond something else."
Colby sighs, "I-" he pauses, "I get that.. but like.." he looks at you then to Sam, "We said we would go to the basement, together for the first time." He looks to you, staring at you for a few seconds before speaking, "So that's like.." he shakes his head, "I'm not gonna lie, it still just.. sits a little bit wrong with me."
He shrugs, "and that you wouldn't try and wake one of us up harder, you know?" His arms fall to his sides, "This was, like.. a big moment.. for us, Sam."
"I don't think you're actually under-" Sam is cut off by Colby, "She took that.. for herself."
You close your eyes as they start to burn, "I'm sorry." Your voice cracks again, "To both of you."
You open your eyes looking up at Colby slowly. He has his jaw clenched, lips pressed tightly together as he avoids looking at you.
"Do you know what time it was when you got up?" Sam asks lowly and you shrug, "I think it was almost three, or maybe three exactly?"
Colby nods, looking towards you but his eyes are on the floor.
"I just heard my name a few times and then something whispered go and that's when I just wasn't me, Colby. You have to believe that I mean it when I say I'm sorry."
He nods, running his tongue along his teeth on the inside of his lips, thinking about the situation, "I mean.. I just wish.. you know, that you would have woke me up before.. like, it would have been nice to know that something was trying to take over my fucking girlfriend."
"I know." You whisper looking down and Colby shakes his head, letting out a sigh, "Honestly I don't even really want to keep talking about it right now. So let's just.."
"Colby." You walk up to him and he avoids eye contact, "I didn't do it for the camera, or for the channel, or for my channel. I didn't even do it for me."
"But you knew what you were doing?" He looks at you and his stare sends a shiver down your spine, causing the words you want to say to disappear.
You nod, "Yeah bu-"
He cuts you off, shaking his head, "It's fine. I get it. It's all good." He walks into the room with the table and chairs and you look at Sam.
He walks up, laying a hand on your back, rubbing gently, "It's fine. We'll talk more about it after we're done here."
You nod, wiping under your eyes before you follow Colby into the room.
"Dave, the trickster.. Abigail. Whoever's down here, we are gonna be doing the Estes method, and we also believe this is the easiest way of communication." Sam says and you just stand there, staring at the table.
"I actually have an idea." Sam points to Colby, "Before we do the estes method."
A sound causes Colby's eyes to go wide and he points at Sam and Sam gasps, "What the fuck was that?"
Colby holds his hand up, listening to see if the sound happens again.
You were honestly terrified to be down here again. You wanted to move next to Colby but you weren't sure how that would go.
You wrap your arms around yourself, trying to console yourself silently as they continue.
"Dude." Sam says quietly and Colby leans back, "Footsteps."
"What the fuck is that?" Sam whispers quieter and Colby answers, "That was footsteps."
You step closer to the table, voice as quiet as theirs, "I heard footsteps when I was down here, right after I had a vision of a soldier looking in the upstairs window."
Sam snaps his head towards you, "No fucking way."
You nod, glancing over at Colby. He looks at you and looks away, not wanting to talk about it. He points to the wall, "But it sounded like it was in the wall."
Colby reaches out, knocking on the wall, "It was like deep inside."
Sam pans the camera, "If that was you knocking.." he pauses, looking down. Colby steps towards him, "What?"
"I don't know." Sam shakes his head, "just felt like something was grabbing my foot."
"Your foot?" You and Colby say at the same time, but Colby doesn't laugh like usual.
"Yeah, it was like hard to-"
Colby yells, cutting off Sam, "Oh fuck. There's something on me."
"What? For real?" Sam asks walking over you move closer to Sam and lean over to look at Colby's leg.
"For sure, there's some-" he sets his stuff on the table and leans down, pulling up his pant leg slightly, digging in with his fingers.
"what is it?" Sam asks and Colby stands up, putting something on the table, "I don't know."
"Tick?" Sam asks and Colby points with his two fingers, "It was a fucking tick."
"Oh god." Sam groans and you cover your mouth, paranoid that you have one or two on you.
"I knew there was something on me." Colby exclaims, stepping back. He leans down, "Shit man, that is so gross dude. I hate ticks." He picks it up and leans over, flicking it down the well, "go in the well."
"Speaking of the well." Sam starts, " A lot of the things that we've gotten, and a lot of things we've talked about, is the water could be the catalyst for activity."
You raise your brows, "Oh shit."
"What if we.. kinda like how we did in the Dracula's castle episode, why don't we grab some of the well water and use that to maybe like, summon something here." Sam pauses, "If things are coming from that well, at least maybe that's like a trigger object, you know?"
Colby nods, "Yeah. Do we have anything to get the water out with?"
You look around for something and Sam scoffs, "wait, dude. This just turned off." He looks up at Colby, "As soon as you touched- it just did it again."
"See!" Colby says with his hand pointing to Sam.
You walk over to Sam, looking down at the camera and he nods, "Yeah, it just turned off again!"
"It's not just me." Colby shrugs while holding his hands out to his sides. Sam nods, "It's not just you."
Colby nods, "So maybe it was a warning, not to do that."
"Are you still going to do it?" You ask looking between them. Colby looks down at the well for a few seconds before looking up at Sam with a smirk on his lips.
His eyes go to you then back to Sam, still smirking, "Yeah."
"Oh god." You laugh slightly, "How the fuck are you going to get it?"
Sam looks from you to Colby and Colby laughs, "Sam. Hold my ankles."
Sam hands you the camera and walks around to Colby and bends down. Colby gets down on his stomach and grabs the cup.
Sam grips Colby's ankles as he inches himself forward a little bit more. He blows out air, "Catch yins on the flip side."
He leans down, groaning as he stretches to reach the water, "Oh god "
"I promise you're not going anywhere." Sam says, groaning as he holds Colby's ankles down. You can't help but laugh at this situation.
It's just so.. them.
Colby's saying something but you can't really understand him because he's laughing.
"You good?" Sam asks and Colby answers, "Yeah I'm just gonna go forward a little bit." He inches forward some more, stretching down more.
As they're getting the water, you feel an uneasy feeling, but you just brush it off.
"You got it?" Sam asks.
"Yeah, I got it." Colby answers.
In a strained voice, Sam says, "He got the well water."
Colby comes back up, setting the cup of water on the ground with a groan. You put the camera on Colby and he sighs, pointing to his shirt, "XPLR merch, down below."
You hand the camera back to Sam and step to the side. Sam looks at you, "You good." You sigh quietly, nodding, "Yeah."
"Shit dude, I ruined everything." Colby says as he brushes himself off. Sam tries not to laugh, "It was well worth it."
Colby looks up, glaring at Sam and Sam laughs, "get it?"
You laugh and walk around to sit down in a chair and you watch as Colby moves to sit next to you, Sam next to Colby.
Sam leans forward, setting the camera down on the other side of the table to get you all in frame.
"This looks oddly familiar." Colby says and Sam nods, "literally learned the Estes method in this house, two and half years ago."
You watch as Colby puts on his blindfold and you hand him the headphones.
Sam looks at Colby, "Let's try and figure out who's trying to fuck with us."
"Weird full circle moment." Colby says as he brings the headphones to his ears, but stops, resting his hands back on the table, "Yeah, so as a recap real quick.. Dave.."
Your stomach drops when you hear his name now.
".. is the soldier.." Colby continues but Sam butts in, "Who's been following us for like four days."
Colby continues, "For four days, but we initially talked to him with the Estes method out in the back yard, and then he follows us to the woods by the campsite.."
You look around, squinting your eyes behind Sam. You stare for a few seconds before looking away.
"Hopfully Abigail is still here and guides us in the right direction. Please, Abigail." Sam looks up at the ceiling and you turn your head slightly, smiling as you feel the same loving brush on your shoulder, "she's here."
Sam looks at you and Colby turns his head towards you, "How do you know?"
"She touched my shoulder." You swallow, "She did it before."
"And you know it's her?" Sam asks and you nod, "Oh yeah."
"Hmm. Alright. That makes me feel a little bit better." Sam laughs slightly, "Alright. You ready?"
"Let's do it." Colby says and as soon as he puts on the headphones, "Reason."
"Yeah we're trying to figure out the reason why you like us so much." Sam starts, "Why you want us out into the woods."
"Works."
Sam reaches over between you and Colby, whispering as he moves the cup of water towards Colby more, "We also have the well water."
"What do you want with us?" Sam asks and Colby answers right away, "Sex."
You raise a brow, "Huh?"
Sam blinks, smirking slightly, "Alright, are you just fucking with us? Are you the trickster spirit?"
"Me."
"Can you give us a name?" Sam asks and Colby is silent. Sam looks up, "Okay. Are you a solider?"
It's silent again and you lean forward, "Sam." He looks up at you, "What's up?"
"When I came down here last night, I asked if it was the trickster spirit. And whoever, whatever it was kept telling me the woods." You say and he tilts his head, "Huh, that would make sense. Wait, is that why you got dizzy in the woods?"
You shrug, "I don't know. It could be. I was thinking about that, though." You nod, "I just thought I'd tell you now so you know who didn't get mad again."
He nods, "Yeah, I get it."
"Run."
"What do you want us to run from?" Sam asks, "unless it's Abigail?" Sam looks over at you, "like warning us?"
You shrug, "That, I don't know."
"Is it something dangerous?" Sam asks and there's no answer for a little bit.
"Injury."
You and Sam both look up at the ceiling confused.
"Science."
"Oh my god." Sam whispers and you look at him, "what the fuck was that?"
Sam looks from Colby to you, "everything's moving." He goes to say something else but Colby cuts him off, "Us."
Your eyes stay on Colby and you get a sick feeling in your stomach.
"Fall."
"Do you want to hurt us?" Sam asks and you lean in, "Sam, I feel sick." He looks at you, "Are you okay? Do you need to step out or something?"
"I'm not going alone. I'll be fine." You take a deep breath, "I'm good."
"Friendly."
"Okay. So you're friendly. Is this Abigail? Are you trying to lead us somewhere else, make sure y/n is okay?" Sam looks at you and Colby answers, "Stone."
"There's a lot of stones around here." Sam says and his tone makes you want to laugh, he sounded so done.
"Oh, Sam. Another thing. When I got that vision of the soldier looking in the window, there were footsteps before and then I asked if it was watching you and Colby.." you start and Sam nods, "Yeah?"
"That's when that weird hold on me went away and I booked it back upstairs because footsteps were coming towards me but I couldn't see anything."
"Stab."
Sam keeps his stare on you, "it said knife in the graveyard." You nod and Colby speaks up, "He had to go."
"Are you a murderer?" Sam asks and there's no answer from Colby for a little while.
"James."
Sam's eyes go wide and he jumps back, "James!" He covers his mouth with his hands. You cover your mouth, eyes wide, "No fucking way!"
"That's the soldier from the secret grave." Sam looks to you and over to Colby before looking back at the table, "James. Is this you that we're talking with?"
Instantly, Colby answers, "yes."
Sam's mouth drops open, "Fuck yeah." He rests his hands against his chin, "Okay. Thank you. Who is this man from the woods?"
You start to feel dizzy again. You lay your head in your hand as Sam continues to ask questions.
"Here."
"James thinks the man from the woods is here." Sam says and you lift your head.
"He's pointing fingers."
"What does he want with us?" Sam asks and it's a few minutes before Colby answers, "Rule."
"He wants to control this.. area? Is the man from the woods actually powerful, or is he just tricking us?" Sam pauses, "James can you answer? Are you just fucking with us?"
You shake your head as you look away from Colby to Sam, "I feel.. like there's something here, like.. around us." You motion, "Like a constant presence that's moving around."
"Yes."
Sam stares at you, "He's not actually gonna hurt us, right? Nothing can happen?"
You wipe your hands on your thighs, "This is fucking scary." You take a slow, deep breath and exhale quietly.
"Future."
A minute or two of silence goes by, "Use."
"What, are you gonna use us?" Sam asks confused and Colby answers, "Help."
You and Sam both look at Colby, staring at him.
"James, do you need help?" Sam looks away and back to Colby, "How can we help you?"
You both stare at Colby, waiting for a response but nothing.
"Tell us how we can help, actually this time." Sam looks around and you feel like hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
"There's definitely something here, Sam." You whisper so quiet you weren't sure if Sam actually heard you. He looks over at you, nodding and his voice is just as quiet as you, "Yeah."
"Water."
"Is that how you get your power?" Sam motions to the cup, "We got a little of the well water right here." He looks at you and his eyes move up to above your head, like he's following something that's moving away from you.
"You."
"Are.. are both James and the man from the woods still here?" Sam asks and there isn't a response from Colby for a few minutes.
"Yes."
Your mouth, along with Sam's, drop open, "Oh shit."
"Dave."
You and Sam look at Colby, asking in unison, "Dave?"
Sam looks at you, "are there three people now?" Sam asks, "James. Dave. The man from the woods?"
"Fool."
"Fool." Sam repeats slowly.
"I'm back."
"I'm back.. as if he's been talking with us." Sam looks up at you and back down to the table, "Man from the woods, have you been with us this entire time?"
Sam pauses, waiting for a response but nothing happens for a few minutes, "You."
"Yeah, have you been with me and Colby?" He looks up at you, "or have you been with y/n?" You tilt your head down, shaking your head as you blink slowly.
"Woods.. Us.."
"Us and the woods? We were all in the woods." Sam says and there's a knock, causing you to jump slightly, "Fucking hell."
"In."
"We were all in the woods." Sam repeats, "Man from the woods, what is your name?" Colby instantly answers, "Yeah."
"I don't-." Sam rests his hand on his chin, totally consumed and Colby speaks, "Me."
"Yeah yo-"
Colby cuts Sam off, "I am."
"Are you-" Sam stops talking, looking at you confused, "Have you been-"
"Hello?"
You and Sam look at Colby and Sam stares at him as he speaks, "Hello.. have you been with us the whole time, It-" Sam is completely baffled by what you're getting back from Colby.
"Are you Dave?" Sam asks, keeping his stare on Colby.
You're so scared that you know you're going to jump when either Colby or Sam breaks the silence. You were so on edge right now, you didn't want to sit through another Estes method.
But you are.
"No." Colby moves his head slightly, "It's meee."
Sam looks away, letting his hands fall in front of him, "What the fuck?" He looks at you and you lay your hand on your mouth, shrugging as you shake your head.
"No, then it's me?" Sam whispers and Colby butts in, "Moon."
"Dave. Are you a soldier? Answer me. Who are you Dave?" Sam asks and another few minutes of silence go by, "Don't."
"You've been following us for four or five days." Sam leans forward, resting on his elbows.
"Again."
"Why don't you want to tell us who you are?" Sam asks, set on finding out who this spirit is.
"Sam." You lift your finger, pointing to the green camera light that's getting brighter by the second.
He shakes his head, letting out a sigh and Colby speaks up, "Yours.. friend."
"You want to be our friend?" Sam asks and Colby instantly answers, "Happy."
"Okay.. you like when we come talk to you Dave?" Sam asks and there's more silence before Colby answers, "Lake.. turn around."
You and Sam both instantly look behind you, a weird feeling in your stomach building up. You look forward at Sam and sigh, "This is intense."
He nods, "Are you.." he looks to his other side, "Are you right behind us?" Sam stays looking behind him as Colby answers, "Unlock."
"Unlock? Thats what it said about the door. Is the person down here right, the person that locked the door on us two years ago?"
"What?."
"Do you remember us? Cause we were here two ye-"
Colby cuts Sam off, "Yes."
"So were you the person th-"
"Yeah!"
Sam covers half of his face, "Fuck.. Dude.." He turns to Colby, fighting back the urge to tap Colby. He lays his hands on the table and before he says anything else, Colby speaks, "Here.. This.."
"Are you calling-"
Colby cuts Sam off, "Friend."
"His friend, was the one who locked us in the basement two years ago." Sam looks at you and taps the table with his fingers, "Is this friend of ours, this happy friend, the same person as the man from the woods? Are you the one calling us to the woods?"
"Yeah." Colby answers and you get a chill down your spine. That feeling like you're about to puke returns.
"Fuck." Sam leans forward.
"Smile."
Sam reaches out, grabbing Colby's shoulder speaking quickly, "Dude. Dude dude dude."
You lay your hand on Colby's opposite shoulder, "Colby."
Colby takes off the head phones and pulls the blindfold down. His hand lays over his eyes as Sam grabs the camera, "I actually think this thing that's been following us the entire time, Dave.."
Colby keeps his hand over his eyes, "Mhm."
Your fingers rub gently over his jacket as Sam continues to speak, "Is.. the man from the woods. I don't think Dave is a soldier."
"Wait, why do you say that?" Colby asks, blocking the light with his hand.
You keep your stare on Colby, making sure he's good as Sam keeps talking.
You feel that guilt feeling all over again. You don't want to feel it, not only does it make you feel upset, but you didn't want the spirits feeding off the negative emotion.
"But Dave was the soldier, because when we talked to him with the Estes method, like he was the one that came from underground." Colby says and Sam nods, continuing to talk.
Colby leans back and you drop your hand, leaning back as he speaks, "Wait. So you're saying he's been the one that's been stalking us since day one?"
You look from Colby to Sam, sitting there listening to them talk back and forth about what happened while Colby was doing the method.
You feel goosebumps form on your skin and you shiver.
"Let's check if he locked the door one more time." Sam says and you all get up, walking over to the steps.
Colby reaches back, grabbing onto your hand to pull you in front of him so you're not last on the stairs.
You look up at him and he just stares down at you, fighting back a smile because he still wants to seem mad.
You smirk slightly and walk ahead of him.
"The doors wide open? That's also bizzare, too. I thought we closed it." Sam says, turning around to look at Colby.
"When we went up and got.. the water cup? We might have-" Colby's cut off by Sam, "Oh, okay."
"You know what I just realized, too?" Colby asks as you walk out into the room, "when we first came to the basement, yesterday." He closes the door, but then opens it back up, "We did a ritual where we were saying soldier, soldier, soldier. What if that was just instantly telling, like the trickster as well, that we were trusting the soldiers too much?"
Colby closes the door, "Like duh, he's gonna act like a soldier to get on our good side."
Sam switches the green light back to the regular, white light, "Wait, the first day we did an investigation right here with Amanda. We opened the basement door and something came up and hit the REM pod."
"So you could have just let out, Dave, the trickster spirit from the basement and then ever since then he's been following us."
A knock causes you to jump and Colby wraps his arm around you, "What was that?"
"What was that?" Sam asks turning the camera, "It was like a knock on the front door."
Colby walks over, checking it out and you watch, making sure you don't see anything in the windows.
After a few minutes, Colby walks back, "Okay. Are we ready to go back down?"
Sam nods and you stand there, hesitating on how you want to answer, "Um.. I don't.. know."
"Do you feel comfortable going back down?" Sam asks and you sigh, "I mean.. yeah.. I just.." you shake your head, "Yeah. Let's just do it."
"Y/n. If you don't-"
You cut Sam off, "I'm good."
They don't argue anymore and walk over to the door. Colby first, then you, then Sam.
You make your way back down, sitting down at the same like you were before going up stairs. Sam ties the blindfold on and Colby looks at him, "Ready?"
Sam nods, "Yeah."
Colby switches on the static sound, "See how loud that is guys?" He looks into the camera and Sam puts on the headphones, immediately saying something, "Two."
"Two." Colby thinks, "there's still two of you here? I believe we were just talking to-"
Sam interrupts Colby as he continues to speak, "Young."
"Out."
"Hi."
You get instant chills and Colby looks at you, "Every single time I talk it's just talking over me." Colby looks up, making his voice louder, "Dave. Are you with me?"
A few minutes goes by, and Sam breaking the silence causes you to jump, "Here."
"Why do you want us to go to the woods so bad?"
You close your eyes, trying to keep that sick feeling at bay as Colby keeps trying to get answers.
"Evil girl." Instantly after, "Abigail."
You open your eyes, looking at Colby and you repeat her name at the same time.
"He would.. the trickster, or Dave, would think that Abigail is evil-"
"Dead."
"Dave I need you to be clear with me, why do you want us to go to the woods?"
Sam doesn't say thing for a few minutes, but within those few minute, you reach out, laying your hand on Colby's arm and his hand goes to lay on yours, "What's up?"
"I don't feel like it's just us again." You shake your head, "Someone else is here. Something else, or whatever. We're not alone."
"Down."
"Person."
Colby looks from you to Sam, and back to you.
"Blame."
"So if there's other people down there as well, is that what you're saying? Other spirits that you know?" Colby asks and Sam responds, "Seven."
Colby's mouth drops and he leans back, "we've been getting seven all the time.."
"Line em' up."
"Are these seven spirits dangerous?" Colby asks and you jump as something brushes against your leg. You refuse to look, mainly because you're scared.
"Who are these seven spirits in the woods with you? Are they other earth bound spirits, possibly?" Colby asks and you sit there in silence, awaiting a possible answer from Sam.
"With you."
You look at Colby, "Is that why I don't feel like it's just us?"
"If there's seven spirits with us now.. I mean.."
"Basement."
Your eyes go wide, "seven spirits here. In the basement."
"Do you have a plan to do something to us is we go to the woods?"
Sam answers Colby immediately, "Spooked."
You nod, your voice quiet, "Yeah, we're for sure spooked."
"Why didn't you scare us when we were there earlier tonight?" Colby asks and you look between him and Sam, wishing you weren't scared enough to leave the basement alone.
"Was that you making noises in the woods? Were you trying to scare us?"
Sam doesn't answer, he just sits there.
"Find out."
You feel like your skin is crawling with the cryptic responses. You were so on edge right now, you wanted to leave and never come back.
Colby looks at you, "That's the same thing is said yesterday.. come find out."
You place your elbows on the table, holding your head between your hands.
"Are you okay?" Colby whispers and you nod slightly, "I'm starting to get a headache."
"I promise."
"What's gonna happen?" Colby asks and there's another long pause, the pain in your head growing worse by the second.
"Trauma."
You look up at Sam and you close your eyes.
"Stone."
"Stone?" Colby questions and you lean back slowly, taking a deep breath as you rest your hands on the table.
The pain in your head is slowly dying down.
Colby continues asking questions and you feel that feeling of not being alone creep in again, this time it's more of a heavier feeling.
You can feel it, weighing down on you like something is pressing on your shoulders and you're resisting.
"It's time."
"I can sense."
The feeling disappears and you slam your hand on Colby's arm, "I just felt like something was weighting down my shoulders and when Sam said it's time, it went away."
"Is that plan happening now? When is it going to happen? Were you just touching y/n?" Colby asks, glancing from Sam to you, "Why would we come back there if you're saying you're going to attack us?"
"Pause."
"Dude." Colby rubs his eyes and you sigh, "i have a question, were you the one we were talking to two years ago?"
"You're scared."
Colby laughs slightly, "we were terrified."
"Don't record."
You glance to the camera and back to Colby.
"Dave.. do you call yourself Beelzebub?"
"I dare you."
You all sit there in silence, you mainly thinking about everything.
"I like you."
"At this point, we just know you're trying to get on our good side. So, it's not gonna work."
"Family."
"Do you do this for a specific reason?"
You lay your hands on your head, resting your elbows on the table.
Your headache returns.
"Heaven."
"Do you get power from scaring people?" Colby asks and you swear you hear a knock, but before you can say anything, Sam cuts you off, "Come in."
"It's the same thing. He's not answering any questions. It's the same things.. just come to the woods."
"My head hurts again." You look at Colby and he leans in, "Do you need to leave?"
"I'm not going by myself. I'll be fine." You take a deep breath, "it was hurting just a few minutes ago.. stopped, and now it hurts again."
"Did it do this when you were down here-"
Sam cuts Colby off, "Alone."
"No." You answer quickly, "It didn't."
"You know, that makes sense though, the owner did say the best way to get evidence is to be alone." Colby looks at you, snapping his head to Sam.
"He's ready."
You point to Sam, "Colby. Look at him."
Colby watches Sam and tilts his head, "He's like.. shaking.." He looks at you, "I'll pull him out of this in a second.."
You nod, sitting up and watching Sam intently. He shakes his head back and forth, just acting weird.
"Colby, I don't .. I don't like this." You look at Colby and he shakes his head, "Yeah neither do I."
"Thank you." Sam says, sounding normal.
Colby just stares at him as he places a hand on his shoulder. Sam reaches up, brushing his other shoulder before moving to take off the headphones.
Colby moves his hand and Sam brushes his shoulder again, almost in a panic to take off the blindfold.
"Why you acting like that?" Colby asks, kind of worried.
"Dude." Sam shakes his head, hand still on his shoulder, "I-" he stumbles over his words before he stands up, moving behind Colby, "It felt like someone was leaning in like this."
He demonstrates and Colby looks at you, eyes wide, "Isn't that-"
"Uh huh." You nod, "I felt that same thing."
"It felt like it was pushing me down." Sam moves to sit down and Colby nods, "Yeah your legs were shaking. I stopped it mostly because y/n kept getting headaches and I wanted to see, like what you were doing."
"I don't think I've ever felt an Estes method like that.. I don't.." he looks between you and Colby, ".. Was I like.. it literally felt like-"
"Just pressure on your neck and shoulders?" You ask and Sam nods, "Yeah, the pressure."
"It was your legs that were freaking me out because you were just like starting to twitch and like-"
Sam cuts Colby off, "that's what I'm saying like, the Zack Bagans thing.. my legs were tensing up as if I needed to like, move or I'd get up.. it was just fucking weird."
"Okay let's just.. get out of here. We can talk about it all upstairs." Colby stands up, "How's your head?" He looks at you and you nod, "It's fine again."
"The camera turned off." Sam says and Colby goes to grab it. He turns it back on and it shuts off again, "it just turned off twice, in a row, right when I grabbed it.."
"Alright let's just get upstairs." Sam says and you all start to gather the things from the table. Colby yelling causes you to jump, "Three times!?"
"Let's just go. Let's go." Sam says and it turns off again, "What's fucking happening? I'm holding it with my left hand because I'm holding this." Colby shows his hand and you turn your head, almost like a scuffling abound capturing your attention.
"Guys." You hold your arm out towards them but the camera shutting off has their attention.
You look back at them, then back into the darkness and the same footsteps that came after you while you were down here alone, come after you again.
You let out a yell, moving to stand between Sam and Colby.
"What!? What what?!" Colby asks wrapping his arm around you.
"Footsteps. Like footsteps running towards me just happened and that same thing happened last night when I was coming back up the steps." You lean into Colby and he sighs, "We need to be recording."
"Here. I'll just.." Sam starts recording on his phone. He explains what you heard and Colby holds the camera out, "Guys. Look look."
"It's just turning off." Sam says and Colby holds it back up, "Look watch. Are you gonna do it again? Turn off the camera."
Sam shakes his head, "Dude, I just don't think we should fuck with it like that."
"No that was five times in a row, Sam." Colby argues, "You got that right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I got it." Sam says. You sigh, "I think we just need to get out of here."
You all go up the steps, stepping out the door way and you take a deep breath, "Oh my god."
"It's still turning off." Colby says, and suddenly the light goes off, causing you all to yell.
"This is a brand new light." Sam says, "let's just go outside."
As you go outside, Sam pulls the door shut, "What the fuck is happening." Colby shrugs, "I don't know dude. Something is trying to delete the footage."
They go back and forth about it for a second and then Colby looks at you, "Are you okay?"
You nod, "No, yeah. I'm good. I feel better now that we're out here." You walk over to him, "Are you still mad at me?"
He pulls you into a hug, "Were definitely going to talk about everything in detail when we get a second, but as of right now I'm just glad that nothing serious happened to you."
"So you still love me?" You look up at him and he looks down at you, "Yes. Of course I love you. I love you, even when I'm mad at you."
He smiles and leans down to peck your lips, "so are you sleeping with me tonight or are you-"
You cut him off, "Going to a hotel? Yes. I'll see you in the morning."
.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.
I hope you enjoyed this. I wrote so much my Wattpad started to slow down and didn't keep up with me so I'm sorry if there's any major mistakes.
Thanks for reading! Love yas!
Likes and reblogs are majorly appreciated!
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Hello Euphoria [Part 1]
“Knew it was too strong for your liking.”
“For my liking? I looove this stuff, Arthur.” You slurred, pointing to the drink in your hand for emphasis.
“Love is a strong word, cowpoke.” He offhandedly said.
“Strong feeling, too.”
Pairing: Arthur Morgan x F!Reader
Warnings/Tags: 18+, MDNI. Eventual Smut. Slight slow burn. Reader is part of the gang already. Drunkness. Horseshoe Overlook Chapter. Reader is a lightweight.
The summer this season was particularly grueling. As the sound of birds twittering overhead remained the same as they always were, everyone in the camp seemed to be barely making it day by day without turning into a melted puddle in the ground. Even Charles, stoic and resilient as he was, seemed to be letting the heat get the best of him; nearly planting Micah into the dirt ground after he had made one of his insensitive comments. Tensions were high.
In the late 1800s, there were scarce few ways to find relief from the heat and cool down. Modern luxuries of air conditioning or plug-in fans were not of access. You could swim in a lake, or buy yourself a small handheld fan; which seemed to be an idea Mary-Beth was keen on, holding the piece of plastic close to her face while attempting to still appear presentable. She was a nice young girl. She still had that going for her.
However, there were others who didn’t care to remain modest. Sean had taken to waltzing around camp in nothing but his drawers, which was more unpleasant to see than surprising— if you were anyone but Karen. John seemed to think this was a good idea, because he soon was seen in the same attire, or rather lack thereof. Abigail was not as thrilled with the sight as Karen was.
“John Marston!” She shouted. “Get yourself decent before folks start thinkin’ you’re a drunkard!”
You laughed at the sight, pulling pieces of hair away from where they’d stuck to your neck with sweat. The two of them weren’t exactly the perfect couple, but you could tell there was love there. If your judgement of love was educated enough.
Your gaze turned to another area of the camp.
Arthur sat at the base of a tree, head leaned down, and arm resting above his bent knee. You rolled your eyes at his ability to look how he did even given the harsh circumstances of the weather. The cowboy would never agree with you, but he was very easy on the eyes. So easy, in fact, sometimes you stared at him with such intensity it was like you were preparing to hunt him for sport. Not a bad idea.
Your daydream doesn’t last long. Not when Dutch, the gangs leader, voices his opinions about the current situation loud enough for everyone to hear.
“We are better off laying down and dying in the middle of Valentine than staying here and looking miserable all day!”
For once, you agreed with him. Dutch was a man of many thoughts and opinions, ones it seemed he couldn’t bear with keeping locked inside his head for long. Which is why, he continued his remarks.
“Arthur, Lenny, Micah, John—“
For the first time today, Dutch caught a look of what John’s best idea of cooling down was. The two shared a look for a moment until Dutch shook his head, waving his hand in the direction of the long-haired cowboy. Then, the gang’s leader looked in your direction, a smile filling his face as he walked over to where you were.
“Well now, I believe it would be in our interest to have a lady on this trip.”
“A trip? In this? You really are losin’ it, Dutch.” A voice commented, the sound of gravel crunching signaling to you that someone was heading your direction.
Arthur looked at Dutch with a hint of fatigue in his eyes, having been woken up from his nap by another one of Dutch’s antics. Lenny and Micah soon followed behind him, and the once empty table you occupied was now surrounded.
“Listen, I think it would be best if a few of us went down to some of the cities.” Dutch explained, looking between different members of the small group he created. “You two—“ He gestured to Micah and Lenny, “See if you can find some information about O’Driscoll’s in Strawberry, maybe steal us some supplies. And you two,” He pointed at you and Arthur, but paused for a moment after reviewing the exhausted look on both of your faces.
While Dutch wasn’t a soft man, he wasn’t evil. He cared about every person in the gang like they were his family. And, in a way, they really were his family, or the closest he’d ever get to one.
The dark-haired man opened his mouth to speak again. “You two, go to the saloon in Valentine. See what you can find out there.”
“What? That’s it?” Micah scoffed, stepping closer to Dutch. “We gotta go robbin’ and chattin’ while these two get to have a bar date?”
You tried to tell yourself the heat that crept up the back of your neck was not because of the inclination that Arthur and you were going on a date, but because you might’ve been getting a sunburn. Yeah, that was it. Looking upwards from where you sat, Arthur’s jaw visibly clenched. It could be unrelated. Maybe he had a bad dream during his nap?
Dutch began walking away to his tent, ignoring Micah’s complaints. “Just find something useful to do, would you?” A hint of annoyance in his tone.
In an attempt to hide his embarrassment, Micah shrugged his shoulders back, feigning nonchalance. “So, it’s you and me kid, huh? Hope you’re ready for the ride of your life!”
Stepping off into another direction, you gave Lenny a sympathetic look before he followed behind Micah, no hints at all in his step that he was happy to be sent on this mission. Who would be?
“Can’t help but feel bad for him.” Arthur said, watching the duo ride off on their horses in the direction of Strawberry.
You laughed, shaking your head. “It was him or us. And, Dutch is smart enough to know sending you off alone with Micah is a recipe for disaster.”
“Disaster?” The cowboy parroted, smiling down at you. “What kind of disaster, cowpoke?” His eyes seemed to pierce right through your own, possibly even right into your brain, where your thoughts were aimlessly spinning around, trying to stay focused on the fact that you were in the middle of a conversation.
You cleared your throat and broke eye contact, opting instead to ease yourself up from where you sat instead of sitting and sharing eye contact any longer. “The kind of disaster where one of you gets killed,” You quickly said, pushing away from the wooden table. “Preferably, Micah.”
This made Arthur laugh heartily while he followed you to where both of your horses were hitched. The sound of his voice was enough to make you smile softly to yourself, patting the animal on its side while readying your saddle. Almost in sync, the two of you mounted them, slowly exiting the camp while riding next to each other. You wanted to look at him, but instead you focused your attention on the road ahead of you, hands clasping tightly onto the reigns.
***
The trip to Valentine was as quiet as it was short. You and Arthur hadn’t shared many words to each other, but you assumed that was because he was still tired, being woken up from a nap was never fun. You almost felt bad that Dutch had sent the both of you on this mission. You’re sure you’re not the only one to have noticed, but Dutch really liked to send Arthur off on missions that could be done by anyone else. The cowboy worked hard, if not the hardest out of everyone in the camp.
But, all things considered, you weren’t one to complain about having such pleasant company.
Tying your horses up at the front of the saloon, Arthur walked up the steps, leaning against the front of the building as he waited for you to follow suit. He watched as you removed a gun you had stowed on your horse and placed it in your holster, surprise bubbling in his stomach. Most of the women in the gang didn’t have guns. And while he wasn’t opposed to it, he wondered if there was more to you than you let on.
You were a fighter, he knew that well enough from how you never shied away from telling Micah off when he disgustingly flirted with you, even having drawn a knife one time when you were slightly intoxicated. You had no real intentions of using said knife, but the blond man needed to be shut up one way or another. That same occurrence was when Arthur had learned you weren’t the best at handling your alcohol. A lightweight, the term he commonly heard being used.
The cowboy, still leaning against a wall by the entrance of the saloon, had a keen eye for things when it came to you. He wasn’t sure of how obvious it was, but he didn’t miss the way he’d sometimes catch you staring his direction when you were sure he couldn’t see you. The thought made him smile to himself, hands resting on his belt as he waited for you to catch up with him.
“All ready?” You asked, admiring the way stray pieces of hair stuck to Arthur’s forehead due to perspiration. He nodded, moving himself off the wall to push the saloon doors open, holding them for you to walk inside.
With a smile towards the cowboy in thanks, you followed him to the bar. The table in front of you wasn’t the tallest, but it was hard not to notice the way Arthur basically towered over it. Looking away before you were either caught staring, or consumed in your thoughts, you began to wonder why Dutch sent the two of you on this “mission”. Before you could get whisked away in your head with that topic, Arthur spoke up again.
“Got a preferred drink?” He asked, elbows leant against the wooden platform in front of you.
“Even if I did, I doubt they’d have it in a place like this,” You said, looking upwards at the bartender in front of you. Your eyes widened, not realizing the owner would be standing right in front of you. “Oh— I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…” You trailed off, a feeble attempt at an apology, and heard Arthur bite back a laugh beside you. You kicked him beneath the bar.
“Don’t you worry, miss. I’ve been to enough saloons to know this one ain’t all that pretty.” The bartender said, smiling genuinely. “And,” He paused, wiping down the wooden expanse in front of him with an old rag, “I don’t actually own the place, I just work here.” The man in front of you winked with a laugh, standing up straight to formally address the you and Arthur.
Arthur, smiling and obviously very entertained by the whole interaction, sighed out contently before speaking up. “I’ll have a whiskey, and for the lady…” He looked down at you, examining your face for a quick moment. “Brandy.”
The bartender nodded, turning around to fill up some glasses with your drinks.
“What’s brandy?”
Arthur laughed again. He seemed to be in a better mood now, thankfully. “Think it comes from a fruit, if I remember right. Not much of a drinker, are you?”
You shook your head silently, looking down at your hands. As much as you wanted to be able to drink like the rest of the gang, you knew all too well that you and alcohol did not mix well. Loose lips, unsteady feet, tiredness, and giggles were your common reactions. All of which are far too embarrassing to display in front of Arthur, someone you wanted to think highly of you. Yet, here you were, thanking the bartender for the drink as it was handed to you. For a moment, you examined the glass in your hand with an eyebrow raised.
“Scared?” Arthur teased, turning towards you with his own glass gripped between his fingers.
You scoffed, rolling your eyes playfully. “Of a drink? I think I’ll be fine, cowboy.”
Were you a bad liar? Or did Arthur always have a look of suspicion in his eyes whenever you spoke to him? Despite whether or not he truly believed your words, he raised his drink towards you, cheersing it with yours, the sound of the glass clinking filling the space as you both took your sips.
Being the man that he was, Arthur didn’t flinch at the bitter taste whiskey left on his tongue, or the way it burned down his throat. Especially not when he wanted to see the way you reacted when your drink did the same to you.
Pulling the glass to your lips, you were met with the initial taste of something slightly fruity. The flavor wasn’t too bad, compared to any other alcoholic beverages you’d had before. Then, as the liquid traveled down your throat, a sweltering feeling overcame you. With great effort, you managed you swallow it, despite your brain's efforts to try and get you to spit it back out. The overall feeling was intense enough to make your eyes water, looking up at Arthur in front of you.
The cowboys face read a mix between surprise and concern. Clearly, whatever reaction you just had was not the usual. You grew embarrassed, cheeks turning a shade of crimson.
“Should we get you somethin’ different—“
“No!” You almost immediately said, clearing your throat. “No, this is good. I like it.” You half-lied, reaching for the drink again.
Arthur seemed to be shocked by this response, because he tilted his head to the side slightly. “Really? You like it?”
You nodded, taking another sip and willing yourself not to have the same reaction as before.
The cowboy carefully watched your face as you drank, taking note of the way your eyes watered again after you pulled to drink away from your lips. He wondered why you were lying to him about something like this. It wasn’t a bad thing to not be able to stand strong drinks, especially if you were someone who didn’t usually drink in the first place. Momentarily, he remembered the first time he’d been offered a drink by Dutch. He was about fourteen, and as soon as the liquid met his tongue, he spat it back out onto the ground, gagging dramatically. Compared to the way he was casually drinking the whiskey in his hand, that memory was laughable.
“Can I try yours?”
Arthur was shook from his memories by your voice, glancing down at his drink to your face with a nod. Handing the drink over, he spoke up to try and warn you. “Just be careful. This is a lot stronger than—“
Before he could finish speaking, you quickly pulled the glass to your lips, eyes closed tightly as you gulped the entire drink down. Arthurs jaw fell slack at the scene before him, looking around to see if this had been some kind of joke. Upon surveying his surroundings, he noticed the cup that had once been full of the brandy he ordered you was now empty. You placed his now matching glass beside it, wiping a hand over your mouth.
“S-sorry, I drank all yours…” You sheepishly said, looking up at Arthur. “I’ll get you another, ‘kay?”
Was it possible for someone to fall under the influence that fast? Or had he been daydreaming about his childhood for too long? Whatever the answer was, his feeling of shock lingered as you pulled two large mugs of whiskey towards the both of you. “Maybe we’ve had enough for today.” Arthur said, voice laced with concern for where this would go if you got any more liquor in your system.
“Let’s find somewhere else to sit, it’s too loud here.” And with that, you were off, both drinks clutched in your fists as you wobbled to find a quieter place to sit.
The cowboy had no choice but to follow you, worried for your wellbeing. Maybe it was his fault, getting you started on brandy of all things. But in his defense, he thought it would put you off from drinking altogether, not send you into a spiteful frenzy to prove you could drink the same way that he did. Arthur stayed close behind you as you made your way outside, using your weight to push the back door open. Luckily for you, there was a small table with two chairs on the back patio, looking almost as if they had been waiting for you and Arthur to come and use them.
“Perfect!” You exclaimed, carelessly plopping yourself down into one of the wooden chairs, placing Arthur’s drink on the table and bringing yours to your lips.
The outlaw carefully sat down across from you, reaching for his drink at a more relaxed speed than your own. Carefully, he eyed you. You were definitely drunk, there was no denying that, but he had underestimated just how quickly that could happen to you. This was a fault of his memory, because only now was it reminding him of the time when you got woozy from one beer.
“You know, after a while, it doesn’t even burn anymore.” You laughed, turning your head in the mans direction.
“So it did burn you,” Arthur couldn’t help but smile. “Knew it was too strong for your liking.”
“For my liking? I looove this stuff, Arthur.” You slurred, pointing to the drink in your hand for emphasis. Now, you turned your entire body towards him, almost leaning completely over the table in his direction. This action caused a sleeve of your shirt to slip off, revealing a soft shoulder to Arthur’s eyes, making him gulp down his drink with a new intensity.
“Love is a strong word, cowpoke.” He offhandedly said. Unlike many of the other women in the gang, besides Sadie, you tended to dress less traditionally. Your wardrobe consisted of different pairs of worn in pants, and some button up shirts that happened to fit you sometimes, while others did not. Only so often did Arthur ever witness you in something like a dress. And presently, the shirt you wore was probably a size or two too big. Not a fault of your own, though. It was rare to find clothes made for working in diverse sizes, more so ones that fit women.
Within his thoughts, he reached forward to ease your shirt back onto where it belonged, willing his hand to not linger on the spot longer than it needed to.
“Strong feeling, too.”
Arthur had almost forgotten what he’d said to make you respond with that, but the look in your eyes brought the same spoken of feeling to burn in his chest. Still leaning over the table, eyes trained on the cowboy in front of you, your pupils were blown wide and your cheeks were flushed.
It was nearing dusk, crickets began chirping ambiently, and the air was starting to cool down from its prior harshness.
“We best start heading back.” Arthur quietly said, all too aware of the way you were silently staring at him. It’s not as if he was opposed to you being this close to him, in fact, it was killing him inside to not reach over and pull you across the table into his lap, where he could finally get his hands on you. But you were drunk. He wasn’t going to take advantage of you like that.
You hummed in response, eyes lowering from his to now look at his lips, coated with the whiskey he had been nursing all this time. They were entrancing, really. Everything about Arthur was. The way he carried himself. His voice. His arms. His calloused hands. The way he always seemed to look out for you. How could you not feel some kind of way about him?
The sound of your name coming from his mouth made you focus up, albeit you found it hard to keep your attention on one thing.
“You alright?”
“Y-yeah… just thinking…’s all.”
If you weren’t so drunk you’d be embarrassed of the way you were speaking.
“Thinkin’, huh? What about?” Arthur challenged.
You pulled yourself back into your seat, the final drops of your drink finding its way down your throat before you spoke again.
“‘m not sure I can tell you.” You mumbled, leaning your head back against the wooden chair.
At this, Arthur felt a bit defeated. He wasn’t going to make you talk if you weren’t comfortable with it. If there was something you were withholding from telling him, he was sure there was a good reason.
“Well, looks like our time here is up.”
As the cowboy began standing up from his seat, he felt a force grip his wrist, making him instinctively turn on his heels. What he was met with shook him to his core.
Eyes glazed over, lip pouted outwards, hair a beautiful mess, you reached for Arthur.
“What’s goin’ on—“
“Please, Arthur.”
He was going to pass out. Your voice, defeated and pitiful, spoke his name in a way he’d never forget. Regaining his composure, Arthur spoke up again.
“Please what?”
Cheeks flushing an even darker red, you looked down at his wrist, turning it in your hand from where you had grasped onto it. For a second, there was no apparent reason for what you were doing.
But then, calloused palms met soft cheeks.
You had pulled Arthurs hand to caress your face, leaning into it with a soft smile.
“‘thur... I don’t wanna go back to the camp…”
Confused, but compliant, his brows furrowed on his face. “How come?”
You nuzzled your face against his hand for a moment before responding. “Not enough room on my bedroll for both of us…”
Arthur hoped the way his whole body stiffened wasn’t noticeable. How could you say something like that to him? He was going to lose his mind. Right here, on the back patio of Valentine’s saloon. He started thinking of ways to solve this problem. At this rate, getting back to camp on the horses without a fuss from you wouldn’t be possible… There was a hotel not too far of a walk from here, maybe that would work? Only, he’d have to get one with two beds. You weren’t in any condition to be consenting to share a bed with another person, even if your previous statement said otherwise.
“Can you walk?”
Removing your face from his hand, you used the table as leverage to stand up again. However, walking proved to be a difficulty, akin to a baby deer taking its first steps. Yeah, this wouldn’t work.
“Okay, I’m gonna pick you up. Is that alright?” Arthur said, hovering his arms around your shoulders momentarily.
Immediately, you nodded, leaning into his touch as he carried you bridal style to your next location. Wherever it was, you didn’t care as long as you were in his arms.
The cowboy made quick work of the situation, careful of the mud that laid the town of Valentine as he made his way to the hotel. He was lucky it was still open at this hour, pushing the door open to be greeted by the owner.
“Well howdy, you two! Looking for a room?”
“Yes, a two bed, please.” Arthur said, trying not to sound too strained. It wasn’t that he was having trouble holding you, no, that was far from the problem. It was the way you buried your face into his chest that caused his heart to race. He hoped you didn’t notice.
“Two bed?” The man behind the counter said, raising a brow at the two of you. “You sure? I got plenty of other—“
“Yes! Just a two bed, please.”
Arthur was never more thankful to be a threatening man in his life than right now, it seemed, because the tone of his voice was enough to send the man on his way to find keys to a room.
“Up the stairs to the left, mister.”
And with that, Arthur made his way in the direction he had been told, carefully unlocking the door with you still in his arms. None of this felt real, if he was honest with himself. One second, he was talking to you inside the saloon; and the next he was carrying you to a room to put you to bed. He paused to look down at you, your eyes closed as you quietly breathed. There weren’t many things that could make the heart of a man like him soft, but you were definitely one of them.
As Arthur entered the room, he took note of the two beds that were inside of it. While they were on the smaller side, there was no doubt they were probably much better than the makeshift beds the gang had back at the camp. Slowly, he pulled back the covers of the bed and placed you in the one furthest away from the door, his mind considering the situation where an emergency might happen, even amongst its slight buzzing from the whiskey.
When he began to walk away to get into his own bed, he felt the same grip on his wrist from before. Only this time, he knew there was no threat. Slowly, he turned around, looking down at where you laid.
“Please… sleep with me. I don’t wanna be alone.”
If his heart hadn’t softened entirely from the sight of you dozing in his arms, it was melted right out of his chest now.
Opening his mouth to give you an excuse as to why he shouldn’t, you cut him off.
“If you don’t, ‘m just gonna get into yours later.” A slight sleepy giggle in your voice.
Who was he to deny you right now?
Finally, he gave in, sighing quietly before sitting himself down on the bed. Maybe if he slept as stiffly as he did at camp, you wouldn’t want to lay so close to him. It wasn’t that he didn’t want you near him, at this point, he craved you near him. But he couldn’t be entirely sure that this is what sober you would’ve wanted. So, as he laid down on the small bed, likely intended for one person, he was surprised to see you keep your distance initially.
But, it was short-lived. Once Arthur had completely settled into the bed, you grabbed onto his arm, hugging it close to yourself.
The cowboy squeezed his eyes shut, not in an attempt to sleep, but rather to keep himself contained.
“Night, Arthur…”
He could die right now.
He’d be happy.
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