Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

              I walk out of the cabin into the forest, the cold air circling me as I reach a clearing. I look around, feeling as though someone or something is watching me. "Hello?" I hear shuffling from all around me, causing me to close my eyes and feel whatever I hear come out and stand behind me.

          "You smell like us, but you look like food." I hear a rough voice behind me as whatever is behind me sniffs me, and then I feel it bite my shoulder.

          "No!" I cry out as I sit up in the car seat, waking up from my nap.

          "Ow, (Name)… That hurt my ears," Oliver looks back at me through the rearview mirror.

          "Did you have a nightmare, Name?" Lily touches my hand, moving as close as the seatbelt allows.

          "I think so," I mutter, nodding slightly at Lily as I shift to look out the window.

          "We will be in the woods for three weeks, so I can understand why (Name) might have had a nightmare." Luke glances over at Oliver before looking at the map in his lap.

          "There are going to be fifteen of us at the cabin, so unless someone has automatic weapons or is some kind of supernatural being, we will be fine," Oliver states, looking back through the rearview mirror again.

          "How close are we?" Lily inquires, changing the subject as she turns to face Oliver and Luke.

          "Thirty minutes," Luke answers, looking back at Lily with a reassuring smile. "I hope this cabin is big enough for all of us… And a good place for Tess to forget Allen."

          "Just remember not to mention Allen," I speak up before returning to looking out the window, only to glimpse something in the forest. "What the hell?" I mutter, looking around as I try to figure out what I might have seen.

          "I think I see the cabin… That is no cabin, that's a fucking hotel!" Luke comments, looking at the cabin as we pull up to it.

          "What did you expect from Rebecca's family, they are fucking rich," Oliver laughs putting the car into park, before turning the car off.

          "Well, then, it's time to get out and unpack," I say, looking at the others before unbuckling my seatbelt and opening my door. I step out, move to the back of the car, open the back door, and grab some bags. "Let's unload our bags and wait for the others."

          "Are we the first ones here?" Lily looks around but doesn't see any other vehicles nearby.

          "They had a late start, unlike you four," Rebecca's voice answered, causing me to look over at the cabin door where she was standing, holding a coffee cup in her hand.

          "You can thank Oliver for that," Luke looks over at Oliver, who is grabbing his bags. He wanted the first choice of room due to how Bill and Isaac are."

          "The three biggest rooms are in the basement, and there is a room with a balcony on the second floor," Rebecca laughs, walking over to help us.

          "Awesome! I finally got one of the big rooms!" Oliver cries out happily, lifting his stuff and heading into the cabin.

          "Let me take your stuff, (Name)," Luke says, grabbing my bags before heading inside the cabin. This makes me smile.

          "You know he likes you, (Name)," Lily giggles, walking towards the cabin with her stuff after shutting the back door. "Come on, (Name)! Let's head inside," Lily calls back to me before she enters the cabin.

          "Lily's right about Luke." Rebecca smiles, following Lily inside the cabin as I stand by the car, watching them.

          "Of course, but…" I mutter, frowning, as I think about Luke and our years of friendship. "But even if he feels something for me…" I hear movement from behind me, causing me to turn and see a bush swaying as if something were running away from it. "Must have been some sort of animal." I head inside, where the others are gathered around the island in the kitchen, "Seems like we might have to keep an eye out for animals like skunks, coons, and possums."

          "I figure that," Rebecca hums, moving to let me in so I can join the four of them. "The others will be here in an hour."

          "So we all have our rooms then?" I took my place next to Luke and Rebecca.

          "I put your bags up in your room." Luke smiles at me, his hand touching mine, causing me to pull it away from his.

          "Thank you, Luke, but we should prepare for the others since Bill and Isaac will be pouty," I hum, leaving the island to go to the main kitchen area to prepare food for everyone.

          The last ten people of our group finally arrived at the cabin, with Bill being the first to speak, "How are you four here before us?"

          "Oliver wanted to claim rooms first," Luke hums as he leans on one of the walls.

          "Which means he has claimed one of the large rooms." Jake laughs, filling a plate full of food that I have made.

          "And Jake goes straight for the food." Lily laughs, looking over at Jake, who flips her off.

          "Sarah doesn't let anyone eat in her car," Jake whines, taking a bite of the food on his plate. "Besides, this food is (Name) 's cooking, which makes it the best."

          "How are you doing, Tess?" I ignore the others and check on Tess to see how she is holding up.

          "I'm holding up alright," Tess smiles at me before quickly hugging me, "Thank you for checking on me, (Name)."

          "Rebecca! Is there a lake nearby?" Rachel looks over at Rebecca, her eyes shining. "We should go there now!" It will help Tess!"

          "Rachel just wants to go swimming," Amy laughs as she walks over to Rachel and pats her back.

          "No, that's a great idea!" Tess beams, her arm wrapping around mine, "It would give us a way to stretch our legs."

          "Well, everyone, go get your swimsuits, and let's head to the lake!" Rebecca cheers, heading towards her room with the others following suit. I sigh, heading to my room to grab my swimsuit before joining the others to head down to the lake. "Here we are!" Rebecca pulls us girls towards the boathouse to change into our swimsuits.

          Once we came out of the boathouse, Luke blushed as he noticed us. "You guys look great in those swimsuits," he said.

          "We know you're just saying that because of (Name)," Amy snickers, nudging me with a silly grin.

          "Let's just get in the water!" Rebecca rolls her eyes before running down the pier and jumping into the lake. I shake my head before following her into the water and swimming in the lake with the others following me.

          After a while, I noticed I had swum farther away from the group. However, being too tired to swim back the way I came, I pulled myself up onto the shore of the lake. "I'll rest for a while before heading back." I relax in the sunlight before a shadow covers me, causing me to look up and see a figure in a hoodie. "Can I help you?"

          "Here," a low, husky voice comes from them as they drop a towel over me, "You shouldn't be so exposed; you don't know who's walking around."

          "Um… Thank you…" I wrap the towel around myself, looking at the stranger with distrust. "May I ask why you're approaching me?"

          "Seeing another out this far is rare, especially a female… One like you even more," the stranger hums, moving to sit by me. So, is it just you, or are you with others?" The stranger's black hoodie prevents me from seeing them.

          "I'm here with my friends; there are fifteen of us… We are here to help a friend get over an ex-boyfriend," I explain, standing up. "Well, I need to get back to my friend… Thanks for the towel." I follow the lakeside back to my friends. "Hey, guys!"

           “(Name)! Where were you!" Rebecca hurries over to me with a worried expression before hugging me, "We were extremely worried when you disappeared!"

          "I guess I swam too far." I hug her back before breaking away to look at the worried faces of the others.

          "Hey (Name)… Where did you get that towel from?" Luke asks, motioning to the black towel hanging around me. I know we never had any hanging over there."

          "A stranger gave it to me… It was weird," I think back to the stranger, "Let's head back to the cabin."

          "I agree with (Name)," Tess states, hugging herself as worry shows. "If there is one stranger, then there might be more." "What if they gave her the towel so she could track her back to us?"

          "Alright then, let's go." Rebecca and Samul motioned for us to return to the cabin, which we did quickly.

          "Rebecca, do you have neighbors nearby?" Elizabeth inquires with concern and a mix of hope that there is an explanation.

          "No, the closest neighbor is two hours away… My dad wanted a peaceful escape from people," Rebecca informs Elizabeth, who shows even more concern.

          "It might have been a camper or a hiker that got lost," Sarah weakly offers as we return to the cabin.

          "There is no legal campsite nearby, but a hiking trail across the lake." Rebecca sighed, moving to the fridge to retrieve a soda.

          "We are safe here," Michael tried to reassure Sarah, who we could all see was about to have a panic attack.

          "Yeah, we all know that Rebecca's father has a bunch of guns here due to coming here for hunting." Isaac backs up Michael to help reassure Sarah, then looks over at Rebecca. "He did leave some here, right?" Isaac moves to sit on the bar stool next to the island in the kitchen.

          "Some of them, but not all of them." Rebecca looks at Isaac, setting her drink down, "But we need to get the gun-safe key from the office."

          "I don't think we need to get them out now, but just keep the key where we can get to it more easily," I speak up as I yawn from the tiredness of everything that has happened that day.

          "Sounds good." Rebecca nods, moving toward the office to retrieve the key. "I will be right back." A few minutes later, Rebecca comes out with a key before setting it on the kitchen counter, "It will be in here if we need it… Also, let's get some food, then head to bed. We've had a long day, and we need to get some sleep."

          "Alright, but with the stranger around, I think we guys should take shifts to watch while the girls get some sleep safely." Bill looks over at the other guys, who nod in agreement.

          "Well, as I said, let's get some food in us and then turn in for the night." Rebecca takes out sandwiches from the fridge for everyone.

          "Thank you," I smile, taking the sandwich and looking down at it, only to see what appears to be a human hand. I nearly drop the sandwich, only to blink, causing it to revert to its normal state. "What the hell…" I quickly ate the sandwich, hoping it wouldn't change again in my vision.

          "Are you okay, (Name)?" Tess looks at me as she takes a bite of her sandwich. "You went pale for a moment there."

          "I just thought about the stranger," I answer, heading upstairs to my room. "I'm going to head to bed… It has been a very long day."

          "Alright, we will see you in the morning, (Name)," Rebecca calls after me as I head up the stairs. Once I was two floors up, in the attic bedroom, the room I was staying in, I walked over to the balcony and opened it, letting the night breeze dance around me as I looked up at the stars.

          As I relax on the balcony, I hear Jake's voice, causing me to jump, "(Name)! Whatcha doing? I thought you were going to bed."

          I groan, rolling my eyes before looking down at Jake. "Jesus Christ, Jake! Please don't scare me like that! And I'm getting a little air before bed."

          "Right, I forgot you do that when we come here," Jake laughs, looking up at me with a silly grin.

          "What are you doing outside?" I lean down to get a better look at Jake. "I mean, we've already unloaded all the cars."

          "Amy left her phone down at the lake, so she asked me to go get it," Jake replied, motioning towards the lake with a flashlight, causing a worried expression to cross my face.

          "Really! After encountering the stranger, you return to the lake at night!" I frown, looking down at Jake, before shaking my head. "Just hurry back safely, Jake."

          "I have a knife and a flashlight; I will be fine…" I will see you in the morning, (Name)," Jake calls, heading down to the lake.

          I sighed, then headed back inside to change my gown before falling asleep. After a while, I could feel someone petting my hair. Thinking it was Elizabeth, I relaxed until I heard the same low, husky voice from the lake, "I wish we could take you now, but we have to convince our brothers fully."

          This caused my eyes to shoot open as I sat up to look around the room, where I saw a glowing blue flower and a necklace with a green stone. "What the hell…" I soon realized that the flower and necklace meant that someone who wasn't one of my friends was in my room, the one on the third floor of the cabin. "So that voice wasn't a nightmare, oh God."

Chapter Text

I rip the flesh off of the camper's arm that I am feasting on with my brothers. These humans were foolish enough to park their camper near our cave before realizing they could outrun a teleporting skeleton. "Mutt! Are You Listening To Me!" I hear M'Lord's voice calling out to me, causing me to look over at him.

          "Sorry, M'Lord," I hum, waving my arm at him. I was just thinking how stupid these humans were to park near our cave here, then think they could outrun us."

          "It's Fine If That's What You Were Thinking About, But You And Stretch Need To Patrol The Area For More Food… "The Little Humans Won't Last Us Long," M'Lord informs, gathering the remains of the campers as I look over at my twin, who has joined M'Lord and me on this hunt.

          Why me, Black?" Stretch whines, finishing his arm and tossing the human bone on the ground. I tune out their conversation as I feel a strong tug on my soul, leaving a warm feeling causing me to want more of it.

          "Mutt! Pay Attention!" I turned to face M'Lord once again. I could tell he was getting annoyed. "You Two Are So Troublesome."

          "Sorry, M'Lord," I hum, wanting to locate the source of the tug, I noticed that Stretch must have felt it too.

          "It Is What It Is… I Will See You Two When You Get Back To The Cave." M'Lord used his magic to carry everything back towards the cave.

          "Did you feel that tug, too?" Stretch looks at me, and I nod, returning his gaze with a knowing expression.

          "Yeah, I did… Shall we look for its source?" I look over at him, raising one eyebrow, but I already know his answer.

          "Yeah, let's find it," Stretch nods. We move through the trees until we feel the tug again, following it to a large cabin, where we notice five humans standing and talking.

          "Well, we have some food…" I start, only for the words to disappear once my eyes hit the female farthest from the others. "It's from her… Her soul is the one that was calling out to ours. I stare at her, feeling a mix of emotions and desires. "I want to go over there."

          "Don't… If we do, our brothers would think she is food… We need to introduce her to them slowly." Stretch hisses as he looks at me, shifting his weight and causing the bush to move.

          I noticed that the female had noticed that Stretch caused the bushes to move and was walking over to them, "Shit… I think she notices us over here." She stopped a few feet away from the bush, muttered something, and then turned to go inside the cabin.

          "That was close," Stretch sighs, collapsing to the ground as he looks up at me with a weary expression.

          "Let's look around this place," I hum before teleporting to the side of the cabin, quickly looking into a window to see if I could locate the female and other humans. "Where is she…" I finally saw her, but I let a low growl out when I saw one of the male humans touch her. I managed to stop the growl and give a proud purr as I watched her pull her hand away from his. "Now that, my mate," I hum.

          "She's not just your mate; we need to hide as I notice more cars coming down the road!" Stretch hisses at me, pulling me into the bushes once more. I see three more cars pull up to the cabin, with ten more humans getting out of them before gathering their stuff and heading into the cabin.

          "She has more food for us now!" I smile, looking over at Stretch, before my smile goes cruel, "And I know how to get our older brothers to accept her."

          "Oh? And how is that?" Stretch looks at me skeptically, leaning back against a tree with his arms crossed.

          "Say that she will lead us to the food she brought here and better shelter by using one of our scents to guide the way," I smirked, grabbing Stretch before we headed back to the cave.

          "Mutt! Stretch! Where Have You Two Been! I Told You Two To Patrol, It Shouldn't Have Taken You That Long To Do That!" I hear M'Lord yell as we enter the cave.

          "Well… We were following the tug of a mate, M'Lord," I hum, moving over by his side as I always do.

          "YOU FOUND A MATE!" I hear Blue and Echo come over to us, excited at the word "mate."

          "Yeah, I did," I nod, looking at both of them as they hurried over to me before stopping due to Stretch moving to stop them.

          "WHAT TYPE OF MONSTER IS THIS MATE?" Blue asks with extreme interest filling his eyes, "I MEAN WE ARE THE ONLY MONSTER I HAVE SEEN SO FAR."

          "She's not a monster," Stretch speaks up, causing M'Lord, Blue, and Echo to blink in shock.

          "This mate you found is a human," I hear Horror's voice snarl as he steps forward with Edge and Red next to him.

          "Yes, but she has brought a ton of food and shown a safe shelter for us to stay." I look over at Horror standing in front of me.

          "Oh? And What Is This Food And Shelter?" Edge scoffs, crossing his arms and looking down at me.

          "Fourteen other humans and a huge cabin where we all could have our rooms," Stretch informs Horror and Edge as he moves to my side calmly.

          "That's a lot of food," Red remarks, approaching us. "So, how will she show us where this cabin is?"

          "She is going to take something with one of our scents back to lead us to the location," I state, looking back over at Horror, who stares at Stretch and me.

          "This Is Stupid! Why Is This Mate Human!" Edge snaps, glaring at Stretch and me with annoyance and anger.

          "If she is willing, but she will have rules, and she must obey us no matter what," Horror hums, moving to look through the stuff we have taken from our meals. "Most of the humans we have killed sweat, so we have several of what they call towels… That should hold my scent the best." Horror grabs a black towel and quickly rubs it all over him to get his scent before tossing it to me. "Here, give this to her."

          "Are You Seriously Doing This, Horror!" Edge looks shocked at Horror, who shoots him a look, saying that he was.

          "This human has a soul like us, according to the twins, which means we can use her to build our kind to the point of taking revenge against the humans," Horror turns to face Edge before heading back into the cave, "And I want to see humanity burn, plus I'm sure there will be some way to turn her into one of us fully."

          "I'm gonna join you two," Red steps forward towards Stretch and me with a smirk. I want to see this little mate of ours."

          I frown at this before turning to leave with Stretch. "I guess, as long as you let me do the work."

          "Why do you get to deal with her!" Both Red and Stretch stare at me as we head towards the cabin.

          "I was the one who found her, so I get to interact with her first," I snap at them before I notice that my mate is swimming in the lake.

          "Damn! Is that our mate? She's quite a looker for a human," Red whistles, watching her swim towards the edge of the lake, "This would be the best time to give it to her."

          "I know," I hiss at Red before walking up to my mate, who sits down to recover from her swim.

          I stand over her, causing her to look up at me before asking me, "Can I help you?"

          "Here," I nervously drop the towel on her before continuing, "You shouldn't be so exposed; you don't know who's walking around." 

          "Um… Thank you…" I watch her wrap the towel around her, getting Horror's scent all over her, wishing it was mine. Her eyes look over me with worry. "May I ask why you approached me?"

          "Seeing another out this far is rare, especially a female… One like you even more." I move to sit next to her, fighting the urge to take her then and there. "So, is it just you, or are you with others?" I ask so that Red can hear from her that she is here with more humans.

          "I'm here with my friends; there are fifteen of us… We are here to help a friend get over an ex-boyfriend." She gets up off the ground, looking at me. "Well, I need to get back to my friends… Thanks for the towel."

          I watch her walk along the lake in the direction that the cabin must be before hearing Red laugh, "Damn! She has a fine body, perfect for us." I look back at Red as I get off the ground before he continues, "But ya are right, she's one of us in human skin

          "We told you," Stretch states, crossing his arms and looking at Red, who just shrugs before turning to face the cave location.

          "Well, now that she has agreed to lead us to the cabin by scent, we should go get the others." I look towards Red and Stretch, who nod. I hurried back to the cave to inform everyone that our mate had returned the towel to the cabin.

          As we arrived, I could see M'Lord waiting with Edge. M'Lord hurries over to us, "So, Did She Take It?" I could tell that M'Lord was excited and hopeful that she did, "Mutt, Did She?"

          "She took it," I nod towards M'Lord, who nods back calmly, but I could tell he was ecstatic about the fact she took it.

          "SHE ACCEPTED IT!" I hear Blue's excited voice, and I look over to see him, Echo, and Horror exiting the cave.

          "Red, Is What Mutt Said True?" Edge looks at Horror before looking over at Red, asking the question to ensure I wasn't lying. I shoot Edge a glare and let a low growl at the fact that he thought I was lying, but Edge ignores me.

          "Mutt speaks the truth, Boss," Red confirms what I had informed the others, causing me to smirk at this confidently.

          "Well then, let's get our mate, the food she brought, and settle into our new home." Horror smiles sharply, walking forward to follow the scent back to the lake as night falls. Once we reached the lake, we noticed movement around us, where my mate had gone. "Well, look at that."

          "WELL, LOOK AT WHAT?" Blue asked, looking confused like the rest of us before we all followed Horror's gaze to a chubby human male who was looking around the area.

          Horror smirks as he looks at me with a dark smile. "Looks like our sweet little mate sent a midnight snack… Now I wonder how sweet she will taste as we show her our gratitude for this meal."

          "She Did Send Us A Snack… Maybe Having Her Look Human Is A Good Thing," Edge chuckles darkly as he finally compliments my mate after complaining that she was a human.

          Horror teleported quickly behind the male, slamming his axe down and killing the guy before looking over at us. "Edge, take this piece of meat back to the cave… Mutt, I want you to go and leave our mate a thank-you gift… The rest of us will look around to get to know the area and set up traps to catch the rest of the food that was brought."

          "Got It," Edge nods, picking up the body before heading back to the cave, while I quickly teleport back to the cave before the other complaints.

          After grabbing an Echo flower from the cave, I looked through everything we had taken from the humans. I stopped once I found a green stone hanging from a string. "This will work!" I teleport back to the cabin, sniffing the air before looking up to see the balcony where the door was open, allowing her scent to come through it. I teleported up there to see a bedroom with her asleep in the bed; it was so peaceful. "So beautiful…" I sigh, setting the necklace and flower on the table next to her before petting her hair as she leans into the bed. I smile as I lean down to kiss her head and whisper, "I wish we could take you now, but we must convince our brothers." I teleport outside, sighing, "Edge and Horror show interest, but they are not fully convinced… And I don't think Red is either… But they will be… I better get back before Horror punishes me… Soon, my sweet soulmate, we will meet and be together forever!"