Love vs Sanity (An Alastor x Reader story)

Paranoia

The incident in the woods left you shook, and a bit on edge. It seemed like every passing shadow you saw made you jump a bit, thinking that somehow, it would come alive and chase you.

Maybe you were just being too paranoid, at least that's what Jake told you. Maybe he was right, but you didn't want to take any chances. You started to bring a pocket knife with you in case anything would happen. 

Alastor still hasn't come back yet, it's been a few days since he left. You would feel much better, and safer, if he was around. He could protect you from the shadows. But shadows can't harm anyone, right? They're just shadows.

"Hey (Y/n)!" (F/n) called. You looked up from the table. "You doing alright?" All of them looked at you, slightly worried. You nodded.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking..." You trailed off. (F/n) patted your shoulder.

"I asked if you would like to go to the park after school today. I think some fresh air would do you well." You nodded in agreement, hanging in a park with your friends should ease your mind.

~~~

After school, you and your friends went to the park. Lizzy and (F/n) was bickering about something, though you didn't catch what it was. 

All of you enjoy the walk in the park, chatting away and having a good time. You didn't really notice where you all were walking until you looked at the path in front of you. Around you were woods and plants, the sight was beautiful and calming to say the least.

But there was one small problem, and it caused your paranoia to take hold of you again. You didn't want the shadow man to come out of nowhere, he could hurt your friends.  

Thankfully, your friends didn't notice your paranoia. They were still chatting away like nothing was wrong. You wish Al told you where he was going, you miss talking to him and his charming looks. 

After a while of walking, you suddenly had a bad feeling, your gut turned sour. When you looked up at the trail ahead of you, you spotted him. The shadow. It was looking at you, a grin to it's face and slightly concealed behind a tree. It seemed to laugh at you, though you couldn't hear it.

You stopped walking and it took a minute before everyone else realized you weren't with them. They turned around, looking at you confused. 

"(Y/n), are you okay?" Jake asked. You nodded slightly and sighed heavily.

"Yeah, I...Just got lost in thought, I'll be fine."

Suddenly you saw the shadow behind Lizzy. He was making some sort of motion, that you perceived as harming/killing.

You yelled at the creature. "Get away from Lizzy!" Everyone looked startled. You ran up to the creature, who disappeared before you reached it. You looked bewildered and everyone looked at you worried.

"(Y/n), nothing was behind me, what was the yelling for?" Lizzy asked, gently resting her hand on your shoulder.

You looked at where the shadow man was. He was there, you're sure of it. And it wanted to harm Lizzy. No matter if they could see it or not, you weren't going to let that happen. You weren't going to let the shadow hurt any of them.

"I think we should head home guys..." You sighed. You were more tired than you sounded. 

They all agreed and you all head back to (F/n)'s car. You zoned out on the walk there.

While you were walking towards the car, your ears fill with a slight static, enough to be noticed, but not bothersome. You thought about the shadow, how it threatened to hurt Lizzy. Could it hurt her? Or anyone? Maybe you're just to paranoid about it. Shadows can't hurt people.

On the way home it seemed like everyone's chatter was muffled. You just zone out and stare out the window. It's been two days without Alastor and it's been eventful to say the least. Hopefully he comes back before the weekend ends.

(F/n) drops you off at your house and tells you to stay safe, since you were acting strangely earlier. You waved at them, giving a weak smile. You turned around and headed inside, trying to keep a neutral face as you went to your room. Your mom greeted you as you walked in, and your dad did a shout out as well.

When you got to your room, you closed the door and leaned against it, sighing heavily. You wanted your paranoia to stop, and you wanted the shadow man to disappear. You closed your eyes, imagining Alastor's signature smile. It brought flutters to your stomach.

You opened up your eyes again, and you see the dreadful shadow man sitting on your bed. He was looking at some photos on your dresser. You looked at it in shock, wondering how it dot into your room without you knowing.

It looked at you curiously, like it wanted to say something but couldn't. You took a hesitant step forward. 

"W-what do you want from me?" You asked, your voice shaking slightly. You would be lying if you said you weren't scared. The being just stared at you and tilted it's head sideways in response.

"Can you not talk?" You asked again. This time it nodded. I guess it made sense that shadows couldn't talk, they're not a solid form. "Why are you here?" You asked. It tilted it's head again, and at that moment, your mom comes in. The shadow disappears.

"(Y/n)? Who are you talking to?" She asked. You looked over at the bed, but the shadow was gone. 

"No one, just myself." You shrugged and tried to laugh it off. But when you looked at her, you saw the shadow grinning at you like it was in the forest a few nights ago. It did the same motions as it did while behind Lizzy, but instead it held a solid-looking pocket knife in its hands. 

You looked at it wide-eyed as it began raising the knife above its head. Quickly, you grabbed your mothers writ and jerked her into your room, shouting at the shadow being.

"Huh?!" Your mom gasped while you pulled her in. "(Y-Y/n), what are you doing?" She said.

You shook your head and sighed. "I-I don't know...Sorry." You let go of her hand and she looked at you concerned.

"Are you sure you're okay? You didn't hit your head did you?" She combed her fingers through your hair. You shook your head.

"No, I'm okay, I promise." You put on the bravest smile you could muster. She smiled weakly back and planted a kiss on your forehead before walking out.