Trouble Doesn't Knock, it Enters
“Great,” Goldie deadpanned, looking over at Freddy. “So Demon- we’re dead. Vampires- we’re even deader.”
“I blame you,” Freddy sighed, covering his eyes. “Why in the world did you get us into this mess, Gold?”
“Well,” Spring interrupted before the golden bear could argue, “if it’s Vampires there is a chance you’ll survive, if you make a good case for yourselves.” Goldie looked back over at the Vampire, who was glancing towards the shadowy ceiling. “I mean, I could probably cash in on those leftover debts from Marion, but... Nightmare will probably find out about it.”
“Nightmare?” the twins repeated, furrowing their brows. “Who’s that?” Goldie added.
Spring glanced back at them, seeming to debate with himself on whether or not he should tell them. Finally he just sighed and said, “You’ll probably already have to answer to him, anyway... he’s the Vampire Lord, king of all Vampires and head of the Academy and the Alliance between most Supernatural beings... not including Demons and very tentatively including Werewolves. Basically, he’s the big boss of the flipside and his word is Law.”
“Sounds frightening,” Goldie muttered, sinking down into his seat. “And he’ll probably find out about this?”
“Probably,” Spring confirmed, nodding. “If he doesn’t already know. Where are your other friends, by the way?”
A few seconds of silence quickly turned into horror as the brothers looked at each other. “Back in our apartment,” Freddy answered, his voice small. “Back in our apartment. Asleep."
“We’re idiots,” Goldie groaned, hiding his face in his hands. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
The Vampire across from them frowned sharply. “So they’re defenseless and potentially in danger.”
“We have to get back there,” Freddy started, standing to his feet. “If they’re in danger-”
“You’ll be attacked on the way out,” Spring pointed out, watching as Goldie stood up beside his brother. “That or you’ll never get there in time.”
“Can’t you do something?” Goldie asked Spring, somewhat desperately.
Spring looked away. “It’s day,” he answered. “I can’t do anything.”
“Then if it’s Vampires they’ll be safe,” Freddy suggested hopefully.
“Not if they’re Daywalkers.”
“God fucking dammit,” Goldie hissed, turning towards the door and running out of the room.
Spring watched the brothers run back towards the basement and leaned back in his seat, breathing out deeply. He closed his eyes, seeking out his own brother as, from the basement, he heard a low curse. The bears wouldn’t be going anywhere, he knew- someone was waiting.
“Alfred, are you awake? Come here, please...”
“Wake up.”
The voice cut through Bonnie’s dream, jolting him awake. The room wasn’t dark as it usually was- neither occupants feeling comfortable with the light off- and across the room he could hear Chica breathing deeply, steadily.
Blinking, the rabbit pushed himself up, letting the blankets pool around his waist.
Who just...?
“Oh good, you’re awake,” the voice sighed in his head, and Bonnie realized with a start that it was Spring’s voice. “Listen to me, Bonnie. Keep your eyes open. Wake your friends up and get out into public. You are potentially in a lot of danger right now.”
“What the,” he muttered, frowning. “Why are you in my head?”
“The bears visited,” was the short explanation. “I need you to get up, get your friends, and get out. Your friends made it sound like your apartment was being watched- and by extension, all of you. You might be in danger right now, please get out of bed and get out of there-”
“Hey, kid!” another voice cut in, and Bonnie scowled at being called kid by the blue rabbit. “Just listen for a minute and get the hell out of there before you end up dead. Get your friends, get out to a public space or come here- we’re not strangers to harboring fugitives anyway.”
It finally really clicked in Bonnie’s mind- oh shit- that the Vampires were the ones speaking in his head. Goldie and Freddy must have gone over there, he realized, pushing the blankets off and standing up. After a few moments of debate, he picked a pillow up and threw it at Chica.
The chicken groaned. “Bonnie,” she growled, “I will literally kill you and serve you up to the others. You-”
“Get up,” he interrupted, walking towards the door. “I’ve got creepy voices in my head telling us we need to leave.”
“That didn’t make you sound crazy at all,” Blu snorted. Bonnie practically felt the golden rabbit hit him. “Ow, Spring!”
“Bonnie, I think we need to get you a therapist,” Chica muttered. “What in the world-”
“Just get up.”
A few seconds passed before Chica sighed and pushed herself up off of her bed. “Fine,” she grumbled, standing up. Bonnie headed out the bedroom door, glancing around. He spotted Foxy curled up on the couch and went over to him, mindlessly knocking the fox’s feet to the floor.
The rest of Foxy’s body followed and he yelped as he hit the floor, jolting awake. “Wha- what’s goin’ on?” he slurred, sitting up and staring at Bonnie. “What was that?”
“Bonnie’s going crazy,” Chica answered, earning a glare from the rabbit in question.
“Spring, maybe you should connect to them too.”
“What? It’s hard enough to be connected to you, Bonnie, Alfred, Freddy and Goldie you know! Especially with how damn far away they are!”
Bonnie blinked and tilted his head. “Gold and Freddy are there too?”
“Yeah, we are,” the elder brother’s voice confirmed. “As it turns out, we’re stuck at the old Lakeview mansion.”
“I told you there might be people waiting outside,” Spring’s voice sighed. “Just, you three get here, and take the most public route you can.”
“Now we have to explain even more to you fucks,” Blu sighed, though surprisingly there was very little malice in his voice. Bonnie frowned. “I know we scared the fuck out of y’all last night, but, uh, things went pretty much the way I expected them to go. Sorry in advance if you get killed.”
“Oh sure, that’s comforting!” Goldie snapped over the “line” and Bonnie winced. “Bonnie, just get over here, and be careful. Take a taxi if you have to.”
“Fine,” Bonnie groused, heading towards the door and rubbing his tired eyes. “Fucking hell what did- wait, did you say killed?!”
What’s that crazy megalomaniac gonna do this time?
Blu tapped his fingers against the book anxiously, glancing up at the brothers every now and then. Their family was on the way and the tension was more than a little palpable in the room.
“We should have just let it be,” he complained mentally to Spring. “I told you this would happen.”
“Shut up, Blu,” Spring groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Yeah, I get it, “told you so” and blah blah, but-”
“Will you two stop arguing in our heads?” Freddy snapped mentally, reminding Blu that the brothers were in on Spring’s mental link. And, of course, so was Bonnie. “Isn’t there enough to worry about without you two adding to everything?” the bear added out loud.
“Sorry,” Spring apologized immediately while Blu just muttered under his breath. Apparently neither bear could be bothered to care about that fact.
“Bonnie?” Goldie tried as Blu turned to look down into his book again, silently searching for some way to fix what had happened. “When you get to the mansion you should be quick... there’s someone watching outside.”
“Yeah, we’re quite aware of that. We’re on Lakeview. This creepy tall guy in a cloak is just standing on the side of the street.”
“Marion,” Spring sighed, covering his face. “Dammit, Nightmare definitely knows if he’s already here...”
“On the bright side no one’s dead yet,” Blu gave, turning a page. “If Marion hasn’t attacked then there’s a chance they’ll be spared.”
“Oh that’s comforting,” Goldie muttered, but Blu didn’t even glance up from the book. Oh sure, he wasn’t actually reading it and everyone knew it- if he was the words would be echoing through the mental link, after all- but he just needed to do something with his hands. It helped keep them still- the mere thought of what might happen to them- to all of them- scared him a lot more than he wanted to admit.
“Where did you say we were supposed to go again?”
“Between the mansion and the old guest house,” Spring instructed. “There’s a cellar door there.”
“Yeah, the front door’s sealed up again,” Goldie added, despite it being a no-brainer.
“And be careful of the snake,” Alfred suddenly piped up. “His nest is in the corner.”
There were a few moments of silence before Spring looked over towards the bear, who had just entered the living room a moment before. “You know about the snake in the cellar?”
“Well of course,” Alfred confirmed, setting an old, dusty book on the table- undoubtedly their copy of the Book of Vampiric Law, though Blu couldn’t be sure. He hadn’t seen that thing in like... a century. “I take things down to the cellar every now and then, you know- old broken furniture, the works.”
“Huh. Well then.”
There was a clatter and an almost girlish shriek from the cellar, causing both rabbits’ ears to perk. Freddy heaved a relieved sigh.
“That’s Foxy’s “I just saw a spider” screech,” he informed the Vampires, hurrying over to the kitchen and, assumedly, the cellar door. Goldie followed quickly after.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Mangle stood up from her seat and said, “So what are we gonna do?”
“Hope like hell that Nightmare won’t have our tails for this?” Blu suggested, dropping his book on the couch next to him and sliding over to sit in front of the ancient tome. He swept the dust off to show the cursive gold lettering, frowning down at it. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
“Yeah, we get the picture, Blu,” Spring snapped, voice low so as not to alert the Mortals in the kitchen. “You were right and we were stupid to think no one would find out, we get it-”
“That is not what I said!” Blu hissed back, eyes narrowing at his brother. “I know I’m just as much to blame here, I could have easily just said no obviously and I didn’t, but-”
“Am I interrupting?”
Their eyes snapped towards the closed doorway, where a tall, masked man stood, hood pulled over even further shadowing his face from the candlelight on the walls. In his hand he held the Book of Law.
It wasn’t a perfect match, but Blu recognized this scene.
After a few seconds, the rabbit covered his face with one hand. “And that,” he started, “would be what I saw in my Vision.”
Bonnie paused right in front of the door between the dining room and livingroom, his ears twitching as he caught an unfamiliar voice. It was deep and a bit scratchy, and oddly enough it sent an uncomfortable shiver up his spine.
“And that,” he heard the little blue Vampire say, “would be what I saw in my Vision.”
“Bonnie?” Freddy muttered questioningly, and Bonnie quickly brought a finger to his lips to shush his friend. All five of them stayed incredibly silent, and Chii, who had been nervously fixing the tablecloth and placemats on the table, quickly darted through the shadows, as if called by something that Bonnie and his friends could not hear.
“You knew this would happen,” the stranger said simply. “I had expected you to know the home would be watched after a demon attack.”
Bonnie couldn’t catch the mumbled response, but whatever it was earned a sigh. “Bring the Mortals in here,” the voice commanded. “I have my orders.” There was a pause, as if someone was saying something- again too quietly for Bonnie to pick up- before the stranger- is this that Marion they were talking about?- said, “No harm will come to them or you so long as all of you comply. The Lord’s orders have been clear.” A little louder, the voice called, “Come out of the dining room, children. This conversation is just as much for you as it is them.”
Bonnie and Freddy shared a worried look. “Come out,” Alfred’s voice echoed in their mind. “He knows you’re here.”
“And so does Nightmare, apparently,” Blu added worriedly.
They waited a few moments longer before Freddy sighed and carefully pushed the door open, glancing uneasily into the room. The tall cloaked figure from outside was standing there, an old, big book in his hands. His mask was white but the perpetual grin made them all feel extremely wary.
“Come,” he- Marion?- invited calmly, nodding towards the couches and chair. All of the Vampires were standing now, looking somewhat uneasy as they stood together- Blu seemed to be holding tightly to Alfred’s arm, and Chii and Mangle were holding each others’ hands he noticed. Spring was the only one not seeking some form of comfort, his expression worried but hard.
Almost confident.
That made Bonnie feel just a little less uneasy as his friends slowly approached the Vampires, and he followed warily.
Those black eyes landed on Bonnie and paused for just a moment, and Bonnie could have sworn he saw surprise in those dark eyes. But then his gaze moved on, scanning over them all.
“As you know,” he started slowly, “telling Mortals of our existence is against the Laws, and under serious circumstances can be punishable by death.”
Bonnie glanced, somewhat disbelievingly, at the Vampire siblings- “That’s not true, is it?”
“Uh, yeah, it actually is,” Blu answered, his green eyes briefly meeting his red. “Not normally, but under certain circumstances... yes.”
“However,” Marion continued, “Nightmare has deemed this offense minor, as investigation has shown that these five Mortals have zero ties to... undesirable groups.”
“Undesirable groups?”
“Hunters,” all three Vampires on the connection chorused, not taking their eyes from Marion.
“Therefore, the Mortals and offending Vampires shall be spared.” Before anyone could feel relief, however, Marion turned to look at Bonnie and his friends. “You are being given a choice.”
“A choice?” Spring muttered, sharing a wary look with his friends.
“Yes, a choice,” Marion repeated, not even glancing towards the rabbit as he spoke. Bonnie could feel the tension in the air. “The first choice is to have your memories erased.”
Bonnie shared a look with Freddy- they had already determined that that was not favourable to them...
“To choose to have your memories erased would mean that you will not remember any of this,” Marion expanded, his eyes trailing over each of them as he spoke. “You will not remember the Demon, the Vampires, or anything you have learned since that night you ran into the Fischbach children. If we’re thorough enough, you will not even remember what happened- what was it now, fourteen years ago?"
“That doesn’t exactly make me feel safe right now,” Foxy huffed, frowning at the man. Bonnie was tempted to shush him- this guy didn’t look like someone to cross...
“The biggest threat to you right now comes from the fact that you are Aware,” Marion stated matter-of-factly. “With this arrangement your life will continue as it would have without the interruption of Vampires and Demons, and the Fischbachs will leave Durmont until all five of you have lived out your mortal lives.”
“Wait- what?!” Spring almost screeched, eyes widening in shock and displeasure. “That was never a requirement before!”
“Before,” Marion started, turning to look at the family, “the mortals you came across were not so involved. At this point, even seeing you in a crowd will cause their memories to revert. This is a small town, and their hometown. They are bound to return at some point in their lives, potentially after you have left Isolation. The chances are too high if you remain in this town. Therefore, should they choose this, you will leave until the Academy informs you that the last of them is dead.”
“But that’s not fair!” Blu protested, letting go of Alfred’s arm. “This is our home! This is where we grew up, our parents-”
“Are long since dead,” Marion coldly interrupted, causing all five to flinch and Blu to instinctively step back. Bonnie glanced, worriedly, at Freddy and Goldie; the former wore a strange expression that Bonnie couldn’t quite read. “Orders are orders. Apologies, but you have lived here ever since being released from the Academy and you will continue living here long after this family is gone. Sixty to ninety years isn’t much to ask- a mere moment in your life.”
Spring frowned sharply but said no more, and neither did his brother. Bonnie was not comforted by this at all. “And what’s their other option, then?” the golden rabbit asked tightly.
Marion met his gaze before turning back to Bonnie and his friends. “The second option,” he started, “is a Blood Bind.”
“Okay,” Spring started slowly, carefully, as he glanced over at the confused Mortals. Bonnie wasn’t sure he liked the sound of this. “And... exactly what Vampires would be performing a Blood Bind with them?”
“Please don’t say what I think you’re about to say,” Spring silently begged.
“What’s a Blood Bind?” Goldie asked mentally, his confusion shared with the rest of their companions. None of the Vampires answered as Marion leveled them with his almost-dead stare.
“By order of the King, it would be you five.”