Parum Mortis - Epilogue(11/26/23)

[LittleFallenPrincess]

 

 

Chapter 35: Playdate

Parum Mortis – LittleFallenPrincess

 

 

“Hi… is this… Abby?”

“Yes, speaking?” The beautiful voice on the other end of the call responded.

“Hi… this is… umm…” I know I’m nowhere near as socially anxious as Lucy, but even meeting new people makes me nervous. And yes, I know they’re not technically new… but it’s still scary, okay? “This is… Susie. You know… Beth’s… girlfriend.” I said, carefully wording my sentence due to the tiny doubt that I had just happened to call the wrong Abby, someone not into this… played over in my mind.

“Oh Susie! So your Mummy gave you our numbers after all! I’m so glad! How are you?”

I reached the right Abby… thank god.

“Exhausted. How are you?” I replied.

“Haha, same! I can’t believe we worked so much with very little rest!”

“I still can’t believe they managed to slow down time around us… or speed up our time… or… actually, I still don’t understand any of that…”

“Yeah don’t worry about it. Witches and magic and all that is still relatively new to me. But anyway, what’s this about, why’d you call? I wasn’t expecting anything for at least like a week.”

“I was wondering if… you wanted to come… play… in the playroom today. My… Mummy… said you wanted to be friends…”

“I do! You and Lucy seem so cool! I’ve always thought Lucy was too cool to have friends, or maybe she was just that anxious…”

“Yeah, she’s that anxious.” I laughed awkwardly.

“Haha I figured, once you two met us that is. It was obvious when I got to talk to her. But anyway, I mean… I’m pretty exhausted. I can’t speak for Grim, but I think he is too…”

“Oh that’s okay, maybe another time then…”

“Hey! I never said no! But it just means we need to get some food down us, and I’ll call Grim for you, no doubt he’s happy to come too. Little clothes I assume?” Abby asked.

“Yeah… no adults either. So we have to be super good.”

I couldn’t believe how natural it was speaking like I was actually a toddler… ‘adults’ and ‘super good’... like a month ago I wouldn’t be saying stuff like that.

“Yeah don’t worry, I’ll keep Grim on a short leash…”

“Hehe…” I giggled.

“What’s so funny?” Abby asked.

“Leash… because he’s a…”

There was a slight pause and I could hear the faintest little giggle on the other end of the phone.

“I think you and I are going to be close friends, Susie.” Abby said, laughing herself. “But anyway, right, so we’ll need some food… or have you got any there?”

“I…”

It was at that point my tummy rumbled.

“Did your tummy just rumble so loud I could hear it down the phone?” Abby asked.

“...Maybe…”

“I’ll take that as you don’t have any food at all… did your Mummy not leave you any?”

“I don’t think so… we had a picnic last night from Teles and…”

“OH! That’s why. She’s not a bad Mummy then.”

“Huh?”

“Teles’ food can keep you going for at least a day, sometimes two. Something about her ingredients or something.”

“So then why is my tummy rumbling now then?” I asked.

“Because apparently you have a black hole for a stomach. Don’t worry, I’ll pick up something for breakfast and bring it over for everyone.” Abby offered.

“You don’t have to…”

“Shush. I want to. Let me treat my friends.” Abby said, cutting me off and sounding very insistent.

‘Friends…’ I thought to myself, finding myself smiling at the thought.

“Fine.”

“Good girl. Now, I’ll be about an hour or so. It’ll take thirty minutes to wake Grim up, then another thirty to get some food for us and head over.”

“Okay, sounds good!” I replied.

“I’m excited! The playroom looked  like it’ll be so much fun!”

“I… haven’t seen it yet.”

“YOU HAVEN’T? Well… don’t! Don’t go see it just yet, I want to see your face, okay? Both of your faces! So don’t let that little bloodsucker in either, okay?” Abby said, sounding very strict. Almost as strict as Beth can be..

“Okay… I guess we can wait…” I replied, feeling a little bit excited at the prospect. Like… I just assumed it’d look like the daycare in Pandora’s box, but if it’s making Abby that excited… Maybe it’s even better?

“Well I’ll see you in about an hour! Don’t eat anyone in the meantime!” Abby joked… or at least I hoped she was joking.

 

Okay so an hour passed, and it was really hard keeping Lucy out of the playroom, especially after I told her she had to wait due to Abby wanting to see her reaction. But I did it! She very nearly opened the door one time, but I tackled her to the ground and booped her nose.

And for the past ten minutes, we’ve been sitting in one of the booths in the club part of the hotel, waiting for our new… friends… to arrive.

“...and this is where we’ll have the munches! Provided your Mummy says it’s okay, obviously.” Lucy said, sat in the booth with her legs crossed on the seat.

“And why here?” I asked.

“Because it’s a relatively normal, adult location.”

“And that’s what you want for… ‘munches’?”

“Exactly! Somewhere you can be an adult, talk about normal things.”

“Do you not discuss the kinky stuff at all then?”

“Oh of course we do, but we try to keep it to a minimum during munches. And most importantly, we talk about it as adults. No babyish behaviour… mostly. Obviously there’s a bit of teasing, and usually most of us are padded underneath our adult human clothes.”

“And then you do all the really babyish stuff at these… events?”

“Yup! See, I told you it was simple. You’ll have lots of fun, at both! Even I do, and I… rarely talk at them.”

“Well hopefully that’ll change now I’m here.”

“Maybe…” Lucy shrugged.

And at that moment, a doorbell rang clearly through the club.

“We have a doorbell?” I asked.

“Apparently so. That must be them!”

I got up and walked over to the entrance door, opening it to reveal a couple of familiar faces.

Abby looked as gorgeous as yesterday. Or a few days ago. I… guess technically it was the same day… Anyway, her slender figure, beautiful natural red hair, her beautiful perfect face… I was jealous. I have to say… I may have started rubbing my scars a bit when I admired her perfect body. Maybe… maybe I have a bit of an issue with my body now. Not that I didn’t before… I just… no, nevermind. Not going down that rabbit hole.

Grim however… I couldn’t see how these two were friends. They were the complete opposite. Whilst Abby looked pristine and perfect… Grim was the definition of ‘shaggy’. Unkempt hair, badly trimmed facial hair, clothes that looked like they had been turned in, then out, then in again… and don’t get me started on the holes in them. Whereas Abby wore a gorgeous little flowery summer dress and sunglasses, Grim… looked like he was ripped out of one of those American high school movies… looking like a typical jock, only… messier.

“Good morning to our little undead princess!” Abby said with delight, rushing in for a hug.

I wasn’t expecting this, so I froze still and just… let her do it. Like I didn’t even know we were at the hugging stage? Or maybe this is normal for them? Do… Do monsters even have different social etiquette? Do I have to learn a whole new set of rules just to interact with these people? Beth and Lucy didn’t explain it to me…

…I guess I’ve got a lot to learn.

“Yeah, sup?” Grim replied, nonchalantly.

“Hi! I’m glad you could make it! How are you both feeling?” I asked, nervously.

“Bit groggy, but I grabbed an elixir on the way here, so I’m ready for a day of playing!” Grim stuck his thumb up and grinned.

“An elixir?” I asked, confused.

“From the Marché Arcanique.”

“I… is that…?”

“It just means Arcane Market.” Abby explained.

“OH! So like a market for magicky stuff?”

“Exactly. You know these Witches though, they can’t have anything boring or normal…”

“Tell me about it…” I said, laughing to myself internally as I thought about how ‘normal’ Beth really was. Maybe I had thought she was a bit quirky before I found out she was a Witch, but after finding out all her secrets… She was anything but normal to me now. “So what does the elixir do?” I asked.

“It’s just a thing you drink. Gives you lots of energy. They’re thinking of trying to make them a big thing in the human markets. Just… without the magical kick.”

“I could see how that’d be helpful. Would have helped a lot at university!”

“Yeah. Anyway… gonna invite us in? Although we’re not like your friend Lucy, we don’t need to be invited…”

“THAT’S A MADE UP THING!” I heard Lucy shout from the club.

‘Damn… her hearing is amazing! Guess it has to be, being a vampire, hunting and all that. Plus the whole bat thing… wait no, she said that wasn’t a thing… nevermind…’

I snapped out of my silly little thoughts and smiled up at our guests.

“Yeah, come on in!” I said, waving them in.

 

Abby and Grim waved at Lucy as they walked in, with Lucy waving back shyly, trying to hide most of her face from them.

“Don’t mind her, she’s just shy.” I said, shuffling in behind our guests.

“Yeah don’t worry. She seemed cool, we just didn’t want to push her too hard.” Abby replied.

“Sometimes she needs the push. Sometimes you need to let her hide. It’s a balancing act, but it’s worth it for a friend like her.” I said, sounding more soppy than I had intended to be.

“Love you too, Suze…” Lucy said, muffled by her arms which were currently wrapped around her blushy face. Or at least I assume it’s blushy anyway.

“So… Do you want to hang out here for a bit, chat a bit, or just get changed and go straight to the playroom?” Abby asked, taking the lead… thankfully. “We can snack on this food I brought whichever we decide to do first.”

“I guess we could just go to the playroom, though we’ve got nothing to change into… we haven’t moved anything over from our places yet.”

“Good job I packed extra clothes!” Abby said.

“You did? You didn’t have to!”

“She’s a smarty pants, this one. Always thinking ahead. She told me on the way here she figured you wouldn’t have any spare clothes, what with you having to escape your current places and move here, and your Mummy being busy all day.” Grim said.

It was still weird them calling her my ‘Mummy’... but again, it felt right. I felt… owned… loved… and somehow I had wanted this? I had never thought about being ‘owned’ before, but now I loved the thought.

“Well thanks! Why don’t we go through, get changed, then just hang out in the playroom and chat and eat?”

“Sounds good. Coming Lucy?” Abby asked my best friend.

Lucy didn’t say a word, she just nodded and slid out of the booth, looking more like a zombie than me, an actual zombie, and shuffling herself over to us.

“Come on then, let's go have fun! AWOOO!” Grim howled.

 

We stood there, in the changing rooms. Changing rooms that looked like a cross between what you’d see backstage at a show, with all the mirrors and vanity tables and everything… and a swimming pool changing room with individual private cubicles lining the opposite walls. Now, I was expecting either a luxurious, expensive changing room with deep red walls and expensive wooden furniture… or something tiled and clinical like a swimming pool changing room. But this… this was neither. It was a large room with lockers on one wall, all painted bright colours. Foam mats covered the floor, all different vibrant colours tiled in a pattern. The walls were beige but they had cute nursery pictures all over them. And the furniture… well the furniture was all white and babyish. It was… adorable. With a strong smell of baby powder.

It was the first time I had seen the changing room. In fact it reminded me that I needed to go explore this place, as I hadn’t seen anything but the club, the lobby, and the one floor of rooms that Lucy and I helped put together.

Grim had gone off into one of the stalls in the changing room, and Abby placed her bag on the bench in the middle of the room and started rummaging around inside it.

“Here you go, Susie…” Abby said, pulling out a little blue and white sailor girl dress with matching… underwear? It was adorable… but incredibly babyish…

“Are you like… a really tiny baby?” I asked, pointing at the dress.

“Not usually, but the couple I’ve been seeing like to regress me further than normal occasionally. It’s not really my thing, but they find it cute, which makes me happy.”

“So many questions…”

“Yes, I see a few people, and yes, two of them are a couple. I call them my Mummy and Daddy, but I have a few Mummies and even more Daddies.”

“I thought…”

“That you can only have one or the other?” Abby said, rolling her eyes at me.

“I was thinking maybe one of each at most… but yeah…”

“Nah, I can’t find anyone who really challenges me, you see? I haven’t found that one yet. Not like my Ma and Da. Made for each other, they were. So I try a little bit of everything.”

“And you get free clothes out of it…” I grinned at her.

“Hey, I’m not going to complain! They get a baby girl to care for and play with, I get the love and attention I need… and some cute clothes.” Abby shrugged, playfully.

“Sounds a bit… transactional.”

“That’s because it is. If I find the one… or two, I’ll settle down, but for now, I’m happy having multiple caregivers.”

“Fair enough, no judgement from me.”

“Good, now go put this on… and don’t forget the plastic pants!”

“Plastic pants? Oh… and wait, you said you don’t normally wear…”

“I’m more of a toddler, than a baby. Now hurry along and go get that on! I want to go sit in the ballpit!” Abby ordered, shoving the dress into my chest and turning me around, pushing me in the direction of the cubicles.

“BALLPIT?” Lucy yelled, a little too loudly, quickly realising how loud she was and putting her hands to her mouth.

“Yes, there’s a ballpit… but to go in there you have to wear… this…”

I took one last look behind me before entering the private cubicle, to see a face from Lucy I had never seen before.

And I couldn’t tell if she was going to scream in fear or squeal in delight.

 

 

 

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I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them!

Thank you to all my patrons for their support!

Don't forget, the remaining chapters are available on my Patreon which can be found here if you go for the second tier.

New chapters of Parum Mortis every Wednesday/Sunday!

Also just a quick note: I don't mind people saving this story for personal reading. But I'd appreciate it if people didn't post it elsewhere, even if you're just suggesting it to other people. If you want to show others, please send them a link to the first page of this post! Thanks!

 

[Moon3ye]

1 hour ago, LittleFallenPrincess said:

“Not usually, but the couple I’ve been seeing like to regress me further than normal occasionally. It’s not really my thing, but they find it cute, which makes me happy.”

 

Normally not a fan of the caregivers forcing the little one into an age.

But apparently it's okay for her.

I thought the chapter was very cute.

Especially with the knowledge from your other work, I'm looking forward to seeing how the friendship between the 4 of them develops.

Especially that of Grim and Lucy.

[LittleFallenPrincess]

 

 

Chapter 36: Playroom

Parum Mortis – LittleFallenPrincess

 

 

I took a deep breath before opening the door to the playroom.

We all stood there, in line, like it was the scene in a movie where the squad all lined up to face the big bad boss guy.

Problem was… we weren’t exactly dressed like heroes.

Grim wore some cute dungarees and a red tee underneath it, along with some fluffy socks. He had a matching red dummy attached to one of the straps on his dungarees.

Abby wore some shorts and a low cut tee, making her look the most adult-like out of all of us. She looked more like a babysitter than a baby, though the thick padding around her bum gave the game away that she wasn’t an adult really.

I wore the sailor dress that Abby had brought for me. It looked equally ridiculous and adorable. I just felt so… cute. With my hair in braids, thanks to Abby too, I found my legs hard to close with the thick nappy between my legs, and I found it even harder to hide the damn thing with such a low-cut dress! Frilly white socks and blue ribbons for my hair that matched the dress perfectly… I think after this my Mummy will probably want some ideas from this girl. I'm still not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing…

But still… This was nothing in comparison to the sight beside me.

 

We all stood there as Lucy waddled her way into the playroom, alone. I don’t think she realised we were frozen in place, too enamoured by her appearance to move. I’ve known Lucy for years… we’re best friends… but I never thought I’d see her like this.

“WHA?” She blurted out, her face as pink as the dummy in her mouth.

“I… just…” I stuttered, still in shock.

“I DIDN’T PICK THIS OUT! SHE DID!” Lucy yelled, pointing at Abby.

“Abby…” I said, turning to face the accused. “Thank you for this gift. I shall never let it disappear from my memory. It will be burned in, a monument to greatness, standing in the centre of my best memories…”

Abby just laughed, clutching her tummy as she struggled to breath. Grim stood there for a second, trying not to laugh, before the urge became too strong and he burst out, a strong gust of air escaping his chest as he yelled one mighty “HA!”

Lucy turned to me, clearly not impressed, tapping her adorable widdle feetsie…

“Don’t… say… anything…” She growled.

I quickly signalled zipping my mouth shut, trying to hold the laughter in myself, so as to not further frustrate my best friend.

“YOU LOOK LIKE A CUPCAKE!” Grim blurted out, laughing heartily… that was until Lucy’s death stare met his eyes.

“You… better run…” I told him, worried for his safety.

And so he did. He ran as fast as he could into the playroom, his canine agility helping him navigate the enormous, busy room. Jumping over the ballpit, through the climbing frame, over the tables and the playpen walls… he was quick. Like… really quick.

Lucy, however, was just as quick.

Even in that cupcake dress.

I turned to Abby and laughed along with her.

“I can’t believe you talked her into wearing it!” Abby said, “I genuinely thought she wouldn’t wear it, but I thought she’d look adorable in it, that’s why I brought it. I did bring a onesie as backup, but we didn’t even get to that stage.”

“I’m just glad you did bring it. She looks freaking adorable!” I replied.

We watched as Lucy chased Grim around the playroom, her fluffy pink baby dress barely slowing her down. Not even the frilly socks or the matching pastel pink baby shoes could stop this speedster. Her gorgeous silky black hair was tied into pigtails, with frilly pink bands around them. An enormous pink dummy sat in her mouth. And to top it all off… the dress may have said ‘Pretty Little Princess’ on the chest.

 

After Grim tripped and fell into the ballpit, and after Lucy had dove in after him, the two finally calmed down, resorting to them just throwing balls at each other every twenty seconds or so as tried to catch their breath. Which meant I could finally appreciate the playroom, and have a proper look at it myself.

I must say… whoever designed this… did a good job. It looked adorable. Not like the daycare in Pandora’s box, this looked way more like a playroom than a daycare. Vibrant colours filled the whole enormous room, which looked like it may have been used in the past to hold functions in, it was so huge. I mean it was big enough to have a large playpen, a whole damn climbing frame, one of those little plastic toys houses kids have in their garden… but scaled up for an adult, multiple tables for colouring and drawing, a snuggly little area for reading and napping… this thing had everything. And yes… a ball pit… which was currently a warzone. The lights were flickering slightly every few minutes, to which I made a mental note to tell Beth later so she can fix it.

“TAKE IT BACK!” Lucy yelled. And I know she’s just playing angry, because I’ve seen her genuinely angry… and this isn’t it, but this was the most social I’ve seen Lucy around new people. She seemed… happy. Comfortable. Content. Herself. This was the Lucy I wanted everyone to meet, the one that you have to work really hard for to have the privilege to see. There was me, Beth and Beatrice that Lucy truly felt comfortable around, though after even such a short amount of time… she was warming up to these two, which is incredibly rare.

I know she’s a lot older than I was led to believe, so I’m sure I’m just a blip in her existence… or at least I was, until I too became immortal… but even in that blip she had never opened up to anyone this quickly. Maybe it was the setting, maybe it was being with me, maybe it was the people? Either way, I wasn’t going to question this gift, so I smiled at my friend looking like she was having the time of her life as she pelted the poor werewolf boy with multicoloured plastic balls.

“I mean… you do look a bit like a cupcake…” Abby commented as we both walked up to the ballpit.

Lucy’s face looked betrayed, so she quickly threw a ball at Abby’s face. The ball tapped the girl’s forehead and landed back in the pit, but it left a sour expression on Abby’s face.

“OH YOU’RE IN FOR IT NOW, LITTLE VAMPLING!” Abby roared, before pouncing into the ballpit, joining Grim’s side and throwing balls at my best friend.

“AHHH!” Lucy cried.

“Well I can’t let you two gang up on my friend…” I said as I jumped into the pit myself and allied myself with the little vampire cupcake, and started returning fire.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had this much fun. Honestly… not since I was an actual kid probably. It was as if all my worries and problems just washed away as I threw ball after ball at my new friends. Instead, my thoughts were that of laughter, fun, happiness, friendship…

“Time out!” Abby called out.

Lucy and I froze still, balls in hands, ready to strike, but we observed the temporary truce and held back.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah… I just… exhausted, remember? Can… Can we do something a bit less tiring for a bit? Call it even?” Abby said, breathing heavily.

I could see that Grim and Lucy were also equally exhausted. I wasn’t… weirdly… but I didn’t care about that, I was more worried about my friend’s health, so I nodded and smiled, slowly putting the balls down back into the pit.

“Thanks…” Grim said, taking deep breaths.

“We all got a bit carried away there.” Abby replied.

“Cus you called me a cupcake!” Lucy snapped back, sounding just like a bratty toddler.

“I mean… you do kinda look like one…” I replied.

I quickly realised I had said that bit out loud… and braced myself for retaliation.

“BETRAYAL!” She yelled, throwing a ball at my face. It thudded softly against my cheek and fell back down, and we all laughed, making poor little Lucy blush again.

“Right… who’s up for some colouring?” Grim suggested.

We all nodded and carefully climbed out of the ballpit, and waddled over to the tables on the opposite side of the room.

 

As soon as we started colouring, I was determined to do something nice for my… Mummy. She has been so considerate, so kind, so understanding… and most importantly, so patient with me. I know that she didn’t intentionally brainwash me into being a perfect baby for her, and honestly… I think that kinda ruined things for her too. Like she must have been so nervous holding in this secret for all this time, waiting for the day she could finally open up and hopefully bring me into her worlds. Instead she was outed by that jerk who ran me off the road, then she had to have a fake version of me to care for…

…Well now she’s got the real thing. I’m her baby now. She’s my Mummy. And deep in my heart… I know that’s how it’s meant to be. So I’m going to colour something special for her, so she can pin it up or keep it on her or whatever she wants, to remind herself that I’m hers… that I love her with all my heart. Even if that heart barely beats these days.

“What are you colouring, Lucy?” Abby asked across the table, trying to take a quick look, despite the issue with the lights that was still ongoing. Thankfully it wasn’t too often, so we were still able to colour in peace.

“It’s a surprise!” Lucy replied, hiding her work with the crook of her free arm.

“Even from me?” I asked.

“Uh huh!”

“Why?”

“Cus it’s a surprise! Nyeh!”

“But I get to see when it’s finished?”

“Uh huh!” Lucy looked up at me and smiled.

It was nice to see Lucy opening up around other people. I was scared at first, as she’s usually very defensive around people she doesn’t know, usually withdrawn and quick to run away at the first opportunity… but I must admit, Abby and Grim make it feel like we’ve been friends for a long time, despite only having met them technically a day or so. That time dilation stuff is gonna mess with my concept of time for a while I think. They both talked to Lucy like she wasn’t some fragile doll, but at the same time didn’t act too loud and aggressive and too friendly to her at first, and I think that allowed my friend to come out of her shell and warm up to these people. I guess it’s sort of how I managed it with her when we were sharing that room together at Uni.

Which made me think… I remembered Abby and Grim were looking for another housemate for a new place they were hoping to move into… I know there’s a third, but I don’t think I’ve met them yet, but if they’re half as friendly as these two… Lucy would probably open up to them pretty quickly too… And now that Lucy needs a new place to live after the whole hunter business…

“What you drawing, Abs?” Grim asked her.

“A unicorn.”

“You mean a warped, kid-friendly version thought up by humans?”

“WAIT… UNICORNS ARE REAL?” I cried out.

“Yes. But they are rare. And bloodthirsty.” Grim smiled.

Okay. World shattered. There goes my childhood fascination with unicorns.

I looked to Lucy for confirmation, hoping that Grim was just being the brat he was made out to be by others and that he was just playing a prank on me… but as she awkwardly nodded her head… I knew that my love of unicorns had been ruined.

“What other creatures are real?” I asked.

“Lots. Pretty much anything you see in human fairytales.” Abby shrugged.

“Let me guess… as bad as the Grimm versions?”

“Worse, usually.”

“Except the Big Bad Wolf!” Grim interrupted.

“Huh?”

“He was my great great great… I forgot how many generations it’s been, but he was one of my ancestors.” Grim said, proudly. “That’s why I’m colouring him in…”

“So was like… Red Riding Hood the bad guy then?” I asked.

“Oh no, she was my great great great…”

“No… don’t say…”

“Oh she was an adult when they actually met. The story sets her as a kid, but then it also makes it so she didn’t see the wolf behind the crummy grandma disguise, when she was a lot more cunning and intelligent than that. Plus the Grandma was an abusive arsehole and Red was happy to see her gone. Basically the humans rewrote a lot of it.”

“They rewrote a lot of our history.” Abby added.

“So wait… if he was an ancestor… that means you weren’t turned into a werewolf? You were born that way?” I asked, intrigued but also baffled by all these new things I had to learn about this new world.

“Yup. Lucy and you were created and introduced into our world. Abby and I were born into it.” Grim replied.

“Oh cool!”

“Yeah but I’m still way older than you both…” Lucy muttered.

“Alright, Grandma!” Grim laughed, causing a crayon to fly across the table and hit him square on the forehead.

“Watch it.” Lucy warned. “I know more about your kind than even you do.”

“Oh yeah? Just how old are you, you look even younger than us. Damn vampires and their eternal youth.”

“She’s like… 90? Or something? Right?” I answered on behalf of her.

Lucy just nodded.

“Seriously? Damn… I thought I was joking about the Grandma bit…” Grim laughed.

Another crayon hit him in the face.

“Careful Grim… you probably don’t want to find out what she’ll throw when she runs out of crayons. Plus you’re limiting the colours she can use for her mysterious picture…” Abby laughed.

“So wait, you two age?” I asked.

“Vampires, and apparently undead like you, don’t age. Witches don’t because of their magic, they keep themselves youthful through spells. The more beastly amongst us age, but at a much slower rate than humans. We can live for a few hundred years usually.”

“So in like… forty years you’ll still look the same?”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s cool! So what about…”

The lights flickered again, though this time… they continued… constantly flickering on and on, never stopping… and before I could finish my sentence, suddenly the world around me plunged into darkness.

 

 

 

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So my patreon only has one chapter left and that is the epilogue! So this time next week, they'll get the first chapter of Little in Love 2! Which means this time in three weeks you'll get the first chapter of it! Anyone excited for it?

 

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them!

Thank you to all my patrons for their support!

Don't forget, the remaining chapters are available on my Patreon which can be found here if you go for the second tier.

New chapters of Parum Mortis every Wednesday/Sunday!

Also just a quick note: I don't mind people saving this story for personal reading. But I'd appreciate it if people didn't post it elsewhere, even if you're just suggesting it to other people. If you want to show others, please send them a link to the first page of this post! Thanks!

[LilRedAli]

I see the ‘Cliffhanger’ is back 😑Yay…..lol

[FloridaKid]

Ah, the dreaded cliffhanger nobody saw coming (except maybe all of us 🙂). About time to get anxious and kick some bad guys’ butts. Bring it.

LiL2…been looking forward to it since LiL ended. Can’t hold back the excitement!

[YourFNF]

On 11/8/2023 at 1:34 PM, LittleFallenPrincess said:

The lights flickered again, though this time… they continued… constantly flickering on and on, never stopping… and before I could finish my sentence, suddenly the world around me plunged into darkness.

 

[Little Lamb]

Heyo,

Just caught up with the whole story this night (yup, read it all in like... too few hours) and it's much much fun and so so polished.

I'm eager to see what comes next, your characters and world are built in a very purposeful and very believable way. Makes me wonder how much of the behind the curtains work we're not seeing at the text.

Also, I'm fracking enamored with all the characters, they're just the right amount of likeable and relatable and believable. I really dunno if I can choose a favorite...

Also I must ask... do any of you play or GM World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness games? The world built around this story, and other ones apparently, is so very much like those games' worlds. Maybe it's just a genre thing, but still...

Thanks for the awesome wonderful story. Hoping I get to see death put in their place by our zombie princess!

[LittleFallenPrincess]

On 11/9/2023 at 4:40 AM, LilRedAli said:

I see the ‘Cliffhanger’ is back 😑Yay…..lol

Yay! Aren't you so glad its back?

On 11/10/2023 at 4:35 AM, FloridaKid said:

Ah, the dreaded cliffhanger nobody saw coming (except maybe all of us 🙂). About time to get anxious and kick some bad guys’ butts. Bring it.

LiL2…been looking forward to it since LiL ended. Can’t hold back the excitement!

No one saw it coming... no one at all... :3

On 11/10/2023 at 7:46 PM, YourFNF said:

Ruh roh.

1 hour ago, Little Lamb said:

Heyo,

Just caught up with the whole story this night (yup, read it all in like... too few hours) and it's much much fun and so so polished.

I'm eager to see what comes next, your characters and world are built in a very purposeful and very believable way. Makes me wonder how much of the behind the curtains work we're not seeing at the text.

Also, I'm fracking enamored with all the characters, they're just the right amount of likeable and relatable and believable. I really dunno if I can choose a favorite...

Also I must ask... do any of you play or GM World of Darkness or Chronicles of Darkness games? The world built around this story, and other ones apparently, is so very much like those games' worlds. Maybe it's just a genre thing, but still...

Thanks for the awesome wonderful story. Hoping I get to see death put in their place by our zombie princess!

I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! Thank you so much for your kind words!

And thank you, that means a lot to me. I do a lot of planning with a lot of spreadsheets and notes and stuff regarding plot points, characters, everything. I do it for all my stories.

I don't think I've ever heard of those games. I think a lot of my inspiration for my characters and the world come from a bunch of different supernatural media. I've always loved everything supernatural and monster-y, so it was a lot of fun getting to explore that with this series.

[LittleFallenPrincess]

 

 

Chapter 37: Blackout

Parum Mortis – LittleFallenPrincess

 

 

“Umm… What the hell happened?” Abby asked.

I couldn’t see her face, I couldn’t see… well… anything right now. It was completely black all around me. With no windows or natural light due to privacy reasons, this room had plunged into utter darkness and the four of us were practically blind at this point.

We had all fallen backwards in surprise, away from the table we were sitting at, so we had no idea where each other were.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked.

No one answered.

“OI! Everyone check in!” I spoke a little louder this time.

“I’m okay!” They all answered, one by one.

“Good. Right, can you all hear my voice enough? Come towards it.” I instructed. I didn’t want to take the role of leader right now, as I was as terrified as they were, but I felt like I needed to.

“Got you…” Grim said, clutching on to my hand after blindly swiping in my general direction.

“I’m here…” Abby said, grabbing on to my forearm.

But that was it…

“Lucy? Luce, where are you?” I called out.

Two arms wrapped themselves around my back.

“I… I’m here…” Lucy whispered, sounding terrified.

“Right… Can anyone see at all? Even just a little bit?”

“Nope.” They each answered.

“But I thought…”

“You’d think so, all three of us should be able to see in the dark… which means this… this isn’t a blackout, this isn’t just a power cut… this is something else…” Abby said.

“Then we’re under attack.”

“Wait, seriously?” She replied.

“What else do you think it is?”

“Do… Do you think it’s the hunter? Do… Do you think he found me?” Lucy mumbled, trembling, her arms unable to sit still around my waist. She sounded just like a terrified child right now, so I reached my free arm around my back and pulled her back around, hugging her tightly.

“I’m not sure. It seems like that’s the most likely possibility though. So… be prepared. Stick together. This isn’t time to ‘split up and look for clues’, no, we stick together. So do not let go of whoever you’re holding on to.” I instructed.

I heard an agreement of ‘uh huh’s, and then started trying to think what the hell we could do. It’s not like I could just call Beth or Beatrice, and no one could see a thing.

“Luce…?” I said, having maybe the slightly inkling of an idea forming in my head.

“Y… yeah?” She replied, nervously.

“So you know you have really good hearing…?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you use that as a form of… echolocation? Bounce the sound off things to judge their position kinda thing?”

“I told you! I’m not a bat! We don’t turn into bats!” She whined.

“I know, but… could you do this?”

“I… I’ve never tried. I mean… I can track things with my hearing so… maybe?”

“Just need you to get out of this room. So if I throw something in a direction, you could tell me what kind of thing it sounds like maybe? I know it’s not much, and honestly it could be a stupid idea, but can we at least try?”

“Can do… but what are you going to throw? We can’t see anything…”

I reached out, away from the three of them, and found myself clutching something hard at about waist-height. Feeling the plastic tablecloth from before, I knew that this must be the table we were sitting at. Crawling my hand slowly across the surface, trying not to accidentally break the contact my friends had with my arms and waist, I searched around, trying to find things to use for my plan.

Thankfully, all the crayons and pencils we had been using were still on the table.

“We just need to get outside. Whatever this is, can’t affect outside… surely.”

“I guess. It’s the only plan we have right now, so we’ll go with it.” Grim replied.

“Right… ready?” I asked, clutching a handful of crayons and coloured pencils in my hand. “Hold on to my dress, I’ll need both hands. And be very very quiet…”

“Are we hunting wabbits?” Lucy joked.

“...Yes.” I replied, laughing along with the other two. It was nice to see Lucy joking at a time like this. A few years ago she would have been on the floor in the foetal position. “Right, shush, Luce… Listen out….”

I took a crayon and threw it forward.

A soft thud came from the darkness.

“Soft play area.” Lucy answered.

“That’s the opposite way from the exit.” Abby pointed out.

So I spun around on the spot, making sure everyone holding on to me didn’t let go, and threw another crayon in the opposite direction from the previous one.

This time it sounded like more of a sharp thud. But if you’d asked me what area of the playroom that sounded like… I wouldn’t be able to tell.

“Floor by the playpen.”

Abby seemed to be a pro at this, especially at remembering the layout of the playroom.

“Good. So with that information…” I threw another, this time it sounded a bit more like a crash.

“Ball pit.”

“That’s the way out!” I said, shuffling forward slowly, unable to see, until my shins hit something plastic. “There. We’ve reached the ball pit.”

“We need to go around the pit seventy degrees, then head straight forward.” Abby spoke up.

“We do?”

“Red here has a photographic memory.” Grim answered.

“Oh! Well that’s useful!”

“Yeah, I didn't really know where we were or which direction we were facing until we reached the ball pit.” Abby replied. “Now we’re here and I know which way we came from, I think I can guide us out.”

“Take it slowly though, okay?”

“Got it…”

And so Abby took the lead, walking on ahead, holding on to my dress and pulling me and the other two with her, around the ball pit and towards the exit.

 

I felt the flooring change under my feet and I knew we were now in the changing room.

“There, we made it to the next room. We get out of here and we…”

Suddenly I felt something tug on my dress and instantly felt… lighter. As if we… were missing a person.

“Shit, check in!” I called out.

“Here.” Abby called out.

“I’m… I’m here…” Lucy replied.

…Silence.

“Grim?”

“GRIM?” We all started yelling.

But… nothing.

“SHIT SHIT SHIT…” It was Abby’s turn to start panicking now.

“Right, I know this sounds heartless but there is literally nothing we can do about him right now. We need to make our way out, somehow get in contact with Beth and hopefully she can fix this and find Grim.”

“I… agreed.” Abby said, sighing.

So I threw another crayon and Lucy and Abby helped navigate us out of the changing room, back into the corridor leading back to the club.

 

Part way along the corridor, I felt a similar tug on my dress before… and again, I felt lighter.

“No… no… not again!” I cried out.

“Wh… wha… what’s happening?” Lucy asked, sounding scared out of her mind.

“Abby?” I called out.

But nothing.

“NO!” I screamed. “Luce… we need to get going. And fast. So if I throw, you push me in the right direction. I know it’ll be harder without Abby, but we need to get out and contact Beth. Got it?”

“Uh huh…”

Throwing a crayon, I waited a second before Lucy shuffled around behind me and started pushing me in what I assume is the right direction for the exit.

 

The smell of baby powder disappeared, and I knew we must be back in the club by now. It had that smell that most clubs had, despite having yet not been used as an actual nightclub.

“Nearly there, good job!” I called out behind me, trying to reassure my best friend as no doubt she was more scared than she had ever been in her long life.

“Do… do you think Beth will be able to save them…?” She replied, panic in her voice making it clear just how terrified she was.

“If she can’t… I will.”

“You’re always so strong… I’ve always been so jealous.”

“Oh hun, I’m not strong. I just don’t like seeing you and my other friends hurt. So I do what I can to help you all.”

“Yeah exactly, because you’re strong. You always try to do the right thing, despite what it may mean for you. I think it’s probably why that original spell to bring you back from the dead backfired.”

“You think?”

“Obviously it's just a guess, I’m no Witch. But yeah, you’re strong. And you don’t get enough recognition for it.”

“Oh shush.”

“No, seriously, you…”

Everything went quiet again. But Lucy still had her hands firmly planted on my back, so I quickly spun around and grabbed both her arms in case whatever it was that was attacking us came for her next… or even me.

“Hold on tight.” I ordered. “I feel something… something nearby… watching us…”

“Me too.” Lucy’s voice quivered in fear.

“COME ON, COME OUT AND STOP BEING A COWARD!” I yelled.

“Susie, don’t goad them!”

“No, if they want to fight, THEN COME OUT AND FIGHT ME!”

Suddenly… the lights came back on, illuminating the place, blinding me as the light pierced my eyes. I squinted a bit, trying to gently ease my vision back as it adjusted to the new light levels in the room, and found everything was blurry.

And as the image in front of me sharpened… I found I was alone.

 

“NO! No no no no no no no no…” I panicked, dropping to my knees as I frantically searched around the room for any sign of my best friend. “SHE WAS RIGHT HERE! I WAS HOLDING ON TO HER!”

A creepy, sinister laugh flowed around the room.

“Is that you, hunter? Here for round two?” I cried out.

But… silence. The laugh disappeared, the room going completely silent again.

Adrenaline surging through my body, I pounced to my feet and ran back the way I came from, hoping for some sign of the other two in the rooms we had passed through, in the ones I had lost them in. Corridor… nothing. Changing room… nothing… Playroom… nothing. I was all alone in this huge building, or at least I felt alone. Even with this mysterious intruder stalking me, I felt completely isolated as I ran back to the club, stopping in the middle of the dance floor and trying to think.

“AHA! BETH!” I cried out to myself, rushing over to the bar. Climbing over the counter, I scrambled over to the wall where the phone was, and quickly dialled in our home phone number… our old home number. If she wasn’t there, she’d probably be at Lucy’s, and thankfully I remembered her number too.

The phone rang for what seemed like an eternity… and just as I was about to give up, the click of the receiver echoed through my ear.

“H… Hello?” Came a familiar voice. It was distorted and crackly, as if there was some kind of interference, but I could make out the soothing voice of my girlfriend.

“BETH?” I cried out.

“Susie? What… what are you calling me here…”

“BETH, WE’RE UNDER ATTACK. THEY’VE TAKEN LUCE AND THE OTHERS!”

“Sus… di… you say… atta….Susi… wha…”

The distortion got worse, I could barely make out what she was saying.

And that’s when the line went dead.

“Beth? BETH? SHIT!” I screamed, slamming the phone back on the receiver as I clutched the air in frustration.

“Ah ah ah…” Came an ominous voice from the ether, as if it surrounded me.

“WHO IS THAT? WHO ARE YOU? WHERE ARE MY FRIENDS?” I yelled, preparing myself for a fight.

“This isn’t about them. Not yet anyway. This is between you…”

A shadow dashed across the club floor, too fast for me to see what the hell it was.

“And me…”

I jumped as the voice sounded like it was directly behind me.

Panicking, I ran to the side of the club, ready to defend myself, with my back to the wall so I couldn’t be flanked.

“No friends to help you. No girlfriend. Just you and me.”

An eruption of magic appeared in the middle of the dance floor, and once the sparkles and haze had died down… there was Beth, just standing there, a panicked look on her face.

“Baby?” She cried out, looking around for me.

“I… I’m here!” I replied, waving at her.

Her eyes locked onto me as she breathed a sigh of relief.

But as she took a single step forward, the world was plunged into darkness once again, and I suddenly felt… weightless… like I was being taken away…

 

 

 

 

========================================================

This just finished on Patreon today, so they get LiL2 on Wednesday. You've got a bit more to go until then, but a couple of weeks time you'll know who... or what is causing this blackout :3

 

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them!

Thank you to all my patrons for their support!

Don't forget, the remaining chapters are available on my Patreon which can be found here if you go for the second tier.

New chapters of Parum Mortis every Wednesday/Sunday!

Also just a quick note: I don't mind people saving this story for personal reading. But I'd appreciate it if people didn't post it elsewhere, even if you're just suggesting it to other people. If you want to show others, please send them a link to the first page of this post! Thanks!

[Moon3ye]

Either it's death that wants to get Susie.

The hunter with friends who wants revenge.

Or that weird ex of Lucy's who wants revenge.

[Little Lamb]

3 hours ago, LittleFallenPrincess said:

I don't think I've ever heard of those games. I think a lot of my inspiration for my characters and the world come from a bunch of different supernatural media. I've always loved everything supernatural and monster-y, so it was a lot of fun getting to explore that with this series

They are the TTRPGs that were inspired by and influenced most of the urban fantasy media in the 90s and early 2000's. Vampire the Masquerade, Mage the Ascension and the likes. Very fun to play, and very much the kind of story you've been telling us. I may be a bit of a WoD dork, but I wont sequester the thread for my most special interest.

Although if anyone wanna talk about it, my DMs are aliás open. (Wink, wink...) [is this how you do it? Forum Newbie here...]

 

Also, YAY!!! New chapter!!!!!!!!1!!!! I'll read it as ASAP.

[dmavn]

NNNNNNOOOOOooooo. 😭

[Kif]

I don't comment much, but I wanted to say I love your stories and I look forward to these updates every week! Or... however often it is, I've lost track 😅

[FloridaKid]

Yikes…whoever it is has a boatload of power to back them up. I know in retrospect it’ll make perfect sense and likely tie into some piece of the story or other LFP-universe-character I’ve overlooked. You’re good like that…or bad 😈…I haven’t completely made up my mind on that. It’s part of what I love about your work. I can’t recall ever being totally blindsided by characters or situations. They are always well thought out…sometimes I just miss the clues. 

[LittleFallenPrincess]

15 hours ago, Moon3ye said:

Either it's death that wants to get Susie.

The hunter with friends who wants revenge.

Or that weird ex of Lucy's who wants revenge.

OOoooooooh! I guess we'll find out next chapter... maybe! :3

14 hours ago, Little Lamb said:

They are the TTRPGs that were inspired by and influenced most of the urban fantasy media in the 90s and early 2000's. Vampire the Masquerade, Mage the Ascension and the likes. Very fun to play, and very much the kind of story you've been telling us. I may be a bit of a WoD dork, but I wont sequester the thread for my most special interest.

Although if anyone wanna talk about it, my DMs are aliás open. (Wink, wink...) [is this how you do it? Forum Newbie here...]

 

Also, YAY!!! New chapter!!!!!!!!1!!!! I'll read it as ASAP.

Oh I know of VtM, but not the others. I've always been into all things mythological and all legends and stuff since I was a little kid, and my work is definitely influenced by a lot of shows and books I've watched/read over the years.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

13 hours ago, dmavn said:

NNNNNNOOOOOooooo. 😭

*pats you* there there. Cliffhangers were to be expected

12 hours ago, Kif said:

I don't comment much, but I wanted to say I love your stories and I look forward to these updates every week! Or... however often it is, I've lost track 😅

Yay! Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy them! And I do two chapters every week, Wednesday and Sunday!

10 hours ago, FloridaKid said:

Yikes…whoever it is has a boatload of power to back them up. I know in retrospect it’ll make perfect sense and likely tie into some piece of the story or other LFP-universe-character I’ve overlooked. You’re good like that…or bad 😈…I haven’t completely made up my mind on that. It’s part of what I love about your work. I can’t recall ever being totally blindsided by characters or situations. They are always well thought out…sometimes I just miss the clues. 

Everything is connected. I'm very thorough with my planning and world building :3

And yes, most of the time I leave little breadcrumbs as clues, even if they aren't always noticed (which is like... most of the time :P)

[Little Lamb]

13 hours ago, LittleFallenPrincess said:

I've always been into all things mythological and all legends and stuff since I was a little kid

Nice to meet ya, fellow nerd. Have I already said you write very very well and I'm loving your stories?!

I'm really curious to see if this misterious atacker is what I'm thinking they are, given the clues so far. Or if it's gonna be another Cameo/reference to works I'm already looking foward to binging...

13 hours ago, LittleFallenPrincess said:

Oh I know of VtM, but not the others.

They are all offshoots from the same system/world and some of my favorite TTRPGS to GM and play. Although I wouldn't recommend them for anyone new to the hobby, their metaplot seems pretty much into your interest alley.

[YourFNF]

On 11/12/2023 at 2:29 PM, Moon3ye said:

r that weird ex of Lucy's who wants revenge.

My money's on that or somehow that bastard from the start came back

[LittleFallenPrincess]

 

 

Chapter 38: Hospital

Parum Mortis – LittleFallenPrincess

 

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

‘I wish someone would turn that damn alarm off, it’s getting annoying…’

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

‘Seriously…’

*Beep*

*Beep*

*Beep*

‘Okay… that’s it…’

I opened my eyes and was quickly blinded by the light.

“Oh my god, she’s awake!” I heard from across the room, followed by a rushing of footsteps across a hard floor.

I couldn’t see exactly who they were, but their voices sounded familiar. Thankfully, my vision was slowly returning as I squinted and tried to sit up.

“Be careful! Take it easy!”

“H… huh?” I responded as I opened my eyes fully.

Beth… Beatrice… Lucy… all three surrounding me as I lay in what looked like a hospital bed, in what looked like a hospital room. As I turned to my side, I saw one of those machines that was hooked up to me, beeping. I was also now wearing a hospital gown… and nothing else.

“I… where am I? What happened?” I asked, my throat as dry as a desert, coughing and spluttering.

I was handed a cup of something, and without hesitation due to my intense thirst, I took it and started gulping it down as quickly as possible.

“Slow sips, sweetie…” Beth said, smiling at me. But… but were there tears in her eyes? She looks like she’s been crying…

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Lucy squealed, clutching on to my arm and squeezing it.

I looked down to see my arm lay by my side, covered in cuts and bruises.

“What… what happened?” I asked.

Beth shuffled closer and put her hand on my cheek, in that same way she always does when she wants to make me feel special.

“Sweetie… you were in a car accident.” She explained.

“I… what?” I replied, confused.

“You were rammed off the road by someone from my past.”

“I…”

Memories flooded my vision, memories of an argument… rain… driving really fast… the accident…

“He… he said you were…”

“A dyke? Yeah…” Beth replied.

“No… a Witch… And…”

“A Witch? No, sweetie, he didn’t. He called me a bitch, not a Witch.”

“Then he outed you…”

“He can’t out me to my own girlfriend, silly!” Beth laughed, cupping my face with her hand as she edged a bit closer to me in the bed.

“No… as a… Mummy…”

“A Mummy? Like… the Egyptian kind or the kids kind? Because last I checked I’m still very much alive, and you know I’m not interested in having kids.” She replied.

“But… no… Lucy… she… was a…”

“Was a what?” Lucy asked.

“A little…”

“A little what? I mean I know I’m not that tall, but you’ve never made fun of my height before… Are you okay hun?” She asked.

“You were a vampire!”

“A vampire? I wish! Vampires are so cool! You know I’ve always loved the old horror movies. Dracula is like my biggest crush…”

‘Wait… Lucy isn’t bi…’

“But… you were wanting a Mummy…?”

“Maybe a hot vampire girlfriend, Mummies are the wrong kind of undead monster for me, sorry girl. All those bandages and stuff… eww. Give me a bloodsucker any day though…” Lucy joked.

“But we… Bea… she was also a Witch… and she knew the Devil…” I felt an intense pain in my head.

“You were out for a while, sweetie. Maybe you had a bunch of dreams?” Beth suggested.

“Is she… you know… is her brain… damaged?” Beatrice asked her sister.

“Bea! Don’t say that!” Beth replied.

“Girl went through the windshield. It’s a miracle she’s alive with only a bunch of cuts and bruises and she won’t have any scars… but maybe there’s some internal damage too?”

“It’s okay…” I said, trying to move the topic along, I didn’t like them arguing and it was making me feel uncomfortable, especially if there’s a possibility everything I dreamt of was just that… a dream.

The magic… the kink… the hotel… all of it…

 

I took another sip of water and examined my surroundings. Typical hospital room, all to myself, which was weird. I thought these places had like… wards? But no, I had my own private room, with its door wide open.

Looking out through the open door, I saw a janitor clearing some trash from the floor. He was scruffy, hairy and… downright… grim.

And just as I started to have more visions flood my mind, I was snapped back to reality as a nurse walked in, wearing a light blue nurse’s dress, though this one was a bit different than the ones I remember seeing the last time I was in hospital. It had a little pinny on it too… which hasn’t been a thing since the 60’s… right? But it’s the 80’s now, things are a lot more modern…

“Oh I see she’s awake! I’ll let Dr Helena know! How are you feeling, hun?” The redheaded nurse said as she walked over and pulled a thermometer out of her pocket, placing it in my mouth and holding her hand to my forehead.

She was… gorgeous… but she also looked insanely familiar. I just… I couldn’t place where I knew her from.

“Temps normal. We’ll have to run a few tests before we can discharge you, though you’re very lucky to have escaped your accident with such minor injuries! Well… except…”

“Ah… not yet.. Please… let her come to a bit more first…” Beth interrupted the Nurse.

“Okay… I’ll let the Doc inform her.” Said the Nurse, before she quickly left the room, her high heels clacking against the tiled floor.

“What did she mean…? What’s up with me?” I asked, nervously.

“I’ll let the Doctor explain, sweetie. It’s nothing bad… it… just… it’ll take some getting used to…” Beth explained, trailing off at the end.

“What, can’t I walk or something?”

“Oh no, not that serious… just… I’ll let the Doctor explain… I’m just glad you’re okay, baby…”

‘Baby…’ The way she called me that… it felt so natural and wonderful and amazing and I… no… it was all a dream…

“What… What happened to the guy?” I asked.

“He… he died. He wasn’t so fortunate.”

“Oh…” I said, my voice deflating as I sighed.

“Don’t be sorry about him. It was his own fault. He wanted to date me, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. Then he found out I was a lesbian and dating another woman and… well yeah…”

“How are you feeling, kiddo?” Beatrice asked.

“Head… groggy. Otherwise… okay actually. For an undead girl…” I joked.

“Undead? Sweetie, you died for like two minutes in the ambulance. You’re not a zombie.”

“I… I don’t know why I said that…”

“Silly girl…” Beth joked.

“Ah! Here’s my little miracle! Up and awake it seems!” A feminine voice came from the doorway.

We all looked over to see who it was, and in the doorway stood a gorgeous blonde woman, wearing a lab coat and holding a clipboard. Underneath the lab coat she wore a black shirt with the top buttons undone, and matching black pants. Her hair was tied up into a bun and she wore large black glasses that perched gently on her nose.

“Doctor Helena, she’s awake!” Beth announced to her.

“I see that! And how is she?” The Doctor asked.

“She’s talking, no sign of damage to her brain, although…”

“Although?” Dr Helena asked as she walked over next to the bed, looking down at me from my side.

“Though she’s been imagining things…”

“That’s normal. Could just be a concussion.”

The beeping of the machine next to me continued, but was made much more obvious with the following silence.

“Anyway… I just want to run a few tests to make sure she’s okay, then I think we can discharge her. You’ll have to keep a close eye on her, okay? Just in case there are any latent issues we have missed.”

“You’ll have to tell her about…”

“Oh you didn’t already?”

“Can someone please tell me what’s up with me? What happened to me?” I blurted out, desperate for answers.

“Well as you know, you were involved in a serious collision. You’re very lucky to be alive, especially with such superficial injuries. However… you have suffered some injury to your bladder.” The Doctor explained.

“My bladder? What… what does that mean?”

“It means that without correction, you’ll most likely need incontinence products for the rest of your life.”

“In… incontinence… what, like… nappies?”

“We call them pads, but… yes, if you want to use that term.”

“You said ‘correction’... what do you mean by that?”

“Well there is a procedure…”

“I think you should do it, sweetie…” Beth said, clutching my hand.

“And what is this ‘procedure’?” I asked.

“We correct the damage caused, meaning you’ll gain full control once again after you’ve recovered.”

“Why… why didn’t you just do that when I was unconscious?”

“I need your consent, Miss Taylor. Especially considering…”

“Can you please stop being so vague and just tell me what it entails?” I growled, clutching my fist in frustration.

“Like all surgery… it carries a lot of risks. Especially this procedure. As it wasn’t life threatening, we waited for you to wake up before seeking your approval.”

“Do you mind giving us a bit so we can have a private chat about it, Doc?” Beth asked the Doctor.

“Of course. Discuss it and decide. We have an opening within the hour if you decide you want to do this, otherwise it could be a long wait… so please don’t take too long.” The Doctor explained before they left the room, leaving the four of us alone again.

“So… I’m incontinent now, huh?”

“Yes, sweetie. But you don’t have to be. You don’t have to deal with that issue if you choose to go with the surgery. No soggy nappies, no changing, no dealing with the difficulties.”

“No being teased for being a baby…” Lucy said, which was… weird…

“But… they said there are risks… which means there’s a chance of death.” I replied.

“Yes, but you’d be happier…” Beth said.

‘Okay… that’s even weirder…’

“Happier… dead?”

“Happier without this issue. Happier without being humiliated. Happier without all the stress.”

The machine beeped a bit quicker as I felt my heart racing.

‘I think… I think I am having an anxiety attack… great…’

“Are you okay, baby? Sorry… you don’t want to be called that… Do you?”

“I… actually… it’s nice…”

“But you don’t want it really… Do you?” Beth continued.

“Maybe… maybe I do…”

“But then you’d be stuck in these nappies… playing along with my…”

And that’s when it all snapped into place.

 

“DOCTOR!” I screamed.

Dr Helena rushed in, her clipboard in hand, looking worried.

“What is it, Susan?” She replied, with a worried expression on her face.

“Stop. Stop it now.” I demanded.

“Stop what?”

“This. All this.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Doctor ‘Helena’? Seriously? That was the best you could do?”

“I don’t know what…”

“Not Doctor Osiris? Doctor Hades? Doctor… Death?”

The ‘Doctor’ dropped the clipboard on the bed and dropped their head down in frustration, their neat bun quickly becoming messy as strands of their hair fell forward, hanging in front of their face.

“Haha… oh Susie…” They said, sounding a lot more sinister now.

Taking a deep breath and lifting their head backwards, pulling their loose hairs back from their face, they quickly tied it back into the neat bun.

“What gave it away?”

 

 

 

========================================================

So the first chapter of Little in Love 2 is available on my Patreon :3

 

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them!

Thank you to all my patrons for their support!

Don't forget, the remaining chapters are available on my Patreon which can be found here if you go for the second tier.

New chapters of Parum Mortis every Wednesday/Sunday!

Also just a quick note: I don't mind people saving this story for personal reading. But I'd appreciate it if people didn't post it elsewhere, even if you're just suggesting it to other people. If you want to show others, please send them a link to the first page of this post! Thanks!

[Moon3ye]

Ha, I say death.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

[Little Lamb]

I knew it!!! I Fracking knew it!!!

Damn!!! These mind games were good. Made me consider for a blip that you were pulling the 'it was all a dream' plot. But still, death is wanker...

[FloridaKid]

Retrospect. Always makes sense in retrospect. I figured it had to be one of the earlier characters and Death makes sense. Did I miss where the anti-Death warding stopped working? I must have… 🧐

[Little Lamb]

11 hours ago, FloridaKid said:

Did I miss where the anti-Death warding stopped working?

Yeah, it wasn't anywhere. But all that was said is that THE DEVIL made it work and skadadled after.

I dunno if it ever actually worked, as there were some time shenanigans also going on.

Maybe death also have friends? Or Luci was playing a prank? It surely was sudden... but it promises some great resolutions, I think.

[YourFNF]

Damn I was not expecting this one mainly cause it was Lou who did the warding but it weirdly makes sense.

[LittleFallenPrincess]

 

 

Chapter 39: Consent

Parum Mortis – LittleFallenPrincess

 

 

“So… what was it that gave it away?”

“Actually… it was the beeping.” I answered.

“The beeping?” Death asked, confused by my answer.

“They don’t do that in real life. You should know!”

“I… look, I’m not usually around when the machine is recording a beating heart… only when it’s stopped beating. I…”

“Learned most of it from movies? I figured, with the stupid Nurse’s uniform.” I said, rolling my eyes at them.

“Wait, that too?”

“And the way Beth and my friends talked to me. And the name… Helena… seriously? ‘Oh let’s just take the Norse Goddess of Death and turn it into a normal name…’ Like did you seriously have to be so on the nose? You could have picked something normal like Claire Smith, or even something stupid like Rose Woods and it would have been less obvious than ‘Helena’.”

Death just looked at me, unimpressed.

It was at that moment that I realised the rest of the room had frozen. Like… completely frozen in time. Beth, Beatrice and Lucy were all frozen still, you couldn’t even see them breathing.

“Are they…?” I asked, pointing at everyone.

“Fakes. Can’t very well use the real versions when they’re still alive. And the paperwork I’d have to fill out if they were dead just to borrow them… Honestly, Heaven is just as bad as Hell when it comes to bureaucracy.”

“Well I’ll give it to you… they’re good fakes.”

“At least you appreciate my craftsmanship…” Death sighed.

“So you created this whole situation, this whole plot… for what?”

“So you could make a choice.”

“You mentioned consent before. Can you not… ‘reap’ me or whatever it is, without my consent?”

“Not when you’re technically between life and death. When you first died… yes, I could’ve taken you at any moment, even if you kicked and screamed. But as soon as your damn Witch girlfriend resurrected you… I could still reap you… but only with your consent.”

“So what’s this choice? Live or die? I mean… that’s not a difficult choice…” I laughed awkwardly.

“Before you do, you have to see the consequences of your decision.”

“You told me when I died that I’d go to Heaven. I assume it’s just big fluffy white clouds, angels playing harps, rainbows shooting out of people’s butts?”

“I mean… if any Seraph heard you say that in Heaven, you’d be cast down immediately…”

“So they’ve got sticks up their butts…”

“Only when it comes to joking about their ‘paradise’, otherwise they’re actually really nice. Mostly. Sadly most of the fun ones got cast down after the rebellion.”

“So what’s Heaven like?” I asked.

“Why don’t I show you…?”

Death raised their hand and waved it in front of my eyes, and after a brief flash of light that blinded me temporarily, I found myself somewhere I never expected to be.

 

…Heaven.

“So this is…”

“The Silver City, yes.” Death confirmed.

Honestly… it looked like something you’d imagine reading one of the fantasy books with elves in it. Great big white spires, marble buildings, everything… perfect. Gold inlay decorated every bit of architecture. The air was crisp… but warm. And not too warm… it felt like the perfect temperature. I’d imagine elves or something lived here, but instead… a bunch of humans walked about, living their lives normally, chatting and laughing with each other, not a single sour face in sight. And instead of the very open hospital gown I was just wearing, I was now in my usual normal clothes… with no nappy underneath, which I must admit was weird after wearing them constantly for a month.

“Are we…?” I said, waving at the people walking past. But no one responded or even acknowledged my existence.

“They can’t see us. We’re here on a visitor’s pass. And they don’t give those out often. So as to not scare the inhabitants of Heaven… they can’t see, hear or touch us.” Death explained.

“So we’re like… ghosts?” I asked.

“Sort of. But without the fun haunting stuff.”

“Shame. I’d love to go scare the crap out of my Grandma…” I giggled.

“But you got on well with her…” Death looked at me, confused.

“And…?”

“Sometimes I don’t understand you humans…” Death said with a sigh. “Anyway, this… is Heaven. Everyone lives in a neighbourhood, everyone can travel to any other neighbourhood, and you can travel to any place on Earth that has ever existed… albeit a copy of it. If you desire something, it will be given, if you want to experience something, you can… everything you want could be yours if you so choose it…”

“And why can’t I continue living, have a whole life with Beth, then eventually end up in Heaven and experience all this at a much later point?”

“Because firstly… you can’t be sure you’ll still be granted entry when you die in the future. You were deemed a good person when you died, you can’t be certain you’ll stay good the rest of your life. And secondly… the longer you stay on Earth, the less human you become…”

“I’m becoming… less human? So what am I becoming?”

“At the moment, you’re not quite human, not quite a monster. The longer you spend in your state of undeath, the less human you become.”

“And what happens when I’m technically not human? Am I not allowed into Heaven at that point?”

“No. Only humans are allowed here, as you can see…”

I looked around at the happy people walking around… not a single werewolf, vampire or anything around… just… humans.

“Where do I go if I’m not human then?”

“Well as a member of the undead, I’m not sure when you’ll properly die. I’m not even sure you can expire like most do, you would probably only die by violence or accident or whatever.”

“Yes… but then where do I go?” I repeated.

“I…”

“...Hell?”

“No, don’t be silly. Because then where would the demons go?”

“D… Demons? Holy shit… I completely didn’t realise that if the Devil is real… demons must be too…”

Mind. Blown.

Death couldn’t be bothered with my mini panic attack, so they continued talking, as if I wasn’t just questioning everything all over again.

“Look, if you die as a monster, you don’t go to Heaven or Hell. You go… well… you just go…”

“You don’t know, do you?” I accused them.

“NO! OKAY? No… I don’t know where the hell we go! I was created at the start of the universe, alongside a handful of Gods and Goddesses… and we have no idea where the hell we go when we die. We have no idea where any supernatural entity goes when we die. And honestly it scares the shit out of me. Thanks for giving me an existential crisis… fucking human… you’ve been a thorn in my side ever since I sat with you on the side of the road that night. I shouldn’t have let you stick around for a week for your funeral, if I hadn’t… your girlfriend would have had a much harder time resurrecting you, and I wouldn’t be chasing you down for like a month… fucking Lazarus’s.”

“Sorry…”

“It’s okay, kiddo. Just… I can’t promise if it will be good or bad if you die as one of us. If you die now, whilst there is some human in you… you’ll be guaranteed a spot in Heaven. You know exactly what awaits you.” Death said, waving their arm, signalling the peaceful paradise that surrounded us.

“What about Beth?”

“What about her?”

“She’s not… human… right?”

“Witches are complicated. Some Witches are humans who have been granted magic by others or acquired it through other means. They’re still human though. Beth… she was born a Witch, someone with innate magical talent. Technically… she’s not human…”

“So when she dies… she won’t go to Heaven…”

“No…”

“Then this wouldn’t be Heaven.”

“Huh?” Death looked confused once again.

“This would be Hell.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Living in paradise, without the love of my life… without my soulmate…?”

“Soulmates don’t exist. I’d know.” 

They looked so smug. But I knew I was right.

“Don’t care. She is my soulmate. I know it. And to be stuck in this without her… would be hell for me.”

“So is that your choice?” They asked.

“I…”

“Don’t finish that thought. Not yet.” Death said, holding out their hand.

I had no reason to not trust them. They were literally letting me choose, and they broke the obsession spell… so I reached out and grabbed their hand.

It was cold. I knew I was expecting it, but it still came as a shock as I felt no life behind their skin. Even for an undead person, I had some life… but Death… there was nothing.

They then walked me over to a little house by the side of the path, but as soon as we passed the wall surrounding it, it transformed from a beautiful marble abode to a quaint little cottage… that looked surprisingly like my Grandma’s house up in the Lake District.

“Wait… is this…?”

“This is where your Grandma lives…” Death answered.

“I… I can…?”

“Visitor’s pass. You need to visit someone to get one…”

“So can she… see us?”

“Now we’re in her own little property… yeah… just… don’t expect…”

“Button!” A familiar voice came from the direction of the cottage.

“G… Grandma?” I said, my heart beating a mile a minute, or at least it felt like it was. My whole body stood alert and excited at the prospect of seeing my Grandma again. 

I looked over and yeah… I think I was expecting my Grandma. The cute old wrinkly Grandma that I grew up with. But this must be what Death was about to tell me… instead of the senior I knew, I saw a gorgeous young woman that I had only seen in photographs. She was the spitting image of my Dad when he was younger, and she looked very similar to me now.

“G… Grandma? Is… is that you?” I asked the familiar woman, gobsmacked by how amazing she looked in her youth.

“Like the look? It’s not like I was going to stay an old woman who could barely grip a cup of tea and whose hip hurt every winter… so I decided to roll back to a previous version of me!” Grandma replied, posing at me, showing off her youthful body.

“You look fantastic! Oh my god!” I said as I ran up to the door where she was standing and pounced into her arms, hugging her tightly. 

Her hugs hadn’t even changed in the afterlife… it was so… reassuring.

“Thanks sweetie, you look so grown up now! I can’t believe it’s been so long!”

“I know, I miss you every day.”

“Hows… hows your parents?” Grandma asked.

“They… I don’t know.” I sighed, as if all the excitement and happiness had been let out of me, like a deflated balloon.

“Why? What happened?”

“I… Gran… I’m gay…”

“Well that was obvious. But that makes me think that they didn’t accept you, am I right?”

“Mum didn’t. She left and went no contact. Dad… he tried to be supportive… but in the end he drifted away and stopped talking to me. I think Mum got to him.”

“Those little shits… when they get here, IF they get here, I’m going to give them a piece of my mind…” She said, squeezing me tightly. She had always been protective of me, and… well… I missed it.

“You’re awfully okay with the whole ‘my granddaughter is a lesbian’ thing…” I commented, whilst still not getting out of her hug.

“Pff. You think your generation invented it? My first relationship was with a girl…”

Grandma looked so smug all of a sudden as I backed away quickly, surprised by this revelation. 

“Wait… what? Why did you never tell me?”

“Because I wanted you to find out for yourself. I wanted you to figure out who you are and what you wanted, plus I was worried your mother would think I was corrupting you…”

“But you married Granddad…”

“You don’t just stop being bisexual when you find a man to settle down with. In fact, when my Ralph died, your Aunt Viv and I…”

“Wait… no… is that why I call her Aunt Viv? Because I knew she wasn’t blood related…”

“Oh yes. We kept it shush for a while. And I knew you’d eventually come out.”

“You knew?”

“Oh yes. Ages ago.”

“I wish you had said something.”

“Me too, hun, me too. But I’m glad you found yourself anyway. But I have to ask… how are you here? What happened? I heard I was getting a visitor… are you… are you dead?”

“Not quite…”

“That sounds like a long story. Why don’t you come in, I’ll pop the kettle on and we can have a nice cup of tea whilst you tell me everything, just like old times.”

“I… I’d love that Gran, thanks.”

“And you, Mr… Miss… Umm… you’re very different from when I saw you…” She said, turning to Death who was standing awkwardly in the background of our tearful reunion.

“I apologise for that, Mrs Taylor.” Death said. “And please, just call me… Helena.” They said, winking at me.

“Okay Helena, would you like to come in for a cup too?” Grandma offered.

“I shouldn’t really…”

“Oh come on…”

My Grandma always had this amazing ability to convince anyone to come have a cup of tea with her. It was like her superpower. She’d always listen and help and damn… I didn’t realise I missed her this much…

Tears started running down my face as Gran walked off into the house, not even allowing Death themselves to turn down her offer.

“You okay hun?” Death asked, which was unexpected to say the least.

“Yeah… I… I missed her.”

“And you may not get to see her again if you don’t come here…”

“Don’t.” I snapped at them.

“What?” Death replied, taken aback.

“That’s a low blow. You’re better than this. Or at least you’re supposed to be.”

“Sorry…” I think I heard genuine regret in their voice as they apologised.

“Just… let’s go talk to my Grandma, then I’ll make my decision, okay?”

 

 

 

 

========================================================

Two more chapters left! Well one and the epilogue. Chapter 40 on Wednesday and the Epilogue on Sunday. Then it'll be Little in Love 2!

 

I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! Please leave likes and comments and all that fun stuff, I love reading them!

Thank you to all my patrons for their support!

Don't forget, the remaining chapters are available on my Patreon which can be found here if you go for the second tier.

New chapters of Parum Mortis every Wednesday/Sunday!

Also just a quick note: I don't mind people saving this story for personal reading. But I'd appreciate it if people didn't post it elsewhere, even if you're just suggesting it to other people. If you want to show others, please send them a link to the first page of this post! Thanks!

[YourFNF]

Not going to lie having to make a call like this would be one of the toughest parts of discovering that an afterlife actually exists. Like our girl I'd want to be with my people but unlike her my challenge would be not wanting to spend eternity locked in one place... Honestly void might be best with how little I seem to like being conscious... Although that might just be the capitalism here on Terra? IDK...

Ironically with bot my QPR and girlfriend that would probably mean southbound.... Not sure about my Gg/L little sister she might be headed to the Silver City/Celestial Mountains...

Personally I might be southbound regardless though if not just void considering that I kinda sorta indirectly told El to fuck off when I left his club.... 😅🤷‍♀️💀

Honestly though would probably just ask whichever divine judge or reaper or celestial bureaucrat handling my case that I stand ready to account and that I ask only to be at peace after any red on my ledger is dealt with.... 😅🤷‍♀️