Tw: physical/psychological abuse, mistreatment, malnourishment, suicide thoughts, abandonment, hypothermia, amputation/mutilation, rat scratching/biting

○●○●○●○●○●○●○

Cold. It was so cold. Cold and wet. It was raining and the grass was wet, just as the cardboard box that was on it, and the bitty inside of the box. A small bitty, a little skeleton covered in black goop, curled up in a ball, shaking. His head hurt. How did he end up here ? Oh, right... he was thrown out of a car and hit the ground... he didn't get up, staying on the bottom of his box, he was pretty sure it was sealed with tape anyway, but even if it wasn't he really didn't have neither the energy nor the will to move and get out. So he stayed here, thinking about everything that lead him to this moment...

He was born in a shelter three years ago, a very nice place with kind staff and comfy enclosures, he wouldn't have minded staying here a bit longer, but a woman came in when he was two months old, claiming she wanted a bitty for her son's birthday, a calm one who wouldn't be too high maintenence. He had been selected, being one of the calmest bitties in the shop. He remembered being excited, pressing himself against the glass to see the woman who would take him to his new home, he couldn't wait ! Oh how he wished he hadn't been this calm in the shop... maybe he would have been saved...

The house was big, his new owners seemed to have money. He had wondered if his enclosure would be big too, bigger than the one in the shop at least, but it had merely been a hamster cage with a wheel, two bowls, and a sort of box where he could sleep inside, clearly not an appropriate enclosure for a bitty. But it was okay ! Surely it was only temporary ! They just hadn't had time to buy all the materials needed ! And the boy had seemed so happy to see him when he had come back from school, so surely he would have gotten a better cage soon ! He just had to wait... but he never got a better cage...

It was okay, the boy was nice, even though he hadn't given him a name, he still took care of him, giving him food and treats, mostly human and monster food, which he shouldn't have been eating because of how much magic and protein they contained, he should have eaten bitty food instead, but he hadn't been sick so surely it was okay. Until he threw up and couldn't get up for two days. They had to take him to a vet specialized in bitty care. They weren't happy about that. The boy had been mad. He didn't want a bitty that would be sick, he wanted a healthy one, not a weak one, but it was to late now, he couldn't return him. He had to keep him, whether he liked it or not. And he must have really disliked it, since he hadn't been so nice anymore after that...

The bitty had wondered if he had done something wrong, why wasn't his friend paying attention to him anymore ? He wanted to go out of his cage, to walk around, the wheel wasn't enough and the cage was too small to properly exercise... he was hungry too, feeding time was only once a week now, and even if it was still human food and had a lot of magic he still needed to eat more often... he felt so weak like that... and the weaker he got the more displeased his owner got, and when he was displeased he was... violent... he didn't like it when his owner got violent...

But his owner wasn't there anymore, he was alone in his wet box now, thrown out of the car, they were supposed to go on vacation, but here he was... alone and cold... not afraid, he was too tired to be afraid, and honestly ? He felt peaceful. He was probably going to die, and that was alright, and didn't want to live anymore anyway, he had stopped wanting to one year ago, and it was finally his time... he closed his eye, waiting for everything to dissappear, to fall asleep and never wake up again... he could hear the rain against the box, the weight of the water made the roof collapse and it all fell on him, but he didn't care, he was already wet, and he won't stay wet for long anyway...

He heard footsteps. Were his owners coming back ? No, of course not, why would they ? They had already made up their mind. He didn't move, waiting for the footsteps to go away and let him die in peace... he heard something touch his box, not lift it, but simply open it a little, surely to look inside. Maybe it was an animal looking for food. The bitty would have preferred a painless death, but he didn't have enough force to fight back an animal, so it didn't really matter what he wanted.

- Hey, uh.. I know you said the house is full but... no, no it's not a cat this time... listen he really needs help, I don't even know if he's still alive... I.. you'll see when I get home, just... I'll take care of everything, promise... alright, see ya...

He heard a muffled voice, a male voice from the sound of it, but he didn't hear any answer so he assumed he must have been talking to a phone. Was he talking about him ? Was he going to take him home ? He didn't want to go to his home... he didn't want to go to anyone's home, not again... he didn't like homes... he just wanted to die... please let him die...

The box was lifted, he pressed his eye shut, heard some noise, then it was warm. The sudden change in temperature made him shiver as he drifted into unconsciousness...

He had already experienced extreme temperatures, it wasn't new to him, he remembered it so clearly...

They were in the snow, his first time seeing snow, he was amazed, everything was so white and cold ! He had been at his owners' home for three months now, it was before he threw up, before his friend started to change. They were outside together, the bitty was on a table covered with this strange powder, shaking a little, it was his first time being so cold, so hopefully they wouldn't stay too long outside, bitties needed warmth after all, he couldn't stay outside for too long.

He had heard the mom call for her son, saying that dinner was ready. He got up, lifted his arms to be picked up, but his owner had gone straight past him, not paying attention. Had he not seen him ? The bitty watched him go inside and sit at the table, he could see them through the window, maybe he had thought that he was already inside... ? The bitty looked down, the table was high, but there was a lot of snow and he had already noticed it was a soft material, jumping would surely be safe... he had looked at his owner one last time before taking a big breath and making the great jump. Just as planned, the fall didn't hurt, but what he hadn't thought about was the amount of snow in which he was practically buried now... he had tried to scream, but had quickly shut his mouth: last time he had spoken, he had been thrown against a wall, "pets don't talk" his owner had said, so he didn't talk... he had tried to get up on his own, to walk, but it was so cold and his hand, feet and tentacles were hurting so much he felt like he was burning, he was cold but he was hot at the same time, he didn't feel good...

He had laid down for what seemed to be an eternity when he had felt a hand picking him up, "forgot you were there" he heard before feeling the warmth of the house around him. Then he was back in his cage, still shivering, he had went to hide in his little box, seeking some warmth, and it had been the first time he lost consciousness, but it had gone unnoticed, as everyone was sleeping and he was awake by the morning...

The second extreme temperature he had ever experienced was heat. A burning one. His owner's friends had come to visit him, he didn't like it when they visited, they always wanted to play with him as if he was some sort of toy... and this day they had decided to put him on a round platter and put him in that big box in the kitchen, the one his owners used to heat up their food, a microwave if he recalled correctly. He hated it. He had felt his body burning and boiling from the inside, everything was spinning and the platter was hot too. It was only thirty seconds, but it had felt like hours. He had almost regretted the snow...

It wasn't raining anymore when he opened his eye, it wasn't cold either, it was warm... he looked around, he was inside, there was a couch in front of him and a fireplace on its left. He was lying down, he tried to move but his arms were too weak to support his weight, so he stayed here on what seemed to be a pillow, and that was when he noticed he wasn't wearing his clothes anymore and was instead rolled up in a soft cloth. He was dry too.

- Hey there buddy, glad to see you're awake..

The same voice said. The bitty looked up, a white skeleton with tar leaking from his sockets was looking at him, sitting on the other end of the couch his pillow was apparently on. He had a relieved smile on his face. What was he relieved for ? Why did he bring him to his house ?

The bitty let out a tiny groan, burying himself under the cloth, he didn't want to think about what this stranger wanted for now, he was still so tired...

He heard footsteps.

- He's awake ?

- Yeah, he woke up just now.

The bitty forced himself to open his eye again, looking at the new skeleton who just entered the room, this one wore a hoodie and a scarf, he had two red eyelights, the left one having some blue in the middle.

- Where's Horror ?

The one with the hoodie asked.

- In the kitchen, I bought some bitty food after bringing him home, thought he might be hungry.

Bitty food ? It would be the first time he ate bitty food... he wondered what it tasted like...

- Does he have a name ?

- I looked on Google, it says he's a Corrupted Nightmare bitty, so I guess his name should be Nightmare ?

Nightmare ? That was.. an original name... he could get used to it.

- You didn't ask him ?

- He was sleeping.

A third skeleton entered the room, he was tall, with a hole in his skull and a bright red eye. He had a little bowl in his hand. He pointed at the bitty and made a strange movement with his hand, to which the hoodied skeleton responded with a nod.

- Your food's here bud, you want help to get up ?

The leaking skeleton asked. Nightmare, since it was apparently his name, looked at him tiredly before nodding. What was the point of being cautious of them anyway ? It wasn't like they could be worse than his owners, if he could still call them that. The skeleton reached out to him and scooped him in his hand, carefully, much more carefully than when the kid would grab him, and made sure he was still rolled in the cloth. He helped him sit on his lap and took the bowl from the big skeleton. It looked like porridge, a good choice, it wouldn't be too heavy on his stomach and was easy to eat, no need to chew too much. He slowly grabbed the little spoon that was handed to him, shaking slightly, but he managed to put it in the bowl and eat his first bite. It was... different from human food, it was softer, it didn't make his soul beat too fast with the excessive magic, he actually could enjoy his food as simple as it was.

- So.. your name's Nightmare ?

The bitty nodded, not wanting to explain that he didn't have a name until now.

- Okay.. well, nice to meet you Nightmare, I'm Killer, the big guy right here is Horror, and that is Dust.

Killer introduced everyone. Nightmare looked at them for a second before turning his attention back to his food, he was hungry, and it actually tasted good.

- How did you end up in this box ? If you're comfortable saying, of course.

Killer asked, and Nightmare frowned. What was he supposed to say ? That his owners left him there ? Would they try to find them if they learned he had owners ? He didn't want to go back with them, and he was pretty sure they didn't want him to come back anyway. He opened his mouth, but as he tried to make a sound he felt his throat itching and only managed to cough. Well, of course he couldn't talk, he hadn't talked in three years, his body wasn't used to it anymore.

Killer didn't insist, the bitty looked weak, he probably needed to rest and maybe warm up to them before he told them more about himself. He gently rubbed his back, trying to give him a little more warmth as he was still shivering, but stopped when he saw him tense and freeze.

- You're okay ? Did I hurt you ?

He asked with worry, but Nightmare did not answer.

His back hurt so much, all the time. He really hated his owner's friends, and his owner wasn't better anyway as he never did anything to prevent that. He was missing two tentacles out of the four, the friends wanted to see if it would grow back like a lizard tail, so they plucked two out, and they waited. They waited a few days, and eventually the tentacles grew back much to their delight. Nightmare had never felt such an excruciating pain before, his tentacles weren't meant to be plucked out like that ! He had nerves in those ! It was like they ripped off  his arm or leg ! He wanted to scream, but speaking would have only made it worse. Pets didn't talk after all.

But even without talking, they didn't stop. At first they would rip them off, but then they wanted to see what would happen if the tentacles weren't cut from the base but from somewhere else, so they starting using scissors, and cut them at different length each time. The more the tentacles were cut the weaker they would grow back, being slimmer each time, until they stopped growing back. The owner and his friends weren't happy with that, but it was such a relief for Nightmare, he didn't even know if the tentacles would grow back one day, but for now, he was better off without them... if only he hadn't had these back pains... the nerves were damaged and the scars were sensitive... he hurt all the time and no one ever tried to heal him...

A pat on his head shook him from his bad memories. He looked up, he was still on Killer's lap.

- I'm sorry if I hurt you..

He apologized. No one ever apologized to him...

Nightmare shrugged, looking back down at his food before eating again. The two other skeletons were sitting on the second couch, Dust was on his phone and Horror was looking at him as he was eating, probably to make sure the food was alright.

He felt good here... it was warm, he had appropriate food, Killer apologized when he wasn't even at fault as he couldn't have known for his missing tentacles, the headpats were more than enjoyable... he almost felt safe... well, he definitely was safer than at his owners' house, but he really did feel good here...

He finished his bowl and Horror took it away, going back to the kitchen to wash it.

- Hey Dust, mind fetch me my crocheting kit ?

Dust looked up at Killer, visibly annoyed to have to move, but still got up with a sigh and left the room.

- Your clothes were all ripped off and dirty, even with a good wash we couldn't really save them...

He explained to the bitty looking at him. Nightmare shrugged, he didn't particularly liked his old clothes anyway. He watched as Dust came back with a paper bag he handed to Killer.

- Thanks !

Killer looked through the bag and grabbed a needle and some wool.

- What color do you prefer ?

He asked, showing the different balls of wool to Nightmare who was rather confused. Why did he want him to chose a color ? Why was his opinion needed ? No one ever asked for his opinion, not even when he had to share his cage with a rat...

He hated that rat. He had never agreed to sharing, he had tried to make his owners understand he was against that idea, but without talking it wasn't an easy thing to do, though he doubted they would have listened if he could have talked anyway.

It was an albino rat, white fur and big red eyes that even after his death the bitty could still feel staring at him at night. He hated that rat and the feeling seemed to be reciprocal. It always attacked him, tried to bite him, scratch him, he had almost lost his only eye one time. He had tried to complain, to show his disapproval of that forced sharing, he had stopped getting out of his box, stopped eating, stopped sitting by the bars of the cage to look at his owner, but it didn't do anything, what he wanted wasn't important. The rat had all of his owner's attention, he had appropriate rat food, wasn't being hurt on purpose just to see what would happen, could go out of the cage, ... the bitty could have died and his owner probably wouldn't have noticed.

The rat died quickly, a few months after his arrival, a heart failure he believed. His owner had been heartbroken. The bitty hated seeing him cry, because he knew he wouldn't cry like that when his time would come, and he had been right, since he threw him out of that car under the rain.

Nightmare looked down at the wool, and slowly reached out to put his hand on the purple one. Purple was a nice color.

- Purple ? Okay, purple it is then.

Killer smiled and put the other balls of wool away, only keeping the purple one, and started to work. Nightmare watched him, sitting on his lap and rolled in his cloth. He didn't understand why he was doing all that, but... it felt good to have someone actually treat him like a person and not a pet or a toy...

It was almost soothing to see the bigger skeleton crochet this little sweater, the repetitive movements were calming, Nightmare felt so relaxed... he could almost fall asleep, and he was pretty sure he did because when he opened his eye the sweater was done. It was long, probably too big for him from what he could see.

- Want to try it on ? We'll buy you better clothes soon, but you'll probably feel better in it than with that cloth.

Nightmare nodded almost right away, something in him lighted up at the idea of wearing something new, something especially made for him, something that was made based on what he wanted. He let Killer take off the cloth, shivering at the air, he lifted his arms to let the skeleton put his sweater on. It was big, covering his hands and going down to his knees, but is was so soft and so special, Nightmare loved it immediately. He smiled, pressing his arms against him in a self hug, he could cry if he wasn't so tired right now.

He felt Killer putting him back on the pillow, giving him the cloth if he wanted to cover himself more to have more warmth. Nightmare looked at him with sleepy eyes as he got up.

- Stay here, okay ? I won't be long, I just need to go to the store before it closes to buy some things. Dust you watch him, 'kay ?

- Mhm.

Dust answered without looking up from his phone. Nightmare looked at him, laying down on the pillow, he was just going to take a quick nap while Killer was gone...

When Nightmare opened his eye, the light had diminished. A quick glance at the window confirmed the sun was about to set down. He yawned, sat on his knees, and looked around him: Killer was on the ground with Dust, next to the fireplace, they seemed busy, and Horror was watching them. The big skeleton noticed the bitty was awake and waved at him, to which the bitty hesitantly responded with a tiny wave too. Nightmare saw him sign something, but he didn't know what that meant, and he was surely making a face because Horror seemed to understand rapidly he didn't understand him, so instead the big skeleton came closer to carefully scoop him in his hand and hold him near Dust and Killer so he could see they what they were doing.

They were kneeling in front of a big two-story rabbit enclosure that fitted perfectly between the wall and the fireplace, taking off the iron mesh that constituted the walls of the first floor to put some pillows and a cover inside of it. The second floor was made of wood and looked like a little house. Dust looked up when he felt someone near him and nudged Killer with his elbow.

- Your friend's awake.

He said as Killer looked up as well and spotted Nightmare in Horror's hand, looking quite confused.

- Oh ! Just in time ! We were making you a little nest ! The inside is not decorated yet as we don't know your tastes but you can still sleep on the pillows !

He explained excitedly. They were building a nest ? Was that his new cage ? Why were they taking off the mesh if that was a cage ? The mesh was supposed to stop him from going out of his cage.

- Come here, come visit !

He held out a hand, and Horror placed him on it, then Killer placed him on the little bridge that lead to the front door. Nightmare looked at the enclosure, then at Killer, before slowly climbing up the bridge and entering the small house. At least this cage was bigger than his previous one, and looked comfier too. The inside was quite big, with a mezzanine accessible by a ladder that was as large as half of the box. He could maybe put his bedroom on it and keep the first floor for a living room ?

- So, how do you like it ?

Killer asked, bending over to see inside of the enclosure. Nightmare nodded, he wanted to say he liked it but his throat was still itchy. He would need time to be able to talk again.

- Well, that'll be your little hideout for when you want some calm or some privacy ! It's quite late now so I'll show you around the house tomorrow, okay ? Sounds good ?

Nightmare went to the front door to look at him, tilting his head on the side, why did he want to show him around the house if he was going to stay in his cage ?

Killer must have seen his confusion because he explained a little bit more, smiling at him.

- You live with us now, we'll take better care of you than those fuckers who threw you out have, and if you live with us you need to know the house, we wouldn't want you to get lost after all. Most of the rooms are safe to walk around, the stairs will be a little too high for you tho, but I'll build you some tiny steps don't worry about it !

Safe to walk around ? Would he be allowed to walk around the house ? Would he be allowed to leave his cage whenever he wanted to ? Would he be free for the first time in his life ?

- I'm sure you'll like the house, aaaand I'm going to make sure there is at least one pillow per room so you can relax anywhere you want !

He would go out... he would leave his cage freely, go inside it only when he wanted too, and walked around the house as he would please...

- Oh my God are you okay ?! Was that too much ?!

Killer exclaimed with panic as Nightmare looked up. His vision was blurry. He slowly held a hand out to wipe his cheek and felt a tear on his fingers. He was crying. But he didn't feel sad, he actually felt so happy... he nodded slowly, smiling at the skeleton scooping him in his hand to pat his head.

Yes, he was okay. Everything was going to be okay, and even more than okay, it would be perfect, he could feel it. He had finally found his family, and this time, he was sure he was at the right place...