Part of the Horror Fest 2k17. Some of which are posted here, all of which are up on tumblr.
Usual blanket 'gabi is writing' warnings apply - there is blood, guts, death, angst, magic, and all things horrific and wonderful (to me at least). Every single fic I post this month will be Horror. Nothing is sacred to me. No one is safe in my hands. You've been warned.
There's a reason people tell you not to play with Ouija Boards.
Tink is still cackling as she leads a tipsy Mary Margaret out of their tiny apartment, yelling over her shoulder that she's meeting Killian at a frat party, and don't wait up for me! Regina yells back that she needs to get better taste in men, shuts the door and turns to find her girlfriend leaning up against the kitchen doorway.
"Thank you," Ruby says, reaching for her and tugging her close enough to wrap her arms around Regina's shoulders.
"What for?"
"Being nice… I know she's not your favourite person in the world."
"That's putting it mildly." She lets her hands rest on Ruby's hips for a moment, giving them a squeeze before she leans in to brush a kiss against her lips. "The things I do for you," she sighs.
"So very selfless of you," Ruby laughs. "I'm gonna go get changed out of these jeans, before they suffocate me."
She presses another kiss to Regina's lips before skipping away to her bedroom to presumably steal a pair of her gym shorts. Biting her lip Regina can't help but watch her walk away, an extra, deliberate, sway in her hips like she can sense her watching, before she reaches the bedroom and turns to wink over her shoulder.
Grinning, Regina shakes her head and moves to clear up the now empty bowl from their nachos, as well as the collection of glasses, and deposits them all on the kitchen counter beside the sink to deal with in the morning.
"What are you doing?" Regina asks when she walks in from the kitchen, two bottles of apple cider in either hand.
Ruby looks up from where she is sat in front of the coffee table, the Ouija Board still in the middle of it from earlier, Ruby's right index finger resting on the planchette. Shrugging, she grins up at her. "I wanted to look at it again."
Regina laughs and folds herself down to sit opposite, brow raised. "You do remember that it's a load of crap, right?"
"Shh." She kicks her lightly from under the table. "Don't ruin my fun!"
"We just spent an hour watching nothing happen."
"That's not completely true."
Nodding Regina shifts around to get comfortable. "You're right, my apologies, it moved once… when Tink pushed it to fuck with Mary Margaret."
Ruby narrows her eyes before leaning up onto her knees, the baggy jersey she's wearing as a nightshirt shifting to highlight the fact that she only has boyshorts on underneath, and leans across the table to pluck at the hem of Regina's t-shirt. The wide neckline offering a near perfect view of her bare chest.
Blinking she realises that Ruby's been talking to her while she stared. "That's cheating," she says.
"Perhaps," Ruby says through a wolfish grin. "Do you care?"
Shaking her head Regina leans forward to steal a kiss, nipping at Ruby's bottom lip and sucking on her top until she whimpers before pulling back. She lifts her bottle and takes a swig to hide the grin that spreads across her face at the dazed look on Ruby's face. "So," she puts the cider down and rearranging the board between them, "you wanted to give this another try?" she asks, innocent as anything even as she smirks at how flustered and put out Ruby looks.
Shaking her head, like she's clearing water from her ears, Ruby pokes her tongue out at her before dropping to sit back down, crosses her legs, and snatches up her own drink from where Regina had placed it on the table.
"You'll pay for that later," she says.
"I certainly hope so," Regina whispers, making a show of how she rakes her gaze over Ruby's body, before turning to the board and resting a finger on the planchette. "C'mon then, let's get this over with."
Ruby seems to forget all about being beaten at her own game as she puts her fingertip beside Regina's, takes a deep breathe and asks, "Are we alone?"
The planchette remains stationary. And Regina bites her lip to cover the smirk she can feel forming.
"Don't say a word," Ruby warns, shooting a glare at her when Regina widens her eyes as if to say who, me? "The candle!" She reaches for the lighter and relights the the pillar candle Tink had found buried in the back of one of their kitchen drawers earlier, then points at Regina. "One more go, and then it's payback time."
"Then hurry up and ask your damn questions," Regina says, staring at her intently as she takes another drink, letting her tongue lick up the droplets of alcohol from her lower lip, and grinning when Ruby's normally-always-pale cheeks flush.
Clearing her throat Ruby puts the lighter down, places her finger back down, and asks again, "Are we alone?"
It takes a moment, but then the planchette shifts under their fingers, stills, and then creeps towards the corner where the word No is printed.
"You pushed it!" Regina scolds her jokingly.
But Ruby just shakes her head with a soft smile. "I swear I didn't touch it!"
"Mhmm," Regina hums and takes her finger off the board, stretching her arms up and over her head, standing up and stepping backwards to her bedroom door. "Well, you are more than welcome to stay out here with your new friend, but I am going to go take a really long, hot shower."
"Regina, I swear I didn't push it," Ruby laughs. "Look," she lifts her finger so it's barely hovering over the polished wood. "Are you still here?"
When it inches its way to the opposite corner, to Yes, Regina raises her eyebrows at Ruby, who is staring at the board in disbelief. She rolls her eyes and grins at how much effort Ruby is putting into playing this whole thing out. "Ruby, c'mon you are totally pushing—"
"No," Ruby argues. "I-I didn't do that." Squaring her jaw she ignores the way Regina crosses her arms and says, "Were we alone earlier?" This time when the planchette shifts across the board Ruby lifts her finger off it completely, eyes transfixed as it keeps moving to land on No. Regina freezes, her mouth dropping open a fraction as she moves back to the board, circling to fold herself down next to Ruby this time.
"You saw that… right?"
"Yeah…" Regina clears her throat. "Um, w-were you here earlier?" She feels ridiculous even asking that out loud, but when the heart-shaped wood carving circles around the word No her stomach lurches.
"Who was here?"
Ruby's hand reaches out to grip hers, her palm slightly damp, as the planchette starts to move over the alphabet. "A friend," she whispers.
Squeezing Ruby's fingers, Regina asks, "Are you a friend?" When it moves back to sit on No Regina's stomach turns to lead, and her heart jolts. "What do you want?"
Y O U.
"Fuck this," Regina mutters as she swipes the planchette off of the table and onto the floor, leans over to blow out the candle and shoves the stupid board back into the box, cursing Tink for ever buying it in that Antique store. "That was ridiculous," she says, brushing off the whole encounter even as she feels a shiver race down her spine.
"Yeah," Ruby agrees with a barely there whisper as she stands up. "Can we… go somewhere?"
Nodding Regina gets to her feet, reaching out to rub up-down, up-down Ruby's arms when she wraps them around herself and trembles. "Sure, we can go find a diner, or a bar… somewhere that's not here."
Ruby mummers an agreement, tangles her hand with Regina's and tugs her towards her bedroom. "I need pants."
She grabs a pair of sweats from her overnight bag as Regina pulls their jackets from the back of her door and grabs her keys and wallet before leading them back across her apartment. Regina barely gets the front door open an inch before it is ripped out of her hand and slamming shut, not budging in the slightest when she tries again.
"Regina, wha—" Ruby moves to help her but there's a grunt as whatever she was going to say is cut off, and Regina whips around in time to see her hurl through the air backwards, smashing into the back wall of the apartment and crumpling to the ground like a broken marionette.
"Ruby!" But whatever attacked Ruby is gripping her throat before she can move to get to her side, shoving her against the wall beside the door and lifting until her toes can't even graze the floor as she chokes. She claws at her neck, leaving bloody gouges in her skin as she tries to free herself, tries to get even the tiniest amount of air, tries to tell herself this can't be happening. Ouija boards are a bad fucking joke, meant to scare little kids, they're not meant to really be dangerous.
Whimpering Regina kicks out, desperate to be back on the ground so she can get to Ruby and get them the fuck out of her home. She gasps as she's slammed backwards, her head cracking against the wall, causing her vision to swim more than it already was. Regina is half aware of a screamed No! before her eyes roll back into her skull, and her hands slip from her neck, fingernails stained red with torn flesh underneath. She drops from the wall, crashing into the floor and jerking back to semi-consciousness with a scream as her arm snaps.
"Regina, no!"
She blinks, levering herself up onto her other arm, swallowing down the bile she can feel churning in her gut, and tries to gather herself enough to get up.
"Oh god, Regina, are yo—" whatever Ruby was going to ask is cut off with a strange gurgling sound. And Regina manages to focus enough to look up in time to see Ruby standing at the start of her entranceway, blood caked to one side of her head from hitting the wall.
"Ruby…" Words feel heavy in her mouth, and she is struggling to string two or more together when she notices the way Ruby's hands are held—shaking—at the sides of her ribs, notices the hole torn clean through her stomach—like a fist had ripped through her—gushing dark red rivers that flow down Ruby's legs.
No, no, no, get the fuck up! Help her!
"R-regina," Ruby chokes out her name, blood dribbling past her lips and clogging her mouth as her knees buckle and she collapses, eyes wide open, dull, and staring unseeing at the ceiling as Regina shatters, screaming at herself to fucking get up and get help!
Tiny droplets of blood, as ruby red as the girl they came from, drip, drip drip, onto the floor, each one closer than the last, with occasional smeared footprints stepping closer, and closer. Linking Ruby's body to Regina—a macabre trail of breadcrumbs.
She's sobbing, her head pounding and throat seizing, when she feels a cold vice clamp back around her neck, the sharp, swift rip as her throat is rent down to the bone like a knife through butter. She coughs, drowning in her own blood for only a moment, before the tear in her windpipe causes her vision to blacken, and she slips back down to the floor. Ruby's hand, blood stained and splayed towards her the last clear thing she sees before her life and the fire in her throat is snuffed out.
I regret nothing.