NOTES:
Sorry about the wait everybody! I got super distracted by Youtube, other fanfics, and I pretended to have a life for two hours yesterday (it was lovely while it lasted). But I've got it now! I'm not sure if I like it 100%. I'll reread this chapter when I'm not dead tired.
In any case, enjoy!

Chapter 10: Nightmare

A dinging noise woke you up, and you looked at the grandfather clock: 10 a.m. You glanced around: vivid-yellow walls coated the top half of your bedroom, and the windows were a lovely chestnut brown. Light shone through, but only between dark, dark clouds. It was raining where you were now, which was unfortunate because you had work in an hour. Sighing, you rolled out of bed, gross and in desperate need of a shower.

Your home had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. One extended off of the master bedroom, and the other was downstairs, down the hall from the living room. You gathered your work clothes and headed downstairs for the shower. You were in and out before you realized it: guess I'm still kind of tired.

You glanced at your phone, but it said 9:50 a.m. Oh? I guess I mistook the time. Or the grandfather clock was wrong again. Either way, you had more than an hour before you had to be in at work.

Suddenly, the lights in the bathroom sparked and were gone. You panicked for a moment, then sighed. Just another blackout.

You called for your parents: even though they were in the master bedroom upstairs, they'd be down to investigate any moment now. You couldn't see anything in the darkness, but you began to pull on your work clothes: black slacks and a t-shirt with a letter on it, and you located your work hat, with a similar letter pasted onto the front. You grimaced.

I hate fast food with all my being.

You called again for your parents: it was taking them an awfully long time to get downstairs.

"Mama? Dadster? What's taking you guys so long? I'm starting to freak out a little bit, please hurry it up! I'm going to be going to work in an hour, but I won't be able to if I can't see anything!"

No reply.

"Mom? Dad?"

Sans softly thanked Whitesong for driving him all the way to the shelter, turned around, and stared at the slowly-brightening landscape: snow everywhere, at least six inches deep. Certainly more than that in some spots.

He adjusted you on his back: you weren't all that heavy for a monster with magic to carry, but you were certainly larger than him, so he had trouble keeping you balanced atop himself.

The phone in his hand bleeped, lighting up to show his homescreen. His brow bones raised in contentedness at the picture, and lowered in annoyance at the time. Seven o'nine. He scowled at the phone, wishing that there was another place you could go. He even tried, as a last-ditch effort, to jostle you awake right before he pulled you out of the car.

"Guess you were just bone-tired, eh Candy Cane?" He smiled weakly at the pun. Now's really not the time for jokes, numbskull. He was a block away from the apartments, but even so, he could see them over the relatively short buildings surrounding the complex. "Time to get these old bones crackin'."

You heard a loud banging on the bathroom door.

Knock knock.

"Dad? Do you need something? I mean, you could always use the bathroom upstairs… ya know.. after you fix the lights and everything…"

KNOCK-KNOCK KNOCK-KNOCK.

"Mom?! Gosh Mom, if this is another one of your ridiculous pranks I swear to god-"

You heard a cackle outside of your door: it was neither your mother's nor father's voices. "Your mom's dead, sugar."

Behind him, Sans could hear whimpering. He felt you nuzzle against his neck, and your tears ran down into his loose T-shirt. His jacket was on you so you wouldn't get cold, and Whitesong provided a pair of her work pants and a pair of socks for you. You'd still be pretty cold, but at least Sans didn't have to hold a half-naked human on his back.

His behavior was already questionable-enough as was.

As he weaved through the trees surrounding the tall concrete wall of Daystay, he kept alert for anybody who might be watching. It was still too early for anyone to want to be up, but that didn't mean nobody was awake yet. Tentatively, he eased you to a clear patch on the ground. He checked to make sure you were still asleep, and peeked into a crack in the wall, trying to determine where the best spot would be to take a shortcut into.

Behind that tree, behind that apartment. Sans chuckled softly, and whispered, "Heh, those are really the only options I got, I guess. Alright pal, c'mon. Back on my back."

This can't be happening. This really can't be happening, there is no plausible way this is happening right now what am I supposed to do?! You started punching the numbers nine, one, and one onto your phone, only for a robotic lady to ring out:

"We're sorry, but the person you are trying to call does not have a voicemail setup… goodbye."

You stared, astounded at your phone. "You've gotta be shitting me right now."

An axe came through the bathroom door with a loud CRACK!

You lowered your eyes down to your phone: 7:01 a.m.. then 7:00, 6:59, 6:58. Why is time going down?

As if to answer your question, the crazy bitch on the other side of the door shouted, "You're running out of time, honeybun! Say your prayers!"

The snow crunched underneath with the new and sudden weight on top of it: Sans had just teleported behind the nearest building. He peered around to make sure that nobody was watching. He took a few steps forward, turning around the corner of the building. Nobody seemed to be outside quite yet: but he had to hurry. He hopped, raising your position on his back, and trotted toward his home.

He stayed as quiet as possible, no sound escaping him except for small exhales and cracking snow. It would only be a few minutes before he reached complex B2, where he and Papyrus lived. He had considered texting Papyrus about you staying over for the day, but ultimately decided that Papyrus would be too loud about it.

As much as Sans loves his brother, Papyrus is terrible at keeping secrets.

Mere moments later, Sans stopped at his complex, trying to catch his breath. He was exhausted. No monster was meant to teleport this much in one morning. "Heh. No monsters were meant to teleport at all."

He began the ascent to the third floor of the apartment complex, to B29.

Sans's body began to rattle, straining under the pressure of another person.

"How'd I get into this mess, anyway? Twice I've saved your skin in the span of a week. You owe me big time, you know," he muttered breathlessly.

He reached for the doorknob to his apartment.

You thought the woman outside your door would have been faster about breaking down your door with a tool that was designed to break wood. The phone was still counting down at an agonizingly slow pace. You glared at it. If I'm going to die don't make me wait for it, just get it over with already!

You screamed for what felt like the gajillionth time that morning, your voice hoarse from the pitch of each scream. Sobs and laughter rang throughout the house. Multiple times, you tried to call the police. You tried to call your friends, but your phone deleted their numbers. You dialed random numbers, trying to get someone, anyone to answer. Each time, though, your phone came up with a different excuse.

It's no use. Each time the door cracks, your hope drains away from your body. Horror seeps in.

"Please, I don't want to die! I don't even know why you're doing this! Please!"

"Well, sorry, honey. I guess that's just too bad. Everybody dies someday. Might as well be today."

If you were quivering before, you were quaking now. Something awoke inside of you.

"Why me? Why did you pick my house out of every house in this dingy town?! What the hell is your beef with my family?!"

The swings stopped suddenly. Total silence reigned. You heard a girlish giggle outside your door: that's way too innocent sound for a cold-blooded murderer.

"I guess you could say that I don't take kindly to monsters."

What the hell is she talking about? My mother is a nurse and my father is a veterinarian! Nobody could be nicer than my parents! "My parents aren't monsters. I swear to god if you call them that one more time I'll… I'll…" you fumbled, giving away your fear. Your thin veil of confidence evaporated as the words fell from your mouth.

Cackles came from the woman. "You think I'm talking about your parents? No, I'm talking about the monsters. You're one sick human to deal with that lot, sugar pie~!" Her voice was so sweet and nice that it physically hurt you. Your face contorted in confusion.

"What monsters? What are you talking about, monsters don't exist! I don't know what's wrong with you.. I don't know why you're doing this… but please… I just want to know why I'm going to die. I just can't understand." The woman sat silent for a short while, then resumed breaking the door down. Sobs escaped your lips, and you collapsed onto the ground. You curled up into a ball on the ground. This was too much: nothing was making sense. The phone said 3:48. 3:47.. 3:46…

Sans rushed you to his room at the far end of the apartment. You had begun crying more audibly, and he didn't want you waking up Papyrus, or alerting him in general. He held you up with his right arm while he fished for his keys in his pocket with the other hand. He found the key easily, and flipped it to insert into the keyhole: he twisted the key, turned the knob, and swung open the door.

"Geez. It's messier in here than I remembered. I guess I can clean up… later. Eventually. Tomorrow."

Sans laid you down onto his bed, stood up to lock the door properly, then flopped down on the floor next to the bed. He left a bony hand on your arm, patting it lightly, and as much as he wanted to keep an eye on you, he could hardly keep his socket open. "You're gonna be okay, Joy. I promise," he whispered, a grin snaking across his face. "You know, I was the one who saved you when you jumped from that window. You would have definitely broken some bones at least if I had not done anything. Go figure."

NOTES:
Well, it's a short chapter. Much shorter than I thought it was going to be. Sorry again about the delay, it might be a day or two before I'm able to get the next chapter up for viewing!