Author's Note: Hello once again readers, JMD Nelson with another horror fanfic! Yep, it's another NEKRomantik story set in between NEKRomantik 4 and Back From Hell, and will a shorter shock-horror story, much like NEKRomantik 3.

It's a standalone idea, but it does reference the events of past installments. My editor and co-author Lizzie actually pitched this idea to me, having liked the previous 2 NEKRomantik stories I did.

I was planning other fanfics, and planning to complete Back From Hell at the time, so, I wrote a short horror story based on her idea and alas, here we are.

Welcome back to the dark side of human nature!

- JMD Nelson

Disclaimer: The author wishes to state for the record that all characters, song lyrics and likenesses to real people in said fan fiction script are the rightful properties of their proper copyrighted affiliates. Author takes NO ownership of ANY said copyrighted intellectual properties. Images were used without permission; however, this fan fiction was written for non-profit purposes and is not intended for sale, re-sale, mass publication or reproduction.

NEKRomantik 5:

Playing With Dead Things

Written By: JMD Nelson & Elizabeth Seymour

Based on: Dontnod's Life is Strange & Life is Strange Before The Storm

"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which they never show to anybody."
- Mark Twain

Chapter 1:

Life in Beaver Creek (Is Strange)

Cue: Thom Yorke's "Suspirium" from the Suspiria 2018 Soundtrack

Eriksen Residence

Beaver Creek, Oregon

"This is a waltz thinking… about our bodies… what they mean… for our salvation…

It was a cool, brisk snowy afternoon that day in Beaver Creek, Oregon. A fresh blanket of snow had just fallen the previous night, and that's exactly what young Chris Eriksen was excitedly stomping through at the moment as he enjoyed his little afternoon nature hike, pulling a large red plastic toboggan behind him.

"With only the clothes that… we stand up in… just the ground… on which we stand…"

Chris was a young boy about 9 years old, with a thick, short mop of blonde hair with thick bangs, bright blue eyes and light freckles on his little cheeks. He was short in stature and slender as well, wearing a long red makeshift superhero cape over his winter coat, with a yellow patch and a white CS on the back of it. The CS stood for Captain Spirit, Chris' very own make-believe superhero persona. He was still at that age where superheroes and Disney flicks still blew his mind, one of his favorites being the acclaimed Frozen.

"Is the darkness… ours to take? Bathed in lightness… bathed in heat…"

Being a snowy spring break, Chris had come out here as often as he could to sled in his favorite spot, a giant steep hill that was once a large lake. It made the perfect place for sledding and it really sent you flying as you went down it. He hated to admit that he was a little scared at first given the height of the hill, but he eventually craved the adrenaline rush it gave him. It was as close as he could possibly come to actually flying.

"All is well, as long as we keep spinning... Here and now… dancing behind a wall…"

Normally on a Saturday like today, he would've been inside, cozied up in front of the PlayBox game system that his dad had gotten last Christmas, but he hadn't had it or his games, going on 3 months. Unbeknownst to his father Charles, Charles' girlfriend Lilly had pawned it off when their money situation had worsened.

"Hear the old songs and laughter within… all forgiven, always and never been true…"

Lilly was a parasite and Chris couldn't stand her. It seemed that for a good while that his alcoholic father was overcoming his addiction, until that one weekend that Charles brought Lilly home with him. Sure, she'd tried to be nice and bond with Chris at first, but he eventually saw what she was really like, and eventually she gave up trying to be civilized with him at all. She was bossy, snooty and enabled Charles' drinking even more than before she showed up. Chris just wished that she'd just leave and let his father recover from his alcoholism like he'd been doing before she'd showed up.

Chris himself hadn't told on Lilly for pawning his stuff on him, with the promise that he'd have his stuff back within a week. But that never happened, and he never saw his PlayBox or games ever again. She begged him not to snitch on her, but at this point Chris was at his wits end and tired of dealing with her constant put downs and verbal abuse. If things didn't change, he'd tell his father, as he still had the texts Lilly had sent him the day of; she hadn't asked Chris before hocking his stuff, only told him the truth after they were already pawned. He was so close to telling his father, who himself had a hair-trigger temper, especially if he'd been drinking.

And for that, Chris had an ace up his sleeve if he needed it. Plus, there was that other incident that he dare not think about… an awful incident that haunted him since it had happened a while ago… what would his father say about that?

A While Later…

Chris smiled as he finally crested the large hill of his many flights, his toboggan in tow.

"When I arrive will… you come find me? Or in a crowd… be one of them?"

He stopped for a short break and stared down the steep drop, seeing the many narrow trees still standing erect given the awkward angle that they were forced to stand at.

Chris: (Smiling) "Hello again, nature. It's me again, Captain Spirit! Gonna see how fast I can fly today!" (Setting up his sled) "No time like the present!"

"Mother wants us… back beside her… no tomorrows… at peace…"

He slowly settled onto the red sled, pulling the tether under where he sat. He then pulled out his cellphone, which had 3 missed calls and a few texts from Lilly. Chris ignored them as he went to his music folder and looked for a good track to listen to as he flew. He settled on onewhich was one of his late mother Emily's favorite songs. It had always helped him feel better when he'd get lonesome for her. Even though she'd been gone for a few years now, he still missed her longingly. He did hold out hope that he'd see her again, one day.

Chris: (Smiling) "Now let's fly!"

And with that, he pulled himself forward and went over the steep side, taking the first of what was going to be many flights that day. And if he wanted to fly for real, he'd have to practice. Batman, Spider-man and the rest of his comic book idols never got anywhere without extensive training!

He shouted and cheered as he flew down the steep hill, holding his arms out at his sides, feeling the rush of wind flow past him and his cape whipping out behind him. He was doing it for real; for these few moments before he reached the bottom, he was really flying!

Elsewhere in Beaver Creek…

Elk Ridge Motel

A young brunette woman with short parted shoulder length hair and sad blue eyes slowly made her way out of her motel room of 218. She quickly locked the door and headed downstairs to check out. After that was done, she left the motel office and went over to her car which was waiting for her, the engine already running.

Just as she opened the door to get in, she felt her phone vibrate. The woman sighed, stopped and removed the cellphone, reading the texts. She quietly read them to herself.

Woman: "Where are you? Call me. You better not be going to see him." (Eyes roll) "If you do, DO NOT come home." (Pockets the phone and climbs into her car) "Whatever, dad. I'm old enough to make my own decisions. I'm not in grade school anymore for Christ sake."

The woman herself was Samantha Myers, a former student at Blackwell Academy in Arcadia Bay Oregon, the very same school that Max Caulfield and Chloe Price had attended. Samantha actually remembered Chloe but had never met Max as Max had joined Blackwell after she'd left. She was actually glad to have not met Max, as she as well as everyone else heard about Max's infamous killing spree which had started in Arcadia Bay and had ended in New York City a year ago. She was quite shocked that she probably would've met the Arcadia Bay Necrophile if she'd stayed at Blackwell Academy for her senior year, but was glad that fate was on her side and that she'd transferred.

Speaking of Blackwell Academy, Samantha still looked basically the same as she did during her freshman year there; same height, same petite stature and same saddened resting expression. And her sadness was still for the same reason it had been all of those years ago; it was for Nathan Prescott. He was the reason that she was actually travelling this far by car. She had to see the boy that she had fell in love with all those years ago. She had to see and hear for herself if those stories were all true about he and Professor Mark Jefferson's druggings and kidnappings of many female school students, one of which was the popular Rachel Amber, who she'd known.

As she put on her seatbelt and pulled out of the parking lot, a black van with Satanic spray-painted markings and labelled Torsten and The Tormented pulled in. Samantha sighed upon seeing the eyesore of a vehicle and switched on the radio, which began to play Flunk's "Play." Sam sighed, turned up the music and settled in for the rest of her drive, humming along with the slow punk rock ballad.

As her father had feared, Samantha was in fact headed to Oregon State Mental Hospital, where Nathan had been sent after he'd plead Not Guilty and agreed to testify against his former teacher. Samantha didn't care of what her father thought of Nathan, she knew that deep down there was good in him somewhere, and that he could be rehabilitated if given a fair chance.

Samantha had seen the good in Nathan herself, hell, Nathan had probably spared her of the fate that he'd given Rachel Amber of an accidental drug overdose. Samantha had been getting closer with him towards the end of sophomore year and trying to get him to open up. But whenever she tried, he'd shut her out and stop talking with her. By the end of that school year, he'd stopped talking completely to her and she'd decided to transfer schools, after having had enough of feeling utterly devastated and heartbroken by him. She now only understood why he'd done this; to try and spare her of what he had buried in him.

But alas, it would be nice to see him once again. Samantha would let him know that he wasn't alone and that she was still there for him. She'd stand by him until the day of his release and take him away with her so she could look after him. They'd work through this the way they should have from the start; together. She wasn't giving up on him this time.

As Samantha hummed along with the song, tapping her thumbs on the wheel to the slow background beat, she barely noticed a car coming up behind her. She didn't think much of it at first as she returned to staring out the windshield and into the frozen wilderness in front of her.

Wild Strawberries' "I Don't Want To Think About It" began to gently play on her car's speakers as Play had just ended. The next time she glanced up, the car was closer. It looked like a black 68' XR7 Mercury Cougar, but she couldn't see the driver, due to the blowing snow on the road from last night's fresh snowfall, but it looked like there was only one occupant inside. Seeing that the other car wasn't slowing down, but rather gaining speed, Samantha decided to be more civilized that the impatient driver in the other car.

"…You were so crazy, I was so chaste… I don't know what happened to me, I don't know…"

Samantha gently eased her car out of the way, stuck her arm out of her driver's side window and waved them to pass. The Mercury Cougar slowly sped up and began to pass by her. Samantha glanced out her side window and saw the driver, which was another female.

"I-I-I-I, I don't want to think about it… I-I-I-I, I don't want to think about it…"

The driver herself was gaunt but pretty, was short in height, slender, and had short, parted pale blonde hair with side-swept bangs, fierce green eyes, pale skin. She was dressed in raggy clothing, which consisted of a purple hooded vest, a light bluish gray t-shirt worn over a dark gray long-sleeve shirt. All in all, she looked like a survivor in some post-apocalyptic situation.

The other driver stared fiercely at Samantha as she slowed down and then matched her speed.

"You rendered me unconscious… you cut my innocent face… I'm not really bitter, then again, I'm not amused… I just kick you till you cry, I loved you, I really loved you…"

Fearing that the other driver might pull a gun out and shoot her, Samantha braced herself for the worst, making a wincing face. But when the other driver slowly smiled, laughed and nodded to her before speeding off ahead, with Samantha breathing a sigh of relief.

"I-I-I-I, I don't want to think about it… I-I-I-I, I don't want to think about it…"

As the other driver slowly sped out of sight, Samantha loosened her grip on the wheel, her knuckles returning to normal coloration after having whitened under her death grip.

Samantha: (Laughing nervously) "Well, that was interesting… and frightening!" (Exhales in relief) "I thought she was a crazed highwayman or something…" (Wheeling the window back up) "Well, I came this far and nothing's going to stop me from seeing Nathan again."

Samantha's phone hummed again as she was driving, and she reached into her pocket to retrieve it.

Elsewhere in Beaver Creek…

Chris had taken a few good runs down the hill at this point and he was making his way back up for more. His phone vibrated again as he was halfway up, so he removed it from his pocket and read the text. It was from Lilly. Chris sighed aloud as he read out the text.

Chris: (Reading aloud) "Where are you, Chris? You're not supposed to leave the backyard and go into the forest alone, you know that… Do you want me to tell your dad?" (Shakes his head) "Go ahead and tell him Lilly, and I'll tell him what you did with my stuff."

He's almost texted that to Lilly but thought better of it. He usually was really well behaved to adults, especially with his father or the neighbor Mrs. Claire Reynolds, but Lilly was another story. She hadn't even tried to be nice to him in the past while, so he'd return the favor to her. At this point, he didn't even care anymore.

Chris was about to start back up the hill again, when he heard a sudden loud CRASH, followed by the sound of something heavy tumbling and glass shattering. Oh God, it was the very noises he'd heard when he'd have nightmares about how his mother perished in a car accident. Now it was happening to someone else!

He turned his head and looked over his shoulder into the wilderness below, hearing the noises stop with a loud, metallic thump and the sound of scattering, shattered glass. Chris felt his heart start pounding hard in his chest as he hopped into his sled and slid down the remaining hill's distance to the ground below.

He then skidded to a stop when he reached the bottom of the hill and got up to his feet, listening for the direction of the crash site. He then heard the horn partially beep once, his head snapping in the direction of where it had come from.

Quickly, Captain Spirit sprang forth to the sound of the wreck, ready to become the real-life superhero he was always destined to become.