Jeff the Killer x Reader Oneshot

You Promised

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The reader of this is Gender Neutral, so both boys and girls can enjoy this. End of Note.

"Come on Jeff!" you call with a smile on your face. "You're so slow! At this rate, you'll never tag me!"

Jeff replies panting heavily, "You move too fast, (f/n)!"

"Maybe you should slow down a bit, (f/n)." Liu suggests as he watches. "At least let him tag you once."

"Grr, I can do it!" Jeff growls before dashing at you.

"Oh crap!" you cry as his sudden burst of speed surprises you.

It's a perfect spring day. The temperature is not too cold or too hot, just perfect for any kind of outdoor activity. You, Jeff and his brother, Liu, are close and the best of friends. The three of you are the same age, all around about nine. You may not attend the same schools, but you guys met through a mutual friend who came across the brothers at a local toy store. When you met the two, it was an instant connection, like you three had known each other your whole lives.

The three of you either met up at their place, your place, or the nearby park to play. Jeff had always seemed to be a bit rough when it came to wrestling or anything he discovered he wasn't good at, but you paid no mind to it. Liu was always the concerned one when his brother became a bit aggressive, though Jeff never hurt anyone.

As of now, the three of you played happily in the boys' backyard, playing a round of tag to which Jeff wasn't very fast on his feet. However, his sudden burst of speed lead into a tackle as he happily shouted "TAG!". Liu rushes over to see if you are okay, only to find the both of you laughing hysterically. All Liu could do was facepalm for a moment before pulling his brother off you, allowing you up.

"Hahaha! Wow Jeff, now THAT'S how you play tag!" you say, unable to stop giggling.

Jeff responds, his brother letting go of him, "I told you one of these days I'd get you! And I did!"

Liu sighs, "But you didn't need to tackle (f/n). What if he/she's hurt?"

You get up brushing yourself off saying, "Nah, I'm fine."

The three of you hear a buzzing sound. You knew it was the "ominous" type of buzzing. The three of you look to find Jeff had tackled you too close to a wasp nest in the ground, and they were enraged big time. You all shout "wasp" before running for your lives into the house, slamming the sliding door in time; the wasps all hang around the glass barrier as Liu locks the door, making sure they can't get in.

You breathe a sigh of relief, "That was too close! Jeff, we should let your dad know so he can take care of it."

"Yeah, I think we should. Are you guys okay?" Jeff asks.

Liu answers, "I'm okay. What about you, brother?"

"I think I—wait…" Jeff goes to say when he feels something on his back.

He turns around trying to look, all of you finding a wasp had landed on him and is stinging him relentlessly. He screams for his mom as you and Liu follow him as best you can.

Later that day, with you at home wondering if Jeff is alright, the phone rings. Your mother answers it and upon hearing the voice quickly asks how Jeff is. His mother responds he is okay, just a little upset after the ordeal. Both mothers agree it's best to let the boy recover before the three of you can play again. Upon hanging up, your mother looks down at you to give you the news.

"What do you mean we can't play for a few days?" you whine.

"Sorry honey, but Jeff was stung pretty badly." your mother says. "Would you mind telling me how you kids upset the wasps?"

Reluctant at first, you tell your mother the harmless event that lead up to angering the aggressive insects. Her face says it all when you tell her Jeff had tackled you when you were really being unfair to begin with. You knew this look all too well; it may have just decided your future with the brothers.

A few days pass. Jeff has recovered and the three of you meet in the park late at night, having snuck out of your homes. You all stand under one of the lights wearing thick sweaters to counter the chilly night air.

"So, (f/n)…what's the verdict?" Jeff asks.

You give a sad look replying, "Mother is…wary of you, Jeff. When I told her how you tend to get rough, she didn't like it."

"Ugh, mothers and their defensiveness." Jeff growls. "So what does this mean?"

"I don't know…" you answer.

Liu says, "I hope it doesn't mean we can't play together anymore."

Jeff suddenly says, "If it means we can still be friends, I'll stop being rough!"

You reply, "And I'll stop being unfair!"

Over the course of the next few months, your play time with the boys becomes somewhat limited and frustrating; you three were constantly supervised which made roughhousing impossible. All too soon, your father lands a job in another state, and the only option is to move. When the news of moving reaches you, you naturally become upset, wanting to stay with the brothers and your other friends. However, there is no choice. Your father has finally found a good-paying job after he was laid off from his last one a few weeks ago. If you don't move, he can't work. When you tell your friends, they become upset too, as well as Jeff and Liu. You were their closest friend, and the only one who would brush off Jeff's aggressiveness during a game.

The day you and your family have everything packed up and ready to go, Jeff shows up at the last minute, without his brother. He hugs you tightly, not wanting you to leave, but there's no stopping the situation. You hug him tightly back.

"I'm sorry Jeff." you say, teary-eyed. "But I can't do anything about this. If we don't go, it could be forever until daddy finds a job."

"Then promise one day we'll meet up again!" Jeff says, tears streaming down his face.

"I promise, Jeff! We'll play again real soon!" you say.

The both of you perform the Pinky Promise before you're called to the car. Jeff hurries to the sidewalk and watches in tears as you're taken away to another place.

Several years pass by. You've grown into your early teenage years, dealing with the complete package of horrors that comes with it. Despite the Pinky Promise made years ago, you, Jeff and Liu, were never able to meet up after the move. You had moved too far away to travel back and see any of your friends, though you managed to keep in touch with letters and the phone; the internet was off-limits to you save for school work after you clicked a link you thought would bring you to a recommended website needed to complete your homework, and instead it lead you to a porn site. Your mother had caught this thinking you were doing something other than homework and never listened to a word you said.

Although you've done your best to keep in contact with the brothers, for some reason no one ever answered. You tried calling before school, after school, and before bed, but nothing. It made no sense. But one morning, you caught a story on the local news channel.

An image of a pure white-faced person with black hair, no eyelids, and a scar on his face that could easily rival the Joker popped up on the screen. The letters on the bottom of the image read "Killer Still At Large". You thought this person looked familiar, until you hear familiar names being read: Margaret, Peter, and Liu. It takes a moment to put the puzzle pieces together, but your mind refused to add up the confusing equation.

That is until your mother shouted, "I told you that boy was trouble, (f/n)! Now he's insane and just killed his family!"

"But there has to be a reason, mom!" you cried. "The Jeff I knew would never do this!"

Your father calmly speaks, "The Jeff you knew is gone, (f/n). This is him now after being attacked by three other boys his age."

You couldn't accept these facts. Jeff, the boy you knew who could never hurt anyone, has become an insane killer? Your mind absolutely refused to process this, until you finally learned to accept it. Not only was Liu dead, but you had also lost Jeff as well. And this time, there is no reasoning with him now…

One evening, while on a simple walk around the local park, you hear some odd commotion in the distance. Rushing towards the hill, you come upon a grizzly scene; a group of high schoolers – older than you – along with a couple adults, beating up someone. The victim is on the ground being kicked and punched relentlessly, trying to cover their head with their arms.

Angered at this, you call down, "HEY! The hell do you think you're doing?!"

One of the adults looks up at you responding, "There's a bounty on this creep! Bring him in dead or alive for a whopping $5000!"

One of the teens replies, "So we're gonna beat him into submission so he can't do anything later! Or beat him to death; whichever comes first."

A bounty? $5000 for whoever they're beating? Sure, the prize money sounds nice, but something tells you to save the victim. Going against your better nature, you dash at them, ready for a fight. With the momentum gained from running down the hill, you sock one of the teens in his face, knocking him to the ground instantly. He doesn't get up; you successfully knocked him out in one hit. The others quickly redirect their attention to you and attack without hesitation. This gives the victim a chance to get on his feet and roundhouse kick one of the adults in their back, knocking his spine almost out of alignment. The adult falls screaming in pain, unable to move.

Soon, the two of you are back-to-back, surrounded by the remaining four teens and one adult. This won't be easy; you never fought once in your life, but the roughhousing from Jeff as a kid left you prepared for anything. But this person your back was to, his aura seemed eerily familiar. As the group closes in going on the attack, the both of you manage to dodge and counter the attacks. At one point, the remaining adult goes in for a shot to the jaw at your partner, but he dodges and you grab the guy's arm flying passed your head, flipping him over the both of you onto his back with a hard thud.

One of the teens panics, "Holy shit! These two ain't human!"

"Let's get out of here!" another freaks.

The four teens gather up the defeated members and quickly hurry off. You give out a victory shout of "hell yeah" and turn to face the person you just saved. When they turn around, horror replaces your proud expression. His face is completely white with a leathery appearance, missing eyelids, scars that form a permanent smile, black hair… it hits you right then, you just rescued your childhood friend, Jeff! Or rather at this point, you saved what is no longer your friend… but Jeff the Killer instead.

"J-Jeff?" you try to ask.

He holds his knife up to you, a look of anger on his face. "You! The way you fought just now… It reminds me of someone… Just who the hell are you?"

"Jeff, it's me, (f/n)! Don't you remember?"

"…You look nothing like him/her!"

"Dammit, Jeff! You don't remember this?!"

You quickly grab his weaponless hand and curl your pinky around his. Despite having no eyelids, his eyes manage to widen with shock. A small memory crosses his eyes… the day you were about to move away, you pinky promised you'd return to play one day. The insane teen looks at you, coming to the realization that it's you, his closest friend from his childhood. Tears start to form in his eyes, memories of you, him, and Liu playing together. He recalls every time he became too aggressive that you'd shrug it off and return it in some way, the both of you laughing hysterically afterwards. All these memories at that moment unlock the boy who had been recently locked away, having been overwhelmed by his broken psyche.

"(f/n)…is it really you?" he asks.

You answer, "Yes, Jeff. It's me."

"Oh my god…w-what have I done? Y-you must've seen the news by now! How can you not resent me?"

"Because, I know the Jeff I knew years ago is still in there somewhere. I refuse to believe that you've become some mindless killer for no reason."

"It wasn't for no reason though! Those guys they…they made me snap. I-I mean, I've had this urge, this…feeling of actually wanting to hurt someone for a while."

"Not since we were kids, I hope."

"No, it was more recent, but still. When they pulled out those knives, I just lost it. And after they lit me on fire and I came out like this! Not to mention, I've been on the run since this whole thing started a couple weeks ago, and people have been placing bounties on me. (f/n)…the me you knew years ago is gone…"

"I don't care, Jeff. I don't see a killer standing in front of me. I see a boy who just followed the wrong path."

"(f/n)…"

Suddenly, a loud "BANG" comes out of nowhere. The next thing you know, you're on the ground on your back, blood seeping from your mouth, and Jeff in horror, shouting your name. He falls to his knees and holds you up. Quickly examining what just happened, he feels something warm and wet coming from your back. He sees the blood, falling from your body and landing on the ground. You had been shot in the back, but the bullet never came out. Still, it had pierced something vital within you.

"No, (f/n)! Don't you dare die on me! You…YOU PROMISED!" Jeff yells, tears streaming down his leathery face.

You smile, barely able to keep your eyes open as you say, "Ngh…s-sorry, Jeff… I guess, monsters like us, don't d-deserve to live in this world…"

"The hell are you talking about? You're not a monster! I'm the monster!"

"But I still consider you my friend…my closest friend… Ngh! That alone classifies me as a monster…"

"(f/n)… I…I need to get you to a hospital! Where's the nearest one?"

"Several blocks from here. Even if you called 911…they wouldn't make it in time…"

A voice calls from the distance, "Hey, over there! I see him!"

Another voice shouts, "You missed, you moron! You hit an innocent!"

Your vision begins to fade. Things are starting to become dark. Jeff can sense the life slipping out of you.

You hold up your pinky and say, "Hey…Jeff…r-regardless, we'll still be…friends forever…okay?"

He tightly wraps his pinky around yours and says, "Y-yeah…friends forever, (f/n)."

You smile gently before death finally takes you away. For the second time, Jeff has lost you…this time permanently. The two voices from earlier appear holding guns and shining a flashlight down on the situation. Once more, something snaps within Jeff's mind. He lays you down gently, grabs his knife, and with a loud battle cry, dashes at an inhuman speed at the two that had killed you. They can't even process fast enough as he ends them quickly by slashing their throats with his knife.

A few days pass by. A funeral is held for you as your body is laid to rest. That night, hiding within the darkness, Jeff comes to your grave. He sees your tombstone, reading the carefully carved letters that spell your name, your birth and death date. Once more, just like when you two met, the boy locked away surfaces for a moment. The killer pulls out a red sharpie marker, gets on his knees and writes "Best Friend Forever". Jeff stays there, staring at what he had wrote, before he stands putting the marker away. As he's about to leave, he hears a faint voice.

The voice tells him, "Friends…forever…"

He chuckles, a human smile reaching his lips for the first time in a while and responds, "Friends forever…(f/n)…"

The boy that surfaced soon disappears, and Jeff once more becomes his insane self. Without you around to suppress the broken psyche, there's no point in trying to fight it off. Jeff is no longer the boy you knew as a kid. There are no more human smiles as he marches on, remaining on the run trying to avoid bounty hunters. He is Jeff the Killer, the monster you chose to forgive despite what he had done.

His last words before he leaves the cemetery, "…Just…go to sleep…"