I had been with Nightmare's gang for a day shy of ten years, and today was Killer's tenth birthday. He wasn't actually turning ten; it was just the amount of time he had been with Nightmare. The entire family had been chatting about this day for months now, and it had finally come. We had given Killer the traditional sleeping powder to keep him from seeing us as we put up the decorations, which there were a lot of this time, since a whole decade was a long time. We had even made it a goal to keep the gifts we had prepared for Killer secret from eachother so he would have no clue as to what they were; last year, somebody told him what he was getting, and he was really bad at faking excitement. We still didn't know who did it. We had just finished putting up the decorations when the timer for the cake went off, and Nightmare went to frost it. The rest of us were left in the living room to converse among ourselves.

"This's gonna be the bes' party ever." Horror rubbed his hands together.

"Y-yeah!" Cross agreed. "A-and Dust tomorrow!"

"What did we agree on?" I reminded. "Today is Killer's day!"

"All right, he should be waking up any time now." Error stated.

"I hope Paps and Chara can get back here before he does." I thought of Killer's speed.

"Hopeful he'll rem'ber ta walk?" Horror hoped.

"D-doubt it." Cross chuckled.

"Cake is in position." Nightmare returned to us. "Any sign yet?"

"Nope." Error kept his eyelights on the hall. "Any time now, though."

"W-wait, I think I s-see them!" Cross noticed Paps and Chara rushing towards us.

"Lights out!" The ghosts were yelling.

"Quick, Killer's coming!" I ducked behind a coffee table.

The lights were swiftly turned off and the others hid quickly; we were just in time, too, because Killer's footsteps could be heard rapidly approaching. When the steps slowed down, Killer was no doubt prepared for the lights to turn on, since he loved surprises. The lights were turned back on without haste, since Killer adored suspense. When the lights did resume function, there was a lot of joy.

"Surprise!" We shouted. "Happy birthday, Killer!"

"Thanks so much!" Killer jumped; he was literally jumping. "It looks so cool in here!"

"So, how does it feel to be 'ten'?" Nightmare asked, using air quotes.

"I dunno yet, it's only just started!"

We laughed at this.

"Well, it's your day." Nightmare resumed. "What do you want to do first?"

"Ya mean I can pick?" Killer grinned wider than I had seen him in a long time.

"Yep. Go ahead." 

"Can we open presents first this time?" We had eaten the cake first every other year.

"I don't see why not."

"Yay!"

"Wow, jus' breakin' every habit now." Horror joked.

"Yes, come on!"

We sat in the living room and prepared our gifts for the young skeleton (who could have quite possibly been older than some of us, but there wasn't any way to figure that out). Nightmare, being the Dad, gave his gift first, which was covered in purple wrapping paper, as always. Killer opened the gift to find a knife with a target pattern on the blade that looked exactly like his soul; he adored it and hugged Nightmare for a while before letting go. When he did, it was Error's turn to give a gift to the ten year old, which he wrapped with his blue strings. When Killer untangled the strings (with Error's help), he discovered a blue knife sheathe that suited him perfectly and proceeded to hug Error in the same way he did Nightmare. Next was Cross's gift, which was surrounded in black and white wrapping paper; inside, Killer found a box of chocolates, which was Cross's way of saying 'Everybody else got you a knife, but I got you chocolate' in a kind way, which earned him a hug. Next was Horror, who didn't bother trying to wrap a machete, simply handing Killer the weapon and accepting his hug.

Last on the list was my gift, which was a handcarved set of ten knives, each representing a year of Killer's life after joining Nightmare. Finding the blades for all the knives was hard, but I managed to find ten blades for ten knives, which amazed even me. I was unsure of how to wrap the gift, but I decided to carve separate boxes for each of the knives that reflected the pattern I had already carved on the knife that matched the box, and, well, I guess I just had a lot of time on my hands. When Killer saw the gifts I had carved for him, he gave me a hug, then brought the others in too, making all of us hug.

"You're the best family ever!" Killer exclaimed, partially crying from his erratic emotions which he didn't bother to fix this time. "I love you!"

"We love you too!" We responded together. 

"Do you want to go eat your cake now?" Nightmare wondered. 

"No, I wanna stay like this." Killer hugged us tighter.

"All right. We can stay like this for a while."

"Forever."

"U-uh..I can't m-move." Cross admitted; he was squished between Error and Horror, which wasn't the most comfortable place to be.

"Oh! Sorry, Crossy!"

"I-it's fine. I-I can move later."

"Okay!"

We hugged for about ten more minutes before Killer finally let us go, but it was only for the allure of chocolate cake, which lay in the dining room. We ate the cake with lots of conversation, and we had a lot of fun, too. Killer's birthdays were always enjoyable, partly because he was just a cool skeleton to hang around, but also because he knew just how to make you laugh, or your favorite things; he would rather know more about you than kill you if he had the chance, and if you would let him, he would be your friend forever. He didn't know what a bad friend was, because he would turn you into a great one just by being around him; he was like the ultimate friend, and we were lucky to have him on our side. When we were done with the cake, we gathered in the game room to play for a while, and we didn't even have to try to let Killer win; he would win every game without fail. We we had again lost a board game when Error decided to ask a question.

"Killer?" Error inquired. "How are you so good at these?"

"I'm not that good, am I?" Killer questioned.

"You're that good." I agreed.

"Oh. Well, I'm just havin' fun! The more ya think about winnin,' the less likely it'll happen!"

"Really?" Horror was impressed.

"Yup!"

"I-I'm trying it." Cross shrugged. "Can't h-hurt."

"Here we go!"

Killer set up the next game with remarkable speed, and it commenced shortly after. When the game ended, Cross came in second place, which was impressive, and Killer congratulated him on the near victory. We played a few more games together before Killer decided to give us a break while he played with his new knives; he looked like he really loved them, which made the day a win for the rest of us - he also ate a lot of chocolate, gaining a sugar rush - who only wanted him to have fun. Halfway through the party, Nightmare felt the balance shift, and although he tried to hide it, he couldn't; Killer took this as a chance to use his new knives, not seeming sad at all, which was what Nightmare wanted to avoid - he couldn't stand seeing Killer sad. A sad Killer was like a hurt puppy, and nobody wanted to see that. Nightmare picked one of Killer's favorite universes to spread negativity in and opened the portal, allowing us to enter. Killer contemplated which knives to use for a minute before deciding to just bring all of them and use whichever ones he wanted. It wasn't long before our adversaries arrived to battle us once more. Ink looked ready to use his cliche line.

"Nightmare and gang!" Ink began. "Surrender your weapons, you're under arrest!"

This statement shocked us. For ten years, Ink had used the same line over and over, and he finally changed it; Killer felt that his birthday was completed now.

"Did you just.." Nightmare quickly left his shocked state. "Use a different line?"

"So what if I did?" Ink didn't care.

"That must have taken so long to come up with."

"Are you going to surrender or not?"

"No, I think we'd rather go home and do nothing than surrender, to be honest."

"We're not going to allow you to do that! Surrender or fight!"

"Then I suppose we'll fight."

The battle then began, and we split into our regular groupings, with Error assisting Horror and Killer with the swap brothers, leaving me and Cross with Ink. I felt something off about this battle, but I wasn't sure what it was; Ink seemed to be trying a bit less than usual to fight back, which wasn't much, but it was still noticeable, and it seemed like the other adversaries were as well. It was almost as if they were stalling us for some reason. Why would they have wanted to keep us in a universe? I didn't know, but I would bring it up later. When the battle eventually ended, the other side retreated, and we went home shortly after to continue Killer's birthday. Next on our list was story time in the library, where Nightmare would tell Killer's story; he would only tell the parts he was allowed to tell, of course, since we all had our secrets - even Killer. When we were all in the library, Nightmare began.

"Killer, happy birthday." Nightmare smiled.

"Thanks, Dad!" Killer jumped.

"I suppose I'll start the story now. Our oldest and youngest member, I suppose, joined me ten years ago, and began a story I'll never forget. Killer started out with little to no emotions, from a cause I have yet to know; one decade later, and it seems like he has stronger emotions than most. Killer, although he joined first, has had a childlike feeling around him, and I guess that's why I'm proud to call him my adopted son."

"That was wholesome." Error complimented.

"Th-that was the p-part where we w-were supposed to s-say 'Aww'!" Cross complained. "Now h-how are we s-supposed to do it?"

"Sorry."

"That's okay!" Killer hugged us all. "We can do this instead!"

"This's better." Horror remarked.

"Yes, it is." Nightmare hugged us as well.

"What should we do now?" Killer wondered when the hug ended.

"Dusty sure looks ripe fer runnin.'" Horror smirked.

"What?!" My eyelights widened. 

"Great idea!" Killer got closer to me. "I can tire him out so he sleeps better!"

"That's really...not necessary."

"Come on!"

Killer grabbed my wrist and started bolting through the corridors, just the way he always did. I actually came to really enjoy our runs - at least the beginning - after a while, but I would never admit that to anyone except Papyrus; speaking of Papyrus, he stayed behind on these excursions, partly because he couldn't keep up. Killer was always careful when he ran, probably because he didn't want to hurt me; there was little risk involved in allowing him to run me around the house. This also really did tire me out, and since I was allergic to the sleeping powder used on the others, it was effective, even if I would just stay in bed if they asked me to anyway. I had given up on telling them I didn't want or need a birthday at this point, since they were sad whenever I said that; since I didn't want to make them sad, I didn't oppose my birthday verbally - only in my thoughts. When Killer dropped me on a couch in the living room, the others were waiting for us, and I was tired.

"So, how are you feeling, Dust?" Nightmare asked.

"Tired." I groaned.

"Good; there's only an hour left in Killer's birthday." Error enlightened. "Do we send him to bed now?"

"Yeah!" Killer jumped.

"Let's g-get ready!" Cross exclaimed.

"I guess I'm off." I sat up on the couch. "Is Paps going to help you here?"

"Yes, indeed, brother!" Papyrus confirmed. 

"All right. You're the best, Paps. Good night."

"Night!" I heard, as I got up to walk to my room.

When I reached my room, I placed my camera on my dresser and happened to glance over to the jars of dust. I really did feel bad for killing them, and I wouldn't do it again if I had the choice. I guess I hoped they would have heard me when I said I was sorry, which I did often.

"Hey, uh..if you guys can hear me..I'm sorry." I sighed, leaning closer to them. "I was just so..blinded by ambition, I guess. That's a lousy excuse, isn't it? Heh, there's no excuse for what I did. Hard to believe it was over twenty years ago, huh? I don't know what I was thinking, going against that demon kid. If you're listening, I know you probably hate me, and I don't blame you; I would probably hate me too. All the suffering I've been through probably doesn't amount to half of what I put you through, even if you don't remember it; gosh, I must sound like a fool, talking to dust. Who even does this? I guess if you are listening, it would be unfair to neglect you, so uh, I'm really, really sorry for killing you, if it even makes a difference now; maybe I'll see you again someday. I hope so."

It was true, I had been experimenting with a bit of magic from dust in hopes of finding a way to bring the dead back, but I had hit so many dead ends; I was determined to do it, though, and pretty soon, I would find the way. I had to. I then lay on my bed and just stayed there for a while, listening to the silence; Nightmare's house wasn't usually this quiet, and it was a pleasant change of pace. I really liked silence, but I didn't really know why; there was just something about silence that made me feel safe. The quietness surrounding me made me feel comfortable enough to close my eyesockets and attempt to fall asleep, at least until I heard a creak; Nightmare's house creaked a lot, so it didn't really phase me much, but it did ruin my peace. I didn't think much of it until I started hearing multiple creaks, which wasn't exactly what I would call normal, but I assumed it was the others preparing whatever they had planned for my birthday, which I still didn't want, but I guess I couldn't refuse at this point. I loved them so much; if they wanted to give me a birthday, I would go along with it to make them happy, because they deserved to be happy. When the creaks got louder and more frequent, I opened my eyesockets, and I had no time to react.

I couldn't see who had restrained me, but they were too strong to resist, which wasn't exactly the best news for me, who was tired out from earlier. I put up as much resistance as I could, which wasn't as little as I had thought it would be, thankfully, and yelled, too.

"Let me go!" I struggled.

"Afraid not." I was sure this was a skeleton, particularly a Sans. "We've got our orders."

Looking around, I did in fact see more skeletons of the same variety in my room, and I silently wondered how they got in the house without being seen before remembering the battle from earlier and putting the pieces together. Ink obviously had the job of keeping us occupied while these skeletons got into their places and waited for one of us to be alone, and I was the lucky winner, I guess. After seeing their numbers, it was clear that I couldn't escape this, so I stopped struggling; I had no chance. I was quickly thrust to the floor and handcuffed before anything else was said, which didn't feel good in the least, but I didn't think they cared. When my formal restraints were on, I was lifted to my feet and forced out of my room with little to no concern as to if I was injured in any way, which was rude, to say the least. I was pushed forward towards the living room, where sounds of battle grew increasingly obvious, and my concern for my family grew with every step. We stopped at the entrance to the living room from the hallway, where I was forced down to my knees, and to make it worse, there was a sharp bone pointed directly at my soul - not the nicest feeling.

"I think you might want to stop your fighting!" The skeleton pointing the bone yelled, catching everyone's attention, and my family was looking concerned.

"Good work, Fell!" Ink was in the living room. "We would like to ask every member of your group to surrender now, Nightmare."

I wasn't doing so well: tired, threatened, and being used against my family; I was not in the best situation, to be honest. The skeleton holding me, which I now knew as 'Fell,' was holding his bone way too close to my soul for comfort for any party, including his, apparently, but he wouldn't move it away; this meant I had to stay completely still to not kill myself, which was getting hard to do, since I was in a position where I would be shaking if I could. I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep from shaking, but I didn't want my family to surrender; that would be the worst thing possible. My family unfortunately noticed my situation and knew I would start shaking at any moment, meaning they had to think fast. It felt like an eternity, trying not to shake while being used as a bargaining chip against the ones I loved. Eventually, they decided simultaneously. 

"We...surrender." They sadly stated.

"Great!" Ink looked happy, but we all knew he wanted something else to happen. "Let's take them to where they belong, then."

They began to handcuff my family and carry them off through portals before I passed out from stress. We had been captured, and there was nobody that was going to save us this time. I should have expected it; why didn't I expect it? I had just condemned my entire family! Why couldn't I have done something else?! Why was I so weak?

We were doomed.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean family capture oh noes.

Thanks for reading my suspenseful writing!

Bye!