#<- dead mom to just jab at his friend.

[numberonepartyboy]

what is wrong with him

[whoopsyeahokay]

October Sun

summary: your mother had warned you. Don't let them know, she'd said, her nails digging angry crescents into the flesh of your upper arms, eyes wild and imploring, don't let them know you can see. you'd listened, all these years, you'd lived your life by that rule. until you couldn't.

pairing: Wally Clark x fem!reader

warnings: eventual smutty smut smut. and mad spoilers. and obvious Canon divergence. very involved, very dense plot.

bon reading, frens

___________________________💀

OCTOBER SUN pt.1

Like most things, it started with a look.

A boy. A girl. A crowded place; a friend talking—their voice muted as if heard through a motel wall. Time slows. People filter in and out of the space between, chatting, laughing, in frame just long enough to emphasize the weight behind something that, in any other context, would be utterly unimportant.

Simon had urged you outside at lunch, pulled you away from your table, tone frayed in desperation as he interrogated you about things you're certain you'd made seem the expression of a morbidly quirky imagination.

"Well," He said, like jabbing the eraser-end of a pencil into your sternum, "Can you?"

You hesitated, gaze lifting away from his to skirt the middle-distance behind him.

And then—

It happened molasses-slow. Your eyes caught his; lingered a beat too long to be played off as anything other than what it was. Acknowledgment.

Those sweet-sultry cow eyes widened a fraction.

Oh no.

Then time rushed back in and snapped into the correct rhythm. You didn't have a chance to process what had just happened because Simon sighed with the weight of the world, grabbing fistfuls of his hair and pulling. Quickly, you arranged your expression into something slightly put-off.

"Si, what are you talking about?"

Simon groaned and took a few steps back then forward again. He reminded you of a caged animal being forced to perform. Lately, his mannerisms had been erratic, a little unhinged. You'd caught him talking to himself a couple of times, in classrooms or the cafeteria. The last couple of days he'd been glued to his phone, taking spontaneous calls that he'd never received before. Initially, you'd assumed he was in touch with Maddie; the only one she'd trusted enough to keep in the loop. However, the more you'd observed, the more you'd doubted the assumption.

You'd watched him unravel from a distance, of course. Nicole had turned inward, Simon was bursting at the seams, and you, as the casual friend with a life separate to theirs, stayed away out of a sense of insecurity.

You and Maddie hadn't been as close as she and Simon and Nicole. You shared interests in the macabre and spooky, but that's where it ended. Event Buddies who became familiar through exposure, lacking that profound connection that would give you a reason to call about something other than the next horror film release date.

You didn't feel right about asking to share their grief. It felt intrusive.

Simon paced the length of the bus shelter once more before stopping in front of you. He was clearly nervous, frustrated, avoiding your gaze for a second while he collected his thoughts.

Finally, he took a deep breath, glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot, and said, low and secret, "You talked about the ghosts here—" You folded your arms and tilted your head in what you hoped came across as confused. "—Last year," Simon grabbed your arm and pulled you in closer when a group of younger girls walked by, "Last year, you told us about the crush you had on your mom's dead boyfriend, remember? The guy who died during the '83 homecoming game?"

"They never dated." You corrected, fighting the urge to chew your lip. A giveaway that you were about to choose your words very carefully. "But, look, Simon, I talked about that stuff because I thought it was fun. Not because I can commune with the dead."

"But your mom—"

"Is a fraud and you know it." Then you frowned, genuinely intrigued, "What's going on?"

Simon shot you a dazed look, "Huh?"

"Why are you suddenly into this Sixth Sense shit? You've never believed in it before. A stance you've made very clear you take." Every time you joked about reaching out to the Other Side, Simon would scoff and roast you endlessly. Something that you found endearing. Like a prickly inside joke. It was your thing.

Suddenly, Simon got that look on his face, the one he got in class when your teachers outlined your homework. As if he were listening to someone. Except there was no one else close enough to hear.

The silence stretched into a thin static between you until, at last, Simon said, "Never mind." He sounded equal parts defeated and aggravated.

Taking a cautious step forward, you placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about Maddie, Si, I—" Have no idea how to put into words how fucked up it all is, "—I wish there was something, anything, I could do to help."

Simon pressed his lips together and nodded. From the corner of your eye, you saw a figure approaching the bus shelter. Tall, broad, donning the unmistakable colors of the Split River Bandits, née Devils. You had to get out of there before you irrevocably fucked up and found yourself at the center of what your mother warned you would be a swarm.

"Look," You dropped your hand to Simon's, squeezing supportively. You might not have been able to tell the whole truth but you could try to offer some comfort. Whether or not he believed you was up to him. "Maddie's okay, Simon. Wherever she is. Whatever happened to her..." You paused, considering your next words, "She can't be so far gone that we won't get her back."

You said it with all the conviction you had in you, believed it to your core.

You'd seen the beatnik with her lollipops, the shy boy with the glasses; you'd seen the young man in the outdated suit, and the modest, Sally Olsson lookalike, and the girl with the daydream eyes. You'd seen the myspace emo punk, the lanky autoshop geek, the dark-skinned disco queen; the marching band, and the theater kid...and him. The charming, high-on-life football star currently stood outside the bus shelter, his hands cupped around his eyes as he peeked through the glass against the glare of the sun.

You hadn't seen Maddie. Not a glimmer or a shadow or the impression that she'd been and gone. Nothing. And you'd done your due diligence as soon as you'd heard about the blood in the boiler room. You'd scoured the town after dark, before school, whenever you could get away without raising suspicion. Her old haunts and favorite places had been empty.

Minus a couple of exceptions, but they hadn't been Maddie, so you didn't see the harm in continuing to keep the truth from Simon.

"Yeah." Simon said. He didn't sound convinced. "Thanks. For that."

You deflated, released his hand with an affirming squeeze, and made your excuse, "I gotta get ready for next period."

He didn't meet your eyes, simply pulled his phone out and put it to his ear. "See you later." The smile he gave you was tight, quick, insincere.

Taking that as your cue to leave, you turned and exited the bus shelter, tall dark 'n' handsome keeping pace as you made your way back into the school, his gaze a warm weight on the side of your face.

All you had to do was pretend he wasn't there. You'd done it countless times in the past, were well-versed in how to cover your mistakes.

You stopped briefly, reached out to open the door, and in that second, you felt a tingle up your spine and the closeness of a body behind you. His voice, a gentle rumble, spoke directly into your ear, the parody of soft breath tickling the hairs on your neck.

"I know you can see me."

You forced yourself not to react, perhaps stood a second too long before yanking the door open and marching inside, but you kept your eyes forward, and relaxed your jaw and shoulders. To the students milling about the hall, you were the picture of normal.

"Do what you want but I'm not going anywhere until you admit it." He said lightly, a step behind you as you maneuvered toward your locker.

Once again, you had to stop, twisting in the combination to open your lock. You fumbled, missing a number, had to start again. He leaned his shoulder against the locker beside yours, watched you through his lashes, a smirk pulling one side of his mouth upward.

You'd always been attracted to him. Had to suppress the urge to stare at him when he appeared in the same classroom or hallway you happened to be in. Having him interact with you, intentionally, made your heart quicken and the ability to think critically dissolve.

Oh God, not again...

Your brain fired a thousand synapses in every direction as you willed yourself to hurry before you accidentally did something stupid; steadied your hand to input the combination correctly. You tugged the lock. It stayed stubbornly latched. And then he leaned in, too close, the tip of his nose practically grazing your temple.

"You missed the 3."

The air was syrupy thick, fuzzy. In an effort to concentrate, you closed your eyes, repeating a mantra your mother had taught you to center yourself.

You sensed his body shift, tilted further toward you like a bracket, then the sensation of blunt nails traveling up up up your back, catching in the material of your shirt as if the touch were real. Goosebumps erupted over your arms, your breath hitched, and you found your head slanting in his direction.

Fuck. You needed to—BANG—Jesus Christ!

Your eyes snapped open at the abrupt noise, your friend cackling wickedly as she took in your shock.

"Hey, silly." Mathilda Grace—of The Split River Graces, not that she'd ever say it like that—grinned proudly at the reaction she'd gotten out of you. "You ready to fail this test with me?"

You could still feel him hovering, but it seemed he'd put an appropriate amount of distance between you. Shaking your head to clear the last of the muzziness from a moment ago, you plastered on your most natural smile and responded, "Let's go disappoint our parents."

You managed to undo the lock and grab the right textbooks, transferring what you didn't need from your bag into your locker while Mathilda regaled you with what you'd missed after Simon had dragged you outside.

"What did he want, anyway?" Mathilda asked, more concerned than curious.

"To talk about Maddie." You replied as close to the truth as you dared. It had the added benefit of making Mathilda feel awkward enough to change the subject immediately.

"K, c'mon, bell's about to go and I need to grab my book, too."

Shutting and locking your locker, you chanced a sideways glance and were relieved to find that it was just you and Mathilda and the regular stream of other alive-and-well students making their way to their next class.

Still, as you and Mathilda walked toward Ms. Fields' class, you felt the tingle of his gaze on the back of your neck.

The next couple of days would be white-knuckle hard, but you'd dealt with it before and could do it again. Had to do it again.

What you didn't anticipate—and probably should've, given what you knew about him—was Wally Clark's steadfast determination and his refusal to let sleeping dogs lie for a second time.

💀___________________________

PART TWO

also available on AO3!

MASTERLIST

[hrtbeomi]

⋆ ˒ 💭 ۫  ּ ROMANCE IS NOT DEAD IF YOU KEEP IT JUST YOURS !

pairing: actor!gojo x singer!reader wc: 0,3k            warnings: not proofread ‼️, reader's album is basically reputation by miss tswift 🙈

a/n: i've had this in my drafts for a while now,, hope you like it >< i just looove actor!gojo and if you'd like to see more of him leave a comment!

WIRED AUTOCOMPLETE INTERVIEW WITH GOJO SATORU AND Y/N

3. 2. 1. ACTION !

As the camera clicked on, you sensed the beginning of another recording session. Satoru, next to you, shifted in his seat about before the start of the video.

"Hey there, it's l/n y/n," you chimed in with a grin, "and i'm Gojo Satoru," the white-haired male beside you smoothly finished, "and this is our Wired auto-complete interview!" both of you beamed as the staff handed over boards containing the internet's most searched questions.

Satoru held your board while you held his, diving into the depths of what the online people wanted to know about you.

Q. "Who's y/n l/n's 'gorgeous' about?"

With a smirk, you retorted, "sorry to burst your bubble, person-who-searched-that but 'gorgeous' is about your mom," you answered, eliciting laughter from Satoru and the crew.

"Lame! Just tell them the truth" Satoru teased, well aware of the implications behind his words.

"That's the only truth," you replied, feigning innocence before swiftly moving on.

Q. "Is y/n l/n's song 'call it what you want' about Gojo Satoru?"

Your cheeks flushed with embarrassment as you stuttered, "That's... quite the assumption," failing miserably at masking your nerves.

The crew chuckled, mentioning how your fandom had already orchestrated a fictional relationship between you two.

"We know, next they'll claim we're expecting a baby or something!" Satoru quipped, earning a horrified look from you, "Alright, my turn now."

Q. "Who's Gojo Satoru's favorite actor?"

"I'd say my good ol' friend, Geto Suguru! He's a top-notch," Satoru replied, reminiscing about the movies and series they did together.

"True, i'm a big fan of his work" you confessed, prompting a playful pout from Satoru.

"Maybe he's not that great anymore," he mumbled in mock jealousy.

"You're good too!" you reassured him amidst laughter.

Q. "Is Gojo Satoru married to y/n l/n?"

"Spiritually i am" Satoru quipped, earning a playful jab from you.

"Don't encourage them, Satoru!" you scolded him.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," he replied unrepentantly.

Q. "Is Gojo Satoru in a relationship?"

"I am. . .not! i'm a lone wolf" Satoru declared with a hint of melancholy, though everyone in the room knew the truth but as you looked at him, his convincing lie almost had you fooled, if it weren't for the fact that you, his actual girlfriend, stood right beside him.

"Alright, alpha boy, next question!" you exclaimed before the tables turned.

Q. "What's the name of y/n l/n's next album?"

"I've just released 'reputation' can't I catch a break?" you exclaimed, playfully collapsing out of your chair.

"How dramatic," Satoru chuckled before suggesting, "You should write a song about me though."

CUT !

[BONUS] [CLIP THAT WAS CUT FROM THE VIDEO]

"Sure, it'll be called 'gorgeous,'" you teased, planting a kiss on his cheek.

"The greatest song ever! Although 'So It Goes' is my personal favorite," Satoru grinned mischievously, almost revealing too much of your relationship before you intervened.

"Too much information!" you laughed, covering his mouth to keep him from saying more.

© 2024 HRTBEOMI

[snake-and-mouse]

Look. Mxtx does wonders with identity bullshit, all the disguises and aliases and shapeshifting and possessing and reincarnating etc etc

We got the obvious in tgcf with Everyone Knowing Everyone and yet it does no good because everyone is also allergic to using their real name or face or admitting they know someone, coupled with Xie Lian being the one person who cluelessly strolls up to people like hi hello who are you? (Someone you've known for centuries you bimbo) or just outright talking about someone with zero realisation they are in the room rn pls for the love of god shut up!!!

And then svsss is less actual identity shit and more just straight up not recognising reality, because Shen Qingqiu thinks he is in his old familiar beloved PIDW, right? He doesn't realise this isn't his old friend he knows like the back of his hand (that the characters are now people he can't so effortlessly read). This is a Stranger, and as he tries to passively observe the long-memorised chain of events, it keeps dancing left when he thinks its supposed to go right, feints when he was sure it would jab. The story slowly turns into someone he doesn't recognise (why does he feel like he doesn't recognise his little lamb anymore??) because his utter inability for much of the series to see how his actions can alter the world he is in.

But all that being said.

Award for Most Bullshit obviously goes to mdzs.

Wei Wuxian- Hey random kid I just met (THAT'S YOUR KID DUDE)! You're just lovely, whoever raised you (YOUR HUSBAND IDIOT) did a wonderful job :D

Also Wei Wuxian- Hey random kid I just met #2 (your nephew)! You suck, your mom (YOUR VERY DEAD YOUR FAULT DEAD SISTER) phoned in teaching you manners. Seriously who tf raised you? (YOUR BROTHER RAISED HIM. AFTER YOU GOT HIS PARENTS KILLED. AND THEN DIED. MORON.)

[rd0265667]

Minji x Reader: Mercy, The Fool's Errand

TW!: Warning, there is quite alot of Violence and a slight bit of Gore(but there will be a TW before hand) A/N: Trying a more action oriented fic with Spiderwoman Minji, maybe will spring into something more 👀 Permanent Taglist: @cwpiqwon @justme-idle

Dropping down silently, Spider Woman landed behind a thug who was struggling to light a cigarette. Before the thug could react, Spiderwoman snatched the cigarette away, punching the thug in the gut. As he yelped in pain, she lit the cigarette, tossing it into his mouth, before webbing his mouth shut

“Didn’t your mom ever tell you smoking kills? Lucky for you, I’m way more effective than lung cancer. And a sucker for irony too.” Seeing more thugs, Spiderwoman webbed this thug up, swinging him and throwing him at the incoming thug. Jumping at the nearest thug, Spiderwoman webbed his mouth shut and gave him a quick uppercut, sending him sprawling into a pile of crates. The commotion caught the attention of two nearby thugs, who turned around, guns drawn. Spiderwoman launched herself at them, twisting mid-air to avoid their shots. She landed between them, delivered a rapid-fire punch to the first thug's gut, then spun around and kicked the second thug in the chest.

“I don’t get it—do you guys buy bullets in bulk? Costco membership? And seriously, where’s your safety training? Is there even safety on this gun?” Spiderwoman asked, before smacking him across the face with the butt of the rifle

The other thug staggers up, reaching for a knife. Spiderwoman webs the knife to her hand, tossing it straight into his chest. “Knife to meet you! Ha, I’ve been dying to use that one. Okay, technically I’m not the one dying, you are, but yada yada, spare me the semantics”

Another thug tried to surprise her from behind, swinging a crowbar. Spiderwoman ducked, then flipped backward, landing on the thug’s shoulders. Wrapping her arms around the thug, she jumped up, smashing his head into the ground as his neck jerked with a sickening crunch

“Crowbars? That’s cute. Didn’t know I was fighting a gang of Home Depot employees. You guys got discounts on those, or…? Meh, I don’t think dead employees get discounts. Oh well.”

SpiderWoman noticed a group of thugs at the far end of the warehouse, raising their guns. She shot a web at a nearby crate and swung it into them, knocking them down like bowling pins.

“Strike! And the crowd goes wild! Well, not really. But hey, you should see my high score at the arcade.”

As Spider woman landed, a thug swung a chain at her. She caught the chain mid-swing, yanked the thug forward, and clotheslined him.

“You know, I read somewhere that chainmail is making a comeback. But you, my friend, are not pulling it off.”

A thug sneaks up behind her, swinging a bat. Spiderwoman’s spider-sense tingles, and she ducks just in time. She webs the thug’s feet to the floor and yanks the bat out of his hands, twirling it like a baton.

“Batter up! Or should I say, ‘batter down’? No? Wow, tough crowd. Maybe I should stick to knock-knock jokes.”

She swings the bat, cracking it against the thug’s head, sending him spinning. The thug drops, twitching. Spiderwoman exaggeratedly raises her hand, running around the spot like a baseball game “And the crowd goes wild! Okay, nobody’s awake…or alive, but still. I’m a hit!”

Another thug tried to charge him with a bat. Spiderwoman sidestepped, grabbed the bat, and broke it over her knee, using the broken pieces to jab the thug in the shoulders, before a last one right in the stomach.

“Another goddamn bat? Really? What is this, amateur night? I’m expecting Joker to pop out and tell me this was all a prank.”

The last thug was backing away, visibly trembling, his gun shaking in his hands. Spiderwoman took a step forward, then another, until she was right in the thug’s face.

“Relax, man, I’m not gonna kill all of you. You, I’ll probably just ruin your evening. And maybe your dental work.”

Before the thug could respond, Spiderwoman webbed his gun to the ceiling and delivered a quick jab to the thug's stomach,followed by a punch to the face, the impact causing a crack in the ground Seeing the last thug left in the warehouse, Spiderwoman swung over, landing on the boxes next to the thug “I surrender, Don’t kill me!” The thug shouted out, dropping her gun to the ground. “Alright, but only if I get to tell you a joke.” Spiderwoman quips, twirling around a karambit she had found. “Okay!” The thug responded excitedly, relieved to have a way out. “Knock knock.” Spiderwoman started “Who’s there?” “Death.” Spiderwoman deadpanned “Death whrrg.” The thug began, before Spiderwoman dropped down, swiping the karambit across the thug's neck as she dropped to the ground, holding her neck as blood spurted wildly from the wound. “God I love Rowan Atkinson.” Spiderwoman chuckled to herself

“You know, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got a hot date. And maybe some takeout. Do bad guys even eat? I mean, it’s like you’re always here, doing the crime thing. You must have terrible Yelp reviews.”

Spiderwoman started walking toward the exit, then paused, looking back over his shoulder.

“By the way, if you’re thinking of sending more guys after me, here’s a tip: maybe hire a better interior decorator. This warehouse looks like the set of every bad action movie ever. Seriously, a potted plant wouldn’t kill you.”

She shot a web, swinging up into the rafters and disappearing into the shadows, leaving behind a warehouse full of groaning thugs and shattered crates.

As she swung away into the night, she muttered to herself, “I should really charge for this. Hero work, witty banter, interior design tips… Talk about multi-tasking.”

Her swing back to the rooftop was an uneventful one, thankfully. You were gonna kill her if you were late again, and she didn’t want to deal with that today. With a final swing, Minji soared into the air, landing with a final forward roll, jogging into the small shed at the rooftop. As she rushed into the shed, she smirked, leaning on the doorframe. “Just in time.” Minji said with a chuckle. Your eyes narrowed, staring at Minji, before shaking your head with a small sigh. “You’re cutting it close Kim. And to think I made your favourite for tonight.” “Ice cream?” Minji’s smile spread wide across her face. “Yep, mint chocolate.” You teased, Minji’s face dropping in horror. “You might be the worst person I’ve ever met. And I’ve literally met every villain in this city.” Minji said in horror “I’m kidding, its that cheesecake flavour you told me you liked that once.” You rolled your eyes, seeing Minji’s eyes widen, sparkling with excitement. “So what’s the special occasion? You even broke out the ice cream maker Auntie bought in that one garage sale?” Minji asked as she dug into the ice cream as if it was about to disappear. “If I recall, that was the garage sale you were supposed to help out in, but disappeared. Ahma was so pissed at you.” You jabbed with a chuckle, Minji wincing as she remembered those piercing, disappointed eyes that seemed to eat at her soul. Ghost Rider could never. “Not answering the question honey.” Minji teased, once again digging back into the bowl of ice cream before her. “I wanted to talk to you about reinstating your no kill rule.” You sat next to Minji, putting her hand in yours. “Nope.” Minji quickly replied, continuing to dig into the ice cream as if you had not said a word Taken aback, you quickly snatched the bowl away from Ice Cream away from Minji. You were well aware that if she wanted to, you couldn’t have taken that bowl from her if your life depended on it, but at least this proved she was listening. Somewhat at least. “I’m serious.” You gripped Minji’s hand tighter, trying to look her in the eyes “Ralph Dibny. Caitlin Luz. Joseph Wiegand. Corey Steele. Rachel Ong. 5 Dead, 236 people injured.” Minji stared at you dead in the eye. Your grip softened, you knew those names, you knew those numbers. The casualty report from the Goblin’s last attack, “If I had put the Goblin down the first time she tried anything, they would still be here. Rachel…She would still be here.”  Minji seethed in rage. “Kim Minjeong.” You rebutted. “What about her?” Minji asked, clearly irritated at this line of questioning. “You fought her at Silph Labs a month ago, when she tried to steal some tech prototype.” “And?” You walked over to the computer, all it took was some typing to pull up some articles. “Have you heard of this new hero in Moapa Valley? Winter Flare? That’s Kim Minjeong.” You brought up a new message tab of communication. “I’ve been in contact with Crimson Banshee, the vigilante at Moapa Valley. She figured out what Minjeong was using that prototype for.” You took a small brown file, handing it to Minji, who looked at the file in apprehension. “Open it.” You nudged, Minji sighing before opening the file. “Her name is Yu Jimin. She was suffering from a rare genetic disease, and it was fatal. That prototype was the only thing that could save Jimin, and it did. A few days ago, the prototype was found in the office, frozen in a block of ice, and now, Moapa has a new protector.” “Your point?” Minji asked, going back to the couch.

“Some of them deserve a second chance. Not all of them, of course. The Goblin, The Chuuker, the mass murderers, the monsters, put them in the ground. I have no moral argument about that. But some of them deserve at least a shot at redemption. Like Minjeong. Good people, forced by circumstance to do bad things. That doesn’t make them villains, they’re just desperate, lost. You’re a hero, Minji, children look up to Spiderwoman everyday, but parents are afraid, Minji. They don’t want their kids to think murder is the first answer to everything. Just killing them may seem like it’s the right way out, but it’s just the easy way out. Some of these people deserve a second chance, a shot at redemption, but if they choose to turn bad again, you’ll be there to stop them again, my amazing spiderwoman.” You placed your hand on her cheek, attempting to reassure her. “But what if they change, attack again, and I can’t stop them? The lives that they’ll take, they’re on me.” Minji’s tone lowered, hands trembling as fear overcame her. “I know it’s difficult, baby, but killing isn’t the answer. It’s chipping away at your soul. Please. Think about it?” You pleaded, to which Minji nodded. “Now, I believe I promised you movie night. So what movie shall it be?” You asked, cuddling into Minji on the couch, remote in your hand as you turned on the TV. “Well, I’d say Lilo and Stitch, but I’m not paying fucking 13 bucks a month Disney.” Minji said, turning to look into what was seemingly thin air. “Who are you talking to this time?” You asked amusedly, not new to Minji’s antics “Let’s just watch the Titanic for the 20th thousand time.” Minji said, causing you to giggle. “It’s a good movie, and I expect a little more leeway with movie selection after I spent the whole day after class churning your goddamn cheesecake ice cream.” You playfully rolled your eyes, causing Minji to roll her eyes in mocking response, before pulling you in for a cuddle. “Jack would have fit on that goddamn door by the way.”

Spiderwoman clings to a steel beam high above the construction site, her eyes scanning the ground below. She had heard chatters of a new self proclaimed Genius Villain in town. Smartest in the world. “How many Smartest people in the world are there? It’s like how many first Baptist churches I see around this city. Like, one of them got to actually be first right?” Spiderwoman grabbed the screen, pulling it toward her mouth like a mic to talk to the people on the other side. “Okay okay, this is what you readers came here for. It’s showtime, grab your popcorn, turn off that music you’re playing in the background. Shits about to get real.” Spiderwoman lets go off the screen, pushing it back into the air, before cracking her knuckles

“Alright, Scipio,” Spiderwoman calls out, her voice echoing through the empty site. “Time to settle the score. And before you ask, no, I don’t have a coupon for this ass-kicking, so you’re gonna have to take it full price.”

A shadow moves in the darkness below, and Scipio steps into the light. He’s dressed in tactical gear, his posture calm and ready. A rope dart, its metal tip glinting ominously, coils in his hand.

“Nice rope dart! I guess you’re planning to make me your personal piñata. Hope you brought enough candy for the both of us!” Spiderwoman quips, assessing the threat before her

“You’ve been busy, Spiderwoman,” Scipio says, his voice smooth. “But tonight, I’m going to show you that brains can beat brawn.”

Spiderwoman drops from the beam, flipping gracefully in mid-air before landing softly on the ground. She bounces lightly on the balls of her feet, adopting a fighting stance “Brains, huh? Let’s see how smart you feel when you’re wrapped up like a mummy in webs.”

Without warning, Scipio whips the rope dart toward her, the tip slicing through the air with a deadly hiss. Spiderwoman reacts instantly, firing a webline to a nearby beam and yanking herself out of its path. She swings in a wide arc, twisting her body to deliver a flying kick to Scipio’s head. He ducks just in time, but she’s already flipping over him, landing lightly on the other side.

“Cheap Shot Buster! But you’re gonna have to be quicker than that!” she taunts, shooting another webline to a distant crane and pulling herself upward. She swings from the web, her body swaying slightly as she observes him from above. “And try not to get dizzy from all this swinging around. I know it can be a lot to handle. I’ve got a good pharmacy guy if you need him.”

Scipio doesn’t waste any time. He snaps the rope dart back, the metal tip whipping around his body as he takes aim. Spiderwoman swings toward him, her body twisting mid-air as she dodges the dart again, using a webline to redirect herself upward. She lands on a high beam, crouched and ready.

“Nice toy you got there,” she quips, firing a web to a nearby scaffold and using it to slingshot herself downward. “But mine’s better.” She somersaults through the air, aiming to land a kick on Scipio’s chest. But he’s prepared—he spins the rope dart around him, creating a whirling barrier that she narrowly avoids.

“Looks like you’re dancing with danger!” she shouts, using her webs to dodge and weave through the air. “I hope you’ve been taking dance lessons.”

Scipio growls in frustration and charges, his rope dart whipping through the air with deadly precision. Spiderwoman spins away, flipping into the air and firing webs to keep him off balance. She catches the dart mid-air and spins it around her hand, using it as a makeshift weapon to parry his next attack.

“Whoa, you’re really sticking to your guns—literally!” she jokes, a barrel role to narrowly dodge the rope dart. “But I’m afraid your aim is a little off. Better luck next time!”

Scipio narrows his eyes, clearly annoyed. He lunges at her with a series of rapid, precise strikes, but she dodges and counters, her movements a blur of agility and acrobatics. With a flourish, Scipio sends the rope dart with astonishing speed, though Spiderwoman was able to narrowly dodge, allowing the rope dart to twirl around her, sending it back at Scipio, causing him to duck, knocking him off his balance

“You’re like a cat in a laser pointer shop,” Spiderwoman quips, spinning around to land a kick to his ribs. “Always swatting at things you can’t quite catch!”

Scipio stumbles, but he catches himself, spinning around to deliver a backhand that Spiderwoman barely dodges. She retaliates with a series of punches, but Scipio blocks most of them, using her momentum against her to throw her off balance, one gap in her attack all he needed to knock her back.

Spiderwoman lands lightly on her feet, her breath coming in quick bursts. This guy is good—really good. But she’s not done yet. Not by a long shot. “Oh you’re good. As the shitheads on Mobile Legends say, Music.” Spiderwoman says, quickly followed by two quick claps, before lunging back at Scipio

She fires a web at a steel beam, yanking herself into the air. Scipio follows, leaping after her with lightning quick agility. But Spiderwoman has the advantage here—she swings from beam to beam, her experience of fighting mid swing proving advantageous as she dodged, bobbed, and parried everything Scipio tried to throw at her

“Catch me if you can!” she shouts, twisting mid-air to avoid a punch and landing a spinning kick to his head. “Or, you know, keep missing and I’ll just keep making jokes. Your call!”

Scipio reels from the kick, but he recovers quickly, grabbing her leg and pulling her down to the ground with him. They hit the concrete hard, but Spiderwoman uses the momentum to roll away, springing back to her feet. She fires a web to a nearby crane and pulls herself up, swinging in a wide arc before dropping down on Scipio from above. He raises his arms to block, but she’s too fast—she lands a solid punch to his jaw, followed by a kick to his chest that sends him crashing into a pile of rubble.

Scipio groans, struggling to get back to his feet. But Spiderwoman is already moving, her webs snapping out to wrap around his arms and legs. She yanks him off the ground, swinging him in a wide arc before slamming him into a steel beam. The impact reverberates through the site, and Scipio collapses to the ground, dazed.

Spiderwoman lands lightly beside him, breathing hard. Her fists clench and unclench as she stares down at him, her mind racing. She could end it all right now—just one more hit, and he’d be done for. “Go ahead.  I’ve heard all about this before. Spiderwoman, the penumbra of this city. End me.” Scipio said, out of breath “Shut up.” Spiderwoman sighs. You were right. There was a better way to do this. With a shake of the head, Spiderwoman turns to walk away. “You’re letting me go?” Scipio questioned

Spiderwoman gazes down at him, her expression unreadable. “Because someone believes there is a better way to do things,” she says quietly. “And I’m starting to believe it too.”

She webs him to the ground, ensuring he won’t be going anywhere until the authorities arrive. “Don’t feel so smart now, do you, genius?” As she prepares to swing away, she looks back at him one last time, her voice hardening.

“Consider yourself lucky,” she says, her tone cold. “This is your one chance, repent, use that big brain for the good of society. But this is a warning, if I ever see you again, I won’t be making any more promises. And next time, bring more than just a rope dart.”

In the wreckage of the construction site, Scipio laid there, groaning in pain, though a small smile on his face. The fight might have been lost, but the war had just begun. It was not a war he anticipated being alive to see, but he wasn’t complaining. As the dot blinked on the screen on his wrist, Scipio smirked. Revenge would be swift, precise, fiery.

Exhausted, Minji walked into the shed. “How’d it go?” You asked, tossing her her usual isotonic drink. “I did it. New Guy in town, Scipio. I think he just wanted to test his skill against mine. He’s smart, and he’s good. Really good. Hopefully he uses the second chance wisely.” Minji said, leaning into the back hug you had thrown her into. “I’m proud of you.” You said, ruffling her hair as Minji smiled. “Alright, I’m going down to the chemistry labs to make some more web fluid.” Minji said, yawning as she tossed her suit to a corner, dressing down into a more comfortable jumpsuit. “Alright, I’ll do some research on Scipio while you’re gone, then maybe we'll go for supper?” You asked “You read my mind bro.” Minji chuckled, walking to you at your chair, leaving a small kiss on your forehead, before heading down the building to the chemistry lab.

Minji hummed a soft tune as she mixed the chemicals she needed. It was a slow process, but after so much time spent crime fighting, this time spent had become more or less a routine for her. She leaned back on her stool, allowing her mind to drift as she swirled the beaker in her hand. As she swirled it, however, she suddenly had a heavy feeling in her chest, the same feeling when her spidey senses go into overdrive. “Damn, I’ve been working too hard, maybe some chimichangas later.” Minji joked to herself, but as she swirled the beaker, she could not shake the horrible feeling. Now slightly wary, Minji got up from her seat, looking around the lab. “Alright, Monster in the closet, the Sonic CGI before we told Paramount they could go fuck themselves. Come out, come out wherever you are.” Minji called out, only to be met with silence, before hearing a deafening scream. Minji’s face paled. She bolted out of the lab, going as fast as her legs could take her, running up the stairs, only to recoil in horror as she saw the shed in flames. “Y/N!” She screamed out, hoping to find you amidst the rubble. Jumping into the shed, looking around, frantically looking for you. Seeing your hand sticking out amidst the dust, she jumped in, picking you up in a fireman’s carry, before running out from the shed. “Hey, babe, it’s okay, you’re safe now.” Minji whispers to you, holding you tight against her chest. “Babe?” Minji whispered, realising that you were unreactive. She placed a finger to your neck, her trembling hands realising you didn’t have a pulse. “No, No, No, Not again, this can’t be happening again.” Minji muttered under her breath Minji quickly tried CPR, her chest compressions growing more frantic as you remained unresponsive. Minji collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily as she fell back in horror. Looking to her hand, she quickly vibrated her hand, seeing small blue sparks of electricity forming on her hand. A power that she had found not too long ago, and your last hope. With trembling hands, Minji placed her hand on your chest, causing your body to jolt up in the air, but you remained unconscious. The sounds of sirens quickly flooded the area, the alarm clearly having been tripped by the fire. As the medics rushed the area, Minji let the paramedics around your body. After some checks, Minji saw the medic look to her watch, confirming her worst fear. As Minji fell back to the ground, stunned as the paramedics wheeled you away, she noticed something in the corner. Her suit. She slowly walked over to it, noticing a small blinking red light you had not noticed before, accompanied by a note. “With regards from the New Rogues, and Scipio ~Inferno.” Minji’s fist tightened, sparks flying out from her fist.

“Where are they! You have 10 seconds to tell me, before I gouge your eyeballs out.” Minji screamed, punching the thug she had found, webbing him upside down. “I don’-” Before the thug could finish his sentence, Minji punched him in the face, his head thrashing through the cinder wall behind him, jaw agape. “You next. Tell me something I want to hear or your jaw won’t even stay on like that guy’s.” Minji threatened. “Okay, okay, I heard some chatter of some gathering in a warehouse downtown. Let me go, please, I don’t want any trouble.” He screamed out. Minji nodded, turning around. “Hey, mind letting us down genius?” The thug screamed out, before Minji webbed his mouth, before giving it a rough yank, Minji swinging away from the source of the screams, his jaw hanging over his nose.

Minji’s eyes darkened as she perched atop the warehouses. Seeing light from the warehouse next to this one, she swung over, seeing Scipio, beside him being 3 other costumed figures, one with his hands over Scipio, seemingly healing him from the injuries he had suffered prior. Minji jumped down from the warehouse, landing on her toes, walking slowly into the warehouse. The other 3 villains were shocked, crouching into fighting stances as they kept their eyes on Minji. Scipio, however, chuckled as he watched Minji walking in. “Like the gift, Spiderwoman? As you can see, I’ve brought a lot more than a rope dart this time. I present to you, my new rogues. That there is Specter, this here is Gaze, and my friend over there is Inferno, the one responsible for sending you your gift.” Scipio said, winding his rope dart around his arm. “What, cat got your tongue? No more quips anymore genius?” Scipio questioned, smirking, believing he had broken Minji’s spirit. He had broken something, though he was gonna wish he hadn’t “Answer the boss when he’s talking to you!” Specter shouted, deciding to bum rush Minji. In one fluid move, Minji webbed Specter in the forehead, harshly yanking it, causing him to hit the ground hard on his face. Minji walked up to Specter, palming his head and lifting him up by his head, staring dead at the 3 other villains.

TW! Slightly Gory

Without a word, Minji’s hands began to shoot off sparks, Specter’s body shaking in Minji’s hand, the current running through his head, his eyeballs popping from his head, hanging from his eyes like a pinata at a halloween party, and his body began to smell like burnt charcoal. “What the fuck!” Scipio shouted out in shock. Tossing the body to a side, Minji shot her webs upward, pulling down the only light source in the room, causing it to crash down around the 3 villains left, as they all jumped out of the way. Minji’s eyes burned with rage, the darkness her ally as she lunged into action

“Reaper to Wildcat, I’m at the warehouse, checking out the disturbance. I’ll report back in a short while.” The figure shrouded in a black cloak, a sickle in hand said into their comlink “Roger that Reaper. Be careful, we don’t know what happened in there.” Wildcat’s voice rang through the comms, though it was quickly snuffed out by a scream from inside the warehouse. The Reaper bolted in, seeing copious amounts of blood stains on the ground, the charred body of Specter laying on the ground, eyeballs all but disconnected, skin charred, his two legs seemingly having been torn off. “What in the world?” The reaper muttered under their breath, walking cautiously into the next room, only to stop in shock. The Reaper had seen alot in their crime fighting escapades, many many atrocities, but none came even close to this sight. “What have you done!” The reaper screamed out. In the middle of the room, crouched Minji, standing upon a web the shade of dark crimson red. But this web was not spun of silk, instead, the web was formed by a grotesque collaboration of limbs, ligaments, muscles, a crimson red web of anger and gore

“I did what I had to.” Minji coldly replied, standing up and jumping in front of the Reaper. “Where are the villains?” The reaper demanded to know. “Some here, some there, some on the ceiling. But alive. For now at least. I’ll finish up in a moment. I need the web to be complete, to send a message to the wannabe villains of the world.” Minji nonchalantly said, gesturing to the corner. In the corner laid 3 bodies of the villains, all in different states of being. Missing limbs, faces burned, clawed off, jaw ripped clean off. They all laid, screaming in agony.

(We good from here on) “You can’t do this!” The Reaper shouted out in horror. “Why not? These villains don’t understand logic. So I speak the only language they speak, violence, splayed out so undeniably in their face that they’d fucking shoot themselves in the stomach before daring to step out of their houses in their shitty spandex or their half cooked schemes. “And what if villains take notice and want to kill you to make a name for themselves?” The reaper demanded to know “Then I expand my web.” Minji said

“I thought you changed recently. I heard of your fight with Scipio. You went back to how it was before the Goblin killed Rachel. But that’s gone again? I had faith in you, convinced wildcat to give you time, that in time, you’d show mercy.” The reaper said, before Minji let out a shrill chuckle “Mercy? Mercy cost me Rachel. Mercy cost me my aunt and Uncle. Mercy cost me my friends, my family. Mercy’s an easy thing to preach, when everyone you love is a goddamn superhero, Reaper. Mercy sounds good, until it bites the hand that feeds like the ungrateful dog it is, the mercy extended to these subhuman animals. Mercy cost me….it cost me Y/N. They were my second chance, my happiness after so much time of anger and hatred, and Mercy took them away from me. Hah, Mercy, the fool's errand”

[aanoia]

It's Okay

For my lovely mutual, @loving-and-dreaming. I do hope the universe will become gentle with your heart. My best wishes.

Sirius Black x reader Words; 1600 (roughly) Warnings; nothing too explicit, just some tough things I kinda based this off of how I've been feeling lately, so yeah it's a personal one. I strongly encourage everyone to listen to Call Your Mom by Noah Kahan (I like the one with Lizzy McAlpine in it). It's very much the same vibe as this fic, and it's a great song overall. I love all of you, and I hope you are all doing well. "Don't let this darkness fool you. All lights turned off, can be turned on." - Call Your Mom by Noah Kahan

Normally, there's a smile gracing her beautiful face. The burdens that weigh down on her shoulders tend to be invisible, hidden by the bounce in her step and the sparkle in her eyes. Hiding behind that mask of happiness has been all she's ever known, and it's become a part of her. She's happy, and bright, and bubbly, and kind, and perfect. 

But when the curtains close, and the lights are off, and she's alone in her room, it's different. Her face falls, her shoulders slump, and deep sighs leave her lips. She lays motionless on her bed, staring at the ceiling of dead hopes and dreams. She'll stay up for hours, finally allowing herself to not pretend. Sometimes she cries, sometimes she's numb. It's a routine she's never broken.

Even when she's not alone, and has a boy curled up into her side, sleeping soundly. Her hand rests on his long, black hair as she stares. She'd never let him know about this - the smile only disappears once he's asleep. He's already dealing with so much, she could never add onto that.

However, there's comes a point where everyone must break. They must collapse under the weight of the world. And no matter how hard she tries, there's nothing she can do. She’ll run out of smiles, drag her feet, and stare at the ground with sunken eyes. The girl behind the mask, must be allowed to breathe. 

Sirius gently jabs the girl's side, a teasing grin on his lips. “What’s up with you, love? Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

She doesn't react to him, too busy looking into her book. She's not even reading, only blankly staring at the words. Her a dull aching behind her eyes, and her throat seemed to be closing, making it difficult to breathe.

Sirius frowns, glancing over at James and Remus worriedly. James shrugs a little, unsure of what to do as Remus nervously bites his cheek. Obviously, something is wrong with his best friend, but he doesn't know what to do. This is so out of character for her… she's never not been happy.

James clears his throat, reaching over to flatten the book against the table, “we not good enough for you, anymore?” He questions lightly, the soft look on his face being a telltale sign of his joking demeanor. 

She clenches her jaw, pulling her book against her chest as she stands from her seat. “Would you lot stop bothering me?’ She snaps. “Can't you understand I'm trying to read?” She doesn't leave them time to answer, instead turning and walking off. 

The farther she gets, the faster she walks. Until she's in a jog, fighting back the tears blurring her vision. She eventually make it to an empty corridor, and leans against the wall, shutting her eyes tightly. A few tears leak out, and she has to shove her arm against her mouth to muffle her sobs. 

Guilt slowly creeps into her. She didn't mean to snap. She didn't mean to take out her internalized anger onto the people she loves most. She's burning the bridges she desperately wanted to stay strong. 

Lily leans over, peering over her shoulder, “psstt- Y/n- are you sure we chop the fluxweed stem into small bits and not big ones?” She asks quietly, her eyes training on the Professor so as to not get caught.

“Why would it be big chunks?” She says rather harshly, glaring at the ginger girl. 

Lily stares at her for a moment, dumbfounded. Worry fills her eyes, “hey… are you okay?”

“Why wouldn't I be?” She asks, quieter this time, her voice retreating.

“I don't know… you're acting differently. Do you want to talk?” Lily asks softly, not caring about the fluxweed stems anymore.

“I'm fine, Lily. There's nothing to talk about.” She goes back to her potion, making it obvious she's not interested in talking anymore.

Lily makes eye contact with Sirius from across the classroom, and she silently asks what's wrong with the girl beside her. Sirius, a defeated look on his features, shrugs. He truly doesn't know what's wrong with his girl. She won't talk to him and it hurts him. 

Once the class is free to go, she makes quick work of packing her things. Lily leaves with James, exchanging a few words with Sirius. The boy nods softly, promising Lily he'll find out what's wrong and take care of his girl. 

He makes it to her side and gently takes her bag, slinging it over his shoulder. He offers his hand to the girl, a soft, comforting smile gracing his lips.

“Let's go on a walk, yeah?” He asks quietly, his tone making it less of a question and more of a statement.

She sighs softly and nods, taking his hand. “Okay.” She says, and it comes out in a whisper.

He squeezes her hand softly and leads her out of classroom. The air outside is crisp and chilly, and the tips of leaves were turning red. The beginnings of autumn were coming to life, and it was one of the most beautiful times to live at Hogwarts and walk about the grounds.

She tries to focus on the crunch of leaves beneath her feet as they walk quietly. Sirius stays silent, glancing at her every once in a while. His heart ached for her, he just wanted to know what was wrong and how he can help.

After a while, he finally decides to speak up. “My love?”

She hums quietly, her eyes trained on the grass.

He gently rubs circles into her hand with the pad of his thumb. “A few of us have noticed you acting differently. We were wondering… I was wondering, what's wrong?”

She sucks in a breath, her face twisting in subtle displeasure, a telltale sign of a lie. “What? I'm just fine.” 

Sirius sighs, halting his steps and turning to the girl. He takes ahold of her free hand, squeezing them both. “Love, I know you're not… I know you. Something is up. You can tell me anything, you know?”

She bites her cheek, and ignores the faint metallic taste. “I swear, I'm alright. I've just been tired lately, can't sleep.”

“I've said that one before.” He says quietly, momentarily dropping one of her hands to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “and d’you know what you did?”

She can't meet his eyes as she shrugs carelessly. “don't know.” she mumbles.

“You slept with me every night and made sure I was asleep, ‘til I finally fessed up that I wasn't really okay.” He frowns softly. “Baby, you don't have to be okay all the time. Not with anyone, but ‘specially not with me.”

Her lip wobbles slightly, but she refuses to break. “I'm okay, Siri. I swear.” but her voice gives it away. The small crack in the middle of the sentence telling Sirius all he needs to know. 

 He pulls her into a tight hug, his arms wrapped securely around her shoulders. She subconsciously buries her face into his shoulder, and the facade breaks. The fabric of clothes are quickly stained with tears, and his body muffles her soft sobs. 

He sways slightly, rubbing her back as he quietly whispers to her. “Shhh, I'm here, love. It's okay if you aren't okay.”

“I'm sorry,” she manages to choke out between sobs, clinging tightly onto him. 

“Don't ever apologize for that.” He tells her sternly, but softly. “Never.”

She nod wordlessly, finally allowing herself to just cry. She never realize how comforting it is to cry in the arms of the man you love. How sweet it is to be held and given permission to not be perfect and to feel bad things. 

Slowly, her cries die down, and she just stands there in his embrace, sniffling softly. Sirius slowly pulls away enough to look at her. He gently wipes any stray tears from her cheeks, and then holds her face between his large hands. 

“Baby, it really is okay to not always be perfect and happy. You can be sad. You can cry. You can be angry, and you can explode. Just don't bottle it up, love. We all feel that shit. We all do.” He says gently, looking deeply into her eyes. “Prongs, and Lils, and Moony, and Wormtail- Everyone. Especially me.”

She nods a little, her eyes glassing over again. “Jus’ don't wanna annoy you… you've got so much going on already- don't wanna add onto it.” She mumbles, embarrassed.

Sirius frowns, “You're not a burden, Y/n. You're feelings are not a burden. I love you, with everything I have. When you're happy, when you're sad, when you're mad. I love you, however you come.”

She nods, a few more tears falling. “I love you too. A freaking ton.”

He smiles softly, diligently wiping her tears. “I love you a freaking ton.” He kisses her forehead softly. “Do you wanna talk about what's been bothering you, baby?”

She shakes her head a little bit, sniffling. “Can we talk about it… later? Tonight?”

He nods, “Of course. Anytime, love. Just don't hide from me anymore, yeah? I wanna be here for you, just like you are for me.”

She nods, swallowing thickly. “Thank you, Siri. I'm sorry for snapping at you lately… I don't mean it.”

“I know, I know.” He says, softly kissing her lips. “I love you.”

She smiles faintly at his kiss, “I love you more.” She whispers.

“Impossible.” He whispers back.

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[agaypanic]

How about a rodrick x fem reader where she's a preppy girl but goes through a change and becomes a punk rock girl. And Rodrick had already noticed her before but now he's really into because they match aesthetics and she's really into rock music now

New Music (Rodrick Heffley X Jefferson!Reader)

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Request Something!

Summary: While having to watch your and Rodrick’s younger brothers, he makes a little jab at you about how you only play boring classical music. You challenge this notion by learning a rock piece.

A/N: i could make a part two, bc by the time i was done writing i realized i kinda deviated from the request, whoops… inspired by metal lords and some of the rodrick asks i answered about rodrick x rowley’s older sister (specifically this one)

***

You were used to routines. You liked structure. Every day, you’d have breakfast with your family, take your brother Rowley to his school before going to your own, go to class, pick Rowley up, do homework and thirty minutes of practicing music, have dinner with your family and catch up with each other, then go to bed. Of course, every day differed the slightest bit, and you’d make sure you weren’t constantly overworking yourself, but that was the main gist of it.

And a few times a week, you had to watch after Rowley when he hung out with his best friend, Greg Heffley. And when his mom was forcing him to spend time with his brother, Rodrick had to watch after the boys with you.

More often than not, you’d either be at the Heffley house or a public place like a park or arcade. Very rarely though, you’d all go to your house.

Today was one of those days.

“Okay, don’t do that.” You said, trying to keep the frustration out of your tone as you snatched a fork away from Rodrick while he tried putting some food in your microwave. “My dad doesn’t even like Greg being here sometimes. He’d probably hate your whole family if you burned our house down.”

Rodrick rolled his eyes, slamming the microwave door shut and rolling his eyes. “Oh my god, relax. I would’ve stopped the microwave after the first few sparks.”

You sighed, gripping the fork tightly. You’d think that after years of knowing Rodrick, you’d be used to his behavior. “Look, Rodrick. We already have to look after two little kids; I don’t wanna have to look after three.” Then you handed Rodrick his fork and walked over to the living room, hoping the oldest Heffley could handle himself and his lunch without causing too much trouble.

Rowley and Greg were sitting on the couch, deeply invested in some video game. Your parents didn’t like you and your brother having too much screen time, but you figured another hour or so wouldn’t hurt. You looked at the clock on the wall and realized you hadn’t touched your cello all day.

“Hey, I’m gonna go practice so…” You looked back toward the kitchen, thinking of calling Rodrick over. But instead, you shook your head and looked at the boys again. “Don’t cause too much trouble.”

“Wait!” Rowley paused the game, ignoring Greg’s annoyed reaction. “Can you practice in here? I like that new song you’re doing.”

You couldn’t help but smile. “Sure, Row-Row. I’ll be right back.”

As you ran up to your room to fetch your things, you faintly heard Greg say, “Row-Row?”

You came back to the living room with your cello, sheet music, and music stand. As you set up, Greg looked at Rowley questioningly. “She’s really good, Greg.” He said reassuringly. “It’ll be like nice background music.” Greg just shrugged, unpausing the game and going back to playing. 

You quickly became immersed in your music, somehow tuning out your little brother and his friend yelling at the TV and Rodrick loudly munching on his food as he looked at your music from over your shoulder. 

He was polite enough to swallow his food and wait until you were finished playing to speak. “That was boring.” You rolled your eyes and rearranged the papers on your stand to play a new song. “You could play anything, and you decide to play music by dead guys.”

“Well, you don’t have to listen to it, Rodrick.” You hissed. “I’d ask what you think would be better, but I don’t really care for your opinion on music.”

You started playing again, hoping that it would push Rodrick away. But instead, he got closer. “I bet you wouldn’t be able to handle my type of music, goody-two-shoes.” You scowled, trying to not hit Rodrick with your bow.

“You could spend a year practicing a piece, and I would still play it better if I was sight reading.” You inched closer, making intense eye contact with the Heffley boy. 

“Challenge accepted.”

***

Later that week, while picking up Rowley from school, he said that Rodrick told Greg to tell him to tell you to bring your cello to the Heffley house that afternoon. Part of you wanted to say you had more important things to do, but simultaneously, you were curious to see what Rodrick was up to.

“Black Sabbath?” You read the top of the sheet music Rodrick gave you as soon as you and Rowley walked into the Heffley house. “War Pigs… like the Pig War?”

Rodrick narrowed his eyes at you and furrowed his brows. “What?” Before you could answer, he held his hand up in front of your face. “Don’t. Come on.” Then Rodrick grabbed your wrist and dragged you over to the garage, leaving your little brothers to most likely wreak havoc. 

You rarely came into the Heffley’s garage. Whenever Rodrick was in there with his friends, it was beyond loud and chaotic. Totally not your scene. So you were a bit relieved to see that besides Rodrick’s drums and decorations, the room was empty. He grabbed a chair and set it near his drums, and only then did he realize that he was still holding your wrist. Rodrick quickly let go and grabbed his drumsticks, warming up on his drums while you set up your stand and tuned your cello.

“What exactly are we doing right now?” You asked while tightening your bow. 

“We’re about to see if you can handle my type of music, princess.” Rodrick twirled the sticks between his fingers, giving you a smirk that forced you to take a deep breath and stare at your new music so you wouldn’t have to look at him. “There’s a bunch of stuff before your part starts, so just go when you’re ready. I know where to jump in. And the song’s like eight minutes long, so we’ll only do the first two pages.”

“Eight minutes?”

“Just play, Jefferson.”

You sighed, giving the page a quick once over before setting your bow on the string. You tapped your foot to the tempo written above the first measure, internalizing it for a few seconds before playing the first notes. Rodrick immediately followed by tapping on one of his cymbals. Being classically trained and not interested in this kind of music, you had no idea what each little piece of Rodrick’s set was called.

But as the two of you kept playing, the sound started to grow on you. There was something about the mix of strings and percussion that pleased you. The music relaxed you in a way, despite some of the big note jumps. 

By the time you reached the second page, you were a bit disappointed that it was over. Rodrick silenced one of his big cymbals with his hand, seeming slightly impressed. “...Not bad.”

You nodded along, loosening your bow. “So… what does Black Sabbath sound like?”

Rodrick perked up at your question. After staring at you for a few seconds, he almost fell down with how quickly he got out of his seat to go over to his CD collection. You set your bow on the stand and leaned against your cello, watching him curiously. Eventually, he plucked out a CD and put it into a player connected to a large speaker.

As War Pigs started to play, you realized it was very different from how it sounded when you and Rodrick played. When the song got to the part Rodrick had given you, you started to pizzicato along. Unknown to you, Rodrick watched you intently. 

You were both surprised that you listened to the almost eight-minute-long song without asking for it to be turned off. You quietly played along the whole time, tapping your foot in tempo. When the next song on the track played, Rodrick paused the CD, figuring you had had enough. “Not bad.” You said, which surprised him. “...I think I like our version more, though.” That surprised Rodrick even more.

He laughed a little, slightly amused. He walked over to where you were sitting, crouching down to make eye contact with you. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna go all rock now, goody-goody.” You thought he looked a bit hopeful as he said it. You rolled your eyes and shook your head.

“In your dreams, Heffley.”

***

“Oh my gosh.” Rodrick gasped dramatically as he opened the front door. “What are you wearing?”

“Shut up, Rodrick.” You rolled your eyes, but still smiled at him as you pushed Rowley to go into the house first. Once again, you lugged your cello with you. “It’s just a black dress; I’m not going all emo like you.”

“I’m not emo.” He muttered, shutting the door after you entered. “What’s with the guitar?”

“Cello.” You corrected. “I learned all of that song you gave me. Wanna play it?”

Rodrick looked at you, a bit surprised. “Uhh, yeah, sure. Follow me.” You did as told, walking close behind as he led you back to the garage. “So, you like Black Sabbath now?”

“It’s just an interesting piece.” That wasn’t a lie, but it definitely didn’t tell the whole truth. After going home from that first playing session with Rodrick, you decided to look more into the band. Your search led to their other albums, and then other similar bands. Some of the songs you heard were a bit much, in your opinion, but you really liked some of the others you heard. “And, I guess playing with you is fun, or whatever.”

Rodrick’s back still faced you, so you couldn’t see the blush creeping onto his cheeks. The chair he had pulled out for you the first time you played together was still in its spot, like he didn’t want to move it. 

The two of you got situated and quickly started playing. You were a lot better than the first time, but then again, that was a sight reading. When doing your daily half hour of practice, you added an extra ten just for the song Rodrick gave you. You didn’t know why you were so fixated on it, but it was fun to play, which you suppose was all that really mattered.

You ended up getting through the whole song with Rodrick. About seven minutes of uninterrupted playing, so in sync with him despite only practicing together once. 

“That was pretty good,” Rodrick said, popping his knuckles. He watched silently for a moment as you plucked through a couple measures before giving a mischievous grin. “I think I’m slowly corrupting you and that nerdy, good girl image of yours. One day, you’ll be wearing chunky eyeliner and listening to Metallica.”

You shook your head, giving Rodrick an unimpressed look. “Shut up.” Yet the thought of that sure did sound interesting.

***

Rodrick Heffley Taglist: @tweedledipshit

[junocandraw]

JEFF THE KILLER REWRITE 4/4

If you’ve made it this far, I owe you my firstborn. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Anyways, back to edgelord 9000.

Incase you couldn’t tell, this isn’t the beginning. The first part is linked at the top of my page!

The Inferno

It had been a week. An entire week since their aunt from Michigan had come to take Liu away. She pulled up to the Wood’s house in her beat up red minivan, and without even allowing him a hug, took Liu away to a town even smaller than Elmerville. Jeff cried out in the driveway for an hour, before his father pulled him inside.

That week was so painful for Jeff. He missed Liu’s random visits to his room. His drawings, his poetry, his stupid striped scarf. He began to eat even less, and pace even more. He would have moments of violence where he would throw things in his room, punch the walls, or pull out his hair, one strand at a time. He looked like a shell of what he used to be. His friends from Milwaukee, including Stanley, had tried to get into contact with him, but he wouldn’t answer his texts.

Jeff lost track of time. He was beginning to have the opposite problems with his sleep schedule. When he wasn’t pulling his hair out of his head, he was sleeping. He was grateful for this at the beginning, but soon hypersomnia became a problem. He would shut his blackout curtains, and sleep for 48 hours. Once in the week, he went three whole days without eating anything, and drinking out of a left over plastic water bottle in his room. He was so pale and skinny, he looked almost inhuman. All he knew was that everything was getting worse.

One Friday morning, Jeff had been sleeping for around 17 hours straight. His eyes were puffy and red from yet another night of crying himself to sleep. He began to stir when something caught his attention. A vacuum cleaner. His mom was vacuuming the hallway. It was around 11 in the morning. Jeff knew she wasn’t cleaning, she was trying to wake him up.

He buried his head under his pillow, his black nails gripping the white fabric case in an attempt to block out the noise. He desperately wanted more sleep, even though he had been getting more than enough. He realized his attempt was futile when his room door opened, and his stepmother entered. She wore pink capri jeans, an expensive belt, a patterned paisley tank-top, a revolting lipstick color, and a pair of flats. It was an odd choice for the dead of winter. Jeff peeked out from under his pillow, and saw her. He immediately knew that something was up. His suspicions were proved when his stepmother began to speak,

“Jeff! Wake up! It’s a beautiful morning!” She uninvitedly pulled his curtains open, and let the sunlight in, further angering her eldest son. He felt like a vampire being burned alive, as sunlight hadn’t touched his skin in days,

“Mom- What?” He groaned, sitting up in his bed. His stepmother frowned when she saw him. His shaggy black hair was messy, and streaks of eyeliner stained his pale cheeks,

“Jeff, wipe that depressing muck off of your face. It isn’t proper.” She scolded, switching the vacuum cleaner off,

“Are we going somewhere?” Jeff asked, pulling his slippers on as he stepped out of bed. He wore blue sweatpants from his old hockey team, and a black, Jason Vorhees themed hockey shirt.

“Jeff! I have a wonderful surprise for you!” She cheesed, moving to her stepson and grabbing his hands. Jeff was disgusted. This affection was so fake, and her words were sweetly superficial. They dripped from her mouth like honey,

“I know things haven’t been easy for you with Liu gone. I’ve struggled a bit myself.” She lied. Jeff resisted the urge to scoff, and instead raised a quick eyebrow, before settling back into his bored expression, “But, we’re going to set things right. We-“

“Is Liu coming home?” Jeff’s face lit up. This was mostly a jab at his stepmother, a way to show that whatever she was offering, he didn’t care. It was also a glimmer of hope that just maybe, he would see his brother again soon,

“Jeffery. We talked about that.” She looked up sternly at stepson.

“Jeff.” He corrected her. An unnoticeable smile tugged at the left corner of Jeff’s mouth, knowing his disinterest was absolutely killing her. She wanted so badly to fight, but she swallowed her pride, knowing she couldn’t fight to get what she wanted,

“Jeff… The Haydens have invited us over to their house. Randy’s mother and I want to set things right between the two of you.” Jeff felt like the floor had fallen from underneath him, and his heart rate began to increase at the mention of his foe. The feeling was back, the one he hadn’t felt since he was on the ice. That awful, sadistic hatred.

“No. No, Mom. Not in a million years, no.” He ripped his hands out of his stepmother’s grip, and ran one hand through his hair. He started to hyperventilate. He needed to calm down.

“Jeff! What is wrong with you?” His stepmother placed her hands on her hips, “Is it really that bad to make amends? Do you hate the idea of being friends with a normal person that much?”

“Normal person? Does she even know what he did?” Jeff thought, his knuckles whitening from the fists he was making. His stepmother prepared to use her secret weapon,

“This may change your mind. If you make this work for us, Liu can come home early.” Jeff stopped. This kind of a move was his father’s idea, as his stepmother was far too dull to come up with a plan as elaborate as this. His parents had absolutely backed him into a corner. He was trapped. He had no choice. His stepmother took his hands again, her fake, bedazzled nails clawing at Jeff’s skin. He sighed, begrudgingly admitting his defeat,

“Fine.” He muttered, staring down at the floor. Her expression changed from one of anger, back to one of superficial delight.

“I knew you would! Thank you, son. We’re leaving at 6 tonight. Make sure you eat something.” Before she left, she did a double take at Jeff’s black nails, “What is this? Jeff, just- I can’t- clean this off before we leave.” With that, she stormed out of his room, not shutting the door behind her. Jeff stood still, unable to process what had just happened. With all of this rage pent up inside of him, he did the only thing he could think to do.

Jeff gave a swift, unforgiving blow to the wall on his left, right through his Pantera poster, and right through the drywall. He didn’t care. It was just paper. He held his head in his hands, and sat on his bed.

He realized then that it was the first time in a week that he hadn’t been under the hazy trance that controlled his movements while he idly watched. He actually felt in control of his actions. This thought only lasted for a moment, before his attention was directed back towards getting Liu home,

“This is for Liu. It’s just one night. How bad can it be?” Jeff breathed in and out, “It’s fine. I’m fine. It’ll be fine.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was around when Jeff started getting ready. He found that he couldn’t decide what to wear. When he had come downstairs with a red band t-shirt, a black zip up jacket, black skinny jeans, and Converse, his parents were upset, and sent him back upstairs to change. Luckily, he still had around 30 minutes to decide.

He kept the pair of black skinny jeans on, and opened the door to his closet. All he had to wear were band tees, striped shirts, and patterned or printed hoodies. He furrowed his brow, and began to sift through his wardrobe. Finally, he made it to the back of the row of hangers. All he found was a plain white hoodie. He sighed, realizing it was his best bet. He threw it on over a black System of a Down t-shirt, his favorite band. He laced up his Converse again, and called it a day. It wasn’t exactly fashionable, but it was his.

Jeff picked up an eyeliner pencil and held it in his hand. He stared at it for a moment, examining the label. He remembered that he purchased it from a corner drugstore outside of his neighborhood in Milwaukee a week after he got his full license. He realized that he hadn’t thought about home in a while, which only made the memory more painful. Just as these thoughts flew through Jeff’s mind, he heard a voice call from downstairs,

“Jeff! We’re leaving!” His father called. Jeff looked at the clock on his wall. It read 5:55.

“One second!” Jeff called back, quickly lining his eyes and blending the pigment with his middle finger. He grabbed his phone and his earbuds, and ran swiftly down the stairs. When his parents saw him, they frowned,

“You’re wearing that?” They asked in unison, before Jeff’s stepmother looked at her phone,

“Oh, no time to change. Let’s just go.” His stepmother shook her head, moving out the front door in her over-the-top winter dress.

Once everyone was in the car, Jeff noticed the empty back seat next to him. Jeff looked at his family, noticing how overdressed they were,

“Jeff, why on earth do you think that attire is appropriate?” His father asked, glancing at him in the rear view mirror.

“Don’t you think you’re a little overdressed?” Jeff commented, sitting criss-cross in the car’s seat. His father was about to lecture Jeff, but he was stopped by his wife,

“Jeff, we may be overdressed, but this is how you go if you want to make an impression.” His stepmother explained, as Jeff quit listening. He plugged in his earbuds and began to mentally prepare to be in the same house with Randy for the whole night. He looked out the window. The sun had just begun to set, and the snow fell down gracefully. The sky was a dark blue color, with hints of a sunset behind a dreary overcast on the horizon. That winter hadn’t been super snowy, for Wisconsin at least. It only snowed every couple of days, but it was still very cold. Instead of admiring the beauty of nature, Jeff imagined a scene much more beautiful to him,

Jeff was digging a clip-point knife into Randy’s sternum, breaking each of his ribs with memorable cracking. The look of terror on his face was priceless, as was the crimson blood that stained Jeff’s clothes. He relished in the pained screams and the weak struggling that came from his prey.

“Jeff? Are you listening to me?” His stepmother’s shrill voice interrupted his train of thought,

“Um…yes?”

”Then what did I say?”

“I don’t- I don’t know?” His stepmother sighed, and shook her head. Jeff just continued to stare out the window, his mind wandering back to sadistic visions of gore.

The Woods had driven eastward a little ways out of town. This is where the dairy farms were in the county. All of the sudden, they were surrounded by a thick forest. After they drove a little ways longer down the winding back road, they made it to Randy’s house. They were around 20 minutes from Jeff’s house, and 10 minutes from the school.

They pulled into the Hayden’s long driveway slowly, so as to not lose traction on the ice. They drove for about a minute, before they found the house. It was huge, a borderline mansion. It was painted white with blue shutters and a matching navy blue door. The lawn was illuminated by the glow of warm lights coming from indoors. The house was in the middle of the woods, which made for great privacy. Jeff admired their place. Even he had to admit that it was nice.

They three exited the car, and walked up to the porch. Jeff’s father knocked on the door. Jeff shoved his hands into his hoodie’s pocket. The door opened, and they were greeted by Randy’s mom, whom Jeff hadn’t met. She was a taller, thinner woman. She had short blonde hair that framed her face, and the same dark blue eyes as Randy. She wore a light blue winter sweater, black dress pants, and white ankle boots. She gave the trio a smile, and welcomed them into her home. As Jeff walked in, he could smell roast beef and various vegetables and sides cooking. He had, once again, forgotten to eat, so his stomach growled at the smell of the delicious food. Randy’s mother turned her attention away from Jeff’s parents, and to Jeff,

“You must be Jeff. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Kirsten.” Randy’s mom was a brain surgeon, the breadwinner of the family. She had a strong Canadian accent. She offered Jeff a hand to shake, and he reluctantly obliged.

“Kirsten, are you aware that having your son was a mistake?” Jeff thought, putting his hand back into his pocket,

“I’m really sorry about everything that's happened,” Kirsten pouted her face deceitfully, “Randy never gets into fights. He told me that Jeff is new, and is still getting adjusted.” Jeff turned his head to the side, and then back to Mrs. Hayden. He just couldn’t resist a slight jab at her,

Jeff rolled his eyes, making sure that Mrs. Hayden could see him. Her face flickered with resentment before returning to its false hospitality.

”Jeff, the boys are upstairs in Randy’s room. It’s the second door on the right.” Jeff felt his stomach flip. The dreaded moment of the night had finally come. He gave a curt nod, and turned to the stairs beside where they stood. As he walked, he took note of the family pictures hung all over the walls of the staircase. Once he completed his ascent, he turned right.

There was a dim light coming from underneath one of the doors. Jeff took a shaky inhale, and knocked twice. The conversation inside stopped. He waited for a moment before the door opened. He was face-to-face with his redheaded enemy. Jeff quickly averted his eyes to the floor, waiting for something to happen.

“Hey.” Randy also averted his eyes from Jeff. They stood parallel to each other, unsure of what to do or say. Randy broke the silence with an awkward, “Come in.”

Randy’s room was decorated with Maple Leaf posters, and other hockey decorations. Jeff assumed by his mother’s accent, and Randy’s room, that she was from Toronto. Jeff noticed four other boys in the room with Randy. Tom and Adam sat on the carpeted floor around a TV with a paused video game displayed on the screen, and Troy and Keith sat on Randy’s bed. Jeff felt his heart rate increase. He was at least relieved to see two others who seemed to be there against their wills as well. Randy sat on a gaming chair next to his bed. All eyes were on Jeff, so he broke the incredibly awkward silence,

“I’m…sorry about…everything, dude.” He apologized, even though he didn’t mean a word of what he said. Swallowing his pride did not taste good, but he would have said anything to make Liu come back home. To Jeff’s surprise, Randy laughed.

“It’s fine. I don’t care if you don’t care.” He shrugged, grabbing the PlayStation controller and unpausing the game. Jeff let out a sigh of relief, and plopped down on the floor next to Tom. Tom was playing the game, and Adam was watching.

Jeff remembered Randy’s comment about how Adam “probably couldn’t afford” to go to Milwaukee. He wondered why Adam’s family was at Randy’s house if they disliked them so much. Despite his apology going well, Troy and Keith’s silence made Jeff nervous. Jeff pulled his hoodie off over his head to fight the heat in the house.

”You like System of a Down?” Randy asked, noticing Jeff’s T-shirt.

“Yeah.” Jeff replied, looking down at his t-shirt.

“Name three songs.” Jeff was a bit annoyed at Randy’s pretentious comment, as it seemed like something a middle schooler would say. However, when he looked up, he noticed that Randy was smiling. Not a mean smile, a genuine, happy smile. Jeff felt like he was dreaming,

“Sugar, Soil, and uh…Chop Suey.” Jeff answered proudly.

“Poser.” Randy leaned forward, throwing a punch at Tom’s video game character. Jeff couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, so he just tried to continue the conversation,

“What about you?” Jeff questioned,

“Huh?”

“What music do you like?”

“I’m a Led Zeppelin fan. My dad introduced me to them when I was younger.”

“Name three songs.”

“Gallows Pole, Immigrant Song, and The Battle of Evermore.” Randy answered as he won the match in his game, “Do you and Adam want a turn?” Randy asked, offering Jeff his controller. Jeff was hesitant, but agreed. He was a little weirded out by Randy’s weird shift in behavior, but he decided that he would just go downstairs and hide in a bathroom or something until it was time to leave.

After a while of being there, Jeff had actually started to relax a bit. He started to let his guard down, and actually began to have fun with the boys. They played video games, talked about music, hockey, girls, and other teenage-boys things. Jeff even got to hear about some of the town's gossip,

“What have you done while you’ve been out, Jeff?” Adam asked, watching Jeff and Tom fight in Randy’s video game. Jeff let out a long sigh, and shook his head,

“A whole lot of nothing.” He admitted, “My parents took pretty much everything from me, and thanks to the medication I’m on, I can’t drive anywhere. It sucks.” Suddenly, Randy snapped his fingers,

“Driving!” He smiled, eyes wide, “Jeff, do you like cars?” He asked, looking down at Jeff from his bed. When Randy said this, it seemed to grab Troy and Keith’s attention,

“Yeah, I know a little bit about them.” Jeff shrugged, pausing the game.

“Do you want to see my Dad’s 60s mustang? It’s really awesome.” Jeff raised a suspicious eyebrow at Randy,

“Where is it?”

”Oh, in the garage. Trust me, it’s beautiful. You’ll regret it if you don’t.” Jeff wanted to say no, but Randy looked so excited. Everything had been going so well. Randy might just want to show him a cool car. Maybe he would get mad if Jeff said no to him. Maybe there would be another fight. Maybe Liu couldn’t come home,

“Sure.” Jeff nodded, throwing his hoodie back on.

“Okay, but we have to be quiet. My dad doesn’t like me going outside after dark, okay?”

”Outside?” Jeff wondered out loud. Randy stood up, and motioned for his friends to follow behind him. Jeff wasn’t sure about going outside, but he was in too deep now, “For Liu. Do it for Liu.” His mind repeated, the thought of his brother coming home early warming his heart.

The six walked through the upstairs hallway into a large family room in the upstairs area. Randy had a second living room. It was to the right of Randy’s room. All of the lights were off. There was another staircase that led downstairs. At the bottom of it, there was a back door that led outside.

“There's a window outside of the door into the dining room, which is where everyone is.” Randy explained, “We have to be quick and quiet or we'll get caught.” The boys nodded, following Randy down the stairs. Once they made it to the door, Randy opened it, and led them outside. The snow was still falling peacefully, and a thick blanket of it covered the ground. It was very dark out, only the porch light illuminating the exterior of the house. They hurried off of the porch and into Randy’s backyard.

The snow crunched underneath the boys’ shoes. Jeff’s legs were cold, and he began to wonder if the jeans he had chosen were the best choice. He could see his breath as he exhaled, following Randy through the backyard.

“Where…are we going?” Jeff asked, feeling a tinge of nausea,

“The garage is a little ways back here. You can’t see it yet, but the light will come on automatically once we get there.” Just as Randy said this, a motion light lit over their heads, revealing a barn at the entrance of the woods. Jeff shivered, breathing hot air into his hands. The barn was about 60 yards from the house.

“Jeff, I promise, it’s gonna be super cool.” Tom smiled, his green eyes reflecting from the light above. Tom’s reassurance made Jeff feel a bit better. He wondered why they were suddenly on Randy’s side after the mean things he had said to them in the locker room.

Randy attempted to push the sliding barn door open, and eventually did after a long grunt. The inside of the barn was pitch black, only the front of the entrance dimly illuminated by the motion light.

“Come in, it’s toward the back.” Randy had an odd look in his eye, but Jeff moved inside anyway. The dirt floors dusted Jeff’s sneakers, and he couldn’t see a foot in front of him.

“So…where’s the ca-“ Jeff’s sentence was cut short by a blunt force connecting with the back of the head. His body hit the ground along with a metal pipe that Randy had just swung. Jeff clutched his head in pain. It was a trap.

Keith kicked him in his back with much force, knocking the wind out of his lungs. Jeff howled in pain. Just as he tried to stand up, another hard kick connected with the back of his neck. After much difficulty, he shakily stood up, facing away from Randy.

“You’re finally up?” Randy snickered, his two cronies by his side. Tom tried to intervene, but he was knocked to the floor by Troy by a swift punch in the throat. Adam was frozen in place while he watched Tom choking on the blood in his throat. Wasn’t really sure what he was going to do. He moved his feet into a shaky fighting stance, and glared at Randy through his brows. They were about 6 feet apart from each other.

Randy lunged at Jeff, and delivered a good punch to his cheek, knocking him back into a dusty chest on the ground. Suddenly, the ringing in his ears slowly started to return. A fire ignited in Jeff, bringing that feeling back. The fury. The sadistic urges. The pleasure. They had all led up to this moment. He rubbed the spot on his cheek where he had been hit, the violent haze beginning to consume him. He forgot everything he ever knew. He didn’t care about hockey, he didn’t care about Liu, and he didn’t care about Milwaukee. All he wanted to do was hurt the three boys in front of him. Jeff dusted his pants off, and looked up at Randy.

Jeff’s pale face was smeared with black eyeliner, dirt, and a slow drip of blood from his nose. What was the most alarming was the look in his eyes. He was like a violent predator closing in on his prey. Jeff slowly turned his head to the side, and stared at Randy. He wiped his nose on his hoodie sleeve, staining its pure fabric with red blood.

“Randy…what are you doing…?” Adam stuttered, watching Jeff and Randy faceoff in silence.

Randy balled up his fists ready to deliver another blow to Jeff’s face, but Jeff acted quicker. He wrapped his hands around Randy’s neck and pushed him to the ground. He wrestled Randy into the dirt, and pinned his arms down with his knees, just as he had done on the ice. He continued to choke Randy, watching him gasp and sputter for air. A surge of adrenaline ran through Randy’s body, and he pushed Jeff off of him. Jeff quickly recovered, and sent a powerful right hook to Randy’s face who was still on the ground, then another, then another. A wicked cackle escaped Jeff’s throat as he watched his visions become reality. Just then, Troy grabbed Jeff’s hoodie, and pulled him off of the ground. Jeff spun around and sent a strong knee to Troy’s groin, causing him to let go of Jeff and fall over.

Keith came out of nowhere and punched Jeff in the back of the neck. This hurt, but it didn’t stun Jeff. Jeff whipped around and sent a hard fist into Keith’s throat, and then into his chest at just the right moment, stopping his heart. Keith stood shocked for just a moment, before his lifeless body collapsed into the dirt with a thud. With a demented laugh, Jeff launched a final kick directly into Keith’s throat for good measure. He looked unconscious to everyone else, when he was in fact dead. Jeff turned around to Troy and Randy, a wicked grin tugging at the corners of his mouth,

“GUYS!” Tom called out, blood pouring from his mouth. He was far too scared to intervene. Troy stood up and pulled a knife on Adam and Tom so that they wouldn’t come between Jeff and Randy,

“NO ONE INTERRUPTS THEM, OR GUTS WILL FLY.” Troy barked, shoving Adam to the floor. They were helpless. It was between Jeff and Randy now. Randy’s nose was bleeding just like Jeff’s, and he had a nasty incision on his bottom lip. Jeff breathed heavily, reveling in the twisted satisfaction and pleasure that this violence gave him. Randy stared at Jeff, his eyes overflowing with unbridled hatred. He rushed Jeff, sending his fist flying into his opponent’s cheek. Jeff ducked just in time, but received a brutal kick to his back instead. He let out an angered groan before recovering as fast as he could. He then kicked Randy hard into a shelf on the barn’s wall. When Randy collided with the shelf, several items rattled around and fell to the ground.

A can of kerosene fell from the top shelf with a thud beside Randy, barely missing his head. Randy’s eyes landed on the can, lighting up with an idea so horrific, it made him smile. Jeff took his opportunity while he was still on the ground. Jeff punched Randy in the nose as hard as he could. Randy screamed in pain, and pushed Jeff off of him again. He was as angry as ever now. Randy grabbed a knife that had fallen off of the shelf and stood up. He refixed his gaze on Jeff,

“Randy…NO!” Adam called, running to break them up before being grabbed by Troy. It was too late. Randy stabbed Jeff hard in the shoulder. Jeff let out a guttural scream of agony. It was the most pain he had ever been in in his life. He grabbed Randy’s shoulders, and flipped over on top of him. He pulled the knife out of his own shoulder with another blood curdling scream, and held it right above Randy’s throat. Randy was terrified, and he and Jeff struggled for what felt like an eternity. Just as the tip of the knife connected with Randy’s throat, he felt a tug on the back of his bloodstained hoodie,

”JEFF! RANDY! STOP!” Adam begged, trying to pull Jeff off of him. Troy grabbed Adam, and slammed him onto the dirt floor of the barn, kicking him hard in the face with his cowboy boot.

“WHAT’RE YOU DOING?” Tom cried on his knees, trying not to look at Randy’s disgusting blood stained shirt. Jeff was trying to get back up, but he was losing a lot of blood. He was growing weak. Randy shoved Tom, knocking his small frame to the ground. While Adam was busy trying to calm Tom down, Randy grabbed the can of kerosene that had fallen off of the shelf. If you thought about it, Jeff and Randy weren’t that much different anymore. He was just as insane as Jeff was.

Jeff’s body began to try to crawl out to the snow. His vision was growing blurry. The night was so serene. Randy’s house silhouetted against the trees, the lights from inside shining onto the porch and into the backyard. He could see the adults in the dining room, oblivious to what was going on outside. The snow fell to the ground, only seen under the brassy motion activated light outside of the barn. He couldn’t really hear anything, the ringing in his ears had taken the sense away from him entirely.

He was almost to the outside. When his fingertips reached the cold surface, he was dragged back into the barn by his ankles. Randy kicked Jeff in his ribs as hard as he could. Randy shivered because his long sleeve shirt was so stained with blood, it had frozen halfway to his body. Jeff coughed up blood, the metallic liquid staining the dirt.

Randy turned around and stumbled to the shelf. He saw the half empty gallon of kerosene spilled on the ground. He picked it up and started to unscrew the cap.

“Randy…what are you doing?” Troy tried to talk to his friend while still holding Adam and Tom back. The bully realized how long Keith had been laying still for, and began to assume the worst,

“RANDY, THIS IS TOO FAR!!” Adam yelled, Randy pointed the knife at him, and widened his eyes. He could barely be seen in the darkness of the barn,

“SHUT UP! SHUT UP TROY! GET AWAY FROM US OR I SWEAR, I’LL GUT YOU!” Randy screeched, throwing the kerosene can’s cap to the ground. Tom, Troy and Adam were frozen. They wanted to run and tell the adults, but they were scared of what Randy would do to them. They watched helplessly as Randy poured what little was left in the gas tank onto Jeff’s body. Jeff groaned in pain when the gasoline met the wound on his shoulder. He used the last ounce of his strength trying to crawl away. The fluid made him colder than he already was. He shivered, his vision beginning to fade.

Randy let out a chilling laugh. He then took a lighter out of his coat pocket, and struggled to summon the flame. Finally, Randy’s face brightened in the darkness from the orange glow of the lighter. Adam ran towards Randy, but it was too late. As soon as the lighter hit Jeff’s kerosene soaked hoodie, his entire back went up in flames. The scream he let out shook all of the boys to their cores, including Randy. His adrenaline surged and he actually managed to stand up as Randy and Adam fought behind him. He was an inferno, using his last bit of life to tear what remained of his hoodie from his body. The fire had soaked into his teeshirt, which now burned into his skin. Jeff panicked as the flames seared his skin, moving up his body. His skin melted, and sloughed off into the snow in chunks, hissing when it hit the cold snow. The fire cauterized the wound on his shoulder as he collapsed backwards into the cold powder.

The back of his body was put out, but his front was still on fire. The flames had reached his face, and now up in his hair. He tore at his skin, trying to extinguish the blaze. Instead, he just tore pieces of flesh from his face, only worsening the pain. He used his last bit of life to flip his body over. He laid motionless in the cold snow. He still couldn’t hear anything. He stared sideways at the treeine against the night sky. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, and even if it was out, he wouldn’t have been able to see it over the motion light. Everything seemed completely peaceful as the snow fell around him. The pain slowly subsided, as did Jeff’s consciousness.

The last thing Jeff remembered seeing before he faded away was the tall, faceless man standing over him under the flickering barn light.

The Breaking

Jeff’s body had laid still in the hospital for 2 weeks, going in and out of stable condition. He was a medical miracle. If it hadn’t been for the thick blanket of powdery snow on the ground that put out the fire, he would have certainly died.

Jeff’s friends and close family members had visited him throughout his hospitalization. His parents had only stopped by when they absolutely had to, even Jeff’s stepmother, who was a stay-at-home mom. Jeff awoke in the hospital room on a Wednesday.

He could just barely open his eyes as his entire head was wrapped in sterile, white bandages. There were several vases of flowers beside his bed, including an especially beautiful blue and yellow bouquet from Jeff’s old travel hockey team in Milwaukee.

He made a weak attempt to sit up, not realizing the extent to which his upper-half was wrapped up. He was bandaged all the way down to his upper stomach, and all the way down his wrists. He tried to sit up one more time, and was successful. He brought his hands up to his face, and felt the coarse bandages under his fingertips. He tried to unwrap them, but was interrupted by a nurse rushing into his room,

“Hello, Jeffery!” She whispered cheerfully before grabbing Jeff’s hands. He was annoyed that she didn’t call him ‘Jeff’, but he could hardly speak to correct her,

“Water…” He croaked, his throat as dry as a desert. The nurse ran over to a sink in the room, and poured him a little paper cup of water. She put it up to Jeff’s lips, and let him drink in small sips. He started to take in his surroundings,

“Where…am I? What happe-“ This was all Jeff’s mind could process before the memories came pouring back in. His body engulfed in flames and the smell of kerosene and burnt flesh singing his nose after he had been beaten nearly to death. His hands clawing at the dirt floor of the barn to make it to the snow so that he could escape the agony. Randy’s sick grin under his disgusting blue eyes. Jeff felt rage flow through his veins at the thought of Randy.

“Jeffery? Hello?” The nurse asked, waving her hand in front of his face. Jeff responded without averting his gaze an inch,

“It’s Jeff.” He muttered faintly, memories of the fire scorching his skin replaying over and over in his mind.

“I’m sorry,” The nurse was a bit stunned at Jeff’s terrifying blue eyes, “So…Jeff…how are you feeling? Do you need more water?” She asked. Jeff didn’t answer with words. He instead shook his head slowly. The nurse hit the call button, and within minutes, doctors and nurses swarmed the hospital room.

The next few hours, Jeff was pelted with redundant questions from every direction. About an hour in, Jeff stopped answering them entirely. All he could think about was hurting people. Hurting the doctors. Hurting the nurses surrounding him. Mr. H, Coach Barkley, and of course, Randy.

That night, Jeff was left alone by everyone, excluding the first nurse that had originally come to check on him. She would periodically return to give him food or water whenever he needed it. That night, she entered Jeff’s room to find him watching a movie on the TV in front of his bed. On screen, Laurie Strode hid in her closet from Michael Myers, who was just about to break through the door.

“Halloween?” She smiled, carrying a tray of broth. Jeff slowly turned to look up at her. He nodded, “That’s one of my favorites. Have you seen Rob Zombie’s version?” She asked, setting the tray beside Jeff’s bed,

“I hate that movie.” Jeff mumbled, almost inaudibly. He tracked her every move out of the corner of his light blue eyes.

“Me too.” She laughed, agreeing with her patient. She looked to be fresh out of college, with dark, hazel eyes, and long, wavy, brown hair. Freckles dotted her pale face, and she wore dark blue scrubs.

“Michael Myers is my favorite slasher.” Jeff breathed, turning his face back to his movie.

“I love Scream.” She admitted, beginning to spoon feed Jeff his broth. If Jeff was in his right mind, he would have been very embarrassed. Instead, he was enveloped in the body that Michael Myers hung on the wall with a knife through the neck. Jeff found that he liked this nurse, and he wanted to know more about her,

“What’s your name?” He turned his gaze back to her without moving his head,

“Oh I’m Jane.” She smiled, and gave Jeff another spoonful of warm broth. When Jeff finished his dinner, the nurse switched the movie off, and tucked Jeff into bed,

“Will you be here in the morning?” Jeff wondered. His voice almost had a creepy, child-like tone to it.

“Um- Yes! I’ll be here.” She answered, “Goodnight, Jeff. Use the call button if you need anything.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeff’s January, February, and the beginning of March were spent in the hospital healing from his burn wounds. Every couple of days, his favorite nurse, Jane, would come in to change his bandages. They would have the same conversation every time:

”Do you want to see your face, Jeff?” She would ask, offering him a mirror. He would shake his head, and giggle childishly,

“No, no, no…It’s not time yet.”

Jeff’s friends would visit sometimes, and Stanley came once a week to check on him. Jeff didn’t care anymore. When they would come, he would give them one word responses to all of their questions, hoping that they would go away. Sometimes, he would pretend to be asleep so that they would drop their gifts off and leave. He had much more important matters at hand.

He would mutter to himself about Randy, or his parents, and about how much he hated them. He would watch his movies, and imagine himself as the antagonist. Every character that died was Randy Hayden. These movies only fueled his twisted fantasies further.

Jeff also began to refuse treatment as much as he could, as it would interrupt his thoughts. His doctors and visitors were beginning to notice Jeff’s behavior. It concerned them, but they replaced their worries with blissful indifference, and moved on. Finally, the day Jeff would be discharged came.

Jeff had insisted multiple times every day that his family not be there when his bandages were finally removed, but unfortunately, his wishes weren’t granted. Jeff’s stepmother and father were scheduled to come in and see Jeff’s bandage removal. Little did Jeff know, there was a surprise that came with them.

“Jeff?” Liu’s voice caused Jeff to turn rapidly towards the doorway, hurting his neck a little in the process,

“Liu?” He called back as his half brother ran to him in an embrace.

“Jeff! I missed you so much!” Liu cried into Jeff’s shoulder, hugging him tight. Jeff’s reunion with Liu didn’t feel anything like he thought it would. He wasn’t really excited or joyed to see his brother. It was underwhelming. It felt empty. He realized then that he had barely given his brother’s absence a thought while in the hospital. Liu was taken away from Jeff with a gentle nudge by Jeff’s main doctor.

“Well…are you ready?” The doctor asked, standing beside Jeff’s bed in a pristine white lab coat. The 4 nurses that had cared for Jeff, including Jane, as well as Jeff’s parents, and Liu stood around the bed in anticipation. Jeff gave a little nod, and felt his arm bandages begin to be unwound. He shut his eyes tight to avoid spoiling the surprise. When the bandage at Jeff’s left shoulder was all the way off, he heard his stepmother irk in horror. The doctor shot her a look, before moving to the other side of the bed to unwrap Jeff’s other arm.

After his chest bandages had been unwrapped, it was time for the grand finale. The doctor unwrapped Jeff’s face, and shakily peeled away the gauze. The whole room gasped when his face was finally revealed.

Jeff opened his eyes, and immediately looked down. His upper arms, shoulders, and chest were covered in jagged peaks and valleys where smooth, pale skin had once been. Surgery scars etched shiny lines all along his upper body. He was a mosaic of pale pink and tan. He slowly moved his hands to touch his chest. The ridges and bumps felt unfamilar to him. Jeff gazed in the mirror that had been provided. The mirror shook, and his knuckles turned white from how hard he gripped the handle.

His face was covered in jagged burn scars that ran all across his face. The upper right side had been relatively unscathed, but his nose, cheeks, chin, and left eye were severely damaged. The outer half of his left eyebrow was gone. He moved his black hair to the side, and found that he had a bit of an undercut below his ear where his hair had been burned away. His blue eyes stood out even more now that his face was covered in scars, almost seeming to glow.

“Mr. And Mrs. Woods…May I speak to you outside?” The lead doctor asked, giving a look of sympathy to Jeff’s stepmother, who was now crying. They were taken outside, and the doctor began to speak,

“Your son is a very lucky boy. Dare I say a walking miracle. He made an incredible recovery, one of the best I’ve ever seen in my 25 years here. However, he still has a long road ahead of him.”

Jeff’s father glared at the doctor, and moved to comfort his wife. The nurses and doctors exited Jeff’s room so that he could spend time alone with his family. Jeff’s parents stayed outside, and spoke quietly together in the lobby of the hospital.

Meanwhile, Liu watched with a great deal of concern as his older brother stared at himself in the mirror. He wore a green hospital gown, and grippy socks. Jeff would feel his skin, and stare at his scarred face. Liu couldn’t tell how he was feeling, as Jeff hadn’t said anything since they had embraced.

“Jeff…It’s not that bad…” Liu tried to comfort him, setting a gentle hand on Jeff’s lower back to avoid touching his scars.

“Not that bad?” He spun around to look at Liu, “It’s perfect!” Jeff turned back around, and laughed.

“Um…What?” Liu raised an eyebrow, worry beginning to simmer inside of him.

“This new face…It matches me perfectly! It’s perfect. It-It looks like me.” Jeff began to repeat ‘It’s perfect’ over and over under his breath, wrapping his fingers in his hair. Liu backed out of the hospital room’s bathroom without his brother noticing. He crept into the hallway, looking for a doctor. He ran straight into Jane, who was carrying clothes for Jeff.

“U-um…are you a doctor?” He mumbled, a bit taken aback by her beauty.

”I’m a nurse, sweetheart.” She answered, “What can I do for you?”

”Um…I don’t think my brother is…okay.” He whispered, not wanting to alert Jeff to his conversation. Jane looked slightly confused,

“How so?”

“He isn’t upset about his face at all…he’s happy. He keeps talking about how “perfect” it is.” Liu answered, talking nervously with his hands.

“Ah…um…I’ll tell the doctor. In the meantime, you can wait outside while your brother gets changed.” Liu nodded, and sat on a bench beside his brother’s room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeff gave his doctors and nurses a final goodbye right before he was discharged. He never really cared for any of them, except for Jane. He found her odd. She wasn’t like the rest of the staff. She was the only one who got a hug from Jeff.

The car ride home was bleak and empty. Muffled sobs from Jeff’s stepmother, the engine, and the wind rushing past the car were the only sounds that could be heard. Jeff didn’t pay attention, and instead smiled widely while looking out the window. Liu felt odd, and decided to break the silence,

“What’s for dinner? We should go somewhere special for Jeff.” He suggested, before a scoff from his father,

“Shut up, Liu.” He spoke bluntly, as his wife continued to sob. Liu was alarmed. His parents were mean, but never that bluntly. He looked back at Jeff, to see if this had elicited any reaction from him. Nothing. He continued to smile wide, and stare out the window.

Liu couldn’t explain it, but he had a horrible feeling. A gut-wrenching, sickening, alarm-bell-ringing feeling. His brother needed help, and he knew that his parents would delay a psychiatry appointment for as long as they could.

The End

That night, Jeff hadn’t been able to sleep a wink. All he could think about were his parents, Randy, and his beautiful new face.

They had ruined everything. His parents took his home, his school, hockey, and his brother from him. They wouldn’t listen to his (or his half-brother’s) cries for help, no matter how desperate they were. And when he thought that it couldn’t possibly get worse, they sent him to the slaughter house. They sent him to die. Though Jeff didn’t view his appearance in a negative way, they were why he was disfigured. It was all their fault.

And Randy. He had been a nuisance since the moment he arrived in Elmerville. If he had just left Jeff alone, they might have made a great team. Jeff hated him. He hated him more than his parents. His heart pounded harder than it ever had before. Then, he realized something. He had beat Randy pretty badly when he had first arrived at the school, but Randy had hit him back harder. He had bit off more revenge than he could chew. He hadn’t even been punished for it, as his parents just paid for an expensive lawyer to get him out of the trouble.

Jeff wasn’t like him. He knew that the score needed to be settled. He knew that justice needed to be served. Jeff’s cheeks burned from his manic smiling, and he dropped the facial expression. He sat up in his bed, and shook his fluffy hair around.

“I can’t smile anymore.” He whispered out loud to himself, followed by an angry head shake and groan. He gripped his head in his hands, and gave a loud sigh. Then, an idea popped into his broken mind. He regained his smile, and jumped out of bed with a start to head downstairs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeff’s stepmother awoke when she heard a noise coming from outside of her bedroom. She had always been a light sleeper, unlike her husband. She sighed, and tried to ignore it. It was around 12 in the morning. Her hair was in curlers, and she wore pink satin pajamas. The noise grew louder, and she found that she couldn’t ignore it any longer. She figured it was Liu trying to sneak a midnight snack. Too bad he couldn’t be any quieter.

She pulled her slippers on, and walked slowly to her bedroom door. She opened it, allowing her to better hear the noises. The guest bathroom’s light was on. It was across the living room from their room, about 25 feet away. She crept towards it, finding that the door was slightly opened. It sounded almost like crying. As she approached the door, her mind made more sense of what she heard. It was laughter. Twisted, evil laughter. A chill ran down her spine.

When she set her hand on the door to open it, the laughter instantly stopped. She took a quick breath, unsure of what to do. She hesitated before pushing the door all the way open. What she saw horrified her. Her hands moved to cover her agape mouth as her body was frozen in shock.

Jeff stood in front of the bathroom vanity, which was covered in blood. Bloody handprints covered the mirror, as well as the walls, the sink, the floor, and even the cabinet below the sink. The bathroom looked like a piece of modern art. Jeff gripped a blood soaked knife in his right hand, evidence of what he had just done. His burned cheeks were freshly sliced open into a gruesome smile. Blood poured out onto his light gray band tee-shirt, underneath which he wore a long sleeved black shirt. Mrs. Woods had a look of disbelief on her face as she stared at what her son had done to himself,

“You…Jeff- What- What have you done?” She stared at him as he let out a soul-chilling cackle.

“I-I couldn’t keep smiling…It….It hurt after a while…so…I did this! Now, I can smile forever...” His pale blue eyes were ringed in black. He had taken his eyeliner in a messy attempt to enhance his appearance.

“Son…you look hideous…w-what have you done!?” She screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks, “All these years your father and I have been through, and for what?!” Jeff’s psychotic smile changed. His chin tilted downwards, and he stared at his stepmother through his eyebrows. His smile fled his face,

“You…d-don’t think I’m beautiful…do you?” He cocked his head slightly to the side. Before his stepmother could answer, he rushed her with his knife, gutting her. Her organs and copious amounts of red blood spilled out onto the bathroom floor, furthering the mess he had already created. Jeff couldn’t contain his laughter as he watched her lifeless body fall to the floor, twitching and sputtering for air. When he looked up, he saw his father standing in the darkness of the living room, frozen in terror,

“Son…” Was all he said. Jeff resumed a smile, although it wasn’t quite as large this time,

“Dad?” Jeff questioned, wiping the blood on his knife off with his sleeve, “Do you think I’m beautiful?” Jeff’s father stared at his wife’s bloody corpse on the floor. He said nothing, his biggest mistake. Jeff’s smile faded again, and he lunged at his father.

His shoved his son, but it had nothing to it. Jeff was a machine that was running off of adrenaline, bloodlust, and rage, a deadly combination. He stabbed his father in the chest, his ribs cracking loudly. When Jeff pulled the knife out. Jeff’s father yowled, clutching his bloody shirt. He staggered backwards, unsure of what to do. He fell into the short coffee table with a loud crash. The glass shattered beneath his weight, and the wood support that held the table up in the middle impaled him straight through his stomach. He tried to scream, but no sound came out.

He looked up at his eldest son, his blue eyes seeming to glow in the dark. The only sounds were Jeff’s footsteps and the drops of his own blood hitting the floor. Jeff tilted his head to the side again, staring at his helpless father’s suffering. When he was bored of this sight, he leaned over him, and slit his throat, blood spurting out on the carpet.

When Jeff stood back up, he sighed out and smiled again. He was pleased with what he saw. He had made such quick work of his parents, and it felt great. They wouldn’t be there to bother him anymore. When he stood up to leave, he heard a soft groaning sound coming from behind him. When he turned around, he saw his stepmother crawling towards him, dragging her intestines out behind her. She left a smear of blood on the floor like a snail. Jeff got down to her level, and finished her off with a quick stab in the back of her neck.

He flopped down on the couch for a moment, examining the chaos of the living room that was only illuminated by the light from the guest bathroom. Warm blood flowed slowly down his chin and neck, but he couldn’t feel a thing. It was eerily silent, his surroundings standing in awe at what he had just done.

He pondered his next move, and decided to go for a drive. He padded silently up the stairs, and stepped quietly through the hallway. Just as he was about to enter his room, he remembered his brother. He walked slowly to Liu’s room, his door already cracked open. When he pushed on the wood, he found his brother asleep in his bed. He listened to music with headphones, so Jeff knew he wouldn’t have heard any of the commotion downstairs.

Jeff moved silently to Liu’s bed, and leaned over him. This woke Liu up, but just barely. The room was too dark for him to actually see Jeff’s appearance.

“Jeff…?” He muttered sleepily. Jeff gave his brother a bloody kiss on the forehead, “Jeff did you…wash your face?” Liu chuckled, wiping his forehead with his sleeve and pulling his covers over his shoulder. Jeff smiled slightly, stroking his brother’s brown hair with his hand.

“Go to sleep, asshole.” Liu whispered, hugging his pillow and trying to return to his slumber. Jeff said nothing and took his knife out of his pocket, wiping it clean of his parent’s blood with his hoodie sleeve.

“No, Liu.” He uttered, a short giggle escaping his lungs. Liu stirred more, sitting up in his bed. Jeff grabbed Liu’s shoulder, and pushed him back down into his bed with force, “Jeff, stop-”

Jeff raised his knife above his head, the light from the hallway catching the blade. It took Liu a moment to process, but when he did, he let out a scream so loud, Jeff had to cover his mouth with his hand to shut him up. He plunged the knife directly into Liu’s chest. Directly into his beating heart. Liu looked stunned, like he couldn’t believe what had just happened to him. Jeff yanked the knife out, and stabbed him again. Then again. Then again. He kept going for around 5 minutes, until Liu’s poor body had around 34 stab wounds in it. He looked like a slush of blood, organs, and bone fragments. His face was unrecognizable because Jeff had carved a deep smile into his cheeks to match his own. Liu didn’t move. He didn’t breathe. He was dead. Jeff’s beloved brother was dead, and he felt nothing.

Jeff climbed out of Liu’s blood-soaked bed, and dusted himself off. Obviously, this did no good. He threw Liu’s door open, knowing now that he was basically home alone. He felt sick to his stomach. What he had done hadn’t quite registered yet. He was too focused on what he was going to do next. He had limited time. He had to make the most of it.

Jeff went back to his room, leaving bloody footprints in the carpet. He flipped his bedroom light on, and began to search for what he needed. He changed his clothes, as the ones he was wearing were completely saturated in blood, and would become unbearable in the cold. He put on a team hockey hoodie from his old school, and a Black Veil Brides shirt over it for warmth. He grabbed a black jacket, his fuzzy socks, boots, and a thicker pair of insulated pants. He had some fingerless gloves that he pulled on, along with a couple of bracelets from his nightstand.

Jeff walked down the stairs, and passed the site where he murdered his parents. He admired his work for one more quick moment, before grabbing his car keys off of the kitchen’s island with shaking hands. When he opened the house’s garage door, he felt a rush of chilly air surround his body. He looked out into the serene night sky, dusted with stars and the occasional clouds. It was mesmerising. With one final glance backwards at his parents, he disappeared into the night, leaving the new house’s door wide open.

OH MY GOSH??? YOU READ THE WHOLE THING???? THIS MUST MEAN THAT YOU LIKED IT?? THANKS!!

[roadkill-writes]

Party Animals II

Pairing: Eli ‘Hawk’ Moskowitz x reader | Eli ‘Hawk’ Moskowitz x Moon | Platonic!Demetri X platonic!Reader

Warning(s): Swearing, Use of harsh language, mentions of underage Drinking , Eli being a dick to reader (per usual), briefly proofread , my bad writing, Kreese being looked up to

Word count: 3.6k, 10.1 pages

I do not condone my work being rewritten or reposted on Tumblr or any other website!

Part 1

You ended up leaving the party after the altercation with Hawk, even though Demetri and Moon both tried to stop and talk to you but you just pushed past them and stomped out of the house in a blind drunken rage. Not stopping when you seen Tory seething in rage and not even caring that you car pooled here with some of the other Cobra's you tried to order an Uber but your phone was dead ‘of course’, so you continued to walk down the street long away from the house. Completely in aware what was going on within Moons house in your absence.

“Excuse me!” Demetri said into the microphone. Everyone in the crowd turned to look at him. “I’d like to make a toast.”

“To Eli Moskowitz.” Demetri raised his cup in the air as everyone looked around confused, muttering between themselves asking who that was, as Demetri scanned the room. “Oh. I’m sorry,” Demetri scoffed and threw his empty cup on the floor. ”Some of you might know him as Hawk. But underneath that crazy clown cosplay and whatever type of Manic Panic he dumps in his hair, he’s still good old Eli. My binary brother. Well he was my binary brother. You know what he is now? A real zero.”

“All right that’s enough Demetri.” Hawk called out. He looked around the room looking for (Y/n), she was nowhere to be found within the crowd of kids in the living room.

“Don’t let that angry red hairdo fool you. He’s a big softie. We watched every Harry Potter movie together, and he bawled like a baby when Dobby died.”

The others laughed as Demetri imitated a pathetic cry.

“Right if he doesn’t shut up, I’m gonna shut him up.” Hawk said to Mitch, getting angrier by the minute.

”Remember what Sensei said about showing mercy.” Hawk clenched his jaw and turned his head back to face Demetri.

“In the words of Eli’s hero, Steve Jobs, I’ve got one more thing. Have any of you heard of sleep enuresis?” Demetri asked the crowd.

“Don’t.” Hawk tried to beg. But Demetri just smiled and continued on with his speech.

“That is the medical term, of course. In the King’s English, it’s good old fashioned bed wetting. And Eli here is a pro.” Demetri pointed his finger guns at him and winked. “My Mom even had a special air mattress for sleepovers. And she called it; Eli’s waterbed.” The party goers just continued to laugh.

Hawks fists tightened and his eyebrows scrunched together. “Screw mercy. You’re a corpse!” He shouted as he advanced to Demetri. Some of Miyagi-Dos blocked him from stepping any closer and Cobra Kai closed in behind Hawk and Mitch.

Moon stepped between them. “Guys. Stop. We’re friends.”

”Oh, I smell a rumble!” Police sirens and lights lit up the room and everyone’s faces.

“Cops!’ The party goers scattered in every direction out of the house, some grabbing pizzas others grabbing drinks.

“Demetri! You got lucky!” Hawk shouted. “I’ll see you at school!” He shouted over some of Miyagi-Do’s shoulders as he pointed a finger at Demetri before he got shoved backwards and ran off.

You had been walking down the sidewalk well far way from Moon’s house trying not to trip on your heels as a bunch of cop cars sped past you in the direction you had come from, but not much worry crossed your drunken mind.

You were very much still angry, as you pushed through the doors of the Cobra Kai dojo. Kicking off your heeled boots and setting up to spar the dummy set up towards the center of the dark room. Throwing kicks, punches and jabs until tears threatened to spill down your cheeks. Who would have thought a few hours ago you’d be trying to down enough alcohol to put a grown man on his ass and now you’re here, in the dojo trying to fight the rage burning inside of you.

‘Gosh how could you be so stupid to even think Hawk would listen to you, to actually acknowledge the words you were screaming at him in that bathroom’

A scream ripped through your throat as you began punching the rubber dummy harder and harder until you fell to your knees in a sob. Tears spilling down your face in the dark.

“Crying solves nothing, even you should know that.”

You quickly wiped your tears away and looked up. Sensei Kreese stepped out of the shadows of the rooms. “Yes Sensei!” You rose to your feet haphazardly.

Kreese held his hand out for a moment. “No need for formality after hours (y/n). Call me John.” You nodded your head slowly.

“Now tell me, why on a Friday night are you alone in here and now out with your friends?” Your gaze rested down on your sock covered feet. “I was but..” Your words fell off as you began thinking about tonight.

“But what? Did something happen?” Your words were trying to climb out of your throat like knives. “I had a fight with a few friends, even told my best friend I’ve had a crush on him for forever and he just brushed it off like nothing happened.” Your gaze was still on your feet.

Kreese just nodded his head as you talked about your experience at the party, taking in the details of it all. “I see and how is that all making you feel now?” Your head shot up to look at Kreese. “I’m pissed off.”

Kreese shrugged his shoulders as he peered at you. “Good.”You stuttered in confusion, “W-What?” He gave you a smirk. “I said good, use that anger to make you a better fighter.” A blank stare crossed your face as you stared at him. “Let’s go now. Use that anger.” He walked off to grab the sparring pads to hold so he could feel the power behind the punches and kicks you were going to throw.

Your jean jacket was long forgotten on the floor as sweat covered your body. Sweating out the alcohol was the best thing you could have done after the night you had at the party. Training is the best way to get you to stop thinking about Hawk and your stupid crush. You and Kreese stayed there for hours as you trained before deciding it was late enough in the night and that you should probably go home.

Kreese locked up the door behind you as you stood out of the dojo under the shitty overhead lights shined down on you. “You did great work tonight. I see a lot of potential in you, as long as you continue to harness that power during your fights and in training and you could be an unstoppable fighter.”

A grin was plastered across your face as you thought about all the possibilities, hell maybe you’d even win the All Valley Tournament. “Yes Sensei!”

There was no need to sneak into your house you parents didn’t care much of what you were up to just as long as they thought you were safe. So coming into the house in the middle of the night was nothing new to the, hell coming home from Demetri or Eli’s house this late was none but normal, or at least it used to be. You missed having sleepovers and watching Harry Potter or Starwars, but of course that was all behind you all now, god did you miss it. Everything changed after joining karate.

You finally plugged your phone in after who no knows how long and went to jump in the shower. Washing the day of events off of your body and out of your hair and mind, relaxing in the hot water cascading down your body.

Drying off and making your way back into your room to get dressed you dug around in your closet for a shirt to put on, one of the empty hangers fell off the rack and as you leaned down to pick it up your eyes landed on a shirt you’d been missing for a while, or actually a certain someone was missing it for a while since you took it one night at a sleepover when you had forgotten one. It was Eli’s. It was his original 1977 StarWars episode four shirt he had bought at comic con when you guys were in middle school. This was his favorite shirt, you were just as astonished that night when he let you borrow it as you were this moment sitting on your bedroom floor almost tearing up again. But Sensei said crying doesn’t help anything and that’s something you’ll listen to. But wearing the shirt to bed wouldn’t hurt anything.

The buzzing of your phone finally coming back to life on your nightstand dragged you out of your thoughts just as fast as you put the shirt on. Deciding you probably should check your text messages and calls. You had gotten off the floor to sit on your bed.

Dem🧙‍♂️48 missed calls

Sunshine🌞 4 missed calls

Aisha🤓 5 missed call

Moony🌙 3 missed calls

Miguel🥋 6 missed calls

Hawk🐥 8 missed calls

Oh god Demetri was probably worried sick about you, you could only imagine how he was feeling but god did it annoy you that he thought just blurting your secret out to Hawk was okay. You sent him a simple text letting him know that you were home safe and okay and that you just needed some space for a little bit. Last thing you wanted was for Demetri to get the nervous twitches, he’s bad enough when he’s not nervous, let alone after letting his long term best friends secret out to the word he’s probably been shaking in his shoes all night thinking about it.

Opening your text messages with Tory.

Sunshine🌞: Yo where’d you go?

Sunshine🌞: We’ve got a big problem

Sunshine🌞: Call me when you read these

Your mind started to wonder, what was going on? Did these have to do with her being so angry last night? You sent her a text back:

Freak😈: Hey sorry my phones been dead all night is everything okay?

Sunshine🌞: Oh my god I thought you god kidnapped or something you idiot

Freak😈: Lmao! Missed you too loser. Seriously though you good?

Sunshine🌞: No absolutely not good. Caught that bitch kissing Miguel last night at the party

Freak😈: No fucking way! That’s why you were so pissed when I left

Sunshine🌞: Wait when’d you leave Hawk said he had seen you and then couldn’t find you and he was asking around

Freak😈: Ha yeah we had a pretty bad fight very surprised he bothered even asking where I went

Sunshine🌞: God he’s such an idiot are you okay?

Freak😈: Yeah just went to the dojo after the party to blow off some steam and all the alcohol 😂

Sunshine🌞: Haha there ya go girl! Well if we don’t hang out this weekend I’ll text you

Freak😈: Sounds good Sunshine I’ll talk to ya later

Tory was not one to mess with if you weren’t her friend let alone messing with her boyfriend, that was just plain and simple, that was a death wish and not a pretty one.

Your eyes glanced over the text messages from Hawk the most you could see was him texting you he’s sorry. You decided to open the message thread.

Hawk🐥: Princess where’d you go?

Hawk🐥: I’m serious princess you’re in no shape to be alone right now

Hawk🐥: Please I’m sorry for what I said can we just talk

The internal conflict between your heart and your brain was a bloodbath, one wanted you to just completely forgive him to just say it was the alcohol making him think the way he was and the other half wanted to just leave him on read and go to sleep. But you heart won that battle just not completely, you caved ever so slightly and sent him a message. He wasn’t normally a night owl like Tory was and you could only hope tonight wasn’t one of the nights that he chose to be.

Princess👑: Hey

Princess👑: I’m sorry my phone was dead but I’m home safe you don’t have to pretend to worry especially after the fight.

You pressed the power button to lock your phone before putting it down on the nightstand, it was late and you needed sleep. Not like you were tired even though you should have been exhausted after training and the party. Getting comfortable in bed before flipping the switch on your lamp to shut it off, turning onto your side and throwing your blanket over your shoulder to get comfortable.

Ding, Ding

A text message

Ding, Ding

Another

You tried to ignore it, keeping your eyes clenched shut as the light from your screen bounced across your features. Pretending the anticipation wasn’t eating at your skin. ‘Ignore it. It can wait.’

Who were you kidding you couldn’t wait, as some part of you kinda did hope Hawk chose to be an owl tonight. To forgive and forget the things he’s said. To come running at his beck and call. You threw the blanket off your body and sat up hastily reaching to grasp the phone within your hands. The screen lit up again in your hands.

A notification.

An instagram notification.

You flopped back onto your bed, head hitting the pillows you let out a large sigh. You felt absolutely flustered, eyes squeezed shut, arms thrown over your face in embarrassment. Until your phone dinged again. But this time you did hesitate to check it. But then it dinged once twice three more times to texts coming across.

You lifted your arm just enough to take a peak with one eye at your screen held up to your face. Hawk. Your heart fluttered with warmth, maybe being hopeful wasn’t such a bad thing.

Hawk🐥: Thank god you’re okay

Hawk🐥: I’m so sorry for what happened

Hawk🐥: Could we maybe meet up and talk?

Your thumbs hovered over your phone's keyboard so as to not seem so desperate. He made you wait this long so maybe you could make him wait a little while too.

Princess👑: Uhm yeah sure where would you wanna meet?

His reply was almost instantaneous, the thought of him sitting biting his nails waiting for your reply crossed your mind. Oh how you missed Eli’s old mannerisms and the tiny little things that made him who he is no was.

Hawk🐥: Our old hangout spot?

Your lips turned up into a smile, your old hangout spot. The one that hasn’t been touched since you guys were kids. You wondered if the roof was still even on the thing. The place where you'd all hang out in the heat of the summer, when you fell and had bloody knees, popsicles dripping down staining your favorite shirts.

Princess👑: Yeah I’ll be there

Hawk🐥: Sounds good I’ll see ya soon Princess

Your face burned as it flushed thinking about the place. The place where you and Eli had shared a first kiss unbeknownst to Demetri, back in the fifth grade right after your mom had called you to you from the house saying that it was time to take Eli home. He had leaned forward in a rush, quickly leaving a peck on your lips and running out and back towards your house while you just sat in shock. The place where toys and stolen kisses went to die but it was yours to always come home to.

The sun bleached and peeling paint was your safe place once before. The memories came flooding back the moment you stepped past the wooden door frame. The club house your dad built you just within the forest line, still close enough to the house where they could holler from the back deck and you’d come running like a dog to food. Yet somehow you felt so far away now, as your shoes scuffed across the wooden floor. Taking a seat in the beaten lawn chair you fiddled with your thumbs as you waited.

The slight breeze that blew through the open window ran a shiver over your body, the shirt and shorts pajama combo not doing much to keep you warm as you didn’t bother grabbing a jacket on the way out the door.

Eli knew the route to your house like the back of his hands, the years of making that trek whether on foot, on bike or by car, he could at this point probably do it blind folded. Of course as long as your neighbor didn’t have his lawn chairs out on the sidewalk like he sometimes did, he’d make it there in one piece.

So there he stood outside the side gate of your yard waiting to let himself in ready to hike through your yard like the years prior. To march straight into your secret cabin and take back everything he’s ever said, to fall to his knees and beg for you to forgive him.

He swallowed the lump in his throat, unlatched the lock and pushed forward. Wiping the sweaty hands onto his black track pants and stepping through the dewy grass to the secret oasis that he used to hold dear to his heart. Just like you.

At some point in your tireless waiting you contemplated just getting up and just going back into the house. Shutting all the lights off and just pretending like nothing ever happened. Like you haven’t answered his text at the speed of light. Like it wasn’t the one and only thing you were looking forward to. But you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. And so you sat there waiting and hoping that he’d show so you could just get this over with.

You felt fidgety as you sat staring down at your shoes, rubbing the rubber soles gently against the floor. A small knock against the wood drew you out of your thoughts, you sat up straight in the chair when he stepped through the door in all his glory. Having to duck down through the smaller door because of his mohawk, you almost chuckled at the sight. He took the seat across from you, his hands intertwined in his lap.

“Hey.” You spoke softly, uncertain of what was to come. He looked up to meet your eyes and a small smile graced his features. “Hey! I’ve been looking for that shirt forever!”

Your face lit up as you let out a laugh.” What? This old thing? I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He sported a similar smile on his face as he looked at you.

“Yes, that old thing. But I don’t like nerd shit any more so keep it.” Your smile dropped when he said that. Nerd shit? He loved Starwars, he was nerd shit. “Oh come on Princess, don't lose your smile now.”

“But you used to love ‘nerd shit’ Eli.” Maybe this was a bad idea. “Yeah Princess keyword is used to. That’s not my life anymore. This is.” He motioned to himself.

“Also it’s Hawk now and you know that. But that’s not why I came here.”

“Then why did you come here?” You felt sick, like your stomach was crawling up your throat claws and all.

“I came to make sure you were okay, you were almost tripping over yourself leaving. But mostly because I came to say th-that I don’t think we can be friends anymore. Especially not after what you said about Moon. She’s the love of my life.” He was blunt, way too blunt for your liking. You scoffed at him, he came all this way here to say this?

“Listen babe I get it. Everyone wants a piece of hawk and normally there’s enough to go around but just not right now.” His cocky smirk did nothing but annoy you.

At this point you were just laughing at him, “You came all this way, had me get my hopes up because you decided I deserved to get told we shouldn’t be friends in person?” You stood up harshly, chair getting thrown back as you stood. “Get the fuck away from me please.”

“Babe listen!” He stood hands out as if trying to calm you down.

“Eli go the fuck away! I’m sick of the bullshit you continue to spew out of your mouth. All because you can’t actually comprehend what’s going on in your life. No go!” You pointed to the door as your chest rose and fell in anger.

Eli had seemed to get the message as he went to turn away to leave, but the look in your eyes was filled with hurt and anger as they began to well with tears. He stood in the doorway and looked like he almost wanted to say something else but chose against it, turning his back to you and left without a word.

The moment you thought he was far enough away you fell to your knees in a sob hands covering your face as you heaved to breathe. You couldn’t believe the blatant disregard for you or your feelings and the fact he had to come all the way over just to say those things. You fell asleep that night curled into a ball on your bed, eyes puffy and red, pillow and your cheeks stained with tears.

Eli on the other hand left your house phone in hand, texting Moon. But yet again getting left on read. She laid cuddling in bed with her girlfriend that night with pure bliss in her heart.

[megumimania]

WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES 12 - gojo satoru

summary: you’re under a table trying to eat 12 grapes before midnight in hopes for a better love life

warnings: gojo satoru x fem! reader, fluff, best friends to lovers, reader is a hopeless romantic, gojo being gojo, mention of past relationship with geto, bi gojo for the win (am i projecting?? well…yes!).

in a last ditch attempt to revive your love life just in time for the new year, you are currently sitting under a table trying to consume twelve consecutive grapes in a row ever since the clock struck midnight—ushering in a new year of prosperity, success and hopefully in your case, love. you’re already three grapes down when you spot a familiar face that you know and love.

“hey auntie y/n what are you doing under here!” your niece asks in a tone way too loud to just be a question. you try to answer but the tingling sensation from your leg going numb after being stuck in such an uncomfortable position for a while delays your answer. “uh, im just…hiding!” you reply, hoping that she gets distracted by the next colourful thing in the house and runs away.

“oh…okay!” she replies after a beat of silence and waddles off. you let out a sigh of relief as you hear her footsteps receding but you don’t take this brief moment of peace for granted. immediately eating three grapes after that so at least you’re halfway through them. it’s not long after that when you’re disrupted again by another familiar voice. “y/n!” the voice calls out, you groan in annoyance. the annoying voice calls out to you again “y/n your mom is looking for yo—what the fuck?”

the annoying voice aka satoru stops dead in his tracks, crouching down to see your mouth stuffed full with grapes and immediately you wish for the ground to swallow you up right there and then. but satoru thinks you look adorable like a little chipmunk as he reaches out to squeeze your cheeks, earning a light slap on the wrist from you.

you swallow the grapes with a gulp, the glare in your eyes turning murderous as you lock eyes with him. “i don’t want a word out of you.” satoru tenses, convinced if he moved a muscle you’d kill him. “this stays between us.” you say, jabbing your finger into his chest for emphasis.

“relaax alvin, i’m not gonna tell anyone about this.” satoru replies coolly biting back the urge to tease you more about this as a best friend does. he watches as your guarded expression wavers, unconsciously moving aside so he can join you under the table. “damn you really needed love that bad?” he asks with a snort, wincing as you pinch his arm.

“you of all people should know how shambolic my love life was last year!” you wiggled your legs to stop them from going numb knocking satoru’s knees in the process. satoru hummed in agreement knowing that you weren’t exaggerating at all. from the really hot dilf who left you to pay the bill all by yourself and had the cheek to ask for money to get a taxi home, to the other guy who wouldn’t let you get a word in at all during the date and left you 99% sure that he probably had human remains hidden somewhere in his home.

“i wish i was like you.” you pouted as you leaned onto his shoulder for comfort. “you’re so carefree and you rarely get attached, except with that really cool guy in college who played guitar from time to time…what was his name again?” satoru chuckled softly at the way you described him—always seeing the positives in people. the memories of the relationship coming back to him in small bursts. “his name was suguru.” he answered with an expression that seemed to show his indifference towards his ex.

“and it wasn’t that easy, remember?” he nudged you playfully as you both thought back to the break up. the long nights where’d he come over to your dorm and just cry in your arms for what seemed like hours, the way he’d walk around campus an empty shell of himself. it was horrible and there was a point in time where you thought that you were gonna lose him.

“anyways.” he said as he stretched his legs out, clearly over talking about the past. “love will come to you. you just gotta be patient.” you rolled your eyes at the statement, fed up with hearing that all the time. “tell me something i dont know at this point.” you muttered as you kept your eyes glued to your shoes, ignoring the tears welling up in your eyes.

“i seriously don’t think you’re gonna be waiting for that long, sometimes the love you seek is right in front of you.” he said gently in a tone that sounded more reassuring than anything. your ears perked up at the sound of that—looking at him with starry eyes as he held your face with such tenderness, like it was the most precious thing on earth as he continued wiping the stray tears that fell on your face.

“when did you get so wise?” you said with a smile as his ghost like touches left goosebumps on your skin. satoru looked at you with such a softness that you never thought was possible in all the years you knew him.

satoru’s heart was beating so much he almost thought that he was going to die. he slowly picked up the last grape with a slight tremor that you eased by holding his hand in place as he placed it between your lips before gently capturing them in a soft but firm kiss. “happy new year, y/n.” he said with a slight raspiness in his tone, before slipping out underneath the table and heading back to join the new year celebrations that were occurring in the living room.

you traced over your lips where he’d just kissed you and felt your heart race at the memory of it. you internally cursed satoru out knowing that he was right—the love you sought out and wished for was always in front of you. it was just hard to find because it was hiding in the form of your longtime best friend gojo satoru.

[tiredwitchmachine]

Summary: Alice meets the others in the group and opens up about her mom a bit (Chapter 2 to my Day 1 piece)

Written for Agatha All Along Week Day 2 - Prompt: Non Magic

(I'm not the proudest of this but I wanted to post something for all the days so-)

Fic Under the Cut:

Alice isn’t sure what she was expecting when Billy invited her to join his “coven” as he called them, but it certainly isn’t the group she’s suddenly found herself surrounded by. In her mind, they fit together like a mismatched pair of socks, and they bicker like they’re all in some kind of sitcom.

The leader of the group is clearly Agatha, with her air of authority and the fact that she introduced herself (again) as such. She dresses in all purple and keeps her wild hair up in a bun that’s barely being held together by a thin purple hair tie. Alice also takes note of the fact that half the things she says to people are just thinly veiled insults and she’ll smirk when she knows they hit the target. 

The next one she meets is Jennifer Kale, or Jen as everyone calls her. Like Agatha wore purple, her entire wardrobe seems to be pink, along with her backpack and lunchbox. Alice watches in awe as she bites back at Agatha’s mean-spirited remarks with clever comebacks, sometimes even meaner than what the purple wearing group leader said first. Then she turns to Alice and strikes up a conversation about her makeup and fashion, offering to hook her up with some new makeup products from a company Alice is 90% certain is a scam. 

Then there’s Lilia, who Alice immediately clocks as someone who’d fit right in with her mom's old groupies. She seems older than her years, not helped by the fact that she dresses in all thrift store clothes and sometimes forgets what she’s saying halfway through the sentence. The first time it happens, Alice nearly panics, until Billy explains that “she just does that sometimes” and “it’s nothing to worry about”. She’s not sure she believes him. 

As far as she can tell, Sharon just seems happy to be there. She dresses in all florals and has her hair in a bob. Alice is convinced she’d fit right in with anyone, and that’s why it perplexes her so much that she’s sitting around with this group of outcasts. 

And of course, there’s Billy, the reason she’s even sitting with this group in the first place. He seems almost shy at first, until someone makes a comment, and he almost instantly develops a sharp tongue to respond in kind. She can see now why he and Agatha are still friends, despite all her mean words and jabs, the two of them fit together in a weird way and she’s pretty sure they’re holding each other back from terrorizing anyone else. 

Last but not least, she meets Rio. Dressed all in green, she shows up late to the table with a flower in her hair and spider in a see-through cage she sets down on the table between her and Agatha, before immediately locking onto Alice like a predator to its prey. 

“For the last time, Rio, stop bringing that thing to the lunch table.” Jen shudders, moving closer to Alice so she doesn’t have to be close to the spider. 

“She doesn’t bite. Much.” Rio responds with a shrug, still looking at Alice. “So, who’s the new girl?” 

“This-” Billy breaks out in a big smile, like a little kid showing off a toy at show-and-tell. “-is Alice Wu-Gulliver!”

“She’s the dead rockstars kid.” Agatha stage-whispers to Rio and Billy gives her a glare. Alice’s stomach sinks at the comment, but she tries to brush it off, already knowing this is how the girl in purple acts. 

“Oh yeah, I think I heard about that somewhere.” Rio nods, still looking Alice dead-on. “It must suck, losing your mom like that. House fire, right?”

“Ho-hotel fire, actually.” Alice gulps and looks down at her hands. Despite not being close with her mom, talking about her death still makes her stomach twist into knots and her chest feel like it’s compressing. 

Another hand comes to touch hers and she looks up to see Billy, wide eyed and worried. Something wet rolls down her face and she realizes she started crying. Oh, she thinks, going to wipe it away. 

“Sorry.” She mutters, feeling all their eyes on her. “Didn’t mean to start crying.” 

“Hey, no one here’s going to judge.” Jen says matter of factly. “We’ve all been through stuff, some more than others.” 

“Yes, and losing a parent or a parent figure is never easy.” Lilia adds on, offering her a kind smile. “I lost my Maestra when I started high school and I was a wreck. She was practically a mother to me. I can only imagine the pain you’re going through, Alice.” 

“I lost my mom too.” Billy says quietly, as if not sure he wants to say it. “When I was ten. There was an accident, only my brother and I survived. We got adopted to separate families.” 

“I’m sorry,” Alice tells him. He shakes his head and a small smile returns to his face. 

“Don’t be. What I’m - we’re - trying to say is that you’re not alone.” 

“Ugh, you’re such a sap, Teen.” Agatha picks up a potato chip and throws it at him, hitting him square on. 

“What? It’s true! That’s why I brought her here!” Billy retorts, and the banter comes back, much to Alice’s relief. It feels nice, knowing there’s someone she can talk to- a group of people, actually, no matter how strange they are. 

“Hey,” Rio says, catching her attention again, still looking her dead in the eyes. “I didn’t mean to upset you, earlier, with my comment I mean. I’m just fascinated with the concept of it all.” 

“The concept?” 

“The cycle of life.” The girl in green hums. “But I shouldn’t have brought it up.” 

“It’s fine, opened the conversation up at least.” 

“Did it help?” Billy asks, turning to her. 

“A little.” She nods. “You did good, kid, inviting me here. I think I could really get used to this group of yours.” 

“Really?” His eyes light up and Alice smiles. 

“Yeah.” She says sincerely. “Besides, it’d be cool to be part of a coven.” 

“We are not called that, stop telling people that, Teen!” Agatha exclaims, throwing another chip at Billy, and Alice watches as the chaos devolves again from there.

[ssturniolo]

Lights out (Pt.1)

⚠️please do NOT read this if any of the warning below make you uncomfortable⚠️

Warnings - gore, crying, death, hanging, stab wounds, loss of friend, some cursing, I believe that’s it.

Y/n’s POV:

“Are you sure you don’t wanna go?” I say, practically begging Madi to come to the Halloween party with me.

“I’m just going to stay here with my mom and watch movies” she responds, rolling her eyes at my tone of voice.

“I can’t believe your just gonna leave me with the boys” I groan, dramatically flopping down on the guest bed.

The triplets came back to Boston for Halloween, and decided to bring Madi and Laura with. They were currently staying at Nate’s house, since he had a guest bedroom they could share.

“Sorry girl, you’ll have fun and you can tell me all about it when you get home.”

“Ok I will, I promise” I say, standing up from the bed to link my pinky with hers.

“Y/n we’re leaving” Matt calls, jingling his keys by the front door.

“Ugh bye Mads, love you” I say, giving her a quick side hug before walking out to the car.

Madi’s POV:

Watching y/n leave, I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. Although being very thankful that Nate’s parents let us stay here while they’re out of town, all of this traveling is exhausting, and all I want to do is curl up and watch movies with my mom.

Sitting next to mom on the couch, I pick up the remote. Scrolling through movies for awhile, we decide on ‘corpse bride’ as its one of my favorite movies. About half an hour in, mom stands up, making her way to the kitchen.

“Im making popcorn”

“Ok thank you”

I turn the volume up, relaxing back against the couch. One minute goes by, then two… then five… then ten, and mom still hasn’t come back in.

I walk into the kitchen, only to find the sliding glass door open, but no signs of mom.

“Mom?” I call out into the darkness, a feeling of unease spreading through my body.

No. Nothings wrong, I’m just freaking myself out.

Taking a deep breath, I step out into the darkness, calling once more.

“Mom?”

Hearing shuffling to my right I turn, met with a sharp pain directly in my stomach. Slowly looking down I rest my shaking hands on an object now jabbed inside of me. A knife.

Dropping to my knees, I gasp for air, a scream unable to leave my mouth. Thick hot blood drips from my wound as I feel the knife being ripped from my body.

Fat tears roll down my cheeks as I attempt to crawl away, only to be kicked to the ground. Applying pressure to my throbbing wound, I looking up to see a masked figure.

“P-please… no” I stutter almost incoherently through my sobs, slowly inching away. Not responding, the figure grabs me by the hands, dragging me across the cold scratchy grass. To where? I have no idea.

My whole body shakes with sobs as the pain becomes unbearable. I’m not gonna make it.

I can’t believe I’m about to die and I can’t even say goodbye. I’ll never get to hear about y/n’s night, and I’ll never know what happened to my mom. Is she alright? Is she already dead?

I feel so weak, so powerless that I just stop. I stop struggling, I stop holding my wound, I just stop trying. Now, resting my bloody hand on my heart I stop breathing.

That’s it,

Nothing,

Blackness,

Lights out.

Y/n’s POV:

Police cars, sirens.

Returning to Nate’s house after the party is something I will regret every day.

Finding Madison and Laura Filipowicz hanging from the tree, matching wounds, with the words “dumb bitch” carved into their foreheads, was not what I had expected when going to close the back door.

The blood dripping down their purpled faces, their limp bodies hanging, the streaks of blood across the grass. These things will be etched into my mind forever. There’s no going back.

My best friend, my ride or die, dead. Gone.

And I never got to tell her about the party, I had promised. I never even got to say goodbye.

To be continued…

[marco-newgate]

Marco X CisFem Reader

4

"Do you know what's happening here?" Ace whispered to Thatch.

"No idea." The eldest replied.

Sabo passed through quietly with a sleeping Luffy on his back.

"He's totally stealing my friend." Ace pouted watching you grip Marco's shirt in your sleep.

The two of you ended up lying down completely on the sofa. Marco had one arm draped around your shoulders while the other was tucked between the side of his head and the couch. Your face was buried in his chest while you seemed to clutch his shirt for dear life.

"Will you shut up yoi." Marco whispered, eyes still shut, "She's finally actually sleeping."

"I'll take her to her room." Thatch crossed the room while Marco gently uncoiled your death grip on his clothes.

You stirred and grimaced as you were lifted away from your heat source and carried down the hall to your room under the stairs.

"What time is it?" You yawned as Thatch placed you on your mattress.

"Close to midnight." He replied, "You crashed on the couch. Try to get some more rest."

He pulled your blanket up to your chin.

"You're such a good mom Thatchy." You gave him a cheeky smile.

"And you're an awful child." He brushed your hair out of your face and stood, "G'night F/N."

"Night." You murmured rolling over in search of warmth.

You'd managed to sleep the entire day away. For a moment you wondered what Marco had been up to all afternoon and felt a bit guilty for falling asleep. It was much needed though. You hadn't managed more than two hours at a time every night for the last few weeks. Waking up angry or sad and pacing or reading until it was time to get ready for work.

Worse, you had no appetite. Thatch had tried to remedy that with making your favorite things but just a few nibbles and you were done.

Two years didn't seem like much to most people, maybe not long enough to be this depressed. But it was a brightly burning passionate relationship - or so you'd been lead to believe. You had stayed up late with each other making plans, a house, marriage, little curly browed babies - the whole nine. And poof it was gone.

Stupid.

That did it. You were wide awake now.

The door slowly creaked open and softly shut as bare feet padded across the faux wood floor.

"Ace...did you not learn from this morning?" You asked sternly.

"I knew you were awake." He whispered rolling into the bed with you.

"What do you think you're doing?" You flopped over to face him.

"Marco is trying to steal you from me." His face was dead serious.

"Well firstly, I don't know what that means. And B. I don't belong to you." You jabbed your index finger into his chest.

"You were my friend first!" His bottom lip jutted out.

"We're still bff's. I'm not understanding the issue." You furrowed your brows.

"Well you went straight to him this morning and you guys were pretty cozy on the couch."

"I did not and what?" You remembered leaning on him before you passed out but surely he didn't sit there all day with you.

"Yeah... You were all curled up on him when we got home." His lips curled into a mischievous grin as he scanned your bewildered expression, "That sneaky fuck."

"What?" You felt your cheeks heat up.

"Nothing." He sat up, "Wanna play a game?"

"Ok... But something I'm good at." You slipped out of bed and turned on the TV and game system.

___________

"Hey F/N." Marco knocked stirring you, "Have you seen or heard from Ace?"

"Present." Ace mumbled dangling halfway off your bed.

The door swung open and Marco marched over to the raven plucking him up by his shirt collar.

"Wha?!" Ace sputtered his ruby eyes snapping open as his own body weight worked against him.

"Why can't you let F/N alone yoi? She told you not to come in here yesterday." The blond scolded, stopping when he heard you laugh.

Not sarcastic chuckles or fake airy laughs you'd been famous for as of late. It was a good hardy laugh that echoed off the walls as Ace fought his way out of his brother's grip. Marco turned to you his half lidded eyes widened enough for you to see his clear blue irises.

"Sorry..." You started, catching your breath, "I couldn't get back to sleep so we played video games all night."

Ace gave Marco a smug glare before the blond dropped him to the floor.

"That's fucked up F/N, you didn't even try to help me." The raven stood with a pout.

"Quit being a baby yoi."

"He's just jealous." You stretched, "He thinks you're trying to steal me."

Marco turned back to his younger brother ears slightly flushed and murmured something you couldn't hear.

"No way!" The freckled male protested.

"Hey, you guys bicker somewhere else. I wanna get in the shower."

Marco stalked out catching Luffy as he raced toward your door.

"She needs a bit yoi."

Ace deflated shoulders slumping and followed his brothers out.

"What's on the agenda today?" You asked emerging from your room.

"I was going to go to the store for Thatch while he's at work." Sabo replied from the sofa.

"Mind if I tag along?" You plopped down next to him.

"Me too!" Ace and Luffy called from the floor eyes still glued to the tv.

"We can all go I guess?" Sabo stood and grabbed his keys.

The five of you piled into Sabo's jeep. Luffy sandwiched himself between you and Marco in the back seat because Ace cheated and called shotgun from the kitchen.

The moment you arrived at the store it was chaos. Luffy climbed into a cart that Ace was recklessly steering.

"We're adults right?" You bumped Marco's arm.

"Some things never change yoi." He smirked.

Sabo split the list between himself and you agreeing to meet up at the checkouts in 20 minutes. Ace took off running hopping onto the bottom rack of the cart and riding it through the store nearly missing a child and a display of cans.

"No wonder you always look tired and Thatch has gray hairs." You chuckled to the older brother.

"Say that to his face." Marco laughed.

You could hear Luffy's cackle three aisles over.

"We're gonna get kicked out aren't we."

"Not if we hurry and pretend they don't belong to us yoi." He took control of the cart while you guided him through the aisles.

It didn't take too long for you to gather the items Thatch had scribbled down.

"I think that's it." You crossed the last item off triumphantly.

"I have to get one more thing from the pharmacy."

"I don't want to be with you when you buy condoms." You joked.

"Shut it." He deadpanned, "I'm not getting condoms."

You followed him down the pain reliever aisle to an end cap that was stocked with nicotine gum.

"He chooses life!" You snaked your arms around his torso pressing your forehead into his back as he reached for a sweet mint flavored pack.

"You said it was gross right?" He cleared his throat making you retract your arms.

A loud crash echoed through the neighboring houseware department.

"We gotta get outta here."

[missiletoe]

apologies for incoming spam, i'm currently doing yuri shipping olympics (LET'S GO TEAM KITTYURI) and will be dumping all my bonus drabbles here o7

Prompt: Accidental Telepathic Link Word Count: 955 the timeline is lowkey a wreck and let's just say juliana is out of the picture at this point ;-;

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kitty’s slapped in the face with an exam her first day back at KISS. It’s a hell of a Welcome Back gift. For the record, she would’ve preferred cookies, maybe even a nice basket of merch.

Of course it’s from Professor Lee too. He probably drinks students’ tears for breakfast and then feasts on their failed exams for dessert. In her head, she thinks she hears Yuri giggle, like the little tinkle of a silver bell. God, she really needs to focus.

Keep it together, Katherine Song Covey, she tells herself, breathing deep in and out. It doesn’t make the words on the page any more coherent but hey, at least they’re less blurry. You just got un-expelled from KISS. Do not mess this up by flunking all your exams because you spent all your time daydreaming about how Yuri looks sitting by the windowsill. God, her nose is adorably perfect. 

You know it’s great that you think my face is cute but maybe not in the middle of our Cultural History exam.

Kitty screams. She can’t help it and someone’s pencil goes clattering to the floor. It’s only after a good ten seconds that she manages to smother her scream with one hand.

Professor Lee raises an eyebrow in the most condescending manner possible. God, Kitty hates his guts.

“T-There was a bug,” she stammers by way of explanation. From across the room, Q aggressively mouths LIAR. “It got in my hair a-and I just fixed it this morning. I’m good now though, thanks for asking.”

Professor Lee stares blankly at her. She swears that if they opened him up, there’d be a metal battery where his heart is supposed to be.

“The next time an insect tries to… annoy you, please keep it to yourself,” he says in that stiff, wound-up Nutcracker manner of his. “Some of the students are trying not to fail their exams.”

She’s fairly certain that last part is supposed to be a jab at her but the shock is doing a decent job of numbing the rest of her emotions. Kitty waits a full 30 seconds, tapping out the time with her finger before clearing her mind and thinking quietly into the abyss.

Yuri?

Present comes back the reply. 

You’re in my head, Kitty sighs. And just when she thought this day couldn’t get any worse. I mean you’re always in my head but now you’re literally in my head.

Pardon the intrusion, Yuri says. Somehow, she manages to transmit sarcasm across her thoughts. For the record, you’re in my head too.

Any clue how we could have ended up like this? 

It’s suspiciously quiet on the other end before she hears a long sigh.

Maybe I should have listened to Dae when he said not to mix those two chemicals. Kitty manages to suppress her groan at the last second to avoid another lecture from Professor McStuffyson.

Someone starts absolutely wheezing behind her and she turns to find Yuri in the worst coughing fit of her life. A tissue paper is placed on her desk and a bottle of water is ferried across the classroom.

KITTY. PLEASE blares loudly in her mind. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP BEING SO FUNNY DURING OUR EXAMS.

Kitty zeroes in on the end of that statement like it’s a lifeline tossed into the ocean.

You think I’m funny?

Oh my god, yes. Of course. Professor McStuffyson? Hilarious, but please save the rest of your arsenal for after the exam. My mom will kill me if I get detention again.

“Ten minutes left,” Professor Lee announces, staring her dead in the eye. She glances back down at her completely blank paper and rubs her forehead. This semester is off to as atrocious of a start as the last one. If only she had one of those phone-a-friend call–wait.

Hey, she thinks.

Hey comes the exasperated reply.

Can you help me with question 2?

Sure, I’ll take a look. Kitty focuses on penciling in the date while she waits for an answer. She’s barely finished the year when Yuri speaks again. Or thinks. Think-speaks?

Yeah, I got no clue.

Really? 

Hey, I can feel your disappointment from across the room. Cut it out. Dae tutors me, you know.

… wish I had a telepathic link with Dae then.

Huh. Personally, I would not want an inside look at my ex’s mind.

“That’s fair,” Kitty says aloud and then kicks herself under the table. Why is this link a two-way street but she’s the only one that’s getting into trouble?

Professor Lee, because he has a stick up his butt and no hope of dislodging it, leans down onto her desk to glare at her.

Technically, he has no proof that she’s doing anything… academically dishonest. He does, however, have a glare that can shrivel plants and Kitty wills herself to not die on the spot.

Behind her, she hears Yuri snort into her fist. Professor Lee whips around like a cat drawn to a laser pointer.

“Keep it down during exams,” he finally settles on, pulling at the end of his coat.

I cannot believe your mom went out with that guy, Kitty thinks.

Tell me about it. What did she see in him?

I don’t know. Maybe he looked like less of a straw-doll at 16. Oh fuck, there’s only two minutes left.

Kitty scrambles to put something–anything–on the paper. She’s writing nonsense about the birds she saw landing on the telephone poles by Gyeongbokgung Palace during her last visit.

Less than pleased does not begin to describe Professor Lee’s expression when she hands him her paper. The bell rings and Kitty bundles up her books to run to the next class.

So. You like girls.

Kitty trips over her own feet and wishes that the floor would swallow her whole.

[endlessnightlock]

P- Pool noodle!

Thanks for the prompt @thelettersfromnoone

Peeta wanted to woop for joy. He couldn't believe his luck! He hadn't crossed paths with her at all this summer. But there she was.

Waiting about a dozen people ahead of where he and his brothers were in line for the city pool were Katniss Everdeen and her little sister Prim.

He wiped away the beads of sweat forming at the base of his neck. Man, it was hot out.

Both of the girls had towels wrapped around their bodies, Prim's tucked into her armpits because she was so tiny---she was going into third grade this year but looked younger---while Katniss's towel was wrapped around the waist over her blue-striped bathing suit. Her skin had turned an even darker shade than it was during the winter, he noticed. Peeta was jealous of anyone who didn't burn in the sun without layers of zinc oxide, even if he was half in love with her. Prim's hair had bleached into a shocking white blond, the same way he used to get when he was her age. Funny how the girls had such different coloring but otherwise looked so similar. He had a feeling Prim was going to be just as pretty as Katniss one day; she was a dead ringer for her older sister at that age. Peeta would know. He's pined after Katniss since preschool.

Katniss hadn't caught a glimpse of him yet, but why would she. He was the one with a crush so massive his heart felt like it'd swelled up times a hundred and was trying to break through his chest and land on the sidewalk where it would sizzle like a hamburger in the mid-August heat.

Peeta glanced at his brothers, wondering if they had noticed Katniss waiting in line. He wasn't sure if he wanted them to see her. They might tease him relentlessly. More likely, he realized, they would be too busy checking out the high school girls to bother him at all. Peeta snorted. Mark was going to be a freshman this year and already acted like he was hot shit or something.

Soon Katniss and Prim disappeared around the corner into the girl's locker room and were already in the pool once he, Mark, and Tim emerged from the guys changing room. He was glad Katniss had a head start. It gave him time to talk himself into striking up a conversation with her.

Instead of heading towards the deep end of the pool with Mark and Tim because his brothers could be jackasses, Peeta found a spot to drop their stuff. The pool was filling up quickly today; almost every lawn chair was loaded with older girls or parents and their little kids.

Peeta spotted his friend Vick Hawthorne with his family and was relieved someone else was here he knew. Vick's mom was busy slathering his baby sister Posy down with sunscreen. Vick waved at Peeta and then turned to say something to his mom before hopping up from the corner of the chair he was sitting on and trotting his way. His younger brother Rory followed on his heels, a shorter, wiry version of his brother.

“Whatcha doing?” Vick asked, giving Peeta a gap-toothed grin and jabbing him in the shoulder lightly.

He pretend-winced and returned the gesture. “Don’t know. Just got here,” he admitted. The three boys lingered near the edge of the pool. Peeta was trying not to stare at Katniss, who he located at the shallower end of the pool with Prim. The girls had a pool noodle Prim was holding onto and kicking her legs furiously behind her. Katniss had a patient smile on her face. She must be teaching her sister to swim.

Peeta was too busy not looking (but definitely looking) at Katniss to miss the devious look Vick shot Rory. “Us too," Vick said, winking at Rory. "Want to go off the diving boards?” The line for the boards was pretty long, clear down the length of the chain link fence, but yeah, Peeta would go off the diving board. Vick was a better swimmer than him; tall and thin with ropey muscles, he could dive into the water and barely crack the surface. Peeta was more of a canon baller.

The three boys got in line for the diving board and weren't waiting as long as Peeta expected they would. The lifeguard assigned to keep an eye on them kept everyone moving. Soon, Peeta made his way onto the board after Rory and Vick insisted he go before either of them.

He was almost at the end of the board, staring down into the flat blue water of the deep end of the swimming pool, when he heard Rory pipe up from behind him, loud. The volume of his voice reminded Peeta of a bullhorn.

"Hey, Katniss! Katniss! Your boyfriend is up! Make sure you watch him!"

Peeta stood at the end of the board, dumbfounded, as his eyes connected with Katniss's from across the pool. Vick hooted behind him with laughter, the boys smacking palms like they'd pulled off the heist of the century. Katniss quickly looked away from Peeta, mouth set in a firm line. Prim was grinning at him.

He wasn't given any time to think about what any of this meant. "Into the water kid," the lifeguard reminded him and stupidly, Peeta bouned off the board, forgetting to plug his nose as he went in feet first.

Chlorinated water shot up his nostrils as he went down, down, before pushing himself back to the surface of the water. His sinuses, his eyes, everything in his head burned as he resurfaced. He spit the excess water from his lungs back into the pool and swam toward the edge.

Behind him, he heard Vick bounced once on the board, lightly, before diving into the pool. Sure, now he was going to be quiet, now that he'd humiliated Peeta.

He was pulling himself out of the water as his friend swam up behind him. "Why did you do that dumbass?" he hissed, mortified. Sure Vick had probably figured out he liked Katniss, but that didn't explain him calling him her boyfriend.

Peeta's eyes raked the length of the pool, finally catching a glimpse of Katniss with her back toward them. He wondered if that was deliberate on her part. He hoped she wasn't mad at him.

Vick grinned, running a hand through his wet hair once they were both on the concrete walkway again. The two of them stepped aside to let other swimmers, including Rory, climb out of the water. "She likes you," he said. shrugging.

"No she doesn't," Peeta said, confused. She's never said a word to him, hardly looks his way. Of course she notices him looking at her sometimes. He stares at her a lot.

"She really does," Rory insists, appearing at his brother's side. "Prim told me she told her that you were the cutest boy in her class, and she thought you were nice, too."

"Seriously?"

"Serious. See, she's watching you right now," Vick said, pointing over Peeta's shoulder. Peeta glanced over his shoulder just in time to catch Katniss snapping her face forward. "I know you like her too. Go talk to her!"

For a few seconds Peeta considered the sudden turn of events. He wouldn't have dreamed Katniss liked him, she was so standoffish, but Vick wasn't a liar.

"She's shy, dude. If you like her—“

Rory laughed, interrupting his brother. “Come on, you know he likes her.”

“You're going to have to make the first move," Vick added, giving Peeta a light, playful shrug. You had to be careful at the pool. They would throw you out quick for rough-housing.

"Okay," Peeta breathed out, glancing over his shoulder at Katniss once again. Tentatively she met his eye this time. He smiled at her; she smiled back.

Peeta nodded his head so firmly Vick and Rory snorted. He ignored them. "Okay, I'll do it."

[the-delta-42]

The Walking Dead Game What Ifs: What if Clementine Died at the end of The Final Season?

[First] [Previous] [Next]

Take Us Back

What if Clementine died at the end of TFS?

“How’d you like to be buried?” Asked Violet, looking at Clementine, Marlon and Louis looking at her expectantly.

Clementine was silent for a moment, before a humourless smile appeared on her face, “Bury me with friends, so I can reminisce on all the good times we had, and have me facing east, so I can watch the sunrise for eternity.”

Louis let out a low whistle, “Wow, that was deep.”

“Shut up.” Chuckled Clementine, giving Louis a gently shove.

TUB

“You have to leave me.”

AJ had done as she asked, leaving her in the barn. She knew she couldn’t ask him to kill her, she didn’t want him to feel the pain she felt after killing Lee. Clementine had felt a cough surge its way up her throat, bringing up blood as it left her.

“I’m sorry, Goofball.” Murmured Clementine, as she closed her eyes and let the darkness take her.

TUB

AJ stood at the gate, staring up at it. He couldn’t talk. He’d forced himself to cry quietly as he blended in with the monsters. He wanted to go back. He wanted Clementine. He wanted mom.

“AJ?” Louis arrived at the gate, before swinging it open and grabbing him, “Where’s Clementine?”

AJ’s response was boarder-line incomprehensible, but Louis got the words barn, left and bit. Louis felt his insides turn to ice, he turned back and yelled for Aasim and Ruby.

TUB

After leaving AJ with Omar, the three of them took off for the barn. They dispatched the Walkers as they went, before finally reaching the barn. Louis hauled the doors open, before he froze. Clementine was dragging herself towards them, growling and snarling as she went. The Walker looked up at them and Louis felt his throat constrict, dropping Chair-les, he staggered backwards.

“No.” Louis’s voice broke, “No, no, NO, NO!”

Louis didn’t care that Aasim and Ruby saw him break down, not when Clementine, the girl he loved, was dead and now stuck in the eternal hell of being a Walker. Clementine was put out of her misery, with Ruby jamming a knife into her temple.

They were lucky that they’d already dealt with the Walkers, as Louis’s loud sobs drowned everything out.

TUB

AJ jabbed at the fish, he rubbed his eyes, trying to relieve the itching feeling beneath his eye lids. He continued to fish, something caught his eye. AJ zeroed in on Clementine’s hat, before rushing over to grab it. He missed, and just when he thought it’d be lost forever, Rosie jumped into the water and grabbed it for him.

AJ gave the dog a sad smile, taking the hat from her. The pair walked back to the school, AJ saw Tenn’s body moving around. He made a mental note of where it was, so they could bury him. They reached the school and AJ handed Omar the fish he’d caught.

“Hey, bud.” AJ looked up at Louis. The man had lost almost all traces of humour, instead opting to focus on keeping them alive. He’d even stopped playing the piano.

“Hi.” Responded AJ, before holding up Clementine’s hat, “I found this and I saw Tenn.”

Louis looked at the hat and gave AJ a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “Maybe we should give it back to her.”

AJ looked over at the graves. Clementine’s was towards the end of them, with Violet placing flowers on it. He timidly approached it, gripping the hat tight in his hands.

“Hey,” Louis’s voice was soft, “don’t worry, I’m here.”

AJ gave him a nod, before walking up to Clementine’s grave.

“What’cha got there, AJ?” Asked Violet, looking at him and spotting the hat, “Oh.”

“I,” AJ swallowed, “I found your hat, Clem.” He gently put it on top of the grave marker, “I caught some fish a-and I saw Tenn,” Violet stiffened, before looking at Louis, who waved a hand at her, “a-and, I-I w-want you b-back m-mom.”

Violet crouched down and picked AJ up, letting the boy cry into her neck, while Louis swallowed and ran a hand down his face. Violet decided to try and approach James, get his help with them.

TUB

AJ was in the back of a car. He heard the cassette Clementine had playing in the radio, and her hastily fast forwarding past the swearing.

“Clem?” His caretaker looked at him in the mirror, “Where are we going?”

“I don’t know yet, Goofball.” Answered Clementine, “But, hey, we have each other.”

“Are we going to find a home?”

“One day,” Promised Clementine, “one day.”

The cassette started playing a song, AJ only remembered the middle part, mainly because Clementine would sing along with it, he lost count the number of times he’s heard ‘take us back’ but at least the tune was nice.

“Clementine?” Asked AJ, “Can you promise you’ll never leave me?”

“Never?” Clementine raised an eyebrow, “Alright, I promise I’ll never leave you, ever.”

“But you did.” AJ rubbed his eyes, “You left me, a-and L-Louis a-a-and the o-others.”

“Sometimes, AJ,” Clementine gave him a sad look in the mirror, “promises can’t be kept, no matter how hard you might try. I had Lee promise to never leave me, and he got bit. There are somethings we can’t change or control, and we have to live with it, because there’s nothing else, we can do.”

AJ sniffled and rubbed his eyes, “I love you mom.”

“I love you, too, Goofball,” Smiled Clementine, “now, get some sleep, you need it.”

AJ nodded and closed his eyes, while allowing the movement of the car to rock him to sleep.

He woke up in his bed in Ericson, clutching onto a soft toy Clementine had found him, as silent tears fell onto it.

Next Story: What if all of the Ericson’s survivors were captured by The Delta? (TW: This story will contain implications of Torture and Rape/NonCon)