#I'm like my guy it's Wednesday some of us have normal schedules what the fuck

[frenchibi]

I have a newish downstairs neighbor who loves to smoke on his balcony and the smoke always ends up directly in my bedroom because I sleep with my balcony door open for temperature control :') as a non-smoker this is my personal nightmare but I can't really ask him to not smoke on his balcony because it's his space and I guess I could close my windows but it's so hot up here on the top floor I hate ittttt

[ladykailitha]

Paper Hearts Part 1

Remember how my posting schedule was going to be based on strictly vibes from now on? Yeah this is why. I have three chapters of this completed and only two of most everything else because I hurt my right wrist on Wednesday evening (I think I overextended my elbow and it fucked up the tendons in my wrist, because I've done that before on my arm and it feels like that).

So instead of getting more work done on stuff that is literally paragraphs away from the end of the chapter I'm having to tap into my backlog. Which is what it's for. But it is annoying.

I am also aware it's nearly May, but my muse was never one for sense.

Summary: Hawkins High is selling paper hearts to help raise for senior prom. $3 for red romantic hearts and $1 for pink friendship hearts. Steve hasn't dated anyone since the horrific breakup with Nancy on Halloween and so he decides that he's going to send pink hearts to senior girls who wouldn't normally get any hearts at all. When Eddie hears about this he can't help be intrigued. It goes against his very well curated Munson Doctrine. But as events keep throwing them together, Eddie learns there is more to King Steve then meets the eye.

Also a note: the use of the other's last name when it's their point of view is deliberate. As they get to know each other more, the more first names get used.

****

Steve was staring at the huge sign with a sense of dread. In big pink and white letters on a red background screamed the words:

PAPER HEARTS FOR YOUR VALENTINE $1 FOR PINK FRIENDSHIP HEARTS $3 FOR RED ROMANTIC HEARTS ALL PROCEEDS GO TO CLASS OF 1985 SENIOR BALL

Valentine’s Day. That time of year for lovers and romantics. That used to be him. But not since Nancy broke his heart by breaking up with him for Jonathan Byers.

There would be no paper hearts in locker this year. Not even pink ones. Nancy had well and truly blown up his life and she got to walk away scott free.

He didn’t know what to do anymore. He pinched his nosed and rubbed the end. He wasn’t going to cry in the middle of the fucking main hall of Hawkins High.

Just before he was about to start moving again someone shoulder checked him, sending back to the floor and all his stuff sprawling around it like some fucked flower.

“Watch it, Harrington!” the voice growled as whoever it was sped off down the hall.

Steve didn’t even bother looking to see who it was. It could have been anyone these days. His former friends. Billy and his ilk. Hell, even the nerds and geeks got in on the action lately.

He knelt down to start cleaning it up when someone else kicked his books toward the lockers. He managed to get most of it picked up when he reached for the last notebook. Someone stepped on his hand and ground down, hurting Steve and ripping the cover off the notebook, crinkling the first couple of pages.

He shoved it into his bag and cradled his hand to his chest. He looked at his watch and sighed. Lunch was nearly over and he hadn’t even made it to the cafeteria yet.

There was nothing for it, he had to get to his next class. He walked into the class room just as the bell rang, but instead of heading for his usual spot near the front he made for the back of the class. There were always a few empty seats around Munson. The guy was terrifying on a good day.

And Steve hoped it was a good day.

****

Eddie made to class on time by the skin of his teeth. He slid through door just as the bell rang above his head. He was about to lope over to his usual spot in the back when he stopped dead in his tracks.

He looked up at the front at the deliberately left open seat and back at the seat next to his with a raised eyebrow. He wisely said nothing as he flopped into the torture device known as the chesk. Dair? Whatever the hell it was called where some unspeakable horror thought to combine a desk and a chair.

Eddie glanced sidelong at his new companion. The recently deposed king of Hawkins High sat slumped in his chesk, head down, just staring at its surface as if held the meaning to life the universe and everything.

Which if Harrington asked him, he would have been told forty-two.

He pulled out his notebook and noticed that Harrington did not do the same. Curiouser and curiouser. He pulled out a pencil and settled in to avoid falling to sleep today.

He was taking notes and doing the assignment like he was supposed to when about half way through class the teacher called out to him.

“Mr. Harrington!” she shrieked. “If you are going to be sitting in the back, please have the decency to pay attention in class!”

A couple of kids snickered.

“You were talking about how the Fool is used to lighten the absolutely horrific scene above him of Lady Macbeth as she tries to get blood out of her gown,” he muttered, scratching his cheek with his left hand.

That was when the teacher and Eddie noticed the same thing at the same time.

Harrington was cradling his right hand to his chest.

“Mr. Harrington is there something wrong with your right hand?”

“I accidentally hurt it during lunch,” he said with wince.

The teacher tapped her foot and crossed her arms. “And why didn’t you see the nurse?”

“It happened right before class,” Harrington muttered, “and I didn’t want to be late.”

The teacher huffed and shook her head. “I will give you note for your next teacher, but you will see the nurse after class, am I understood?”

He nodded.

“Mr. Munson,” she cried out, shrill. “If you’ll share your notes with Mr. Harrington after class so he does not fall behind.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

He continued to keep an eye on Harrington throughout the whole class but whenever their English teacher tried to catch him out, she would fail every time.

When the bell rang Eddie started shoving his stuff into his backpack. “You sure you even need my notes, Harrington? That was pretty impressive shit you pulled out of your ass today.”

Harrington just shrugged. “Just because I was paying attention doesn’t mean it won’t bleed out of my ears with all the algebra and chemistry stuff I have later.”

Eddie winced in sympathy. “Yeah, I hear that. What’s your locker number and I’ll just slip a copy of my notes in the slots.”

“323B.”

“They got you on a lower locker?” he asked with a grimace. “That’s jacked up. Even Mr. Super Senior here got a top locker. Does the secretary hate you or some shit?”

Again Harrington shrugged. “I’ve got to go. I’ll catch you later.”

Eddie folded his arms at looked at him. “You���re not going to the nurse’s station, are you?”

This time it was Harrington who winced.

“That’s what I thought,” he huffed. “I’m walking you to said nurse’s station because it could be broken and if you don’t get that looked at, you’ll be in more than just a world of hurt, man. You could fuck up your hand for life and you wouldn’t be able to anything in that hand ever again.”

Steve’s eyes went wide as all color drained from his face.

“Shit.”

Eddie grabbed both of their backpacks and headed for the door. “Yeah, shit.”

Harrington hurried to catch up, hand still cradled to his chest.

“How did you know that could happen to my hand?” he asked softly.

Eddie eyed him sidelong, but the kid wasn’t being an ass. In fact he would say Harrington was being earnest.

“My uncle works at the machinist plant up the road,” Eddie explained. “One of his buddies broke his hand on the machine and refused to get it looked at. Guess how well that worked?”

“Was it the plant’s fault?” Harrington asked. Eddie cocked his head to the side. “That you uncle’s friend got hurt?”

Eddie reared his head back in shock that Harrington would even ask.

“No, man,” he said shaking his head. “He was goofing off, being a dick. Uncle Wayne always said that if you knock on every door asking for the devil, one day he’s gonna answer.”

“What happens when the devil comes looking for you?” Harrington muttered to himself and Eddie couldn’t help but wonder what this kid had seen.

Because he knows haunted. And Harrington looks like he has an attic full of ghosts.

Once they got to the nurse’s station Eddie waited for him. When the other boy came out he asked how it went.

“She says it doesn’t feel broken,” he huffed. “But that if it doesn’t improve over the weekend after icing at least three times a day, to come back on Monday and she’ll order an x-ray.”

Eddie nodded. “Right. See you around, Harrington.”

He had barely turned around when Harrington called out to him. “Wait!”

Eddie turned back around to have a piece of paper shoved into his hand. “I got the nurse to excuse us both.”

And before he could even reply the other boy was tearing off down the hall as if the devil himself was chasing him.

And after that comment he’d heard, Eddie couldn’t be sure he wasn’t.

****

Steve was curled up on his bed, icing his hand, staring up at the ceiling, and wondering where the fuck his life had gone so wrong.

Okay so he could answer that one, actually. Demogorgon ate his girlfriend’s best friend while in his backyard. While him and said girlfriend were having sex for the first time.

Yeah... that was all kinds of fucked up.

He still couldn’t believe that Nancy sided with Jonathan about him taking pictures of their first time.

So now Valentine’s Day was two week away and he was dateless, friendless, and unpopular. He wished he could just be called a loner. But a loner was cool and Steve wasn’t even that anymore.

He just had to make until the end of may and then he could graduate, leaving this town in his rearview mirror for good.

Steve knew that he would have to struggle through this fucking holiday and Senior prom then it would be smooth sailing from there.

He had all this money that he would normally spend on his girlfriends, but now he didn’t even have that. He supposed he could blow it all on beer and weed and then he could enjoy the weekend for a change.

Steve sat up suddenly, the ice pack falling from his hand to hit the floor with sploosh!

Now that was an idea.

He still had one thing in the school that was nonpareil and that was gossip. In fact, it was easier to hear all the dirty little secrets because no one cared if he was standing there.

A smile spread over his face.

That could actually work. It would be a great way to spend his allowance and it would be fun.

He got up and put the ice pack back in the freezer. He couldn’t do anything about it right then but once his hand was better he would formulate his little plan.

Steve was suddenly excited for the first time since he dropped Dustin off at the middle school’s Snow Ball.

He was going to make this holiday fun even if he had to manufacture the fun himself.

****

Eddie was pissed. A little at himself, but mostly at how Harrington was being treated.

He had to sit through lunch and listen a bunch of stupid jocks brag about stomping on Harrington’s hand when he was trying to pick up his stuff off the floor in the hallway yesterday.

They had been hoping for an actual break, but the asshole thought he’d only bruised it.

The reason Eddie was a little mad at himself for this was because he was the one that had shoulder checked Harrington. He had only been trying to get the guy out of his daze. Not send his shit flying.

And then to have someone deliberately stepping on his hand. Fuck. Not even Hagan ever went that far.

Stev–Harrington didn’t deserve that kind of bullying. No one did.

But he could see the twisted sort of appeal, though. And fuck if that didn’t make his stomach turn.

To see the deposed king and want to mock that? Want to dig the hurt in as deep as he could? To drive home the lesson that popularity was fleeting and that existence was a curse?

Yeah, Eddie could see the appeal.

But he wouldn’t. He might make fun of literally everyone and everything but his own interests, but to make turn that into actual cruelty? That was were he drew the line in the sand.

He went home feeling sick to his stomach. And of course Wayne picked up on it immediately.

He jutted his chin at the chicken and rice on Eddie plate that he had only merely pushed around with his fork.

“What’s got you so twisted around the bend?”

Eddie put his fork down and hid his mouth with his clasped hands, elbows on the table.

“I fucked up today,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean for it to go as it did.”

“What did you do?”

So Eddie told him. “I wasn’t trying to hurt him, but he got hurt anyway.”

“That does sound pretty bad,” Wayne agreed. “And as you say, you were trying to help only for it to go very awry. And since you didn’t about it until after the fact you couldn’t apologize and that’s what’s eating you up inside.”

Eddie nodded around his fists, his lower lip quivering.

“You’ll just have to find a way to apologize on Monday,” Wayne said wisely.

Eddie sighed. It was the best he could do. It wasn’t as though he could call the guy up or show up at his house. The first because he didn’t have the guy’s number and the second because he’d get the cops called on him so fast by the neighbors.

It would just have to wait until Monday.

****

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

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[luci-z-wont-shut-up]

Episode 2

Bro snow in the desert is not actually that wierd

Bro. Bro u srsly need to rethink ur tourism program like what the fuck. FREE RADON FOR EVERYONE

I'm sorry but as soon as he said "it changes colors" I immediately envisioned a fuckin. Caramelldansen cloud XD

OH SO IT KILLS PPL. O K A Y .

Bro if literally Existing in Nightvale is so dangerous, how does the population stay afloat. At all.

Sounds like just a normal day in the post office tbh. Also Racist Magic Guy is starting to grow on me. His oblivious stupidity and self-sure incompetence have captivated me.

Honestly a floating cat in the men's bathroom sounds like the least abnormal thing so far. Cats are just Like That™️.

"This message was brought to you by Coca-Cola" yeah that tracks X'D

"Because all of us are normal" bombastic side eye. Criminal offensive side eye

Ah so the secret Boy Scout cult has finally achieved immorality. Good to know. Just another Tuesday ig. Also d a r k s c o u t XD

WAIT "Sign-up is automatic and random" um wat. Hi what. Does. Does this perchance have anything to do with the Ominous Helicopters

This man has *clearly* never been a father. Or had siblings. Or cousins. Ever. Maybe *don't* bring children near the Caramelldansen Cloud of Carrion?

...oh so they just have straight up dragons. Ok. Dragons who commit insurance fraud? *throws hands up* why not

"McDaniels was pulled over for speeding last night" UM SIR how big was that car?!? Actually ykw nvm it prolly just had a pocket dimension or amthn this is fuckin Nightvale why am I trying to use logic

Okay #1. Secret Dragon Society that's actually Not That Secret is kinda cool, #2. WTF DO YOU MEAN STOP SIGN IMMUNITY. like don't get me wrong I *understand the temptation* but also why would you allow dom3thing so profoundly stupid and unsafe as a r e w a r d for

... for being an Alert Citizen. Ok. Ok I guess I can kinda see where they're coming from. Maybe. [Didn't sleep well last night and I'm tired so sorry if my commentary's getting lackluster]

Also stamp system for being compliant with the secret police. Yeah that's not sus at allllll

Bro I wish I could schedule my workplace to be Unknowable some days. Dot Day sounds... ominous, for a number of reasons but more so their implications than anything actually ominous, yk?

[I need sleep]

Bro I would NOT pay $5 for a music lesson like that, let alone $50

"Bake sale proceeds go to blood space war" okay invader zim

"Wednesday has been cancelled due to a scheduling error" XD honestly w my terrible sense of time that just sounds like a normal thing to me

Tfw a your perfectly good ice cream outing is inturupted by a dead lion dropping from the sky

[Continuing this like 3 weeks l8r so sorry for the Commentary Continuity Disruption Leik Woah]

Uhhhhhhhhhh so in the weeks I've been gone I threw myself back asswards into TMA content [so yes v much Spoilers First Bc I Had No Patience] and? I am. Very much getting a Smirke's Fourteen vibe from the Carrion Cloud. Also is Mr radio man. Like. Okayyy??!?!?

AND NOW THE WEATHER

🎶Waitin for the bus in the rain in the rain in the waitin for the bus in the raiiiin 😎 🎶

Damn this is actually a legit bop I would make this new ringtone no question

(Don't get me wrong I fully expect this to have Lore implications later on but for now I'm just Vibin)

NOT SURE WHAT HAPOENED MY ASS

oh. Oh, Tapes, you say??? Well. *strokes imaginary beard*

What. The fuck? Genuine Life Advice? In my horror/weirdcore podcast? It's More Likely Than You'd Think. What. qhat even is this.

Ok so vanilla smell is Important.

This List is probably important but my brain refuses to hold onto any item in detail for longer than 3 seconds. Also "clear plastic binder sheets" made me laugh SO hard for some reason

Genuine question to anyone reading this, how much should I be paying attention? Like is this a Pepe Sylvia red-stringing sort of podcast where every detail is crucial later on, or is it more sort of a go-with-the-flow, Embrace the Absurdity sort of thing?

Why was that "Goodnight, listeners" so threatening?!?!?

*deep, deep inhale* ohhhkay

Next FUCKING EPISUDE I GUESS

[consulcato]

I didn't know what to post so I just said to myself: "Why not speak about life in Liceo Classico?" Honestly I know you guys don't care about it but hey I'm going to speak about it because I'm kinda bored so yeah 😎🤟

Let's start with a brief introduction of what is the Liceo Classico.

The Italian “Liceo Classico” is a high school major in humanities: it is possibly the only high school in the world where pupils study both Latin and Ancient Greek and it’s internationally renowned for its advanced curricula in philosophy, literature and history. The literal translation from Italian to English of “Liceo Classico” is “Classical Lyceum” but, as we anticipated above, it’s correctly translated as “humanistic secondary school” or “high school major in humanities”. The “Liceo Classico” is the oldest and most prestigious secondary school in Italy and, before 2012, was actually divided in two segments: the first two years – called "Ginnasio" or “Gymnasium” – trained the students for the second part – the real “Liceo” – which lasts three years. Now, the first two years are called "biennio" (transl. two-year period) and the last three "triennio" (transl. three-year period). Besides that, it was considered so prestigious that, up to 1969, you could not attend an Italian university of any kind if you hadn’t obtained a “Liceo Classico” diploma.

This is our week hours. The translation is:

Monday:

8.15-9.15= Italian

9.15-10.15= Science

10.25-11.15= English

11.15-12.15= Maths

12.15-13.15= Religion

Tuesday:

8.15-9.15= Latin/[Ancient] Greek

9.15-10.15= Latin/[Ancient] Greek

10.25-11.15= English

11.15-12.15= Italian

12.15-13.15= Geography and history

Wednesday:

8.15-9.15= P.E

9.15-10.15= P.E.

10.25-11.15= Latin/[Ancient] Greek

11.15-12.15= Latin/[Ancient] Greek

12.15-13.15= / (we leave school earlier)

Thursday:

8.15-9.15= Latin/[Ancient] Greek

9.15-10.15= English

10.25-11.15= Geography and history

11.15-12.15= Maths

12.15-13.15= /

Friday:

8.15-9.15= Latin/[Ancient] Greek

9.15-10.15= Latin/[Ancient] Greek

10.25-11.15= Geography and history

11.15-12.15= Maths

12.15-13.15= Latin/[Ancient] Greek

Saturday:

8.15-9.15= Latin/[Ancient] Greek

9.15-10.15= Science

10.25-11.15= Italian

11.15-12.15= Italian

12.15-13.15= /

Our school schedule is not messed up at all, actually. This is really good, considering many things. Of course, we have homework everyday and this week, for example, we had a test every day and the next days we'll have tests so yes, this is normal here. Oh, plus, not only tests, but also oral exams where our geography and history professor gives us 110 pages for the next day at 11.27 p.m. Oh, and she's a real bastard, like, she calls 8 people to her desks, does 2 questions each (things that she didn't say in class/things that aren't in the book), she continues to interrogate even when the bell of the end of the lesson rings and she gave all the people in my class a 3 (We have a 1-10 grading system, and below 6 it's a red grade, an insufficient). Like, for tomorrow, I have 130 pages plus the greek oral exam! Oh, also, today our latin-greek prof (don't get me wrong, we love her) entered our class and said "put your desks apart 😃😃" That means, there was a surprise test. Of greek. And god I went to school with 37.4 degrees of temperature (basically a fever) and pfft my mind was not working so yes 😭

These stuff that you see up here are our daily homeworks...of greek. Because yes, we have latin too for the same day!

These are the homework I had to do for today.

Ahem, so, after you cried and asked yourself why the fuck did you go to this school, you watch the clock and see it's 1 am and you think you can finally sleep, but you remember that the professor said some homework in class and she didn't put it on electronic register. With the will to live below zero, you take the enormous dictionaries.

The last step is believing that God actually exists, since you finished at 4 am and you have 2 hours to rest before waking up earlier (6 am) than the other days since you didn't understand half of the stuff that your prof will interrogate you on.

[feiar]

this is a long one so heads up. most of it is world and character building so I'm sorry if that's not what you're looking for.

I had finally, after some very hard months of training and practice with the other guild members, been selected to join.

a crow tapped on my window at dawn, it had woken me up quite suddenly. I opened the window and the crow helped itself inside, knocking over several things before landing on my kitchen table. In its beak was a letter addressed to me. The crow let me take the letter after a bit of haggling and I read it carefully.

"I hope this letter reaches you well..." blah blah blah, I honestly just skimmed it over. My eyes immediately stopped at the most important sentence in the entire letter; "you have been accepted as an official member of the dragon riders guild." I had to reread that a few more times to make sure my drowsiness wasn't making me hallucinate. It was in fact real.

"we ask of you to meet the rest of the guild for initiation at dusk. Do not be late, else you will not be able to join until the next selecting process; next year." Well that's nice, I didn't have to rush to be there on time. I could go back to my blissful- ah right, there's still a crow in my house. it didn't seem to want to leave despite my efforts. I gave up trying after 5 minuets and just went back to sleep.

I woke up about 20 minutes later to the crow squawking in my ear. I honestly didn't know why it was still here but if it was still here than it wants something from me. I 'gave' it some of my breakfast (it stole my bacon) and got ready for the day.

I figured I would just do things like I normally do on a Wednesday; go to the shops and see what's on sale, train for a little while, and a bit of dragon study. overall, a simple short schedule but it really does stretch out over the hours, especially with an annoying crow who won't leave me alone for 5 minutes. I really hate this crow.

The shops didn't have anything special, there was some fruit on sale which I decided to buy, along with some herbs that would be useful for the dragons. There also wasn't any traveling merchants in today, which was disappointing but there was nothing I could really do about it.

I couldn't focus during the rest of my day, I was too excited. to be fair it was me; Jasson Richard (stupid name, I know, I have no clue what my parents were thinking.) the guy who was known as "the creepy dragon guy" for a good majority of my life, the guy who was way too nerdy and pathetic to have the ability to be with creatures as large and majestic as dragons. I don't blame them for calling me pathetic, I am pretty pathetic. I used to believe the stupid tales of monsters lurking in the dark. Children are so gullible.

If my excitement wasn't enough to be a distraction the crow was definitely the distraction. Why the hells is this annoying bird still here? I should probably take that up to the guild when I see them.

The guild selects a few members each year out of thousands of applicants, and they choose based off of a number of different things. Most people would assume strength is the most important but that's not exactly the case. They are looking for people who can actually handle the dragons; people who will care for them and treat them like how they would treat a child. Dragons are intelligent beings themselves so its not surprising.

I reviewed the final pages of some books before I deemed it the right time to leave. The crow was silent by this point (thank the gods) and I got ready. I figured I should dress somewhat nice...on second thought maybe I shouldn't, after all these are dragons; they may be majestic but they are still quite messy. I stepped outside to see the sun was already basically gone over the horizon...

FUCK

welp my previous plans of not having to rush are out the window as I booked it across the city. That little bastard crow wanted to annoy me when I wasn't time but the moment it was it wants to keep silent. I passed carriages and wagons packing up their supplies for the night and ran into a few people in my scramble to get there on time.

I eventually reached the guild house. it was so much bigger in person than in passing. the outside walls were well made with sturdy stone and quartz lining the edges. on both sides of the house were the stables; where the dragons are kept and mostly handled. I read about a lot of the stuff that was released to the public by the guild and plenty of books about theories and news relating to the guild, but i never thought I would get to be a part of it.

I very nervously knocked on the door to the gates. Was I too late? are they not going to let me in now? Was I going to have to wait another year for this opportunity?

After a couple moments of suspense the door opened; it was a larger man, more muscular; the type of person you would definitely think the be a dragon handler. he greeted me with a smile.

"welcome in. I assume you are the last of the new members? you made it just in time!"

"I'm not late?"

"nope! your lucky, can I have your name?"

"Jasson Richard"

"right! its a pleasure to meet you Jasson!" he smiled again. for someone who looked tough he was quite nice. "I'm Derek Damian, i believe you've heard of me?"

I had heard of him, this is one of the guild leaders, the current ones that is. he's known for his tributes to the central kingdom of chershlov and how he somehow managed to train dragons specifically for battle; something that has never been done successfully. and- "I'll take that as a yes then?" he chuckled a bit. I had no idea I was lost in my thoughts like that, whoops. "y-yes sorry-"

"no need for apologies, now come inside so we can get you in here officially" he motioned me inside and I followed in, well more like bounced in; I was still extremely excited.

The house was much bigger on the inside it seems; the walls were lined with dark wood that looked especially nice with the stone pillars you would see every 10 feet or so. I followed Derek down a few central hallways, my nervousness made the walk seem like hours rather than a few minutes. He opened large double doors that lead to a very large and intricate room, carvings of dragons covered the lining of wood that separated the celling, and the pillars were made out of various crystals rather than stone. The room was pretty empty other than four more people standing around a pedestal. looking closer the pedestal had one singular egg resting on top.

This was it. This is the moment i had been waiting for all my life. The four other people looked toward me. they all had pleasant smiles on their faces. It made me a little less nervous.

"you are Jasson Richard, correct?" said a lady, she looked like she couldn't hurt anything, not even a fly if she wanted. she looked so kind and innocent.

"y-yes"

"there is no need to be nervous Mr. Richard. I can assure you everything is fine" she said with a soft reassuring smile. It did make me feel better.

"you have been selected to join the dragons guild." said another man, he was definitely the oldest of the five. "this initiation is an honorable thing you know. take it with pride like how you will take your first dragon."

I stood there like an awkward dork for a while. all these great people just staring at me; the said dork who has no clue how I'm here. eventually Derek gestured to the eggs and I realized now's the time I would take one, shit. I'm doing a great job screwing this up.

I go up to the pedestal and reach out to the only egg, touching the shell carefully.

the egg wiggled a bit under my touch.

I stared in awe. this was my first time being close to a dragon egg let alone touch one. this was definitely a 'holy shit' moment.

anyways the egg continued to wiggle and even begin to crack. If I wasn't trying to be professional in that moment I totally would be bouncing up and down out of sheer joy and excitement.

the egg cracked more...

and more...

and more...

eventually I saw a little eye peek out at me and I could hardly contain myself.

the dragon emerged from the eggshells a few moments later...

it was small...

very very small...

why was it small? dragons aren't supposed to be this small? the average size of a baby dragon is about the size of a grown mans torso, and this little guy was the size of my palm. and he was skinny too, this was a strange dragon. was it even a dragon? or was it just a snake with wings?

it rested its head in my hands and I stared at it with the most pure confusion. and its not like I was the only one either, everyone else had some sort of confusion on their face.

why was it me who got the strange dragon?

Every dragon rider gets a dragon egg to hatch upon their initiation to the guild. When your egg hatched, Your dragon came out a bit… Different.

[kookznoona]

i have a request. y/n was in the studio with her bf jungkook while he’s singing stay alive and the waves of emotions hit her bc she never knew how much she needed to hear someone tell her to stay alive

Epiphany

You were done.

Done with the bustling environment of your workplace. Not that you ever hated your job, but you were mentally exhausted with the workload.

You cancelled your weekend plans with Jungkook twice in a row. He wasn't mad at you, but he certainly didn't like spending the weekend without you. Whenever you apologized for not spending time with him, he said that he didn't mind it, but he was starting to worry for your health, he just kisses your forehead and wishes you luck for your project. He's always so caring and supportive in all of your decisions.

Today, it was not about anyone else, it was about you. You made a decision to cut off this vicious cycle by getting up extremely early this Saturday morning to complete all of your work.

You glance at the clock, it was 4 AM. You begin working.

Being the productive CEO that you are, you get done with all the work by 8 AM. You smile, looking at the free schedule Infront of you.

And you do what any normal person would do... You sleep.

"Y/N, please wake up honey, it's 9:45, I wanna take you to the studio"

"Five more minutes please"

Your phone begins to buzz, "Sweetie, Some Smith guy is calling you"

"Oh Fuck!" You say, trying to clear your throat and sound less groggy

"Hello Mr. Brown- sorry, Mr. Smith"

"Meeting with the investors... Today?"

"Sir, I'm unavailable for today"

"Does Wednesday sound good?"

"Thank You" you say ending the phone call

"Jeez, Smith is annoying" you say to him

"Isn't he the condescending sexist that you were talking of?" He asks

"Yep, he's plain bothersome, he makes plans, tells us to free our schedule and doesn't turn up, and he reschedules it and expects everyone to magically turn up and once they do, he makes these Horrible remarks against women in my team"

"He doesn't deserve to work with you" he says

****************************************************

"Babe, I've got a song to record today, wanna join me? I mean, we'll have some fun"

"I'm sorry Kook but I have some laun-" he shuts you up with a kiss and you try to catch your breath

"As I was Saying-" he interrupts you with a kiss again

"The lau-" he kisses you again, you feel your face redden and you giggle

"Yes Sweetheart, please continue" he teases

"Screw the Laundry! I'm coming!"

"That's My Girl" He says

You drive him to the studio and watch the set up.

The moment he starts to sing, the world seems to stop. You were no longer in this world of trouble and pain. His voice caresses your soul as your brain turns foggy, filled with wonder. Before you even realise it, you feel a stream of tears run down your cheeks. It was so surreal, it felt like you were living a dream. Too absorbed in your own emotions, wiping your tears, you smile at Jungkook as he finishes. "Thank you" you mouth to him through the glass.

Jungkook moves out of the recording room and walks towards you. You pull him close for a tight hug. "I Love You Jungkook" you say to him. "I Love You More Y/N" he says. "Thank you so much for bringing me to the studio, it was-" the phone starts to buzz again, a frown forms over your lips.

Irritated, you accept the call, "Hello?"

"Mr. Smith, I regret to inform you that I'm no longer interested in your deal"

"I do not feel the need to justify any of this to you, this is based on the feedback from my internal team"

"Goodbye" you say disconnecting the call

"Finally!" You say

"Are you happy now, after cancelling the deal baby?" He asks

"I mean, I don't wanna be a hypocrite calling myself a feminist and then working with toxic people"

"I'm so proud of your decision" he says to you

"I can't believe I was about to choose doing the laundry over this" you say to him

"This is all that I ever wanted, you with your prettiest smile" he says and kisses your forehead

****************************************************

Hey guysssss~!

❤️Thanks For All The Love And Support!!!❤️

∆ Don't Repost only Reblog

• Don't Forget to Like this post for More

• Feel Free to Send Me a DM

• Stalk me on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/kookznoona/

Take Care~

[abbatoirablaze]

Teller Morrow Tragedy, The Prequel, Chapter 11

Note: Buckle up guys...this split POV is a long one, just over 6k. But i didn't feel right splitting this into two chapters. However, I won't be posting a TM tomorrow because of how long this is.

Word Counts: 6.1k

Warnings: angst, stalking, harassment, abduction/kidnapping, mentions of torture, abuse, extended injuries, loss of a child, miscarriage.

Alicia's POV

"Alright ladies," McDermott said, "the case we will be working on, is for ATF, which means aside from our normal confidentiality, we also have to remind you that you cannot use this for case studies in your classes. I remember both of you letting me know that one of your classes wants a case study by the end of semester, so I'm having both of you pull double duty while working this case with me. Ellison you will also be working a case with Will. Morrow, you will be working a case with Emory."

He handed us both some very thick folders, "I have faith that you can both devote your attention to this case. We'll work this case on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. On Thursdays through Saturday you will be with the other partners. We've made it so we are also working around your class schedules as well."

"Thank you," I said. McDermott nodded, "Alright, any questions about the case?"

We both shook our heads, knowing we'd get briefed when we got there. We put our files in our cases and headed out. McDermott insisted we walk since it was only a few blocks away. We drank our coffee in relative silence as Jack mused about what the case might bring in.

I checked us in with ATF, and we went through all of the security check points. Tom, Jordan's husband, along with 3 other gentlemen were waiting for us, "Jack."

"Tom," Jack smiled, shaking hands with everyone, "these are my proteges, Linda Ellison an-"

"Alicia," Tom smiled, pulling me into a hug, “Alicia Morrow.”

"Well, you two know one another?"

"Jack," Tom laughed, "this is my neighbor."

Jack laughed and introduced us to the rest of the men. Tom then introduced us to his agents in training, Mark Vee, Sasha Carr, and Josh Kohn. We all took turns shaking hands with them. When I got to Kohn he held my hand a second longer than I would have liked. As we made our way to the office that was set up for us, Kohn was on our tail, which made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

Something about Kohn seemed off to me. He seemed nice enough, but through the day, it felt like a pair of eyes were on me, and almost always when I looked up, it was his.

"Seems like Josh has a thing for ya," Tom whispered from behind me as we broke for lunch. He nodded behind him to where Josh stood by the desk, talking to Ellison, "he's been asking me about you all morning."

I shook my head, "you tell him about my big bad biker boyfriend?"

He laughed, "didn't seem to mind. We're all going to go to go to a place down the street, McDermott is buying. You coming?"

I nodded, "I never turn down a free lunch."

He wrapped an arm around my shoulder as we all went to a restaurant down the street. Immediately after we were seated, Jack ordered himself a scotch. The way we were seated Kohn was directly across from me. He kept nudging my foot, and it annoyed the fuck out of me. When I finally met his eyes, he shrugged it off as if it were an accident. But he kept doing it. I excused myself to the bathroom to get some free time from him. I was looking in the mirror, trying to calm myself down. This guy was just way too fucking weird.

I looked up as I saw the door open, and I saw him come through. I turned around, "What are you doing?"

He smiled, "you're beautiful."

He started coming towards me, and he backed me up into the corner, "you should leave."

He ignored my comment and kept coming towards me. He placed a hand on my elbow. I shrugged him off, but he did it again, "I want to take you out."

"Not going to happen," I said, trying to push past him. He wouldn't let me. He boxed me in, and leaned towards me, trying to kiss me. I kneed him in the crotch and pushed past him, "What the fuck part of no, do you not understand? Make another move on me, and I'll fucking castrate you, then report you to your superiors!"

******

You left the bathroom in a huff, but tried to make it seem like nothing had happened. Your coworkers were none the wiser and the rest of the day was uneventful. When we got released at the end of the day Jack asked me to stick behind. I told Tom that I would meet him downstairs in a few. Jack sat me down, "is something going on?"

"I don't think I should be on this case," I said.

"Does this have anything to do with lunch?"

I nodded, "That Kohn guy gives me the creeps."

"Did something happen, Morrow?" I didn't answer him. He lifted my chin, "Alicia, I look at you and Ellison as my kids. I want you to be honest with me. If something happened with that creep, I would file charges and end whatever career he's starting."

I shook my head, "he tried to kiss me. I kneed him in the crotch."

"I'll get him removed from the case."

"It's fine. Just remove me from the case," I said, "if you don't mind. The classes, and taking care of my daughter, I just...I can't pull double duty. I know that Emory is down an intern. Let me work under him?"

He nodded, "I'll let him know. But you know there is always a spot for you on my team, Alicia. I think you have real promise."

"Thank you, Mr. McDermott."

"Jack," he said softly. I nodded and we both stood, before he pulled me into a hug, "go enjoy your night kiddo. I'll let Emory know and you'll start with him Wednesday. Okay?"

I nodded and made my way downstairs. Tom and I chatted the whole way home, and he apologized for Kohn. I told him it was fine, but that I asked to be transferred to a different partner in the firm so I probably wouldn't get to work with him. He was a little disheartened at that news but said that he understood.

I was extremely happy when I got to my house. Not only were my feet killing me, but I got to see my baby girl. Mikayla was outside with Jordan and Natasha. They were playing duck, duck, goose in the grass. She forgot all about the game when she saw me.

Jordan, Tom, and Natasha went home together, and I sat outside with Mikayla asking about her day. We chatted for a few minutes about how she'd made a picture for Happy, and how she was wondering if Happy would bring her a birthday present since he wasn't here last week. I laughed, thinking about how she'd spent her entire day wondering what Happy was doing. I felt bad that I hadn't been thinking of him.

"Baby what's wrong?"

She turned her head back to me. I looked around, where she'd been looking for the past few minutes, but didn't see anyone.

"Mommy, can we go inside?"

I nodded, "Sure. Everything okay?"

She nodded and I smiled as she took my hand, and we went inside. As soon as the door closed her attitude changed. She locked the door and then made her way to the back door, locking it as well. I heard the basement door slam, and the lock on that click. I went into the kitchen to see her grabbing her step stool to do the deadbolt.

"Mikayla, what are you doing?"

She ran to the phone and grabbed it, dragging it as far as the cord would allow, "call daddy."

I raised a brow at my daughter, "Mikayla Gemma Teller, what is going on?"

"There's a man outside mommy," she whispered, "he waved at me, but didn't go away."

"What?"

She shook her head and began pressing numbers on the phone, "I'm calling daddy."

I rushed to the window and peered through the blinds. I didn't see anything, "baby no one is outside! Hang up the phone."

"Daddy, you need to come home," Mikayla said quickly, "there is a bad man here."

Happy’s POV

Alicia didn't believe her at first, but I trained Mikayla to be on the watch in case anything was out of the ordinary. She's Clay's daughter. Mayans do have a reach out there. Then you got all the mob activity on top of that. Made me a nervous wreck knowing that she was out there. But that was what she wanted to do. We had a few arguments about it, especially when she found out she told me last week that she found out she's pregnant.

The first part of me immediately cursed myself for not using a condom...but the bigger part of me was ecstatic. Me and Alicia were having a baby.

I pulled up to her neighborhood around 2 PM the next day. I didn't see anyone around, but there were cigarette butts at the corner all piled up like they were dropped out a car window. I parked in the driveway and made my way to the door. I used the copy Alicia had given me last month after they got settled in.

I could hear the television going in Alicia's bedroom and I made my way back, "Alicia!"

A few seconds later the door burst open, and Mikayla came charging out, attacking my legs in a hug, "Daddy! Did you make the bad man go away?"

I picked her up and kissed her cheek, "of course." She wrapped her arms around me in a big hug and began to thank me between yawns.

"She didn't take a nap," she said, coming from the bedroom. She was wearing one of my SAMCRO shirts that I'd left, "she said that 'daddy told her to be on the look out if a bad man ever came by' so she was refusing to sleep until you got here."

Mikayla nodded from my arms, stifling another yawn, "did I do good, daddy?"

I was amazed at the fact that Mikayla had been a perfect little soldier, following instructions I'd given her a month ago. My heart swelled at the little one in my arms, "of course you did. You kept mommy and your little brother or sister safe!"

Mikayla's eyes got wide, "Brother or sister?"

Alicia covered her mouth, "I didn't tell her yet, Hap." Alicia made her way over to me, and took her daughter into her arms, "is that okay, baby girl?"

Mikayla nodded, half in a stupor, "I'm gonna be a big sister."

"Yeah," Alicia said slowly, "I'll tell you what...Happy is here...right? He can protect us. So, you take your nap, and then we'll talk about it after, okay?"

Mikayla looked between me and Alicia, "he'll still be here when I wake up?"

"Of course, I will," I said, putting a hand on her cheek. She agreed to a nap and Alicia put her in her room. I took my kutte off, and began to check the windows, and doors, so that they couldn't be broken into. Alicia came back out a few minutes later, not looking very happy with me. I held my hands up to her, "I didn't know that you didn't tell her. I swear."

"Shut up," she said in a whisper. She pulled me to her and kissed me. I felt her small hands go from my face, down my chest, before landing on my hips. Her fingers grabbed onto my belt loops, and she pulled me even closer, "thank you for coming."

"No one is going to hurt you," I said with a kiss, "or our children."

She wrapped her arms around me, and I breathed her in. I felt completely at peace in that moment. Everything was where it should be. My old lady in my arms, our daughter napping in her room, and another one on the way.

I know that Mikayla wasn't mine, but that didn't bother me. It felt like this was the first time in long time things were going right. I wasn't alone anymore.

"You know," I said, picking her up and placing her on the counter, "you look really sexy in my shirt."

"Isn't that the same line you used on me on my going away party?"

"No," I laughed, thinking about when she'd led me back to the dorms last month. She'd said that she wanted to do a sexy striptease...but only wanted to wear my kutte, "you wore my leathers."

Alicia and I ended up having sex before passing out from exhaustion. We were woken up around 6 by Mikayla asking if we could go to the park. We told her we would, and she ran back to her room to get dressed. We did the same and made our way out to the park.

Everything was relaxed and Alicia and I played with Mikayla like a good little family. When she finished on the swings with Alicia, she ran over to me and hugged my leg. I picked her up and she wrapped her arms around me in a hug, "daddy. He's here."

I felt my blood run cold in my veins. Alicia came over to me, "is she okay? She jumped off the swing and just ran over to you."

"She sees him," I seethed. Alicia began to look around and I took her hand, pulling her attention to me, "if he's watching, I don't want him knowing we know, alright. Laugh in a few seconds and take Mikayla over to the monkey bars."

"I don't want to leave you daddy," Mikayla said wrapping her arms around me even tighter, "I don't want the bad man to hurt us."

"Follow mommy," I instructed her, looking her in the eyes, "do you trust me?"

She nodded and kissed my cheek, “I love you daddy."

"I love you too. Now go with your mommy."

Mikayla and Alicia began laughing, and she allowed Alicia to take her over to the monkey bars. I pulled out my cell phone and looked at the time. I didn't really care, but it would give me an excuse to look around after I put it in my pocket.

I scanned the area and I saw a few families scattered through the park. I went over to the monkey bars where Alicia was helping Mikayla across them. I saw a lone man walking across the park to where there was a view of the monkey bars and the swings. He had some popcorn and was watching the girls.

I went right up to Mikayla and scooped her off them.

"Daddy," she squealed excitedly. I wrapped her into a hug. Alicia smiled at me, “Put me back, mommy was helping me!”

"Is that him?" I asked, "on the bench with the popcorn.”

Alicia nodded, “His name is Josh Kohn."

I pulled away from Mikayla, "We are going to go over. Nothing will happen. Don't say anything, okay?"

"Promise?" I nodded, "Okay Daddy."

I took Alicia's hand in my own and began to walk over to him, "follow my lead?"

She nodded. Kohn stood up as we came up to him and tried to turn away.

"Josh, right?"

Kohn turned around and looked in a few different directions. We stopped right in front of him. I handed Mikayla off to Alicia and held out my hand, "I'm Happy. Alicia's boyfriend. She's been telling me about you. Thanks for watching out for her while I've been on the road."

Kohn took my hand. I could see that he was extremely confused, "yeah...of course?"

"There are a lot of creeps out there," I said, "a lot of guys willing to try and hit on my pregnant girlfriend. It's nice that there are people watching out for her."

He dropped my hand, "yeah."

"You take care," I said slowly. I patted his shoulder a little harder then necessary. He nodded before walking off. I reached out and took Mikayla back into my arms, "he won't bother you anymore."

Alicia’s POV

“Oh my,” a voice said from behind me, “TM royalty back for the holidays? And gracing us with her presence?”

I turned around to see none other than Tig making his way towards me. He stopped when he saw my belly, “well shit, I thought Happy was joking when he told us.”

“Nope,” I laughed, ���five months.”

I felt a tug on my dress, and I saw Mikayla hiding behind me, “mommy...”

“He’s fine,” I laughed, “it’s Tigger.”

She smiled and waved at him but didn’t move. Tig looked at me, “is she okay?”

“She’s just been in a mood since July. She’s wary of just about everyone.”

“CHIBS,” she squealed from behind me. Chibs came out from the garage and was wiping oil off his hands. She ran up to him and he picked her up.

Tig raised a brow at me, “She’s wary of everyone, huh?”

“Most everyone,” I said with a laugh. I pulled him into another hug before kissing his cheek, “It’s okay, Tiggy, you are still my favorite son.”

“Don’t lie to the poor man,” Gemma said from beside me, “Tig, make yourself useful and grab their bags. I don’t want my daughter carrying anything.”

“Yes ma’am,” Tig laughed. He grabbed the suitcases from the back of the SUV and I tried to tell him that he didn’t have to.

I turned my attention back to Chibs and Mikey, but I heard bikes pulling into the lot. I turned around to see Jax and Ope with their full patched kuttes on their backs, “I’ll catch up with ya later?”

I nodded at Chibs and began to make my way over to them. Opie was the first to get off his bike and greet me, “Alicia.”

I smiled and hugged him. Jax got off his bike and walked right past me, “is everything okay with him?”

“He and Tara broke up again,” he said, “he tried proposing to her last week and she told him that she was moving to Chicago for the medical program. Told him that you were right and if she stays here, she’ll waste away. He’s a little angry still.”

I rolled my eyes and made my way into the clubhouse walking to my dad.

“How are you doing baby girl?” he asked. His hand went to my stomach, “how is my grandson doing? Happy told us last month when he stopped by.”

I smiled, thinking about how excited Happy was to find out we were having a boy. He told every charter between SAMCHI to SAMCRO when he road back to tell his mom he and I were going to get married and have a baby, “we’re good dad. Have you seen Happy lately? I called him a few days ago before we got here because we won’t be able to fly home in the new year. I’ll be ready to burst by then.”

“Yeah,” he smiled, “He told me that you got a few extra months maternity leave from your office...are you really going to have the baby here?”

I nodded, “we wanted you guys to be able to be there for it.”

A few hours later, and Gemma had convinced us to come to the house for dinner. It wasn’t Wednesday, but she said that she wanted to have a family dinner anyways because we were going to have Thanksgiving at the clubhouse.

Jax was focusing all of his effort onto trying to connect with Mikayla. She was leery of him, but at Gemma’s and my request, she was being nice to him.

“So, how is the baby doing?” Jax asked. I looked at him half shocked. Aside from the conversation about Mikayla he’d mostly ignored me at the clubhouse, “Happy said that it’s a boy?”

I nodded, taking a drink of water, “Yeah. Uh we don’t have a name picked out or anything...but we’re gonna be here until I have him. Happy wanted us to be close to family.”

“Smart man,” dad said, pointing his fork to me, “I’m glad you are marrying him. Did you guys set a date yet?”

I shook my head, “We uh, wanted to wait after the baby was born. We’re probably just gonna go down to the courthouse or something.”

“Oh honey,” Gemma said with a sigh, “you can’t do that. You’ve always wanted a big wedding.”

“No,” Jax said with a smile, “What she always wanted was one of those weddings at night, where there was an alter decorated with Christmas lights...the beach right?”

“Ho-how did you remember that? We talked about that before we had Mikayla.”

He shrugged, and took a sip from his beer, “I always liked the idea.”

I smiled and looked down at my engagement ring. It wasn’t anything flashy, but it was a promise me and Happy made one another in Chicago. Maybe I should tell him that I don’t want to get married at the courthouse.

Later that night Jax offered to take us back to the clubhouse. I laughed and shook him off. There was no way I was getting onto a bike this pregnant. I told him that I would drive the rental car that they’d gotten for me while I was here.

“Mommy, can I ride with daddy?” she asked as we got into the driveway.

I began to shake my head, “I don’t kno-“

“Come on Leesh,” Jax smirked. He came over to me and kissed my hand, “please...she called me daddy?”

I bit my lip, not able to say no, “fine. But you take her right to T.M.”

His grin got wide, and Mikayla mirrored it. He kissed my cheek before taking Mikayla over to his bike. I watched them pull out before getting in the rental and heading down the road. When I hit the old stretch of road owned by the developers, I heard a ‘whooshing’ noise. I could see that my tire had gone flat.

What the fuck did I run over?

I pulled off to the side and got out of the car. There was a nail sticking out of my rear tire.

“Fuck,” I whispered to myself.

“Alicia Morrow, is that you?”

I turned around and was met with someone wearing a mask, “What th-“

Before I could finish my thought I felt something hard hit the base of my skull.

Happy’s POV

I heard a bike pulling into the clubhouse, and I immediately went outside to see Jax pulling in, Mikayla sitting in front of him. When she saw me her eyes lit up, "Daddy!"

I saw Jax hide the pain in his eyes as he helped her off the bike and she ran up to me, "hey Mikey, you have fun?"

"My name's not Mikey," she giggled, "I had so much fun. Daddy let me ride on his bike with him."

I looked over at Jackson, "Where's Alicia?"

"She was getting into the car when I pulled out," he said, confused, "she should be pulling up in a few minutes."

I nodded and put Mikayla down, "can daddy tuck me in tonight?"

I nodded, half hurt by the fact that she was asking for Jax to tuck her in, "yeah. Of course kiddo."

"I love you," she cooed, hugging my leg. I smiled. She then went over to Jax, "Come on daddy. I'm tired."

He laughed and took her into the clubhouse. I sat on the picnic table and waited for her. Twenty minutes later and she still hadn't shown up. I pulled out my cell phone and tried calling her but there was no answer. I dialed her a few more times, all with the same response. I started getting nervous and antsy. I contemplated getting on my bike and trying to find her. I went back into the clubhouse to see Chibs and Tiggy drinking with some of the SAMTAC guys had come down, "Alicia call in to anyone?"

They all shook their heads. Jax came out of the dorms a few minutes later, "she here yet?"

I shook my head. Jax looked worried. Kozik spoke up, "What's going on?"

"Alicia was behind me when we left," Jax said to me, "she should be here by now."

"Do you think something happened to her?" Tig asked. Chibs sat forward, a look of worry crossing his face.

"Should we go lookin fer her?"

"I'm going to look for her," he said, shaking his head, “something doesn’t feel right.”

"Me too."

"We'll come too," Tig said, tapping Chibs' shoulder, "Kozik, you guard the kid."

He nodded and we all went outside on our bikes. Jax looked at me, "You take the back way. Take Tig. I'll take Chibs and we'll go on the stretch by where the developers stopped building last year."

I nodded and drove the back way with Tig. We made it all the way to Gemma and Clays without seeing her. I went up to the door and knocked. The lights were still on.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Gemma asked, coming to the door in a robe.

"Did Alicia double back here?" I asked quickly.

She shook her head, "no, what's going on?"

"Alicia didn't show up to the clubhouse."

Her eyes got wide, and she looked back into the house, "CLAY! CLAY!"

He came to the door, "What's going on?"

"Alicia," Gemma said in a worried tone, "she didn't come back to the clubhouse."

He looked worried, "and you didn't see her car on the road?"

I shook my head, "Jax and Chibs went the other way. We took the back way here."

"Clay," Gemma pleaded, “what if something happened?”

He nodded, "stay here with the girls. I'm going to go find her."

Gemma nodded and Clay threw on a pair of jeans and his kutte before driving off with us. A few miles down the road we saw Jax and Chibs parked by a car. I practically jumped off my bike, "is this hers?"

Jax nodded and held me closer to the trunk of the car. Chibs was doing something by the hood, "She's not here?"

"What the fuck is going on?" Clay growled. He kicked the tire, and that's when I saw that there wasn't any air in it.

"What happened, Jax?"

"I don't know," he whispered, "but there's some blood by the front of the car. I think someone set a trap to take her."

"No," I said simply. I pushed past him, and made my way to Chibs. There was a few drops of blood on the hood of the car, and marks that looked like someone dragged something, "This can't be happening."

"Hap, I-"

"I don't want fucking excuses," I hissed, pulling my gun from the back of my jeans, "We're finding whoever the fuck took her and killing every single one of those fuckers. Who's with me?"

The guys stood there, staring at me. I didn't have this kind of time for a reaction. I needed response. I put my gun back in my jeans and made my way to my bike. Clay stopped me, "we don't know where they are son."

"Then I'll rip down every single door until I find her," I said. I looked between the guys and they all looked sad, but they didn't know what to do. I looked at Jax, "I know you love her. What would you do if this happened when she was pregnant with Mikayla?"

He swallowed the pride he had and got on his bike, "We don't know where they are. But I'm with you, brother."

Clay nodded to Tig who got in front of Jax's bike, "This is stupid and dangerous. Use your head."

We were at a Mexican stand off with Clay and Tig, "she's your daughter."

"I know," he said painfully, "I also know that she wouldn't want us to be stupid like this. We have to be smart. Who knew she was coming back to town?"

I didn't know an answer to that.

"No one but us," Jax said, “she shouldn’t be a target though.”

"Darby's guys like to use this road," Tig said, realization hitting him, "The tires...it's filled with nails. A lot of them work construction sites."

I looked at Clay, "We have to find her."

He nodded, "we'll start at Darbys."

I felt my cell buzzing. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was her cell phone. Clay looked at me, shocked.

"Well fucking answer it," Chibs all but growled at me.

I picked it up, and put it on speaker phone, "Alicia?"

"She's a little busy right now," a gruff voice said. I couldn't place it.

"Who is this?"

"It's a little gift from Frankie Leone," the guy laughed, "we're done with your fiancé Mr. Lowman. You can pick her up at St. Thomas. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lowman."

I felt my blood turn to ice as I heard the dial tone click.

Leone. That name sounded familiar.

Fuck.

"Leone is the guy that she was prepping a case against. He's a mobster in Chicago," I said with a sense of dread, "She said that someone had followed her last week and gave her a hard time about the case. She wouldn't back off."

Clay's hands fell off my bike and we all sped off to St. Thomas.

Alicia’s POV

"Alicia Morrow is that you?" I turned to see someone in a ski mask. Before I could make my way away from the weirdo I felt something hit the base of my skull. And Hard. I fell against the hood of the car, before slumping to the ground.

The men made their way in front of me. My hair covered my face, so they couldn't see that my eyes were open, "you think I killed her?"

"If you did, Leone will kill us."

I felt one of the guys kick my leg before grabbing my arm. I used my weight to kick his legs out from beneath him. Before I could turn to my other attacker, he grabbed me by my hair and threw me face first into the hood of the car. I felt something cut my cheek, but I tried to turn to face my attackers. He kept a good hold on my hair and threw me against the car a second time.

The world began to spin as he let me go and my body hit the ground.

"Good job, dummy. You got blood on the car. If the cops see this shit they'll know someone took her."

"I'm sorry," the guy laughed, "I wasn't knocked on my ass by a pregnant bitch."

I could see doubles of the guy as he got up and kicked me repeatedly in the stomach in side. I tried curling up into a ball so that he couldn't kick me there, "stupid bitch."

He stopped kicking me only to get on top of me. He began choking me until I began to lose consciousness.

"Alright man," his partner whispered, "come on. We gotta load her into the van. I felt one of them drag me into a sitting position before I was hoisted onto his shoulder and everything went dark.

***

It all flooded back as I opened my eyes. Or tried to. It felt like one of my eyes was damn near swollen shut. Out of one of my eyes I could see Mikayla pitifully looking at me. Happy was holding her, "see. I told you so."

I tried speak but I couldn't really open my mouth. I reached up to my jaw, and felt I had a tube going down my throat. I began to freak out and Hap got up, begging me to calm down. I continued to shake my head and he pressed the red button.

One of the nurses came flying in. She took one look at me, and then rushed Happy and Mikayla out of the room, "Miss Morrow, please calm down."

I began to cry, shaking my head vigorously. I couldn't speak, and it felt like I was choking. The nurse persisted and called for one of the doctors. She continued to speak to me and told me that I had been out cold for a few days. They had put a breathing tube in me because they were worried. I'd come in with a punctured lung, and partially crushed larynx. The doctor had been worried that I wouldn't breathe on my own once they got me hooked up to everything.

When the doctor came in, they removed the breathing tube, and he began to explain everything to me. I had been out for 3 days. They said that whoever had abducted me not only punctured one of my lungs, and partially crushed my larynx, but they'd broken my orbital bone, fractured my wrist, and stabbed me a total of five times in the abdomen. I'd lost the baby. Since I was so far along, they'd done surgery to remove the fetus.

I cried when he told me. I looked down at my stomach and could tell that nothing was in there, but I didn't want to believe it. Just a few days ago, I'd come home and announced to everyone that we were staying until I gave birth...but work had followed me home. I was so busy trying to protect Mikayla and I from the club, but that wasn't what caused this. No, it was my own decisions.

My mind drifted to Mikayla, and I was glad that Jackson had taken her. If he hadn't, something could have happened to her too. I broke down.

A few hours later, they let me have visitors. Jax was the first one through my door. I reached out to him, and he pulled me into a hug, "thank you."

He had tears in his eyes as he pulled away, "I'm just happy you're alive. When they told us the laundry list of injuries you had...Alicia we-"

"Shut up," I pleaded, "it was my fault. I let a case affect me, and it followed me back. I'm just thankful that you had Mikayla...I don't...I don't know what I would have done if...if th-"

He rushed back to me, and pulled me into another hug. He began to rub my back, "don't think like that. Please, don't go down that road."

"I lost the baby."

He pulled away, nodding, "the doctor told us...Happy is devastated."

"Can you send him in?"

He nodded, "yeah...is it okay if I take Mikayla home? She shouldn't see you like this."

I agreed, thanking him. I didn't want our daughter seeing me like this either. Happy came in a few moments later. He didn't touch me. He sat down in the chair by my bed, "Have you been here the whole time?"

He nodded. He looked exhausted, "yeah."

"I'm sorry."

He looked around the room before meeting my eyes, "he's gone...I couldn't protect you. I told you that I'd always protect you..."

"Happy do-"

"No, Alicia," he sighed, "you didn't have to see our son...after they broke your bones and knocked you out...they stabbed you...they stabbed our son, five times. He never had a chance. When they did the surgery, they told me that they didn't want me to see him...I wish I let them talk me out of it...I knew my life was dangerous...I was so worried that something would happen, and it would be my fault...but this wasn't because of me Alicia. I begged you not to work that case."

"I think I'm going to go home," I said, tears flowing, "get back to Chicago."

"I already called your boss yesterday," he said slowly, "I explained everything to Mike. He thinks it's best that you stay here until February."

"The case starts in January."

"Jesus, Alicia," he said standing up, "you almost just died because of your fucking job, and you want to go back to it? You are fucking insane...this isn't going to work if you can't just take a moment."

I felt the tears welling up in my eyes as I pulled the ring off my finger. He watched as I placed it on the nightstand between us, "you're right."

He looked as heartbroken as I felt, staring at the ring, "are you serious right now, Alicia?"

I nodded my head, and he shook his head, starting for the door, "where are you going?"

"I don't know." he admitted.

Chapter 12

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