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anoutlandishfanfic · 4 years ago

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The Alaskan Endeavor: Ch2 - Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

So, again, this chapter update (can I call them PUPdates? they’re now PUPDATES) is in celebration of another race that finished up yesterday morning -- the Kuskokwim 300 aka The Kusko300, which is one of if not THE most competitive middle distance race in Western Alaska. We’ll get to the pups and more about racing in the next chapter but HERE WE HAVE THE MEETING Y’ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.

You can find chapter one here or over at AO3!!

Claire That evening

The Murray’s residence wasn’t far from my flat above the Abernathy’s garage — nothing in this tiny hamlet was — and I decided to walk the four blocks, taking in a remarkable summer’s evening.

Joe had warned me that the shift in daylight hours was more extreme here in Kozebue — twenty-six miles above the Arctic Circle — than where we’d reconnected on Kodiak Island… and I had to admit he was right. I’d made good use of the black out curtains that were installed in the bedroom, shutting out the sun that insisted on shining well into the night and starting up again ungodly early in the morning. I knew I’d have no trouble making my way back on foot after dinner.

It would still be broad daylight.

I rounded the final corner and scanned the lane for my destination…

“It’s a blue house with white trim… second on the left,” Joe’s wife Gail had easily informed me, for the Abernathy’s and the Murray’s were old friends.

Gail’s eyes had held the same suspicious twinkle that Jenny’s had when she’d invited me for dinner and I had a sinking suspicion that I was about to be set up on a blind date, hosted by Jenny Murray herself. My new patient had mentioned she had a brother when she was in earlier and if I were the betting sort, I’d place my life savings on him being the man in question.

How on earth did you let yourself get roped into this, Beauchamp? I sighed ruefully to myself as I spotted the abode.

Crossing the street, I took a few deep breaths, trying to steady my pounding heart as I got closer to the Murray’s front door. It was no use, of course, for it had firmly lodged itself in my throat about a block and a half back, and I was left trembling slightly as I mounted the front steps.

Wiping sweaty palms on my pants, I lifted my hand and knocked. Once — twice — three times.

… Jamie

“Can you get that?” Jenny shouted from the kitchen, the usual clamor of my nieces and nephew interfering but not obscuring her words.

Passing the youngest back to her father, I stood and answered, “Aye, I’ve got it!”

I wiped at the deposit of crumbs that wee Katie had left behind on my shirtfront, tugging at the hem in an attempt to flatten out the wrinkles pressed into it by the same. I shook my head and gave it up, knowing it was useless and that it shouldn’t really matter anyway.

Rolling my eyes at the ridiculous concern for my own appearance, I turned into the front hall and padded quickly down the plush rug to the door.

I turned the knob and pulled — then stopped dead as the door opened.

Christ, she was beautiful.

Her pale cheeks were slightly flushed, which made the small smattering of freckles across her nose stand out like brilliant stars. The curls were coming out of a plait that was draped over one shoulder and it gave her a delightfully adventurous air. She was a brunette like Jenny, but not nearly quite so dark. The light streaming in from behind her set brilliant copper highlights aglow as she flipped the thick queue away, making it disappear behind her.

One perfectly arched brow rose in question of me — and I knew I was staring — but the ability to form coherent speech left me entirely as her eyes locked on to mine.

Brown would be a woefully inaccurate word to describe such a hue as hers. They were rich like a fine whisky, a deep amber that all at once soothed and pierced your soul.

Pull yerself together, you clotheid.

I cleared my throat, trying to regain some semblance of composure and took a step back, sweeping a hand to usher her in.

“You, ah, must be Dr Claire,” I stammered, my lips still not completely able to do my bidding. “I’m Jamie, Jenny’s brother.”

Comprehension lit her eyes and she chuckled softly.

God, that sound.

It sent shockwaves up and down my spine and stood the hair on the back of my neck on end.

What I wouldn’t do to make her laugh like that again.

“Tell me, Jamie,” she kept her voice low, a conspiratorial gleam sneaking into her eyes. “Have Jenny and Gail been playing matchmaker with us?”

Raking a hand through my hair, I confessed dryly, “They’ve been trying to set me up for years.”

She tipped her head back and laughed outright and freely at my confirmation, commenting, “I thought so, but then I’d only met your sister this morning.”

“I’ve known her my whole life,” I grinned back at her. “Once Jen gets an idea in her head, it’s best to let her have at it ‘til it peters out on its own... unless it involves that wee fiend of hers.”

Delicate, slender fingers lifted to her lips as the color deepened in her cheeks, amusement still high in her voice, “Are you talking about Roger?”

“Right! Yes!” It was my turn to laugh. “You’ve met the numpty yourself.”

She grinned, “I’ve had the pleasure, yes.”

“Did she tell you he’s a service dog drop out?” I shook my head in mock derision.

Her eyes grew as big as saucers, nearly dropping the bag in her hand as she burst, “No!!”

“Oh, aye!” I scoffed, but my smile crept back in and betrayed my amusement at the whole ordeal.

“Too friendly… and easily distracted.”

“Are you two done bletherin’ out here?” My brother in law Ian stuck his head into the hallway, succinctly interrupting us with a knowing look.

“The food’s gettin’ cold!”

… Claire

Tucked between Jamie and his seven year old namesake, dinner was far from a dull affair. Jenny proved to be a remarkable cook and the table conversation ranged in topics from a nuanced detail of racing — that is, mushing — to my favorite animal.

“Do you mean in general,” I tested the waters, assembling another forkful of roast and potatoes, “or in a specific class or order?”

The little boy’s eyes lit up and I knew I’d found a topic that he particularly enjoyed… which was a stroke of luck for me, being that animals and their care was my field of expertise.

Thank God it wasn’t dinosaurs.

“Mammals!” He eagerly narrowed the field, then zeroed in even further, “What’s your favorite African mammal?!”

“Oh, that’s easy! A giraffe!” I supplied, my smile matching his. “I got to see them in the wild, you know… in Tanzania.”

This caught the attention of the rest of the table and began to field questions left and right about my time on the Serengeti. I didn't mind, as they were happy memories, and soon won over both the younger Jamie and his five year old sister Maggie with tales of elephants and zebras and all of the animals they’d only read about in books or seen on television.

“Did you see any lions?” Little Maggie’s voice dropped into what I supposed was her version of a whisper — as if one were right beside us — and she nearly vibrated with excitement as she asked again, “Did you see any lions, Dr Claire?!”

I heard Jamie, the elder and my supposed date for the evening, chuckle beside me and I wondered just what sort of mischief this little one could get into when she set her mind to it.

“I did see lions too, Maggie,” I assured her, taking on her affected stage whisper. “We went in a truck at night and had big flashlights and saw them getting a drink of water.”

“Dey sirsty,” two year old Katie informed the table proudly, making all of the adults grin.

I bit my lip to keep from chuckling at her innocent attempt at being involved in the conversation, but agreed, “They get very thirsty.”

“How’d ye wind up in Alaska, then?”

This turn in conversation came from Jamie’s father, an older man by the name of Brian.

“I went to university with Joe Abernathy in Seattle,” I supplied. “We went separate ways after graduation but I ran into him again when I was visiting my uncle on Kodiak Island… Joe offered me a position at his clinic and I couldn’t refuse.”

“He’s done a lot of good wi’ that practice of his,” Brian commented. “Been a dream of his for some time now.”

Nodding, I smiled at the memory of Joe’s eager rants and rails, “He spoke quite a bit about it in school. I knew how much it meant to him and was eager to help him in his cause.”

“He almost worked himself to death before you came along,” Jenny snorted, then shot me an apologetic look. “Bein’ the only vet in the Northwest Borough made for long hours an’ no rest.”

“That’s why I wanted to come… to ease the burden a bit.”

“Well, then you’re a saint, Dr Claire,” she sighed, surmising with a shake of her head.

“No,” I assured her quietly. “I’m just plain old Claire Beauchamp.”

… Jamie. After Dinner.

“Wait just a minute,” I protested. “You walked here?!”

We were at the front door again, this time in full control of my faculties, but the woman before me was quickly turning out to be more of an complexity than I ever imagined possible.

Her brow furrowed at this, as if she hadn’t thought of the incongruity of her walking the mile from the Abernathy’s to here on foot.

“Yes… why?”

“Well, it’s… it’s just that…'' I stammered, flummoxed. “Don’t you have somethin’ to drive?”

“Of course,” she looked at me as if I’d sprouted five heads from my shoulders. “I have a perfectly good vehicle, but why drive it four blocks when it’s beautiful outside and I can walk?”

I opened my mouth to respond to this and found I didn’t have a reasonable answer. She found great amusement in this and crossed her arms, waiting for me to respond.

Shaking my head, I gave it up and couldn’t help but smile as I offered to walk her home.

This took her by complete surprise and her jaw dropped, “Why?!”

“Well,” I pulled at the back of my neck, trying to come up with something and shrugged helplessly, “like you said… it’s a beautiful evening.”

Her brows nearly rose to her hairline, not buying this for one moment.

“Look, it’s the polite thing to do, aye? I know you live at the Abernathy’s because Joe told me… I’ll leave just as soon as you’ve made it to the front door, I promise,” I insisted. “Nothin more.”

She contemplated this, then clarified, “Just a walk?”

I dropped my hands, swinging my hands away from my sides in a clearing motion and then against them again with a soft pat.

“Just a walk.”

#outlander #outlander fanfic #the alaskan endeavor #the alaskan endeavor au #chapter 2 guess who's coming to dinner

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boldycrazygirl · 3 years ago

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Most People Think You Go To Either Heaven Or Hell, What I Experienced Was Much, Much Worse

By Elias WitherowUpdated June 26, 2021

Forest Simon

A single bulb lit the room, dangling from the ceiling by a string. It cast moving shadows and I blinked back darkness. An open door stood before me, but I couldn’t see anything but the wall of a hallway.

I tried to clear my head, tried to remember how I got here. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself not to panic. I slowed my breathing and focused my thoughts, desperately trying to summon some recollection of why I was here.

I couldn’t remember anything.

I opened my eyes and exhaled, my parched throat throbbing. I could hear sound echoing off the hallway walls outside the door. Screaming, clanging, howling, all very distant but that did nothing to help calm my nerves.

“Hello?!” I cried, the word tearing at my vocal cords. I felt my chest hitch in pain but I cleared my throat and yelled again.

“Is anyone there!? Hello!?”

The dark hallway remained silent except for the constant echoes. I shut my mouth and tried to wriggle free of my bindings, but the rope was knotted impossibly tight. I fought back against my imagination as it flooded my mind with horrific scenarios of what awaited me. If I could only remember!

Suddenly, footsteps erupted from outside the door, a rapid patter of small feet. My hopes rose and I trained my attention on the door, praying it was help.

A young boy ran into the room, dressed in a red onezie, complete with padded feet. Stretched over his face was a plastic Devil mask. The eye holes revealed massive blue eyes that greeted me curiously. Taken back, I opened my mouth to speak but that’s when I noticed something was off. His eyes were huge, impossibly round and bulging from their sockets. It sent a shiver of unease down my spine, but I shook it off. This child might be able to free me.

“Hey!” I hissed, urgently, “Hey kid, can you get me out of here?!”

The boy took a step closer, cocking his head, but remaining silent.

I rattled my bound arms against the chair, “Cut me free, please, I shouldn’t be here, this is some kind of mistake!”

The boy eyed me behind his strange mask and stopped directly in front of me. He leaned in close and whispered, his voice like wet silk, “You did a bad thing…”

Confused, I shook my head, “No! No this is a mistake! I didn’t do anything!”

The boy’s enormous blue eyes suddenly filled with sadness, “Oh, you did a really, really bad thing…”

I shook my head again, violently, “No! I’m sorry! I don’t remember, just please get me out of this chair!”

Suddenly, before either of us could speak again, a man came charging into the room. He was overweight and dressed in overalls, his grizzled face twisted in seething anger. He was holding a sawed off shotgun in his arms.

“I didn’t do anything!” I cried as he advanced on us, my voice cracking, “I’m not supposed to be here!”

The big man ignored me and instead grabbed the kid and shoved him hard against the wall. The boy grunted as his back struck the concrete and his eyes rose to meet the grizzled man’s.

Wordlessly, the man raised his shotgun, placed it against the boy’s forehead, and blew his head off. Chunks of gore splattered the wall as shock slugged me in the stomach like an iron fist. My ears rang and time seemed to slow as I watched in horror as the headless body crumpled to the ground.

My breath rushed back into my lungs and time seemed to readjust.

“Jesus fucking CHRIST!” I screamed, straining against the ropes, my eyes bulging in horrific shock, “WHAT THE FUCK!?”

The man ignored my screams as he bent down and picked up the boy. He slung the ruined corpse over his shoulder and walked out the doorway.

Suddenly, the hallway erupted with malicious laughter, a chorus of voices all howling in glee. I shut my eyes, the noise deafening, as absolute terror filled my every pore.

After a few moments, the laughter faded and I cautiously opened my eyes, unable to believe what I had just witnessed.

“Hello.”

I jumped as I realized there was another man standing before me. He was dressed in a simple, white button down shirt and jeans. His brown hair was cut short and he appeared to be in his early thirties. His green eyes were dull and lifeless, his full lips pulled down at the corners.

“What is going on!? Where am I!?” I cried, new fear pooling in my stomach like hot blood.

The man crossed his arms, “So you’re the new one huh?” He shook his head, “You people disgust me.”

Questions bubbled on my lips but he waved them off with a sharp chop of his hand, slicing the air and demanding my silence.

He ran his tongue over his teeth, sneering, “You look like you’ve already seen some of the horrors this place holds huh? Yes, I can tell by the look in your eyes. You’re terrified. You’ve seen something haven’t you? It doesn’t seem all that bad now does it, looking back? You’ve been here five minutes and already you’re shitting your pants.”

“Where am I?” I gasped, unable to hold back any longer, “What do you people want?”

The man crossed his arms behind his back, “I bet you want to get out of here don’t you? I bet you’d like to go back to your home, your family, everything.”

“Please,” I interrupted, “Whatever I did to you…I’m sorry, I really am, but I don’t remember!”

The man rolled his eyes, “You didn’t do anything to me. You did it to yourself. You really don’t remember anything?”

I shook my head and felt tears brimming in my eyes, liquid fear.

The man looked at me with contempt, “You waited until your wife left for work and then you went out to the woodshed and hung yourself. You’re dead.”

The recent memory rose in my mind like a monster from a bog. My eyes went wide. As much as I wanted to deny it…he was right. I had killed myself. The incident tore through my brain like a bullet train and left me reeling.

“I’m Danny, by the way,” the man said, ignoring the shocked look on my face, “And I’m number two here. I run the orientation process. I want to make this quick because I’m tired of repeating this fucking thing to you pathetic Suicidals. You get one question before I begin.”

He stared down at me and I scrambled to organize my thoughts into something cohesive. This was all horrifying. Why had I killed myself? I fought against the fog and panic and the mists of confusion slowly began to lift. I had just lost my job. Yes…that was the start. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced more of the memory to emerge. I had lost my job and I was about to lose the house. My wife…Tess…she found out and was going to leave me. I didn’t have any way out, didn’t have any options. Getting fired had come out of the blue and I didn’t have much in savings. I was broke, soon to be homeless, and my wife hated me for it. There was something else…yes…that’s right. She had been cheating on me. I had seen texts on her phone while she slept one night and confirmed my suspicions. My life had degraded to shit and I had run out of options. Humiliated and ashamed, I had decided death was my only option.

“Hey, fucker, do you have a question or not?” Danny said, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

I was sucked back into reality and I asked the only question that mattered.

“Is this Hell?”

Danny snorted, “That’s always what you people ask.” He began to pace back and forth in front of me, “No. This is not Hell. It’s not Heaven either. This is the Black Farm. And no, I didn’t name it that. This is where God sends the souls who have ended their own life. Suicidals. You see, he doesn’t really know what to do with you…and neither does the Devil. There are genuinely good people who kill themselves. Seems cruel to banish them to Hell for all eternity for a moment of weakness right? Personally, I think God and the Devil were just tired of arguing about it. And so, they send them here, to the Black Farm.”

“Did…did God create this place?” I asked, growing more and more confused.

Danny spit on the floor, chuckling, “Sure, at some point. But he lost control of it when he put The Pig in charge.”

“What’s The Pig?” I asked, unsure I wanted to know the answer.

Danny held up a hand, annoyed, “Can I fucking finish? God created this place, eons ago, put The Pig in charge, and then forgot about it for a while. Well, when his back was turned, The Pig decided to use his new powers to try and create his own little world. This mess you see around you is the fractured remains of that experiment. The Black Farm use to be a lot nicer, but The Pig wanted things to be different. He wanted to create his own vision. These people you see, these monsters? They are The Pig’s attempts at creating functioning life. Instead of mirroring God’s Earth, these mutated horrible creations are full of sin and hatred. They run rampant here, unabashed. This place is chaos. The Black Farm is a circus of freaks and monsters. And it’s your eternity.”

Fear boiled in my gut like thick oil. No. No this couldn’t be my end. I didn’t believe in stuff like this. This wasn’t real! I would wake up soon and realize I was just having a nightmare! That had to be it!

Danny stood before me and lightly slapped my face, “Hey, hey! Don’t go into hysterics on me. I haven’t finished yet.”

I raised my teary eyes to meet his.

Danny smiled, “You can always Feed the Pig.”

My breath pushed from my lungs like burning steam, “W-what does that mean?”

Danny spread his hands, still smiling, “It’s as simple as that. Feed the Pig. If you do so, there’s a chance he’ll send you back to your life.”

“A-and w-what happens if it doesn’t?” I bumbled.

“You get sent to Hell. So flip a coin if you have one. Stay here with us or Feed the Pig. If you choose to stay, I’ll let you go…I’ll let you go out there,” he said, pointing towards the door, “But let me assure you…what awaits you at the end of the hallway…well…let’s just say Hell isn’t that much worse.”

I swallowed hard, trying my best to digest everything. Why wouldn’t I try Feeding the Pig? Whatever that meant. If there was even a sliver of hope, I would take it. An eternity in this place, the Black Farm, be sent to Hell, or…or Feed the Pig? I would do anything for a chance to go back. This nightmare made my problems seem nothing in comparison.

Danny raised a hand before I could speak, “I’ll let you think on it a while. I’ll be back later.”

“I want to Feed the Pig!” I cried, not wanting to spend another second in this awful room. I could hear a woman screaming down the hallway, her cries rising as something meaty pounded into her. My breath came in sharp pulls and my throat burned. Danny noticed the noise and grinned.

“Sounds pretty bad huh?” He said softly as the woman’s voice creaked with agony. Something was still slamming into her, the sound of beaten flesh igniting my imagination with horrors.

“Please,” I gasped, breathless, “Just…just let me Feed the Pig. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

Danny turned away from me, “I’ll be back later. Enjoy your time alone. Really think about your situation. Weigh your options. And remember…you put yourself here.”

And with that he was gone, leaving me in the dim room.

Tears streamed down my face.

The woman didn’t stop screaming for hours.

At some point, I fell into a semi-sleep. The darkness in the room seemed to press in on me and my eyes fluttered shut. My body ached and my throat was a halo of fire. Thirst raked at my windpipe like sharp glass. My lips felt like crumpled paper. My head thundered like a drum. The room swam in and out of focus and my mind drifted towards the horrific sounds that never ended.

I was lost in a haze, unaware that something was sliding into the room until I felt a sharp prick on my big toe. I jolted out of my daze as my bare foot ignited with pain. I screamed and tried to move, but my bindings held me tight.

The room rushed back into focus and I blinked in agony as I felt blood trickle between my toes. I looked down for the source of pain and I felt a scream claw up my throat.

Staring up at me was an armless man. He slithered on the floor like a worm, his bald head scabbed and filthy. His legs were wrapped together in barbed wire, forcing him to wriggle his body to move. His eye were lidless and wide, two bloodshot white orbs that stared up at me with hungry intensity. His teeth had been removed and replaced with long screws which jutted from his bleeding gums like a broken rock formation.

Around his neck was a chain leash, which I followed across the floor to the open door. The end of the leash was held by a tall, naked man. His body was hairless and flabby, covered in similar scabs like his pet. A dirty bag was pulled over his head that hid his features except for a single red eye that peeked out at me from a crude cut in the cloth.

He stared at me and groped his engorged penis, his breath heavy and labored. As the armless man wriggled towards me again, his master started to masturbate. I screamed as the screw filled mouth bit at me again and my cries seemed to stimulate the naked man even more.

“Get off of me! Stop it!” I screamed, horrified. I tried to kick at the man, doing my best to avoid his sharp metal teeth. I brought my heel down on his head and he screamed as his face bounced off the floor.

A moan of pleasure escaped the bagged man’s mouth and I turned away as a mist of black sprayed out onto the floor. There was a rattle of chains and I turned back to see the two of them leaving, the armless man dragged by his neck out the door. I looked at where the bagged man had ejaculated and saw a puddle of dead ants. I vomited onto myself, thick chunky curtains of bile and slime.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” I screamed, strands of puke running down my chin, “I DON’T BELONG HERE!”

I listened to the two men retreat down the hallway, the clank of chains accompanied by the sound of flesh being dragged across the concrete. I screamed again, but I knew no one was going to help me. I spit a wad of phlegm and bile onto the floor, ridding my mouth of its sourness. I forced myself to calm down. It wasn’t easy.

After some time, I heard someone else approaching. I had been in a miserable lull, my mind a blank canvas of dark despair, but the noise roused me from my trance like state. The muscles in my arms burned from being restrained for so long and I shifted them desperately, trying my best to prepare myself for whatever horror was about to walk through the door.

Footsteps drew closer and then a woman walked into the room. She stopped at the doorway and looked at me. One of her eyes was missing, a dark cavernous hole in her skull. Her hair was ratty and wild, a brown tangle like a forgotten nest. Her skin was pale and filthy and she was dressed in rags. I couldn’t tell how old she was, but there was maturity in her one good eye.

“Still thinking?” She asked, her voice course and brittle.

“What?”

She took a step closer, “Are you still deciding whether you’re going to Feed the Pig or not?”

I looked at her cautiously, “Yeah…I am. Who are you? What do you want?”

“I was once where you are now,” She said, “trying to decide my fate. I couldn’t believe that this was what happened…what happened after we die. It wasn’t what I was taught…religion didn’t warn me about this place.”

I tested my bindings again before asking, “You killed yourself too? You’re a person like me? You’re not one of those…those creations?”

She snorted, “Breaks my heart you have to ask, though,” she touched the hole where her eye should have been, “Though I can understand your caution. Yeah, I’m a Suicidal. I’ve been here a long, long time. But that was my choice. I decided to chance it here.”

I motioned with my head towards the door, “What’s out there? What is all this?”

She exhaled heavily and leaned against the wall, “I can’t even begin to describe this place. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. You walk down that hallway and go out…into it…and…” she swallowed, “You’d have to see it to understand.”

“How bad is it? Why are all these mutated people hurting and killing each other?” I asked.

She let her head loll back against the wall, “It would take years for you to fully understand this place. Years you don’t have. Right now you have to make a decision. Stay or Feed the Pig. They tell me Hell is worse than here, but it can’t be by much. Monsters and Suicidals roam the Black Farm…killing, raping, brutalizing…and then you wake up and wonder how long you can survive before something else kills you. It’s an endless cycle.”

“So why did you stay?” I pressed, “Why didn’t you Feed the Pig? I don’t even know what that means, but I would do anything for a chance to go back. I can’t stay here, I…I just can’t!”

She smiled sadly at me, “Why? Why did I choose this? It’s simple really. I’m a coward. I was a coward when I was alive and I’m a coward in death. When it came down to it, when the moment presented itself, I chose to stay here. I didn’t know what awaited me outside. It boiled down to a simple choice fueled by my own fear.”

“What is The Pig? What does it do to you?” I pressed.

She suddenly turned to go, “I’m afraid that’s for you to find out. But let me warn you. Think hard before you make a decision. Sometimes suffering through your fear is better than suffering for eternity. Be brave.”

“What do I do!?” I yelled, shaking in my chair as she walked out the door.

She paused and took one last look over her shoulder. Her eyes darted around and she dropped her voice to a whisper, “Feed the Pig.”

And with that she was gone.

I sat in silence once again. My mind was spinning, desperately turning over my options. I still couldn’t fully understand the situation I was in. It was too much, too overwhelming. The other side of death wasn’t supposed to be like this. I didn’t know what I had expected, but it wasn’t this nightmare. Questions crashed over my mind like cold waves onto a sinking ship. How was I supposed to make a choice when I didn’t even know what my actions entailed?

This place, the Black Farm…I couldn’t stay here. But what if I went to Hell? What if I didn’t get sent back? I would be out of the fire and into the frying pan. My existence would forever be damned to unending misery. Here though…here there were people like me. Suicidals. It wasn’t all monsters and mutilated murderers. Maybe I could hole up somewhere with them, try to scrape together a passable existence. Surely that would be better than getting sent to Hell!

No. No this wasn’t going to be how I spent my eternity. I refused to let it be. If there was even the slightest sliver of hope, I would take it. I didn’t want to wonder what could have been. I didn’t want to be tormented by doubt. I would Feed the Pig and accept whatever fate chose for me. When I boiled it down, that was the only option left.

I would Feed the Pig.

“Hey! Hello!? Danny!” I yelled, rattling in my chair. “I’ve made my decision! Danny!”

After a couple seconds, I heard footsteps echo down the hall towards me.

Danny walked through the doorway, an annoyed look on his face.

“I’ve made my choice,” I said, “I’m going to Feed the Pig.”

“Sounds like you’ve really thought a lot about it since I left you,” Danny said sarcastically.

I licked my lips, “You’d do the same thing if you were in my place.”

Danny walked behind me, “I was in your place once. And I chose differently.” My eyes widened and then Danny wrapped my entire head with a strip of thin cloth, blinding me. I sucked in as much air as I could, but each lungful felt empty.

I felt Danny cut me free from the chair and my body sighed as my stiff muscles were released. I rolled my shoulders as my hands were released and I moaned with relief. I dug my fingers into my back and I stretched, my bones creaking.

“Keep your blindfold on and follow me,” Danny said, pulling me up.

My legs shook as I put weight on them, my thighs trembling after their long cemented position. I groped blindly in front of me and found Danny’s shoulder. I rested my hand on it as he walked us out of the room.

As were entered the hallway, I could suddenly hear sound I hadn’t before. The clank of metal, a long fleshy tearing noise, something vomiting…these sounds sprang to life in my ears, painting the darkness before my eyes with imaginary scenes of horror. I gripped Danny’s shoulder tighter, stumbling behind him, my heart thundering.

I heard something trailing behind us, but Danny didn’t seem to notice. Or if he did, he didn’t care. Flesh slapped the concrete mere inches behind me and I suddenly felt hot breath on my neck and the click of a wet tongue against gums. My breathing became even more labored as fear choked me.

“Go’in ta feed da piggy are ya?” Something whispered in my ear. I felt something press against the back of my head and I tried not to think about what it might be. It was wet and slimy and I heard the thing chuckle.

“Ee’s a ‘ungry piggy, you make shor’ ee gets iz meal now,” the thing whispered again, its voice low and unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was like a series of grunts and moans jumbled together to form broken words.

To my relief, I heard the thing retreat back to wherever it had come from and I continued to follow Danny. He remained silent as we walked and I could feel shifts in the air. The thick heat gave way to a cooler, almost pleasant temperature, but then it kept decreasing and soon I was shivering violently against the cold. I couldn’t see anything but I felt a breeze on my face, like we were outside. I didn’t hear Danny open any doors, but nothing about this place was natural. It was like reality blurred and bled into itself, like reels of film melting together.

Teeth chattering, I was suddenly blasted with intense heat and I gasped. My feet tripped over themselves as the terrain changed and I was suddenly walking on what felt like warm iron. My ears were filled with the sound of blazing furnaces and the clash of working machinery. I couldn’t see it, but I felt like there was a vast open expanse overhead. I smelled ash and tasted dirt on my tongue, sweat already forming along my spine.

Suddenly, I crashed into Danny as he came to a halt. I backed up a few paces, quickly, and muttered my apologies. I could hear movement in front of us, a rustle of chains and an odd clicking sound on the metal floor. Something else too…something…snorting.

And then the room filled with a deafening sound of an immense pig squealing. I covered my ears, head splitting at the high pitched wail. I grit my teeth as the noise echoed off the metal and faded into a series of snorts and grunts.

It sounded absolutely enormous.

“I’ve brought another one,” Danny announced, a slight tinge of respect lining his voice. “He wants to Feed the Pig.”

I waited, expecting to hear some answer, the cloth around my eyes sealing my sight to darkness. I realized my knees were shaking and my back was coated in sweat. I was terrified.

“If that is what you wish,” Danny said and I felt him bow under my hand. Apparently some unseen conversation had just happened and Danny took my wrist and pushed me forward.

“Approach The Pig,” he instructed.

My whole body trembled and my knees locked into place. Robbed from sight, I raised my hands, trying to get my bearings, the heat and ash filling my head with nausea. I felt like I was going to throw up, my stomach rolling like a dead sea. I didn’t know where I was or what horror lay before me. I felt lost and tiny, a fresh splash of tears dripping from my eyes and soaking into the cloth around my face.

“P-please,” I begged, “Let me see what’s happening.”

Danny was suddenly behind me, pushing me forward. He guided my hands towards something as we stepped together in unison. Even with the cloth around my face, I could see a giant mass of towering darkness before me. It was a spot of black on an already darkened canvas.

As we walked forward, I was suddenly assaulted by a horrendous smell and I gagged, turning away. Danny’s grip tightened and forced me to continue. I could sense something just in front of me, a living shifting mass of flesh. The smell increased to a wretched level and I gagged again. Then hot air was being blown on my face, a blast of heat that came in repeated short bursts.

I vomited into my cloth, the source of the smell stemming from the hot air. I choked as the bile gushed over the fabric, soaking it and momentarily cutting off my oxygen. Danny slapped my hands away and I took a few seconds to steady my breathing again. I was opening crying now, fear and misery collapsing my willpower.

The wet cloth stunk as I sucked in soggy breaths. My own stomach acid coated my skin and I begged for all of this to be over.

And then something squealed directly in front of me.

I felt my bladder go. I was standing before The Pig.

It was the source of darkness in my obscured vision; a fat, titanic creature that filled my senses with every breath it blew into my face.

Danny raised my hands and suddenly I was touching The Pig’s snout. I recoiled immediately, but Danny forced my hands back. Its fur was stiff and brittle and as my shaking hands explored up its nose, the size of the animal became clear to me.

It was gigantic and had weight over a ton. Its flesh wiggled under my sweating hands and it opened its mouth slightly. My fingers curled around teeth the size of kitchen knives and I realized its mouth was absolutely cavernous.

The Pig squealed again and I heard its hooves clack against the ground. It sounded like thunder rolling across an open field in the middle of summer.

“Take this blindfold off, please,” I begged, my legs turning to jelly.

Danny had taken a few steps back and I heard reverence in his voice, “You don’t want to do that.”

I jumped as The Pig nudged me with its nose, the wet circle of flesh squishing against the length of my face. I shuddered away, raising my hands and omitting a cry of fear.

“Feed the Pig,” Danny instructed, his voice like cold steel now. “You made your choice. Now live with it. It’s the only chance you have of going back. Or maybe The Pig won’t like how you taste and send you to Hell. Only one way to find out.”

My eyes widened behind the vomit soaked cloth, “Won’t…like…how I taste?!”

“Climb into its mouth.”

My bladder let go again and I felt warm piss run down my leg, “N-no…no you can’t mean…”

Danny’s voice hardened, “Climb into its mouth and don’t stop crawling forward until its done with you.”

“P-please,” I begged, turning towards Danny’s voice, reaching out blindly, “Please there has to be some other way…don’t make me do this!” I was a mess of snot and tears, my words bumbling from my mouth like a toddler.

Danny stepped forward and spun me back to face The Pig, “DO IT! You made your choice! It will all be over soon! This is your only CHANCE!”

I could feel The Pig breathing onto my face, its snout mere inches from mine. The smell and heat it omitted made me want to vomit again but I held it back. This was insane, this wasn’t happening. My mind spun and twisted in chaos and fear. There had to be some other way. I couldn’t do this, I COULD NOT do this!

Suddenly I remembered the words of the woman: Sometimes suffering through your fear is better than suffering for eternity. Be brave.

This was my only chance to get back to the world of the living. I had made such a terrible mistake in killing myself. If I could go back and change my life, I wouldn’t have to spend eternity here. I could change my ways, ensure a spot somewhere else. Somewhere away from The Pig. But what if it decided to send me to Hell? How much more suffering could I endure?

I had to take the chance.

“Please, God,” I whispered, taking a step forward, “If you can hear me…please…have mercy on me.”

My shaking hands reached out for The Pig and I grasped its thick fur. I felt it slowly lower its head and open its mouth. It was waiting for me, its thick, hot breath stinking in my nostrils. This was it. No turning back now.

I slowly gripped its teeth and pulled myself forward into its jaws. Its head was at a downward angle and so I immediately fell onto my stomach at a forty-five degree angle. Its wet tongue squished under me and I was shaking so hard I could barely breath. Tears soaked my blindfold and my heart crunched against my ribs.

I slowly reached forward and found another tooth to grab onto. Gritting my teeth, I pulled my body inward past my knees. The Pig raised its head and I was suddenly completely horizontal on its tongue.

Saliva and mucus dripped around me and the heat was so intense I almost blacked out. My knees clacked against its front teeth as I pulled myself even deeper. Its inner cheeks pressed in around me, squeezing my body like a soaking fleshy coffin.

Crying, terrified, I reached ahead of me and found more teeth. I pulled myself deeper into its mouth and I felt my feet slide past its lips. My whole body was coated in slime and I openly wept, grasping in the darkness for another tooth.

And that’s when The Pig started to chew on me.

I screamed in crushing agony as my body was compressed between its massive teeth. I heard my legs snap instantly and felt wet bone pop from my skin. I shook violently as my body spasmed in shock, a mangled twist of blood and pain.

Its tongue shifted me in its mouth and I felt it bite down on my shoulder. My eyes bulged in their sockets as I howled, a hot pillar crunching down on my collar bone. I threw up violently, unable to control myself, the pain overwhelming.

Keep crawling.

Screaming, bloodshot eyes rolling wildly, I reached forward with my good arm, wetly searching for another tooth. I grit my teeth, blood squirting between them, as my fingers wrapped around something solid.

The Pig bit down again, its tongue twisting my body so its molars could snap down on my knees. The pain brought darkness, but my howling screams forced my eyes to remain open.

“JESUS MAKE IT STOP!” I bellowed, my trembling hand still gripping the tooth ahead of me, “PLEASE MAKE IT FUCKING STOP!”

I ground my teeth together so hard they cracked, screaming as I slowly pulled my body deeper into the mouth.

Something was changing, the tights walls of its throat squeezed my head and I realized I was almost through.

“COME ON YOU MOTHERFUCKER! COME ON!” I begged, vocal cords cracking. I reached ahead of me and grabbed onto a thick wad of flesh. My head felt like it was splitting and The Pig bit down on me again.

I gasped, blood exploding from my mouth in a great gush of red.

It had pierced through my stomach, obliterating my insides like bloated noodles. Darkness rushed in on me and I was in too much shock to even scream.

With the last of my strength, right as the blackness took me, I pulled myself forward one last time and felt myself slide down its throat.

Darkness. Falling…screaming. I was screaming. Heat. Heat so intense I thought I would melt.

Clanging. Something was hammering on a metal. Colors and images flew past me so quickly I could only make out their shape. Blood poured into my eyes.

I felt like I would keep falling forever.

Suddenly, my eyes snapped open and I was falling, my breath rushing back into my lungs in a great wave of purity. My face bounced off wood floor and I cried out as I felt my nose break. I tasted blood and saw stars.

I had stopped falling.

There was a ring of burning fire around my throat and I felt impossibly thirsty.

I was lying on the floor.

I slowly opened my eyes again and the darkness began to fade like morning mist under a hot sun. Colors blended together and shapes came into focus.

I was in my woodshed.

I reached up around my throat and grasped at the source of heat. It was the rope I had hung myself with, but now it was severed, releasing me from the grip of death.

Relief rolled over me in overwhelming waves of thanks. I curled up on the floor and sobbed, tears dripping from my eyes onto the dirty floor. My body shook, unbroken, as I wept, wet horse cries rising from my quivering lips.

I had been spared. I was alive again.

From my spot on the floor, I turned my eyes upward, my voice cracking, “Thank you God. Oh thank you.” I fell into another fit of uncontrollable sobbing, “I promise I won’t waste my life again. I promise I’ll make things right, I’ll fix everything.”

I don’t know how long it was before I got up. Time seemed to stretch for eternity. My mind refused to rebuild, the horrors of what I had just witnessed crushing me.

But I knew I would do everything I could to make the most out of my life. I was going to live every day to the fullest. I would devote myself to helping others in dark times. I would reach out to as many Suicidals as I could and try to save them from awaited on the other side.

I didn’t want anyone else to have to witness the horrors of suicide.

I didn’t want anyone else to have to Feed the Pig.

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My Arm Was Amputated, And Something Really Weird Is Happening With My Phantom Limb

11 notes · View notes

let-me-love-you-loki · 4 years ago

Text

The Christmas that Wasn’t-Ch. 13

Chapter 13: Leigh

The sky was beautiful with the lights streaming over the velvet black of space. There was faint music in the distance, muffled by the sound of the surf slipping up on the edge of the sandbar. All of that was drowned out by the thundering of my heart in my ears. Kenny walked close to me with his hands stuck in his pockets. The scent of him reminded me of tree blossoms and something sweet beneath.

I knew what he’d seen, and I knew from Adam that he’d immediately thought the worst. Even though I didn’t owe him an explanation, I felt that I needed to tell him the truth of how I felt. I took a deep breath of the ocean air, screwed up my courage, and tucked my arm through his. He stiffened for a moment, the muscles in his arm tense and hard, then relaxed.

“Kenny, I know you saw…”

He reached across his chest and settled his hand on mine. “You don’t have to explain yourself. It’s none of my business.”

I leaned against his shoulder. “I’ve known Allie since college. We fell into this thing we have, and it shaped who I am. She’s my best friend, Kenny, and I don’t know what I’d do without her. I mean, we had this dream of the production studio in college, but we both played it safe. I started out teaching. She got an MBA. She met Jon on a business trip. But she was always there for me. Allie Mason is the first person I ever loved. I still love her, in just about every way that you can love a person.”

As soon as I started talking, the words poured out without stopping. “There was a brief time right after college—before I met Izzy—that Jon tried to set me up with one of his friends. That whole heartedly didn’t work out from the start. He was… well, the best way to say it is a fuck boy. You’ve probably seen his dick on Twitter.”

Kenny’s eyes went wide. “Wait… Allie was engaged to…. that Jon? Holy shit.”

“You’ve heard of him?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. He’s spent the last year trying to be me. And spoiler alert, he’s failing spectacularly.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Good.”

Kenny laughed, and it made something like electricity run through my body. He was handsome and sweet and kind. There was no doubt about how physically attractive he was, but there was something about his sweetness that amplified all the rest. It had been a long time since I’d felt this way about anyone but Izzy or Allie. Even though it scared me, I got the sense that he was feeling the same.

I stopped and turned to face him. The breeze ruffled beneath the skirt of my dress and blew my hair around my face. I reached up to tuck the wayward locks behind my ear, my fingertips skimming along my jaw and along my cheek. Kenny’s eyes watched every move, and I could see them darkening beneath the starlight.

“It’s been a really long time since I’ve… wanted anything with a guy,” I confessed quietly. “But I want something with you.”

His lips curled up into a soft smile. He brushed his knuckles along my cheek, his fingers tangling in my blowing hair. I watched his tongue brush across his lips. “I know the feeling,” Kenny whispered back. “I know what it’s like to give someone your whole heart and have them break it into pieces. I never expected Ibutan… Ibushi…” He paused, taking a deep breath. His fingers settled against my face. “I never expected him to do that to me, but I guess we never do.”

The sadness in his voice made my heart ache for him. I leaned into his touch, my eyes slipping closed. My soul was desperate to comfort him, to take away some of the pain he felt. “I’m so sorry, Kenny.”

He moved closer and slipped his arm around my waist. I settled against his chest with my palm flat over his heart. “I haven’t felt really alive since it happened… since I left Japan. Not until I sat with you in that airport.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Kenny settled his lips against mine in a feather light kiss. It lasted only a fraction of an instant, but it made me feel warm inside. When we parted, he rested his forehead against mine. The heat of his body settled around me.

“I want something with you,” he murmured. The words came out almost pained. He sighed and pulled me closer. “Come dance with me.”

The shift was almost comically dramatic, but I didn’t say no. I liked being in Kenny’s arms. It didn’t matter if there were other people around. He folded his hand into mine and lead me toward the edge of the sandbar where the music was a little louder.

“Stay right here,” he said just before giving me another barely-there kiss. I stood in the sand, the surf washing up over my toes, and watched as he walked back to the tent where we’d had dinner. He spent a moment talking to Adam and Allie, who grinned at him. Allie looked at me over Kenny’s broad shoulder and smiled.

Kenny came back a moment later and wrapped me up in his arms again. The music was barely audible over the sound of the water, but it didn’t matter. Being curled against Kenny’s chest and swaying beneath a sky full of shooting stars… it was the calmest I’d felt in a long time.

Time stood still and stretched out. The rhythmic sound of the ocean and the beating of his heart against my ear lulled me into a daze. I could feel his fingers brushing against my hair and along my back.

“Come back with me?” Kenny whispered in my ear softly. It sent a shiver down my spine.

I looked up into his blue eyes and fell into them. “Okay.”

***

Kenny ran his fingertips along my shoulders and along my arm as I slid the key into the door of the bungalow I shared with Allie. I had a feeling that he’d asked for Allie’s permission for this. It was sweet.

The moment I opened the door, I was awash in flickering light and the scent of flower petals. Kenny stood behind me, just inside the doorway, as I walked slowly into the room. Little electric tealights sat on the counters and along the windows. Flower petals were spread out on the floor and over the duvet on the bed.

“Kenny… how…?” I turned to see him looking sheepish. The grin that spread over his face was adorable and made his eyes crinkle. It made warmth tingle along my skin.

He stepped close and gathered me against his chest. “I called in a favor,” Kenny said quietly. His fingers slid along my cheek, strong and gentle. They trailed up my jaw and skimmed along my jaw. “And, honestly, Hangman and Allie might have played a part, too.”

I smiled, my heart skipping a beat at the sweet gentleness in his touch. His fingers tipped my head up, and I rose on my toes to press my lips against his. What started faint became more insistent. Kenny pressed on hand into the base of my spine, curled the other around the back of my neck. I relaxed into his arms as he deepened the kiss. My fingers fisted in the fabric of his shirt.

He pulled away, the tip of his nose brushing against mine. “It’s been a while,” he murmured against my lips.

“Me, too,” I replied as I draped my arms around his neck. He grinned and splayed his beautifully long fingers against my shoulder blades and held me like I was breakable. “I’m not good at this.”

He settled his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. “Neither am I.”

I could feel blood pound through my veins as I leaned into him. My fingers slipped through his curls. He was solid and strong, but in that moment, he looked so vulnerable. There was a softness in his touch as we stood amid flower petals and flickering tealights. Kenny drew me closer, our lips touching briefly once again.

A soft moan slipped out of him. His fingers tightened against my body, sliding down my back and settling on the curve of my hips and thighs. My dress bunched beneath his searching hands. A shiver ran up my spine at the thought of those beautiful fingers of his along my flesh.

“Leigh,” he said, his voice deep and rough. The sound made me burn all over.

I blushed at the thoughts that skipped through my head. “Come with me,” I whispered, curling my fingers around his wrists and pulling him deeper into the room.

We stopped beside the bed, watching one another with all the nervousness of two inexperienced teenagers. It felt that way, at least for me. Kenny was the first to move. He sat on the edge of the mattress and curved his hands against my hips before drawing me close to stand between his knees. His fingers flexed, every move pulling the hem of my dress higher and higher. Blood pounded in my ears.

Kenny smiled up at me, and I felt my heart melt. I cradled his face in my palms and leaned in to kiss him softly. He sighed against my mouth as he finally slid his hand beneath the fabric of my clothes. The feel of his touch on my bare skin was stronger than I imagined it would be.

“You are so beautiful,” he murmured as his fingers dug into the flesh of my hips. “The moment I saw you…”

I kissed him again, more insistently this time. My fingers wound in his hair, tugging the strands gently. The way his touch tightened and drew me closer made heat rush through me. I scratched my nails against his scalp.

“Jesus Christ,” he swore when I drew away and turned around. I gathered my hair up in my hands to pull it out of the way. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw him taking his time looking along the lines of my body.

“Are you going to unzip me, Kenny?”

The moment he drew the zipper down, I tugged my dress over my head and tossed it onto the floor. Before I could turn around, I felt Kenny’s fingers along my hips and his mouth settling on the curve of my spine.

Tag List

@mox-made-me-do-it @not-that-kinda-gurl08 @lilred91 @unabashedwrestlefics

#the christmas that wasn't #kenny omega #kenny omega fanfiction #hangman adam page #hangman page #adam page #adam page fanfiction #hangman page fanfiction #aew #aew fanfiction #real person fanfiction #ofc #oc #paradise #travel #strangers to friends to lovers #co-written #mox-made-me-do-it

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alias-b · 5 years ago

Text

sins of my youth. 003

Billy Hargrove x OC! Evie Fenny~ Also posted to my AO3

Summary: It was common knowledge that Billy Hargrove hated Hawkins. Hated Cherry Lane. Even loathed the strange girl next door. Evie Fenny wasn’t too fond of the chaotic Cali transfer either. An awful high school tradition sparks a chain of events that changes everything, ultimately bringing two frayed souls together.

A/N: Hey all! Enjoy the chapter. Billy trying again to woo Evie. They strike up a bet. TW: Pica. Light fatphobia. Taglist open :)

Chapter 3: To The Devil

“Hey, Karen, here for the two o’clock?” Evie was jotting down slanted notes at reception, crossing the name off. Mona’s salon smelled of mousse and hairspray. Fans blared to keep the air moving. Karen beamed back.

“I am. Need a touch up.” She touched her waves to give them a flick. "I'm so jealous of your curls, how do you get them to sit like that?"

"Genetics, I'm afraid. Ah, I just dip myself in water and pray for the best." The dry humor she was known for. "Mom has them too, if only she didn't inject a gallon of product into her hair every morning."

"Water. Innovative. Your secret is safe with me." Karen paused to laugh when Evie grinned, nodding as she finished the notes.

“Seat four, Claudia’s getting your stuff ready now.” A smile beamed.

“Thanks, sweetie. You’re mom in back too?”

“Yeah, fixing the music, she’ll be out in a sec.” Evie flicked a page and peered around. Yellow walls with baby blue trim. Similar to a dollhouse her mother made once. Too many plants to count, but that was Evie's fault.

She did rounds and cared for each one. Even the new bloom of begonias in one of the back rooms hanging just out a window. Twisting silk petals all blushed and unfurled.

Evie watered them, let the soil grow damp. Listened to the thumping of a dryer full of towels behind her in the cramped space. A rhythm she could write a song to. She saw a fallen petal and plucked it up. Felt the baby smooth texture between her finger pads.

Lifted it idly to her cheek. Let it caress her skin in one graze. It comforted, the mere touch of it. And the calm stillness that followed as if someone was holding her welled euphoria. The petal ran her lips, she felt in control of her senses. This touch that was warm and ticklish. Evie gave a shuddered breath and just wondered.

Wondered.

Evie spent too much of her life wondering.

The petal touched her tongue and she half expected it to melt like a chocolate. Rich and silky. She rolled it damp around her mouth. Chewed for an earthy twang. Looking at the flowers. Feeling them across her running palms. Gently bouncing into place before she swallowed. Evie turned quick, jolting back into her skin for one fleeting moment.

She was aware again. She was here. Still patting her cheek to stay grounded. Maybe the flowers would bloom a dainty beauty inside her. A delicate sensibility that’s evaded her all this life. Another flower petal plucked.

He loves me.

He loves me not.

Fingers pulled a begonia clean. Chanted the little game in her head.

He loves me.

Swallowed. There was a slight of guilt. She’d stolen the power from this living thing and brought it into her own being. That washed away. She was carrying it now. Patting her cheek again to console herself.

No one noticed Evie hidden in the back room. Indulging in control. It felt like a dirty school girl secret. Evie dipped her fingers into the wet soil. Sighed and let the earth fall back into the plot. She brought them up to see the filth. Thought to lick herself clean.

“Evie, can you bring the broom out?” A voice had her heart bursting. Evie yanked the watering can close, feeling the weight of liquid slosh. Her mother was next door fussing with music still. Blissfully unaware. Their usual relationship.

“Y-Yes!” She felt this shame etch her spine. The rush of being caught doing something she shouldn’t have. Which Evie Fenny was already no stranger to. She washed the evidence away and snatched a broom handle. “Coming!”

“Thanks, honey.” Claudia took it and let Evie go about her business. Watering the last few pots at reception.

The bell dinged right behind her as she stretched to water a pot above the door hanging from the ceiling, tip toeing upon a wooden stool.

Billy stood there, face at ass level and didn’t stop her. Not that he minded the view. A pink frilly apron over her violet dress. Black tights and belt to match. Big shiny hoops dangling caught the light above her, illuminating dark hair with a halo. Curls shifted and she eyed Billy Hargrove at the same time the music blasted back up. Dolly Parton of course.

Here you come again

Just when I've begun to get myself together

"Angel...what a view." His bright eyes scanned, full of glittery stars. Tongue crossing pink lips in a vaguely obscene way.

“Billy?” She hitched a breathy gasp and stumbled. Braced to fall on her ass before an arm swooped out to stop her. Muscles pulled Evie into a chest. A very cologned, hard chest. Those damn stars danced like she was in a movie, draped into Billy with the watering can clutched tight. Shifting around. Air sent their hair up and the door shut.

Dolly’s lyric timing was really the worst.

You waltz right in the door

Just like you've done before

And wrap my heart 'round your little finger...

Billy and his long lashes. Fluttering so pretty at her. Pulling her flush into the metalwork of his hot body. Evie lost herself.

Swept up in his arms with no words. No synapses obeying her body’s commands. She choked there looking like the cover of a romance novel. Blushed at him. Flowers in full bloom.

“You won’t soak my head if I make a joke about you falling from heaven, will you?”

There he is. Evie rolled her eyes and found her footing.

“Oh, but I will.” Hands pushed him to arm's length. No thank you followed.

“Hon, you alright?” Claudia had dropped her shampoo bottle. Few women echoed the call, eyes on the gorgeous boy who just strode in. Evie was quick to step from him.

“Fine, fine, I’m…” Evie brushed herself awkwardly and went around the reception counter. Mostly to put distance between them, setting the can aside. Billy followed after to lean against the wood so she kept her voice low. “What are you doing here?”

“I got bored.” He crossed his arms there to shrug, dressed to the nines and hair all done up. Eyes flicking. “Nice apron.”

Evie scowled at him.

“If you’re asking me to that party again, the answer is still-”

“Billy! How nice of you to visit, I hope I see Susan in here again soon.” Mona swept toward them. Both teens leaned out from each other. Billy flashed his teeth, all charm.

“She’s never felt better since coming in for the new do. Made my old man crazy.” He ignored Evie glaring at him.

“That’s what I love to hear.” Mona came up to pat his cheek. Billy slid his eyes to her daughter. “What can we do for you?” She touched golden hair to sweep it aside. Mona was just the friendly sort. “You know, we do boy’s hair too. All the time. You look like you take care of these darling curls.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, but actually I was just walking by and I saw Evie in her apron and thought we’d hit that burger joint for lunch.” His shiny teeth flashed to smile so Evie cut in.

“And,” her voice rose, “I was just carefully explaining to Billy that we’re super swamped today. I couldn’t possibly go. Shucks.”

Both Mona and Billy peered to see exactly three customers getting their hair done. No one outside. The appointment book near empty too.

“So busy.” Evie pressed her teeth, eyebrows lifting for her mother to get the hint. "Extremely."

She didn’t.

“Oh, no, Evie. It’s your winter break." Arms waved at her daughter. Near ready to give Billy Evie's hand in marriage. "Go have some fun with the nice young man.”

What a laugh.

“Are you sure? I can stay...literally all day here. I can move in here and never have to leave ever. Never. Ever.” Evie was getting her apron snatched off by her mother. A couple shoves got her around the counter.

“No, no. Go, shoo, have fun with a boy. Good to see you, Billy. Tell your parents that I said, hi. Have Susan bring your little sister in next time. What I wouldn’t give to style that pretty red hair she has.”

“I’ll let them know.” Billy actually held the door for Evie as she shrugged on her coat. Another heated expression before she huffed and went out. Ire. He can work with that. “Bye, ladies.” A wink.

“Bye, Billy.” Came the chorus. Both teens grinned all the way to the end of the window before hands snatched Billy’s collar when they were out of sight.

“What the hell are you doing, Billy?” Evie shook him by the leather jacket. Even the scrunching snarl at him was cute. Actually had his taller, broad frame pressed into a brick wall. Made Billy pause to observe her face. Mauve lips frowned deeper.

This was a cruel thing and she couldn’t stand it. This back and forth. These sides of Billy that only came out when it suited him best.

“Making it up to you. Christ, just fucking let me. Easy...” He shrugged off, going around her. She was being difficult about this, maybe rightfully so, but it still gnawed at him.

“C’mon.” Billy went on. Not bothered by the cold in his white button up shirt and jeans. Tucked and tight. The gold saint chain bounced against his chest as he walked. Hard, intent steps with a lazy wave. “You like burgers? Who doesn’t, I’m hungry.”

“I don’t need you to make it up to me, Billy.” She trailed after him. “This weird game you’re playing really doesn’t interest me.”

“This town is so fucking boring. You know that?” He spoke instead, clicking his tongue and looking beyond them. “Got nothing to do, why not hang out? We’re neighbors.”

“When have you acted like a neighbor?”

“Right fucking now, Angel.” Blue eyes shifted to spot the right building.

He was such an ass and she was still willingly walking beside him.

“Ask Tommy or Carol to hang out.”

“No one likes Tommy or Carol, would you want to hang out with them in your free time? Fucking annoying. Carol wants to fuck me and Tommy? ...You know, he might want to fuck me too. I'm the whole package.”

“So, you’re with me because I’m not annoying like them and I don’t want to fuck you?”

Billy turned sharp to see her at the crosswalk. Golden curls swept up. Almost offended.

“Who said you didn’t want to fuck me?” The shit asked it so genuinely too. "I never said that."

“Literally me, just now.” She pressed the walk button because he had her under a spell and Billy went before it changed. “Ugh.” Evie, ignoring her better judgment, paced after him. Street was empty.

“You’re plenty annoying, Fenny.” Billy strode inside the diner and didn’t wait before he grabbed a table. Slapped a plastic menu down across the way until she moved to take the offered seat. A waitress appeared from nothing, but Evie figured Billy just had that effect.

“Know what you want, sugar?”

“Number three. Coke. Cheese Fries. Jalapenos on the burger and on the fries. And whatever the lady wants.” He stole an ashtray and dug for a smoke, not looking at either girl. Few people eyed them and Evie gave in.

They were both still pretty hungover and she didn’t want to make a scene. Which Billy knew well and used to his advantage.

“I will have the exact same thing.”

“Are you sure?” The waitress looked Evie up and down as she said that. Oh, so carefully. Evie paused to tense up, acutely aware that she didn’t look right across from this gorgeous, golden boy.

The thought hadn’t even struck her until it was pointed out, that’s what sobered it painfully.

“Yeah, she’s sure. We’ll take a large chocolate milkshake also. Two straws.” Billy snapped, flicking his menu up. The waitress bowed her head and hurried away. Evie’s jaw hung open while he played with his lighter distractedly. Eyes flicked up. “What, are you catching flies over there?” He lit a cigarette and her mouth shut.

“I’m in the fucking Twilight Zone.” Elbows hit the table

“That stuff you said Heather liked...” Billy tapped his ashes. Ignored the waitress when she set Cokes down. “That was about you, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, so?”

“Museums and horror flicks. Noted.” He shrugged. “You into that poetry shit? Always writing.”

“Song lyrics.” Evie took a breath and answered slower. This was weird. It was weird that...it wasn’t so weird all the sudden. Billy did what suited him. Blue eyes lingering on her then darting all over. He sat back with one boot up on the seat. Actually listening. Smoking. Present. “I play guitar and sing."

Yeah, he heard her guitar from his window every other night if it was open.

"You're always writing too," she went on, "I know it isn't school work." Observant.

"I'd rather write some shitty story than listen to a lecture about nothing in class." Billy's ashes hit the tray again. “Are you going to be the next Dolly?”

“My mom would love that.” She broke to laugh at herself and sip. “More Kate Bush or Stevie Nicks.”

“Thank fuck, one Dolly is enough.” He snuffed his smoke out. “Why won’t you go to the party with me?”

“Why do you suck with rejection?” She asked it bolder than intended. Half expected Billy to get upset and walk out. Smoke etched out his pink lips when he chuckled, catching his tongue between teeth. This girl was all four seasons in one spitting firecracker.

“You got a wall up bigger than your mom’s hair, Evangeline.”

“I built it myself, William, thanks.” Evie smiled sweetly that time, gazes locked. He twitched at the use of his birth name. A beat of staring before food arrived.

“Will that be-?”

“Yeah, we’re good.” Billy plucked a fry up, watched melted cheese string from it before he chewed and the waitress saw herself off. “Don’t tell me you’re not gonna eat like normal in front of me.”

He caught Evie picking up a knife and fork. She shot him a look. Dropped them and stole the milkshake to sip. Passed it over for him before she went for the burger.

“There you go.”

“Stuff it.” She grabbed a fry and watched him take the biggest bite he could. Cheese drooped out the bottom. “Hangover miracle, huh.”

“Hmm.” Billy was too busy chewing. Evie took a bite, sipped more coke and decided to engage this.

“Can I ask why your dad moved you across the country during your last year of high school?”

“New bullshit job.” He went at his fries, smearing them around cheese to eat with crunching jalapenos. “Wanted to start his white picket fence over since it didn’t work the first time and he thought he could spite me in the process.”

Billy licked his thumb, eyes elsewhere.

“I’ll bet he just wanted away from memories of my mom.”

Evie paused carefully. It was the first he’d spoken of her.

“Oh.” She pulled for a napkin, eyes on her food. Peculiar how quick he got real with her here. Billy Hargrove was usually putting up thick layers of artificial bullshit. Plastic cheese on greasy fries.

“Didn’t help that I was in and out of fights.”

“That changed?” She reached for the milkshake. “So, your mom-”

“Did you really get into a fight last year?” Billy had finished the burger and was now going at his fries again, gestured so she slid the milkshake back.

“I don’t remember it well.”

“Bullshit, Fenny.” He smirked to himself. “I’d know. You see red and you remember how it tastes every single time.”

“You’re the expert.” She shrugged, wiping her greasy fingers on napkins. Left a few bites of burger because a voice drilled to do so. Same with the fries. “He was a jerk and...my parents just got divorced. I was upset. I let him have it. Everyone got dramatic about it because I’m Evie Fenny and not Randy Savage.”

"So, how'd it taste?" Billy looked at her eyes and saw them flash.

He’s had enough! Students kept chanting that in her ear. Pulling Evie and her clawing talons out of the huge football player under her knees. She breathed pure smoke. Hair flying all directions. Felt the coolness of dewy grass and warmth of blood crusting her fingers.

"It was like..."

Descending upon Tannen like thunder. Heavy rain and cracks of lightning followed by a boom. Thunderous applause too. She stared back at Billy with a dreamy expression. Recalled cowering through rainstorms as a little girl. Into the closet where she felt safer.

Her father, Jack, always found her. He’d sit next to her in there and bring her close under one arm.

“Don’t be scared, little mouse.” Never could make out his smile in darkness.

"It's...hot metal. Lava pouring down your throat trying to harden inside you." She got real too and Billy's lip lifted. Soft as can be. "Like it's making a cast of you in that specific moment of rage."

Evie blinked out of the memory. Watched Billy stare again before he pushed the milkshake back to her side. A peace offering. She accepted and drank, let lipstick print on the candy cane colored straw.

“I’m going to ask you out.” He decided gentler. Intent. “New Years Eve. Seven on the dot. You can show up in a nice dress when I knock and we’ll go. Or not.”

“You might want a back up girl.” Evie sucked in her cheeks, eyes had to leave his to see the table. Thighs pressing. He'd definitely just undressed her.

“No need.” Billy crossed his arms to shrug. “Don’t want one. Already asked the girl I want to take. C’mon, Fenny, quit hiding and get out. What are you waiting for?”

“I’m not hiding.” Evie shook her head, chest sinking. “You’re the one hiding.”

“Me?” His shoulders rose. Got all puffy like a peacock.

“Hawkins High King. Billy Hargrove.” She lifted her hands for dramatic effect. Leaned forward to match him in intensity. “Thrashing forth in a billow of hairspray and cigarette smoke. Sun left in your wake along with a trail of broken hearts. You pose for them and they eat you up. There won’t be much left..."

That sentiment kicked Billy in the chest.

"...Everything you say is layered in rage and cheese. It’s mind numbing. I have a wall up, but you put up this flashy front that just blinds everyone. You want their eyes to bleed for you. Get real, Hargrove.”

“I’ll get as real as you want. Ask me anything.” Came the challenge.

“Okay. Why’d you beat up Steve Harrington?”

“Cause he was lying to me and because I hated him.” Billy shrugged, eyes averting. "Because I wanted to taste hot metal. It's home to me."

“Lying? About what?”

“Still don’t know and frankly, I don’t care anymore.” A quick sip from his coke. “Go to the party with me.”

“You just don’t give up.” She peered into her glass. Wanted to eat the ice cubes clicking there.

“Maybe I’m asking you not to give up on me.” There was something almost sincere there like Billy was touching the earth for the first time.

“Why are you trying to trick me?” Evie pushed her cup aside even though her teeth chattered to crunch.

“Trick you?”

“This party thing.” She paused when the waitress returned to clear the table. Leaving the check face down. “You’ve been nothing but an ass to me since you moved in. Ignored me. Probably can’t even recall what I was wearing when we met.”

“Your mom’s hair kinda got in the way when she brought you over.” He joked and didn’t miss her stifle amusement, eyes rolling. “It’s not a trick, we might actually have something in common.”

“What’s that?”

“The people in this hell town aren’t very interesting. Maybe I find you interesting.” His brow quirked. Fingers tapped the lacquer table.

“I don’t find you all that interesting.” Evie smiled that time and Billy matched it.

“That’s fine. You will."

"So certain?"

"Give me a chance.” Billy’s eyes flicked over her before he sat up. Didn’t miss a damn beat. “You wore red button up shirt tucked into a little denim skirt with suspenders. Black tights. Grey shoes. Sunglasses with big white cat frames. That same gold necklace with the music note and dangle earrings to match. You introduced yourself with your mom. Took the sunglasses off and even had gold on your eyelids too. I remember it.”

"Yeah?" Her lips parted with the audible breath he stole. And oh so easily. Evie leaned closer so he followed. Hooded eyes all aflutter.

"Made your eyes look..." Billy searched. "Molten. Volcanic like."

"Molten?" Evie wasn't even hearing herself anymore.

"Just, I don't fucking know, warm like..." The beach. California. Home. Billy lost the thought and licked his lips. "You just looked painted."

"Painted?" Evie had mused then. Entertained now at his odd way of description. Tried not to think about Billy running a wet paintbrush down her bare neck.

"Yeah." Billy breathed slower. Painted. With the autumn breeze and sun in her hair, slowly brushing curls around those full, tinting cheeks. A subject the fucking Pre Raphaelites would have lost their shit over and painted all seasons. He could picture Evie floating in an endless pool being kissed by fallen flower petals. Draped in miles of iridescent chiffon reclined in emerald green grass. Looking straight at the viewer with intensity and still dreaming all the same.

"You had on a black tee. Jeans. Your saint chain. A pair of aviators tucked into your denim coat pocket." Evie peered under the table. "Same boots... You looked like you wanted to be literally anywhere else."

"That'd be the truth. Wasn't you or your mom's chipper greeting." Billy was looking down now. "Just realized I couldn't see the ocean anymore is all. You held out your hand and I ignored it because I'm an asshole. We established that this morning and now I'm making it up to you."

“And you still peeked at my chest." Evie flashed a cheekier smile. "Said your name only after Neil gave you this hard stare. Max sped by on a skateboard, you must have thought I was distracted. But, I caught you.”

“I did check your tits out, sue me. I have eyes. You have tits. The world spins.” He smacked a couple bills down as she went through her pockets. The spell on them both shattered to rain. “Already paid. Let’s go, the waitress is staring at us. We'll make a grand exit, huh?”

“But-” Evie stopped when he grasped her wrist and pulled her up into his side. Spied the waitress scowling as he held her hip and they went out. Got away from the window before she pulled from him. “Get your mitts off me, Hargrove.”

“Still open for questions.” He sniffed and they went back down the street. Another smoke was lit.

“Okay. I'll go for the obvious. Do you think we look funny together?” She crossed her arms when Billy leaned against the side of his car.

“Who cares. You’re making a big deal over nothing. It’s just a party.”

“The world cares. That waitress back there. Kids at school.” She shrugged.

“You.” He clicked his tongue, head tilting.

“I don’t care.”

“That’s why you don’t want to go to the party with me, you’re stuck on what they’ll think.” He pointed with the red hot cherry of his cigarette. “Fuck ‘em. As your Louisiana folk would say: to the devil with false modesty.” He mocked her mother's accent with that.

“Maybe, it’s because you’ve been a jerk to me. That reason enough?” Evie dropped her arms and Billy paused to nod, inhaling. “I don’t know what this is, Billy, but...just stop it. Ask someone else.” She eyed her mom’s salon and took a few steps back. “Thanks for lunch. I gotta go, my mom won’t turn this place over to the evening girl unless forced.”

“Can’t tell me what to do, Angel.” He stood taller. “I’ll bet you another Coke that Mona invites me to dinner tonight. TV included.”

Evie gaped at him.

“A Coke?”

“I’m easy to please. I’m gonna come to your house for dinner. Hour of TV at least.” He cocked his head. So full of pride.

“Why are you dragging this day out?” She turned to face him again.

“I want to meet your cat.” Billy wrapped his lips around the smoke. Exhaled after. “That little creep stares at me from your window day in and out.”

“He doesn’t like boys.”

“Bet he’ll like me.”

“I bet he won’t. He’ll stay in his bed and not spare you the time. It'll hurt your ego.” Evie came to Billy with her own certainty.

Bourbon was old. He liked to sleep, have his ears scratched, and purr. A lot. He hid when company came and keeps a safe distance once wandering out.

“Oh, another challenge. Okay, Fenny. We’re doing this.” Billy came to her, flicking his smoke to crush it under the toe of his boot. Cold wind blew. “When I come to dinner tonight-”

“If.” She corrected.

“When Mona invites me with her beat to hell Louisiana accent,” Billy insisted, “you get to play hostess. If that cat takes a liking to me, you’re going to the New Years party with a Hargrove.” He towered there and studied her.

“And that’s if you can even set foot into my house... It’s not a date. The dance.”

“What do you have to lose here?” Billy offered his hand and Evie eyed him suspiciously. Lips pursed before she reached to take it. His other broad palm came up to prolong it, engulfed hers before he leaned in even closer. Whispering and sultry. “Oh, and literally everyone in that place is already staring at us. We look just fine together, Evangeline. To the devil.”

Evie hitched a breath. Inhaled his cologne and twisted to see many eyes snap aside behind the glass.

“Ah, shit.” She tugged from his warm palms and went inside. Billy, cool and collected, trailed after. He cleared his throat and spoke up.

“I just really don’t want to impose, Angel.” The tone changed and her body locked, turning to question it before her mother replied at reception first.

“Impose?” Mona blinked, snapping a book shut.

“I-”

“Your daughter kindly invited me to dinner, I figured it was too short notice for her lovely mother." Billy made a thing of it to sigh with longing. "Any other day, I’d-”

Evie's entire face scrunched at him. Cheeks red like strawberries when her jaw set.

“Oh, no! You’re always welcome. We’re having Swedish meatballs. Easy thing to whip up. I always make so much extra, don’t I, Evie?”

Evie Fenny hated Billy Hargrove. Officially and totally. Hated his smug little face.

Her tongue clicked at him.

“Mm hm.”

Billy only smiled, winking. Too easy.

“What a wonderful idea to invite him, baby. I’m going to be headed home soon. We might have a late meal. Is eight alright for you?” Mona tucked Evie’s curls behind her ear and flashed a hundred watt grin.

“Eight is perfect, Ms. Fenny.” Billy charmed the entire room. Except the painted, plush storm cloud in front of him. “I also have to say, has anyone ever told you that you look like a brunette Dolly Parton?”

The woman about squealed at him.

“You know, I get it sometimes.” She touched her collar with one hand and pushed at him. “Does your family want to come over for dinner?”

“Unfortunately, no. My dad is taking Susan out. You know, date night. Max is spending the night at a friend’s house. Police Chief’s new kid. So, I’m all alone tonight.”

“Well, not anymore, come over and I’ll get you fed. My door is always open, Billy.” Mona tapped his chin. “Eight o’clock sharp.”

“I’ll be there.” He turned to Evie. Speechless. Voice lowered as he leaned in to brush one knuckle along her jawline. “And I’ll be seeing you, Angel.”

Billy seemed to linger for her to say something more, finger curling into unruly locks.

"To the devil." She uttered with pointed brown eyes. Unable to leave him.

The curl bounced back into place. Billy heard her lungs sputter with need and bit his lip, sly. A final wink just for Evie.

One bell and he was gone.

“Mom.” Evie broke to moan and pull herself back together, following. “Why?”

“Why, what? Let the boy come over for dinner.” She plucked up a comb to put some finishing touches on a woman’s hairdo, nodding to her stylist.

“He’s trouble, you know about him. The whole town does.”

“Sweetheart, we’re always going to be hospitable. Especially to troubled souls. It’s what Dolly and the Bible would have wanted.” That was always Mona's sound advice.

“Christ.”

“Evangeline.” Mona shot her a look. Fussed. “Do not take that tone with the Lord, young lady.”

“I’m sorry, just,” she blew air out her lips and whined, “I can’t stand him.”

“Seemed awful cozy out there or have I gone blind now? All the smiles and nicknames.”

Evie bit her tongue at that because there was plenty Mona chose not to see.

“Billy does that, he tricks you and then steps on you because it’s a game to him.”

“Maybe he’s trying to do better. I know he gotten into some trouble, but what do I always tell you?”

Evie crossed her arms tight, hip cocked. Monotone.

“You’d tell me Dolly would want us to see the light of a clear blue morning.”

“And has Dolly ever steered me wrong?” Mona pointed with the comb before she fluffed the locks up. “Perfect, go ahead and finish this. Good work, dear.”

“Thanks, Miss Mona.” A new hire moved to finish, pushing large glasses up her nose. Mona went around them and Evie followed.

“I know, I know. Be brave and kind. Honest and always open your heart. Blah. I’ll be civil if he is.”

“Oh honey, let a boy be nice to you once in awhile. You might like it.”

“Pssh. Find me one first.” Evie passed her mom to get her bag. “They only get nice when they’re older and mature.”

“I wouldn’t always bet on that, baby.” Mona replied softer than intended. “Cruelty takes so many forms, that’s how it seeps into our lives so easily. It’s a comfort.”

Evie didn’t find something to argue with there. Just watched her mother’s back tense.

Let the words flutter like silken petals on the wind.

To the damn devil.

~~~~~~~

Thanks everyone xoxo! Askbox is open. TAGGED:: @80sbxtch @nottherightseason @orxhidshavana @alagalaska @alongcamedolly

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adarlingwrites · 4 years ago

Text

Absolution

Summary:

noun: formal release from guilt, obligation, or punishment

The Capital Wasteland lauded the Lone Wanderer as a hero, a Messiah, a savior who’s willing to give her life for the Good Fight. Beyond the legends, the propaganda, and the mythification that surrounded her legacy, there is only one person who knew her bare soul. She gave him his absolution, and now he will fight for hers.

Author’s notes: Finally, after months, I finally got to updating the fic! Schedule will be still irregular, but if things go according to plan the next chapter might come at around April 7. Thank you for staying tuned, please enjoy the chapter!

XXIX

January 14, 2278.

The green glow of Percy’s Pip-Boy illuminates the dark corridors of the Vault. I squinted, vaguely reading the time as two in the afternoon. She stands closer next to me. My partner does that whenever we explore vaults, and I can’t blame her.

Even I get creeped out by these damn things.

I didn’t know which was worse; the ones filled with insane clones who screamed “Gary”, or the one that filled my lungs with some kind of drug that made me and Percy trip out of our minds and almost hurt each other.

I don’t even wanna remember either. I must shift my focus on helping Percy find the GECK.

The ventilation is dead, and so is the thermostat, with the vault being in a state of decay for fuck knows how long. Some of these underground bunkers were built when I still had skin. Percy was extra cautious, and she was right to be. We faced several super mutants; Percy took care of them from a distance, while I offered additional firepower, ensuring none of those big green muties came within ten feet of her.

Reloading my shotgun, I hid behind a fallen desk as Percy fired another round from her Gauss rifle, nicking one mutant coming from my blind spot. The corner of my mouth tugs upward when I remember the first time we faced super mutants together, in the DC ruins.

I look at her now, and how she’d grown as a fighter.

Once all the muties in the area are dead, Percy sneaks over to a terminal, the glow of the monitor washing her helmet with a sickly green hue. My partner retracts her helmet, and begins typing away.

Shotgun still warm on my peeling hands, I’m alert to my surroundings as usual, though I can’t help but glance at her baffled expression, her frown frown deepening the more she reads the text on the screen.

“Shit. This isn’t science, this is sick! Charon, oh my god,” she whispers, eyes fixed on the terminal. “Some twisted scientist experimented on the vault residents to make the mutants. Vault 87 is where all the muties are coming from. They kidnap wastelanders and take them here and infect them with the FEV strain that doctor concocted.”

Expression grim, I turn to Percy. “Are you hinting that we blow this place up too, like Paradise?”

Sighing, Percy shuts the terminal off. “It’s too dangerous due to all the radiation in the area, and we don’t have the means to do it now. Maybe we can inform the Brotherhood.”

Knowing those tin cans, I roll my eyes at her. “If they decide to do something about it. They can’t even send their own men to fetch the damn GECK and they sent you.”

“My opinion of them is slowly getting worse as the days pass, that’s for sure,” Percy quips, powering down the terminal. “Fuckers have the most advanced weaponry in all of the Capital Wasteland next to the Enclave and they’re hiring a teenager and her ghoul partner as errand runners.”

At Percy’s remark, I chuckle.

“You mean the Wasteland Avenger and the Ghoul Reaper.”

“I thought you hated those nicknames,” she chuckles, the helmet of her suit protracting to cover her face once again.

“I still do, and Three Dog has no fucking problem using them, and us, to promote the Brotherhood. But those assholes don’t even respect you.”

Percy pauses, then her helmeted face turns to me. “Do you think he’s a little bit biased towards the Brotherhood?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for starters, he preaches about how ghouls are people too, and he’s absolutely right about that, but he says nothing about the Brotherhood's bigotry against ghouls. Worse, a ghoul had been directly and indirectly helping them, and he’s still quiet.”

I rubbed my chin at her observation. “Huh. I’ve never thought of it- Percy, your six!”

She turns around, and sees the centaur approaching us, those god-awful tentacles writhing as it advanced. A few things unsettle me, seeing how I have to deal with my ugly mug whenever I look in the mirror, but those things? It makes the hairs on what little skin I have left stand.

It took two rounds to take it down, its head splitting like a rotten fruit the second time Percy shoots it. Disgusting.

Percy seems to be thinking of the same thing, recoiling and shivering. “Thanks.”

I grunt in response. “Let’s get a move on. I don’t wanna spend another minute in this damn place,” I muttered, and my partner nods.

We advance, taking care of any mutants we bump into along the way. Percy sweeps every area we go into for supplies, and terminals she can tinker with. I have a feeling that her accessing the files in this vault isn’t born out of her natural curiosity now. She’s seeking something.

A truth of some sorts.

On one particular terminal she accessed, she recoiled in horror, stumbling into me. I steady her, my large hands cupping her shoulders as she takes a sharp inhale.

“That bad?”

“Yeah,” she gasps. “Look.”

Barely making out the words, I lean over to read the text with difficulty. Thankfully, Percy spells it out for me. “These are death codes. They represent what the vault residents succumbed to. See that?”

She points at a string of text on the screen. “UD000.”

“Unexplained deaths. If I had to guess, they came up with this to cover up the fact that these people actually died due to the experiments their bastard scientists did to them. Now look at this,” Percy continues, typing away and accessing a list of the deceased. Eighty goddamn seven of those were unexplained.

A twisted feeling crawls up my spine, reminding me of the government program I was forced into.

??? ??, 2074.

Lined up, waiting for what’s about to come next, I stood beside Mag. My lanky limbs were tense, and the skin of my neck felt sickeningly tender, the collar around it making it bulge. From the corner of my eye, I look at my fellow trainees, all six of them.

Out of the hundreds of people they brought in, only the seven of us survived.

Sergeant Williams steps in the room, and all of us move in unison to salute, starched black uniforms barely creasing as we raised our arm for the gesture.

“Listen up, maggots! Out of the four hundred seventy three recruits we had for rehabilitation, only the seven of you didn’t wash out, drop dead, or ate a gun. Consider this the greatest honor, for you are now considered rehabilitated from commie propaganda,” he barks, barely concealing his Texan drawl, spittle flying everywhere.

“Consider this the greatest honor, for you are now ready to dedicate your worthless goddamn lives to the USA! You are to follow every damn command issued to you by whoever holds your contracts! You were trained for this singular purpose, are we clear?”

Our voices filled the room as we shouted “Yes sir!” in unison.

That was the day I was given my name.

The sergeant christened me as Charon, burning away whatever was left of Artyom Volkov, or so he thought.

Out of the hundreds of souls that got wasted from the Enclave’s bullshit, I somehow managed to survive, and I still intend to continue surviving. I have my partner Percy, that jackass DeLoria, and the dog now.

I pull myself back to the present as my partner shuts down the terminal, turning to the medical safe and taking whatever supplies we can get.

“C’mon. I don’t wanna linger here any more,” she whispers, a small tremble in her voice.

Following her to a corridor, the red lights glower over us almost ominously as we pass by several holding cells. The goosebumps on whatever’s left of my skin intensify. It was cold, desolate.

Until some crazy fuck lunged at us from behind a reinforced glass window and scared the living daylights out of Percy, who screams in surprise and bumps into me. Out of instinct, I catch her, and use my body to shield her.

The man continued to bang on the window as we both recovered from the damn surprise, a frown on my face as I took a closer look. The poor guy’s been driven mad from being held there. I doubt we can save him.

Of course, what happened made us look inside the rest of the holding cells.

I regret doing so immediately.

Centaurs, blobs of vaguely fucking human abominations and other unsightly shit occupied the holding cells. Percy is visibly disturbed, gagging, her helmet retracting just in case she vomits from the sights.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” she curses, sweat dripping from her brow despite the cold. “We should put them out of their misery.”

“Do you really want to deal with them right now?” I ask her as her eyes watered from the scene. “Let’s just come back for them once we retrieve the GECK,” I continue, gently placing my hand on her upper back.

Percy nods, and wordlessly forges on.

As we rounded a corner, we heard a brash voice ringing through an intercom.

“It can’t be!”

Both of us turn towards the sound. Slowly, cautiously, we creeped at the source, and we saw the unthinkable.

A super mutant is locked behind a holding cell. He’s standing next to the window, looking at my partner and I in surprise. Then, he continued talking. Not the broken speech you’d expect from a mutie, but full, actual sentences.

“Either you are quite real, or I’m going quite mad. Could you actually be a pure human?” the super mutant asks, gawking at Percy. Just to be safe, I remain at her side, still gauging if he can be trusted. “And this… is he another of the experiments, like me?” he continues, addressing my presence.

“Yes, I’m human. He is a ghoul. He’s like that because of the radiation and not an experiment, I’m afraid,” Percy replies, stepping closer to the glass to stare at him back, craning her neck to get a better view of him. What’s left of his jumpsuit are in tatters, and he loomed over the window, as big as the uglies who were dumber than him, if not even bigger. Even I had to crane my own neck upwards. This guy dwarfed me.

Damn, is this what Percy feels like when she’s with me?

“But what are you?” Percy asks.

“Me? You care who I am?” he asks, and I can almost hear Percy’s heart break at the question. He seemed like an outcast, locked away like this. I get the feeling he’s exactly on good terms with the mutants that roam the vault.

“I’m not used to pleasantries, forgive me. I’m more used to being struck around by the others,” he responds, pressing a meaty hand against the glass. Just as I thought. Guy’s an outcast.

“My name is Fawkes. I’ve lived in this cage… all my life.”

I looked at Percy and expected the sympathetic expression on her face. One look at that face and I already damn know she’s thinking of how to help him out.

“I’m Percy Zhou,” my partner introduces herself. “This is Charon.”

“A friendly mutie. Now I’ve seen everything,” I comment, and I hear Fawkes groan.

“Must you use that vulgar term?” he laments, face twisting in disdain, or disappointment, or an approximation of either seeing how the movements of his face muscles are limited. “Indeed I was born in the F.E.V. Chambers, but super mutant I am not. I prefer the term Meta Human. Suits me better, don’t you think?”

I was taken aback. I mean, damn, this guy sounds smarter than DeLoria. Hell, he sounds smarter than me. And that’s what makes him dangerous; if the dumb ones are a menace, imagine the damage a smart one can do.

“Percy, I think we should go. He might be dangerous,” I mumble, and Fawkes moves even closer to us, a shift in his tone.

“No, please! I haven’t had a single civil conversation all my life! Don’t go,” he begs, and though his voice is grating and booming like the rest of the super mutants, you can almost hear pain behind it.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Percy reassures him, pressing a small hand against the dirty window as a gesture of camaraderie. Then, she whips her head towards me, and whispers. “Charon, he’s lonely. Don’t you think he deserves even just a polite conversation?”

Grumbling, I fold my arms and nod. Percy smiles softly, and turns to Fawkes again. “Is your name really Fawkes? Like Guy Fawkes, the man who was involved in a plot to end his people’s persecution by assassinating a king?”

Fawkes seems delighted that Percy knew that tidbit of information. “Ah! You know your history as well! Yes, the name comes from a man who was willing to fight and die for what he believed in. I found it fitting, given my current circumstances. I’ve taken it from a historical entry in the computer,” he replies, gesturing to the terminal in his cell.

As they continued their conversation, I scanned for any threats that might befall us. What’s left of my ears picked up something from their chat, and my head whips towards Percy.

“I’ll get you out,” she said.

I frowned and folded my arms. “Percy, what the hell are you doing?”

“Charon, Fawkes said that the chamber holding the GECK is highly irradiated, and he can get it for us. Don’t you think it’s a good trade? He can have his freedom, and we can get what we came here for.”

“And I’m immune to radiation too. I’ll take the GECK,” I tell her, straightening my back subconsciously out of bravado. “We don’t know if he can be trusted. For all we know, the moment he gets out of his cell, he’ll attack us!”

“You’re not an errand boy, you’re my partner. That’s perfectly reasonable, but we’ve handled mutants before, Charon. If he gives any indication that he’s going to betray us, you’re free to empty your clip on him.”

This is starting to turn into an argument. I massaged my temples, frowning. “I’m not going to take that risk. I need to protect you.”

“What if he’s actually decent, and we just leave him here to rot and be tormented by the other mutants? You have your freedom now, Charon. Don’t you think he deserves his too?” Percy almost shouts, voice raised, and on her tiptoes.

Her words made me pause. Percy just had to go there, didn’t she? And it was effective too. I look at the big, green super mutant, or Meta Human, whatever he wanted to call himself, and a pang of guilt tugs at my gut.

Grumbling, I relent and nod.

This woman’s heart might be the death of her one day. Setting Fawkes free better be worth it.

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aurora-the-kunoichi · 6 years ago

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Chance Meetings Chapter Nine

Reader and Turtles

Warning: Attempted Rape

As the clock struck 5 pm you were already halfway out the door heading for the familiar alleyway and the heavy manhole cover. Thankfully after a couple weeks of training with the boys and many of nights hauling that giant disk of metal from its home you had gotten stronger. Now the simple task of getting down into the sewers wasn’t as daunting.

Slipping into the shadows the manhole came into view just under the flickering light near the dumpster and you smiled at the thought of seeing Leo again in a few minutes. You had found it difficult to concentrate during the work day, your mind wandering to Leonardo often. His strong thighs his hot breath on your neck as he…. Ok ok calm down.

Lost in thought once again you didn’t hear the foot steps behind you as you knelt down to pull the manhole cover free. Before your fingers could hoist the metal disk you heard a chilling laugh sound behind you.

“Hey there pretty lady, I think we have some unfinished business we need to conclude.”

Before you could turn around you felt something hard hit the back of your head sending you into the unforgiving nothingness of sleep. You were in dip shit.

The heavy throbbing in the back of your skull sent sharp shooting pains to the base of your eyeballs as you came too. Slowly your eyes fluttered open coughing at the dusty floor your face was pressed against and the light stench of fish hung in the air making your nose wrinkle in disgust. Trying to sit up you found your arms and legs immobilized, zip tied together, your arms behind your back.

You tried to stay calm, but your heart had other plans as its steady beat began to rise rapidly. Your breath came in quick short pants bringing in the dust on the floor into your mouth making it taste horrible. “Calm down, first things first assess the situation.” You told yourself willing your breathing to return to normal. You could do this, you had only been kidnapped…..KIDNAPPED!

Turning a little onto your back you noticed there was another body lying next to you in the same unfortunate situation. Their back was to you but you could tell by the clothes and painted fingernails it was a woman and they were still blissfully unaware of the danger that both of you were now in.

Your eyes scanned the large empty room finding old canning equipment. You knew this place, it was the old canning factory on Doc 3. You and your friends would come here all the time when you were in high school to hang out and get away from your parents. You knew this place like the back of your hand. That knowledge made your thundering heart ease up just a little.

Now it was time to free yourself before anyone came back. Rolling back onto your shoulder blades you brought your knees to your chest and pulled your bound hands down and under your butt inching your hands under your shoes bringing them out in front of you. You had to remember the survival techniques Leo had shown you, you had to break free of these zip ties and get to the small blade that was hidden in your shoe. The blade all four of the turtles demanded you keep on you at all times. Your teeth found the extra tail on the long plastic restraint and pulled the zip tie tight as it would go and you slammed your wrists down on our stomach pulling your wrists in opposite directions, the inertia of it was enough to snap the white plastic freeing your hands.

Before you could get to your concealed knife you heard voices, reaching out you grabbed the remanence of your binding and placed your hands behind your back pretending to still be restrained. Shifting a little to your back you hid your wrists from view.

“Hey looks like one of ‘em is awake Nino.” You hear an arrogant voice call from a good distance away followed by several heavy footsteps closing in on you faster than you’d like. “Fuck.” You huffed out.

You watched as several rough looking men came into view sauntering up to your prone body looking down at you hungrily. Unwilling to show them the fear they desired you narrowed your eyes and spat at their feet.

Everyone threw their head back laughing at your defiance. “This one has spunk, I like that.” One of them smiled licking his lips like you were some sort of snack.

“Yeah, this one knocked out Kino and Lars by herself and almost got me.”

You recognized that bone chilling voice as is filtered past the group of men sizing you up. Clearing a path two of the men parted allowing that asshole who had nearly killed you, step into your line of vision. He was in black jeans and a dark blue tank top showing off his purple dragon tattoo on his left shoulder. Actually, you could see almost everyone one of them have some sort of purple dragon tattoo on their skin.

“Purple Dragons.” You hissed between your clenched teeth. You should have known. You had been watching their claw to power in the underbelly of the cities gang wars on the news. And now you were entangled in their bullshit as well.

He knelt down next to you gripping your chin painfully giving you a crooked smile. “The name is Nino my dear and you better learn it because you’ll be screaming it later. Thankfully for you and your friend here we have to wait until Hun gets back from his business meeting before any ‘fun’ can start. You see he gets first dibs and when he heard how much fight you had in you he wanted to be the one to break you, and he will do just that. Fun fact, Hun is a big guy, bigger than most in all sense of the word. He won’t be gentle, nor will he give you any mercy, but you will be screaming during it. And I look forward to those sweet shrills of agony as he abuses your body while the rest of us wait our turns. Now Luca here, I get her first and I have such plans for both of you. I told you we would finish what we started in that alley and as soon as boss man gets back, it’s party time.”

You could tell by the wicked look in his eyes he wasn’t bluffing, and you stiffened in sheer terror. Fuck that! Like you were gonna wait around for their gigantic boss to get back to rape you both! Poor Luca, she had no idea what was happening yet. You had to think fast. Ripping our chin from his grasp you rolled back and swung your legs up startling Nino just enough to make him lean back so your feet could come crashing into his mouth. The force of the blow from your feet sent him rolling backwards tumbling over a couple of his fellow henchmen in the process. Grabbing his now bleeding mouth he spewed a line of obscenities that would make even you blush.

“Fucking Bitch!” Nino screamed spitting the access blood from his weeping mouth onto the dusty floor below.

The swiftness of your moves caught the men off guard which gave you just enough time to slip your fingers into your shoe pulling out a small blade slicing through the zip tie on your feet like butter. You would have to thank the guys later if you got out of this alive. God you wished they were here, you were terrified.

“Jesus Christ! How were her hands already free?!” Nino growled scrambling to his feet. “Get her you morons!”

On your feet in a second you tore off towards the back of the plant leaving helpless Luca still unconscious on the ground. You were not strong enough to carry an unconscious woman and try to escape at the same time. You couldn’t help her right now, not if you got captured again. You just needed a few minutes to come up with a plan to get you both safely out of this mess...you hoped.

Making your way around a large rusty sealing machine you ran straight into a wall of unforgiving muscle. The force of the hit expelled the air from your lungs leaving you gasping. You fell back on your butt and felt your soul leave you as you stared up at the gargantuan hulk of a man you could only assume was Hun. Behind him stood 10 other men smirking down at you while Hun’s expression was much more sinister. His large fist raced towards your face and connected with a sickening thud making you see stars.

Stunned by the punch to your face you tired scooting back on your hands and feet dodging the cluster of hands that rained down on you yanking you to your feet. Now Hun was inches from your face his hot breath reeked of cigarettes and tuna. It made you wanna vomit. Again, his fist slammed into your face momentarily blinding you. The drip of something warm on your chin made you lick your lip, the coppery taste of blood filled your mouth, he had busted your lip open.

“So little one.” He cooed grabbing the back of your head fisting a large chunk of your hair yanking it back violently exposing the column of your throat to his gaze. “So eager for me to break you that you run to your doom.” His deep voice sent shivers down your spine making the nausea churn faster the in the pit of your stomach. “If you want it that badly let’s not waste any more time.” His hands yanked you forward crushing you in his hold. You felt his hot tongue connect with your flesh leaving a disgusting wet strip of his saliva from your collar bone to your left ear. Painfully his teeth clamped down on your ear lobe making your yelp in pain as he started you both backwards.

You squirmed in his arms and then tried to fall by letting your limbs give out, he would drop you and you could run again but you were horribly wrong. As your weight gave out he gripped your tighter holding your dangling body against his chest and continued his forward momentum. If only you could get your arms free, maybe you could shove the palm of your hand into the base of his nose breaking it, but they were pinned beneath his tree trucks he called arms. Hun reminded her of Raphael nearly matching the red turtle’s stature. But Hun wasn’t Raphael, Hun wasn’t the hard of the exterior and soft in the middle hothead and he was above to prove it because you saw what he was dragging you towards.

A dirty ripped couch lay a few feet from you and you scream when Hun threw you to it landing with a grunt. He was on you in seconds pushing your legs apart forcing his hips between them pressing your body down into the musty smelling cushions with a thrust of his pelvis. Your fist came up connecting with his jaw making him chuckle at your foolish attempts to free yourself. His large mitt found your wrists and pinned them above your head.

When you could feel the growing weapon in his pants that he ground down into your body you nearly threw up in your mouth. This was happening, he was going to brutalize you and then kill you. Soon his other hand trailed down your chest groping at your breasts, you could feel his breathing quicken on top of you, he was getting excited. The ripping of your shirt made you cry out ranking at your imprisoned hands. This wasn’t happening!

Then you stilled feeling a blade at your thigh, you made eye contact with the brute above you and he grinned down at you licking his lips. All the while his henchmen were egging him on in the background.

“Are you ready for me my dear?” he hissed pressing the blade through the fabric of your pants before pulling up ripping them open leaving your underwear exposed to his wandering hand. “Your futile attempts to break free only make me harder.” You felt his callous hand slide up your naked thigh and cup your mound and stopped, pushing up against the sensitive flesh. “I bet your fucking tight.” He groaned into your neck grinding his hard erection into the apex of your thighs.

“G-get off me you fucking asshole!”

Leaning down his lips grazed your ear his immense weight making it difficult to breath. “I’m going to fuck you now and I promise you won’t enjoy it.”

The sound of his pants unzipping sent your mind reeling in panic, whimpering you closed your eyes waiting for the inevitable, waiting for the pain. His fingers started to rip your underwear from your body.

“Fight…” you heard a voice in the back of your mind growl softly. Then a cloudy vision of Leo manifested itself in your mind. His blue eyes bore down on you with a look of determination. “Fight!” he growled again this time louder. “FIGHT!!”

“Fight!” you screamed to yourself and headbutted Hun before his fingers could rip away your underwear. His hollowing bellow was music to your ears and when he arched away from you in pain your angry fist sunk lower connecting with his erection.

This time the hulking frame above you rolled off howling in pain holding in now bruised junk. The laughing and sexual jeers from his men died off abruptly and they lunged for you.

You sprang off the couch and saw Luca a few feet from you awake and struggling. Her eyes wide with terror as they met yours. Two of the men got to you first their hands reached for you but missed as you took a sharp right darting away from their out stretched fingers.

The large room was littered with old relics of the canning factory; packing lines, shredding bins, sealing machines and you were an old pro at using them as a jungle gym. Dropping down you slid under the nearest hunk of machinery just narrowly missing another set of hands and jumped to grab a water line swinging up towards the shredding bins. You suddenly remembered you and your friends found a large blade they used to chop up larger pieces of tuna before it was dropped into the grinding machine. You prayed it was still there.

Landing near the old supervisor station you scanned the area for the large blade but found nothing. Then a glint of something shiny caught your eyes. Stuck between the panel of the power station and the floor board you found the blade wedged. You worked hard to free it hearing the gang members scrambling to reach your location. With one final yank it slipped free giving you a small edge against the growing mass of scumbags.

What time was it? The turtles should have been wondering where you were by now? You told Leo you would come over right after work? Where they out looking for you or were they still sitting at home oblivious to your absence?

The deafening roar of Hun brought you rushing back as he barreled towards you shoving past his henchmen. His eyes were on fire and he was out for blood, your blood. Grasping the old blade in your hand you readied yourself, it was now or never.

Calling upon your inner beast that lived deep inside you, you screamed rushing towards the onslaught of men. You swung the blade just like Leo had taught you imagining it was his katana seized tightly in your fingers.

With the narrow passageway of the staircase you managed to take care of several of the men, gaining a few cuts and gashes along the way. There were now two men between you and Hun and Nino was one of them. The rage that was building within you ruptured and you lunged for Nino tackling him sending the rest of the men including Hun tumbling backwards down the rest of the rusting stairs.

The blade you held now dripping with blood was dull from the years of neglect, but it did its job well enough. Nino was now screaming holding his nearly severed arm rolling around on the ground. Several of the man lay useless on the floor before you, moaning in pain their blood spattered over your clothes and hair. They had worked you over pretty well, not a limb on you was without some sort of cut or gash. You were tired, dirty and in pain, but you were not going to give up. Not if there was still breath in your body.

Several more Purple Dragons stood before you including Hun his fierce gaze locked in on you. In his fingers was a sharp knife ready for the taste of your flesh and he lunged tackling your back. You both rolled toppling over Luca who was screaming to be let go. Getting to your feet you saw Hun’s hand fly in front of you and felt the tip of the blade sink into the soft skin of your cheek ripping open a small gash. Twisting on your foot your spun giving Hun a roundhouse kick to his face sending him sailing backwards into a pile of boxes.

Not wasting time, you leaned down cutting Luca free of her binds and pulled her behind you ready to stop the next asshole that tried to hurt you both.

A special thanks to @blossom-skies for being my second pair of eyes.

Chapter Eight

#TMNT #tmnt donatello #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt fanfiction #TMNT TMNT fanfiction #tmnt fandom #tmnt fic #oneshot

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sclftaught-blog · 6 years ago

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@strangcrthanfiction sent: alt!!! and gets a character i want to play in the future LUIS from A MODERN FAERIE TALE by holly black

“i need to make a deal.”

it’s a bad idea. anything to do with faeries is a bad idea. they’re the ones who drove his dad to insanity. they’re the ones who took his eye but--- but what choice does he have ? his hands shake as he thinks of his mom and all that blood, his dad with a hole in the back of his skull, dave looking so small and ashen in that hospital bed.

the troll doesn’t say anything at first, gold eyes glittering and fangs gleaming in the low candlelight. “oh ?” it demands in that rough voice that makes him shudder. it goes against everything he’s learned, bargaining with one of these things, but there’s nothing else he can do. “and what would you have me do, little one ?”

“my brother--- our dad shot---” jesus christ, what’s wrong with him ? dave’s dying, and he’s tripping over his words like an idiot. he swallows half formed thoughts, takes a deep breath, and says, “my brother’s dying. he’s in the hospital and dying and you have to heal him. i know you can.”

“and what would you do for me ? you are a gifted one.” the troll’s eyes flick to luis’ bad one, that dead white thing in his face. luis lifts a hand to his face defensively and is surprised they come back wet. he thought he’d run out of tears at the apartment, in the back of the cop car, in dave’s hospital room. he hadn’t even noticed he’d started crying again, staring up at the troll’s cold, impassive face. “surely you know the folk do no favors without one in return. what is your brother’s life worth to you ?”

“anything.” luis doesn’t even have to think about that. he’s the older brother, the man of the house. he should’ve been there to protect his mom and brother from his dad’s insanity. ( it should’ve been him dead or dying. oh god, why wasn’t it him ? ) “he’s my baby brother, and he’s---” luis’ voice cracks then, painful and humiliating. “he’s all i have left. please. you have to save him.”

for a second he thinks he sees a flash of--- sympathy ? compassion ? understanding ? --- something on the troll’s face, but it’s gone before luis can make sense of it. “what do they call you boy ?”

“luis. they call me luis.” god save him, this is a bad idea.

the troll grins, all gruesome teeth and inhuman angles, and it sends a flash of visceral panic to scream down his spine. “i believe we can arrange something luis.”

luis feels like he’s about to sell his soul, but he doesn’t care. as long as he gets dave back, alive and whole, he doesn’t care. he can’t afford to care.

#ask to tag //#strangcrthanfiction #OOC ❭❭ asks.#OOC ❭❭ possible muses.

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edible-crayon · 7 years ago

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Here’s my secret santa gift for @falcon-hill! Every world in every way Word Count: 2740 Rating: G Warnings: None Summary: Bucky wasn’t mad. Really, he wasn’t.

Bucky wasn't mad. Really, he wasn't. It wasn't Steve's fault that these mishaps sometimes happened; Steve was, after all, a Creator, and while his primary medium was art, sometimes he just couldn't help it when the picture he painted in his head decided to slither out.

So, Bucky wasn't mad, not at all. He was simply…frustrated.

“A fucking manticore, really, Steve?”

Steve ran a hand through his tousled blond hair, looking adorably flustered. The manticore in question was currently winding itself around his legs like a giant house cat, purring like a motorboat. Despite its size and dangerous nature, so far it had proven to have the temperament of a kitten.

“Buck, I'm so sorry,” Steve babbled, face red and hands flailing. “I just got this idea in my head and I didn't have any materials on me so I started kind of just--sketching in the air with my fingers? And then when I got home it was just here.”

Bucky absolutely did not facepalm. “But a manticore?”

“I had this great idea for a nature scene, and I wanted her to be at the foreground so she's the first thing I started out with!”

“She?”

The manticore licked a rust colored paw, eyeing Bucky with disinterest. Her spine tail twitched back and forth when Steve absently scratched behind her ears. “Her name’s Kahlo,” he mumbled, the tips of his ears pinkening.

Bucky tossed in hands in the air. “Of course you would name a man-eating hybrid beast after a famous painter.” He scrubbed both hands down his face. “Where exactly are we supposed to keep her, Steve? We can’t keep her in the apartment, and I am not scaring away my customers by having her roam around downstairs.”

“The back halls,” Steve blurted out immediately. “She doesn’t need a gateway, so she can traverse realms and through the rifts whenever she likes. She’s not likely to run into anyone but the Nomads, anyway. Plus, Natasha would love her.”

“Christ, you’re right. I hate all of you.” Bucky sighed heavily into his hands, then raised his head with a look of resignation. “Fine. But you’re responsible for feeding her.”

Steve gave him a mock salute. “Aye aye, sir.

What a little shit.

“Look, I have to go open up the storefront, and then I have to prep the gateway. Speaking of Nat, she feels like she’s on her way.” Bucky wasn’t exactly high ranking in the gifted department, but he had a sixth sense that rivaled even the strongest seer. And that was before the whole curse thing.

When they were kids, Bucky had been cursed by a bloodstone from the black cult, Hydra. The stone had embedded itself into his left arm, spilling its poisonous magic into his body. They had managed to negate the bloodstone--it sat embedded in Bucky’s shoulder, cracked and terrifying and beautiful-- but the dark magic has cost Bucky his left arm. Two of their friends, T’Challa and Tony--both Creators themselves, T’Challa of science, Tony of machines and technology--had managed to rebuild what was left with vibranium and gold alloy. They had done a stunning job, and Bucky absolutely loved it.

After the whole incident with Hydra, Bucky had felt an immeasurable amount of guilt for the damage--minor, as Steve would frequently remind him--and within the next few days had volunteered to become the next gatekeeper once he came of age. Gatekeepers surveyed whoever crossed through their realm; there were a nine realms altogether, but an infinite number of timelines and universes. It was a great honor; the only issue was that the gatekeeper was bound to their gateway, and as such wasn’t able to travel far from it. Luckily, Brooklyn’s gateway was located in the depths of Soul Brew, the local coffee and book shop that Bucky managed as well. There wasn’t exactly a shortage of visitors between their friends, family, and the Nomads that traversed the realms, so it was, Bucky had to admit, actually a pretty sweet gig. Not to mentioned that once he became Gatekeeper, Steve has immediately declared himself Bucky’s roommate, (“End of the line, remember? Where you go, I go.”) and the two of them lived comfortably in the upstairs apartment.

“I’ll come with you,” Steve offered, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “I have some commissions to work on anyway, the Jamesons want a five panel replication of their wedding day for their twenty-fifth anniversary.”

Bucky grabbed his keys. “All right, let’s drop the princess off in the back, and then we can head downstairs.

* * *

“I hear you have yourself a new pet,” Natasha greeted as she stepped through Brooklyn’s Gateway. “Interesting choice, by the way.”

Bucky groaned, sealing the portal behind her. “How would you even know that? You literally just got here.”

“Thor,” Natasha said matter of factly. “Apparently when Steve sent her off she headed over to Asgard. Thor adores her. Says she’s a fine beast for such a finely matched pair,” she added smugly. Her expression softened a fraction. “You really would do anything for that boy, wouldn’t you?”

“Course I would,” Bucky said evasively, as they weaved through the maze of hallways that led to the shopfront. “He’s my best friend.”

“Who you happen to be madly in love with.” Natasha hummed thoughtfully. “Has it ever occurred to you that he may feel the same way?”

Bucky stiffened. “Not an option. Steve’s only ever been in love with one person and it ain’t me.”

Peggy Carter had been a Nomad of a different time from a different Brooklyn, a sharp-tongued woman stuck in a war between men. She and Steve had hit it off instantly, and he had been utterly heartbroken when she had to return to her own time. Last Bucky checked on her, she had made it to the ripe old age of eighty-seven; partner, two kids, a gaggle of grandbabies. She had lived a long, happy life, but it was obvious she has never forgotten about Steve. She had named her eldest Steven Grant, and Bucky both loved and hated her for it.

“There are different kinds of love,” Natasha admonished, surprisingly gentle. “Of course Steve loved her, was in love with her, and she loved him. He could have left, become a Nomad and followed her.” She slid her eyes towards Bucky. “Now tell me, James, I wonder why it was he chose to stay here?”

“Because he feels like owes it to me.” He spat the words like acid, fists clenching. Of course Steve felt guilty; he still blamed himself for Hydra’s curse, even after all these years. That was one of the main reasons why he took it upon himself to be Bucky’s personal guard dog and babysitter. It was love, yes, but a misguided love, and not the kind Bucky wanted.

Not like how he loved Steve.

There had been a time, ages ago, when he had actually thought he might have a chance. Steve had been bitching and whining about having two left feet, and so Bucky had offered to teach him to dance. Steve had flashed him a thousand watt smile, brighter than the sun, and said “That’s great, Buck! Can’t let Pegs show me up now, can I?”

And that little wisp of hope had snuffed out like a candle.

They finally reached a heavy oak door. Bucky slid his key into the lock and murmured softly, and the door eased itself open in response, revealing the spiral staircase that led down to Soul Brew.

Once they reached ground level, Natasha took off towards the coffee bar, while Bucky glanced around for a different target. The shop was as busy as always, but he was able to spot Steve’s hipster glasses and muscular physique a mile away. Hell, everyone could have been painted grey and Steve still would have stuck out to him like a suit at a pride parade.

He was seated on one of the plush chairs, tongue between his teeth as the outline of a wedding came to life before him. His glasses were slipping down his nose and he has smudges of ink on his cheek, fingertips, and t-shirt. One shirt sleeve was rolled up, showing off a colorful array of tattoos, the knees of his jeans were ripped, and he was wearing mismatching socks. He was an utter disaster.

And still the love of Bucky’s life.

He swallowed hard, tamping down on the swell of emotion that squeezed his chest. It was no use pining for something, someone he would never, could never have. Steve deserved better, certainly better than the life Bucky could provide. A cramped apartment, The Gateway, a cluttered hipster joint that couldn’t decide if it was a book or coffee shop.

Then Steve happened to glance his way and turned on that beautiful smile, as though it was all for him, and it was too much. Quickly, Bucky headed over to the counter, ducking his head on on the pretense of drawing his hair into a messy bun.

It was time to get to work.

* * *

All in all, the day went rather well. Thor came thundering through The Gateway sometime around noon after Natasha had continued on her way, bringing with him a barrel of Asgardian mead and some sort of pheasant for Kahlo. Business was booming and the day’s customers were actually decent. Between the coffee and book sales, profits weren’t looking too bad either.

So of course, it was that evening that things went to hell in a handbasket.

It’s was Bucky’s fault, really; him and his traitorous heart. He had stopped by to drop Steve off a mocha during a commission break and had found him drawing a woman in with brunette hair,, painted red lips the perfect match to her stunning dress.

So of course when Steve turned that big, stupid smile on him, Bucky had shoved his coffee at him and ran. Which led to Worried!Steve, which led to Pissy!Bucky. Which of course ultimately led a shouting match about Bucky carrying too much weight on his shoulders and Steve helicoptering like a mother hen.

Which is how Bucky found himself on Natasha’s sofa, tea in hand and cat spread out across his thighs, Natasha herself sat in the window seat.

“You need to tell him.”

Bucky stared miserably into his tea. “No, I don’t.”

“Pray tell, why not?”

“Because he doesn’t love me, Nat!” Bucky knuckled at his left eye. “He loves Peggy, and whether he ever sees her again or not doesn’t matter, I’m not going to take that away from him.”

Natasha hummed, turning from the window and crossing her legs together when Liho jumped into the crook of them. “And what makes you think he doesn’t feel the same way?” she asked cryptically, tilting her head to one side. “He loved Peggy, yes, but not in the way he loves you.” She poised a finger when Bucky made to interject. “He chose to live here, helping you guard the gateway, when he could have done anything else. It’s not because he feels guilty, James, it’s because he can’t bear to be apart from you. You’re tied to the Brooklyn gateway, and though you can cross through others, your travel range is otherwise pretty limited save for those and The Underground.

The Underground was a seedy, dark netherrealm located beneath the Brooklyn gateway. It extended throughout the other eight realms, and served as a black market of sorts, as well as a place of dark magic. So, naturally, that meant Natasha had a hideout here.

Bucky glared into his tea miserably. “How am I supposed to do this, Nat? What if I lose him?”

Natasha’s green eyes glimmered knowingly as she scratched Liho’s head. “You won’t. Stop worrying, James. Everything will fall into place.”

“So you say.” Bucky took a swig of his tea and promptly gagged. “Christ, how much vodka did you put in this?”

* * *

When Bucky opened Soul Brew the following morning, Steve was noticeably absent. His door has been closed when Bucky returned the night before, as well as that morning; perhaps Steve had spent the night elsewhere? The thought made Bucky’s stomach plummet.

He kept an eye out for broad shoulder and paint-stained blond hair as he worked, there was no sign of Steve, and none of their friends had seen him either. By the end of the day Bucky’s chest felt like it had been stepped on and his stomach filled with lead. Dejected and resigned to another stressful night, Bucky closed up the shop and headed upstairs towards the empty apartment.

It was quiet and dim as he walked through the door. The faerie lights were lit, illuminating Kahlo lounging on the fluffy cushion Steve had wrangled up for her; but as Bucky stepped further into the foyer he realized several inked fireflies were fluttering about the strands as well. The place was just as cluttered as usual, and nothing seemed out of place, but the crisp breeze flowing through from the balcony indicated otherwise.

Buck kicked off his shoes, then padded across the living room, cautiously stepping over the sliding frame and onto the cool concrete. Steve was seated on the ground against the barrier, expression inscrutable. Two figures, unmistakably male--one broad with thick glasses, the other with shaggy hair and a metal arm--danced at his fingertips in a perfect waltz. Bucky watched, mesmerized, before Steve spoke.

“I never did get that dance from you. Figured this was better than nothing.”

Whatever melody the figures waltzed to must have ended, because they broke from position, hands still linked, before embracing one another. Bucky’s throat tightened as it dawned on him; Steve always <em<had been better at expressing himself with his art rather than words. And this?

This was a promise and a love confession, poured from the depths of Steve’s heart into strokes and wisps of ink.

Steve closed his hand and the figures vanished, pulling Bucky from his stupor. He cleared his throat, shuffling his socked feet. “Well,” he announced, with a bravado he certainly didn’t feel, “Let’s go, punk.”

Steve blinked stupidly. “What?”

Bucky swept some stray strands back into his bun. “What do you mean “what”? I owe you a dance.”

Steve flushed, eyes downcast. “Buck, I want you to know I don’t expect anything. I just couldn’t--”

“Shut up, Steve.”

“Buck--”

“I said shut up.” Bucky reached down and tugged Steve to his feet, pulling him in so they were chest to chest. He then slid his arms loosely around Steve’s neck; Steve’s hands fluttered in the air for a moment before coming to settle on Bucky’s waist. “Now since you’re not a bean pole anymore, there’s no music, and we both know you can’t waltz for shit, we’re going to improvise.”

Steve smiled, soft and crooked. “Okay.”

They both swayed to the melody of the wind whistling through the trees, the clatter and bustle of what few people were still out in the city this time at night.

“Why didn’t you say anything, Stevie?” Bucky murmured, tipping forward so that their foreheads touched. “You had to know, pal, there’s never been anyone but you.”

Steve’s eyes slid shut, and a hand came up to cup Bucky’s cheek. “I wasn’t sure,” he admitted. “And you were so hung up on me and Pegs, I didn’t think you’d give us a chance.” He opened his eyes again, exhaling slowly. “I loved Peggy, Buck, but it wasn’t the same. She wasn’t you. I loved you first, and you’d best damn believe you’re going to be the last. In this universe; in this realm, and the next, and all the others beyond that.”

Bucky buried his face in Steve’s neck, preening a little when Steve dropped a kiss to the top of his head. “Same goes for you, pal.”

When he pulled back, Steve’s smile was blinding. “We did promise each other. End of the line, and all that.”

Bucky gently nosed against Steve’s cheek, before pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Shit. What was I thinking.”

Steve flicked his ear, causing him to yelp. “You weren’t. Just like always.” He grinned, raised Bucky’s vibranium arm to plant a kiss on each knuckle. “And now you’re stuck with me.”

Bucky gnawed at his lip, heart bursting.

“Yeah, I guess I am.”

#falcon-hill #stevebuckysecretsanta #sbss

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iluvzfewdnstoreyz · 6 years ago

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Stay...or feed The Pig. Pt 1

I slowly opened my eyes. My head was swimming and a dull pain surrounded my throat. I was thirsty. That was the first thing I noticed. I licked my dry lips as my surroundings faded into focus. My body ached and I realized it was because I was tightly bound to a metal chair in the middle of an empty room. The barren concrete walls were stained and dirty, the floor beneath my bare feet was cold and slightly wet. A single bulb lit the room, dangling from the ceiling by a string. It cast moving shadows and I blinked back darkness. An open door stood before me, but I couldn't see anything but the wall of a hallway.

I couldn't remember anything.

“Hello?!” I cried, the word tearing at my vocal cords. I felt my chest hitch in pain but I cleared my throat and yelled again.

“Is anyone there!? Hello!?”

Suddenly, footsteps erupted from outside the door, a rapid patter of small feet. My hopes rose and I trained my attention on the door, praying it was help.

A young boy ran into the room, dressed in a red onsey, complete with padded feet. Stretched over his face was a plastic Devil mask. The eye holes revealed massive blue eyes that greeted me curiously. Taken back, I opened my mouth to speak but that's when I noticed something was off. His eyes were huge, impossibly round and bulging from their sockets. It sent a shiver of unease down my spine, but I shook it off. This child might be able to free me.

“Hey!” I hissed, urgently, “Hey kid, can you get me out of here?!”

The boy took a step closer, cocking his head, but remaining silent.

I rattled my bound arms against the chair, “Cut me free, please, I shouldn't be here, this is some kind of mistake!”

The boy eyed me behind his strange mask and stopped directly in front of me. He leaned in close and whispered, his voice like wet silk, “You did a bad thing...”

Confused, I shook my head, “No! No this is a mistake! I didn't do anything!”

The boy's enormous blue eyes suddenly filled with sadness, “Oh, you did a really, really bad thing...”

I shook my head again, violently, “No! I'm sorry! I don't remember, just please get me out of this chair!”

“I didn't do anything!” I cried as he advanced on us, my voice cracking, “I'm not supposed to be here!”

The big man ignored me and instead grabbed the kid and shoved him hard against the wall. The boy grunted as his back struck the concrete and his eyes rose to meet the grizzled man's.

Wordlessly, the man raised his shotgun, placed it against the boy's forehead, and blew his head off. Chunks of gore splattered the wall as shock slugged me in the stomach like an iron fist. My ears rang and time seemed to slow as I watched in horror as the headless body crumpled to the ground.

My breath rushed back into my lungs and time seemed to readjust.

“Jesus fucking CHRIST!” I screamed, straining against the ropes, my eyes bulging in horrific shock, “WHAT THE FUCK!?”

The man ignored my screams as he bent down and picked up the boy. He slung the ruined corpse over his shoulder and walked out the doorway.

Suddenly, the hallway erupted with malicious laughter, a chorus of voices all howling in glee. I shut my eyes, the noise deafening, as absolute terror filled my every pore.

After a few moments, the laughter faded and I cautiously opened my eyes, unable to believe what I had just witnessed.

“Hello.”

“What is going on!? Where am I!?” I cried, new fear pooling in my stomach like hot blood.

The man crossed his arms, “So you're the new one huh?” He shook his head, “You people disgust me.”

Questions bubbled on my lips but he waved them off with a sharp chop of his hand, slicing the air and demanding my silence.

He ran his tongue over his teeth, sneering, “You look like you've already seen some of the horrors this place holds huh? Yes, I can tell by the look in your eyes. You're terrified. You've seen something haven't you? It doesn't seem all that bad now does it, looking back? You've been here five minutes and already you're shitting your pants.”

“Where am I?” I gasped, unable to hold back any longer, “What do you people want?”

The man crossed his arms behind his back, “I bet you want to get out of here don't you? I bet you'd like to go back to your home, your family, everything.”

“Please,” I interrupted, “Whatever I did to you...I'm sorry, I really am, but I don't remember!”

The man rolled his eyes, “You didn't do anything to me. You did it to yourself. You really don't remember anything?”

I shook my head and felt tears brimming in my eyes, liquid fear.

The man looked at me with contempt, “You waited until your wife left for work and then you went out to the woodshed and hung yourself. You're dead.”

The recent memory rose in my mind like a monster from a bog. My eyes went wide. As much as I wanted to deny it...he was right. I had killed myself. The incident tore through my brain like a bullet train and left me reeling.

“I'm Danny, by the way,” the man said, ignoring the shocked look on my face, “And I'm number two here. I run the orientation process. I want to make this quick because I'm tired of repeating this fucking thing to you pathetic Suicidals. You get one question before I begin.”

He stared down at me and I scrambled to organize my thoughts into something cohesive. This was all horrifying. Why had I killed myself? I fought against the fog and panic and the mists of confusion slowly began to lift. I had just lost my job. Yes...that was the start. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced more of the memory to emerge. I had lost my job and I was about to lose the house. My wife...Tess...she found out and was going to leave me. I didn't have any way out, didn't have any options. Getting fired had come out of the blue and I didn't have much in savings. I was broke, soon to be homeless, and my wife hated me for it. There was something else...yes...that's right. She had been cheating on me. I had seen texts on her phone while she slept one night and confirmed my suspicions. My life had degraded to shit and I had run out of options. Humiliated and ashamed, I had decided death was my only option.

“Hey, fucker, do you have a question or not?” Danny said, snapping his fingers in front of my face.

I was sucked back into reality and I asked the only question that mattered.

“Is this Hell?”

Danny snorted, “That's always what you people ask.” He began to pace back and forth in front of me, “No. This is not Hell. It's not Heaven either. This is the Black Farm. And no, I didn't name it that. This is where God sends the souls who have ended their own life. Suicidals. You see, he doesn't really know what to do with you...and neither does the Devil. There are genuinely good people who kill themselves. Seems cruel to banish them to Hell for all eternity for a moment of weakness right? Personally, I think God and the Devil were just tired of arguing about it. And so, they send them here, to the Black Farm.”

“Did...did God create this place?” I asked, growing more and more confused.

Danny spit on the floor, chuckling, “Sure, at some point. But he lost control of it when he put The Pig in charge.”

“What's The Pig?” I asked, unsure I wanted to know the answer.

Danny held up a hand, annoyed, “Can I fucking finish? God created this place, eons ago, put The Pig in charge, and then forgot about it for a while. Well, when his back was turned, The Pig decided to use his new powers to try and create his own little world. This mess you see around you is the fractured remains of that experiment. The Black Farm use to be a lot nicer, but The Pig wanted things to be different. He wanted to create his own vision. These people you see, these monsters? They are The Pig's attempts at creating functioning life. Instead of mirroring God's Earth, these mutated horrible creations are full of sin and hatred. They run rampant here, unabashed. This place is chaos. The Black Farm is a circus of freaks and monsters. And it's your eternity.”

Fear boiled in my gut like thick oil. No. No this couldn't be my end. I didn't believe in stuff like this. This wasn't real! I would wake up soon and realize I was just having a nightmare! That had to be it!

Danny stood before me and lightly slapped my face, “Hey, hey! Don't go into hysterics on me. I haven't finished yet.”

I raised my teary eyes to meet his.

Danny smiled, “You can always Feed the Pig.”

My breath pushed from my lungs like burning steam, “W-what does that mean?”

Danny spread his hands, still smiling, “It's as simple as that. Feed the Pig. If you do so, there's a chance he'll send you back to your life.”

“A-and w-what happens if it doesn't?” I bumbled.

“You get sent to Hell. So flip a coin if you have one. Stay here with us or Feed the Pig. If you choose to stay, I'll let you go...I'll let you go out there,” he said, pointing towards the door, “But let me assure you...what awaits you at the end of the hallway...well...let's just say Hell isn't that much worse.

I swallowed hard, trying my best to digest everything. Why wouldn't I try Feeding the Pig? Whatever that meant. If there was even a sliver of hope, I would take it. An eternity in this place, the Black Farm, be sent to Hell, or...or Feed the Pig? I would do anything for a chance to go back. This nightmare made my problems seem nothing in comparison.

Danny raised a hand before I could speak, “I'll let you think on it a while. I'll be back later.”

“Sounds pretty bad huh?” He said softly as the woman's voice creaked with agony. Something was still slamming into her, the sound of beaten flesh igniting my imagination with horrors.

“Please,” I gasped, breathless, “Just...just let me Feed the Pig. I don't want to stay here any longer.”

Danny turned away from me, “I'll be back later. Enjoy your time alone. Really think about your situation. Weigh your options. And remember...you put yourself here.”

And with that he was gone, leaving me in the dim room.

Tears streamed down my face.

The woman didn't stop screaming for hours.

The room rushed back into focus and I blinked in agony as I felt blood trickle between my toes. I looked down for the source of pain and I felt a scream claw up my throat.

A moan of pleasure escaped the bagged man's mouth and I turned away as a mist of black sprayed out onto the floor. There was a rattle of chains and I turned back to see the two of them leaving, the armless man dragged by his neck out the door. I looked at where the bagged man had ejaculated and saw a puddle of dead ants. I vomited onto myself, thick chunky curtains of bile and slime.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” I screamed, strands of puke running down my chin, “I DON'T BELONG HERE!”

Cont. Pt 2

#ghoststories #fewdnstoreyz

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joestrummen · 8 years ago

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I found a fanfic maker and made it write stukcy im dyingg this is the besst

A/N: Hi Ladys and Gentleman, I am writing this fic for one reason and one reason only; angrykiller90210 said I couldn't do it! They said I couldn't stick with anything. Well, this will be proof positive and it will be awesome! I'll do this in 3 parts, below is just the intro which doesn't count towards those 3. Like the Hobbit movie. (btw, I'll finish of the last parts of my other Captain America story later, btw.)

Seeya, From, -Barton_Bot --- A little Later, Captain America was taking a shit. He was having trouble though. It felt like days passed and still no sign of release.

"Help..Errrr... ahhhh! Christ! when is this epic poo gonna pass!?" Stevie exclaimed, His face wincing with effort. He made every effort in his little boy body to expel this demon thing from his womanly back side.

Just as Stevie was going in for another push.. Without warning the bathroom door suddenly burst open unexpectedly. Ahhhh!

"Well hello...Rogers" a seductive noise whispered from the doorway.

A shadowy person stood leaning against the door frame. His deep, sensual voice which Rogers knew immediately. His mind began racing and a nervous sweat began pouring from his face.

"Buck... is that you? wha- what are you still doing awake...?"

He appeared in nothing but a towel, seemingly ready to take a steamy shower. However He couldn't with Steve Rogers near by....they were like family now.Bucky Barnes was like His mother-in-law. Any sane person would never allow their own mother-in-law to see them in the nude. Right? RIGHT!!?! SHIT!"

"Oh I felt dirty from questing all day...ya ever feel dirty Steve?" "Y-Yes, I mean NO! NO! NO! Never" Rogers shrieked, He became so immensely worked up he cleaned his colon clear of the demon feces that had been clogging it. His voice also cracked like he was 13 again, but in comparison to the loud flatulence he just unleashed, who cares? Bucky Barnes heard though, and giggled like a adorable baby girl laugh. It sent tingles all up Rogers's spine. "Oh you've always been the shy one in the family, Rogers..."

Steve was not shy, at all. He defeated Ghost Heterosexuality and blew up His evil machines for Christ's sake! and now he suddenly found himself speechless. Was He going to see his metaphorical mother-in-law literally naked? Little did he know, that was merely a sprinkle on the banana split of carnal pleasures that was to come.

"..the shy and excitable one." said Bucky Barnes finishing the sentence He started earlier.

"Wh-what the..." and before Captain America could send the third word out of His mouth..

..Buck's towel dropped to the floor,revealing his swimsuit underneath. Steve Rogers noticed everything on him instantly. His soft butt,his magically gravity-defying middle leg and the giant thingy colored birth mark on his butt, which made Him feel funny...as He had one there too.

Still, the sight of his near perfect body caused Captain America to feel funny in places he had never felt before.

"hehe oh my Rogers...you're more impressive than I thought." "uh... ye-yeah, th-thaaanks Buck, you're cute too." THIS IS SO WRONG! It raced through his head at lightning speed. But the beautiful, wet, soapy body that stood before him spoke otherwise. Him shapely body was everything Steve Rogers could want ...in a body to make use of. Yet did family like relationship matter?.. ... ... NAAAAAH!!

But just as Steve Rogers was commiting. Commiting to a path that they couldn't go back from.

Gay Steve burst into the toilet!

"What are you too upto?" "Err..nothing" said Rogers as he causally slipped his pants back on. Bucky Barnes, who Gay Steve didnt notice, picked up his towel and backed out slowly. "Really?" "I was just having a shit...see?" Steve Rogers gestured to his shit. "Oh, thats a shit all right! One hell of a shit! Ok, if your done we better go" So Steve put his other pants on and left. He had a serious case of blue balls, but at least his anus didnt feel so bad now. As he walked out Buck whispered one word. A word fall of hope. "Later" Stevie Giggled. Fortunately, their traveling companion was as oblivious as ever, and didn't notice. --- One day Gay Steve was doing painting... Bucky winked at Captain America when no one else was looking. "Later" he mouthed at him silently so no one could hear. ---

Summary: I suck at writing summaries. Bsides the 'fic isn't that long!

I am Gay Steve.

I was sitting behind my desk. I felt the tears well up in my eyes . After Our last adventure, I found out just exactly how cruel people could be. How nasty and inconsiderate real humans actually were. I stared at a picture of a polar bear. A magnificent beast who would not hesitate to kill me but at least it would be quick. Not a overlong conspiracy of many years, just to be unleashed on me when I was at my weakest and darkest moment. When I needed my friends the most.

But there had been one tiny ray of light in this whole . I remembered fondly the day I discovered it. It was a tuesday morning I rememberanced. The memories surfaced before my mind's eye and took the most wonderful shapes. Before I well knew it, a single tear welled up in my eyes and trickled down my cheek. Because even when all my 'friends' betrayed me there was one consistant factor in my life: Ghost Heterosexuality.

And I knew that the rising aspirations between them could never become true, the feelings I had for Ghost Heterosexuality were the only thing in this world that still felt true to him. No lies, just that single, pure sense and feeling for Ghost Heterosexuality.

Alas, I thought to meself hopelessly. Why must they battle? Why must I be destined to destroy Ghost Heterosexuality? Can I ever tell Ghost Heterosexuality how much Ghost Heterosexuality means to me?

If only I could. Then all my pain would be over. No more betrayal. No more suffering under the laughter from Ninja Natasha (who told him she loved me, only to stab me right inti the heart at valentines day!). No, only Ghost Heterosexuality and my true feelings for Him.

A/N Lol this has all been so depressive lol! My next bit will be less dark!

Fortunately Jr. Bucky worked at a newspaper nowadays and he used the database of the newspaper to find out home turf of Ghost Heterosexuality's ruffians. Their search led to a night club in the darkiest and stormiest part of Brooklyn. I was a little hesitant to go. It was rather scary and it was dark and stomy in that secting of Brooklyn. But the courage in me was greater than my fear because with my super strength I should be able to accomplish anything, right, I thought to myself. And Jr. Bucky would join me.

So not to fall out of fashion we both donned their most gothyest clothing. I had to admit that Jr. Bucky looked kind of sexy in that outfit of his. But I didn't dare to comment on that (I had only just discovered I am bi, and I was a little angxious over that. I wans't sure if my othre friends would accept that!. I instead poored down my soul into my make-up. I bore gorgeous blood-rose coloured finger nails with black streaking zig-zags and gave Jr. Bucky Barnes matching treatment. Jr. Bucky lovely eyes met mine and for a moment we were both swimming in a pool made of a gorgeous combination of their eyes colours. It was romance we knew, but we didn't know whether it was a forbidden one or not!

Then we went off and defeated Ghost Heterosexuality. --- Later, Stevie and Bucky Barnes were alone again. "Its Later" said Bucky Barnes, pulling Captain America towards the bathroom. "But what about the others?" "I'll just tell them you are helping me shower. They wont suspect a thing" "True. They are all idiots" Then, suddenly, Buck was naked. Rogers wondered how He did that. He must have been nearly naked this whole time! The shower turned on... ..Captain America was already.

Bucky lathered up good and fine. The soap dripped off His body at a seductively slow pace. Steve could not contain the powerful urge of excitement that raced through His veins. The alluring look of his nudie comrade became too much for him to fathom and his body started sweeting.

There Rogers sat, His gold pants pulled quickly down at his ankles, on a toilet full of poop with His bodly fluids on full display, eyes bulging from His face. Buck giggled as Steve's dignity shriveled and died, but Stevie had always enjoyed that delightful snicker, even after He found out He was His own flesh and blood. "Well...wh-what do we do now?" Stevie said, desperately trying to sound suave. "It. We do it." "it?" "yes. it" "we do it?" "yes" "oh"

...and with that Bucky jumped on Rogers. And they cuddled and hugged a lot. "I love you Bucky Barnes" "I love you too Steve Rogers....lets get married" And they did! Steve Rogers looked especially radiant in a dress. Later, after their honeymoon they continued their adventure (with non of their friends any the wiser).....

--- So we snuck into the Ghost Heterosexuality's lair. It was dark and there were horrofic things on the walls like drawings of skulls and suffering people. Through the dark and dank corridors of the lair's dungeons we went with outmost silence and skill. We sneaked past all the guards who had been turned into horrible demons by Ghost Heterosexuality's new invention. And this would also happen to the whole world if they wouldn't be able to steal the being frozen in ice from Ghost Heterosexuality's hands! They went down the corridors and up the large majestic stairways made of bones and jewls of all shapes and sizes sprinkled with saffron.. One of the corridors led towards a great hall where in the middle of the hall stood a pedestal with a treassure chest on top and on that a red velvet pillow upon which laid a white silk finely woven cloth. And on that laid the being frozen in ice.

I knew that I had to use his super strength (which I learned from Gay Captain America) to get the being frozen in ice but it would explode if he didnt believe in himself enough. Ninja Natasha inhaled firmly and wondered if I could pull it off. Jr. Bucky Barnes stood ready with his weapon in his hand . I concentrated firmly and then carefully but powerfully unleashed my super strength.

It worked! Gay Steve was amazed at my skill! The shielding around the being frozen in ice desolved like knife though hot butter. It was amazing how my's use of super strength was effective against Ghost Heterosexuality's inconceivable powers. Unfortunately for our plunky heroes, it wasn't enough

"GRRRRRrr" said a creapy voice. Everyone quickly turned to face the entrance of the hall where the voice came from. It was Ghost Heterosexuality! And he looked even less humane as before. He had used the power of the being frozen in ice to transform into a horrific tragedy of a humanoid. "Ha! Are you surprised by my new looks?" he said. "It is amazing! The powers I have now are beyond your comprehension!" "My comprehension is really good," I retorted and Gay Steve and friends looked proud. "Hahaha of course yours is. But are you able to comprehend the future of this world? I bet you aren't that smart after all. I will rule the world now, you see and there is nothing you can do to stop me! Even when Gay Steve taught you evreything he knows!" "But," said Ghost Heterosexuality with a lower tone, "even though you are not as smart as I am, you are surprisingly capable so I wish to make this offer: join me and we can rule this world together!" "Never in a million billion years!" screamed Gay Steve! "Think about it, you can now still save your friends! Make them stop mutate ebefore I release my powers!" I saw Gay Steve becoming frightened. I knew he wanted to keep Ninja Natasha, Emo Sam, Ghost Peggy and Jr. Bucky alive but I could not get Ghost Heterosexuality get away with it! But then I remembered: Ghost Heterosexuality no longer had the being frozen in ice! He was powerless! But as if Ghost Heterosexuality could read my mind, Ghost Heterosexuality spoke: "Oh and your scheme to steal the being frozen in ice? I no longer need it! I have gained all the power from it that I need in order to mutate everyone in the whole world! But not that you even considered going against me, I will destroy you. Such a shame, we could be such good...friends." "Future Ruby would never be friends with you!" said Ghost Peggy

"It is too late now anyway, said Ghost Heterosexuality, my plan is active now and I will give you the best place to enjoy it: from your prison cell!" Ghost Heterosexuality laughed and said to his guards: "lead them to my dungeon where you will suffer for all eternity in agony .

But I had not forgotten Gay Captain America's super strength. With the stealth and strenght that I learned from his previous adventures, he winked and unleashed the super strength. Ghost Heterosexuality had not expected that. He thought he had trapped me and my friends and managed to demoralise them so much they would not resist. "Arggg!" Ghost Heterosexuality said. His guards did not know what to do. Their leader was too weak against this onslaught. What could they do against that sort of might? So they all fled! "Argh, noooo!" Ghost Heterosexuality extrapolated, "I was soo close to ultimate power!" Seeing my succesfully attack Ghost Heterosexuality, Gay Rogers, Ghost Peggy and Emo Sam also attacked Ghost Heterosexuality!

"Arigh, no, noooo!" "I will unleash my final power!" Ghost Heterosexuality said and raised his arms to the sky and started hissing an evil curse. But Gay Steve was too quick. He ran towards Ghost Heterosexuality and hit Ghost Heterosexuality in the tummy. He was knocked out instantly. Everyone was happy and everyone was cheering for Gay Steve who had avoided the apocalypse! Gay Steve thanked me for my inspiration and actions. And now we all went home and wait until our next adventure!

#photo

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ssjk4yl4 · 8 years ago

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A single bulb lit the room, dangling from the ceiling by a string. It cast moving shadows and I blinked back darkness. An open door stood before me, but I couldn't see anything but the wall of a hallway.