#some of my most prized thoughts in this one... the bat tattoos i think they all get including nancy | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ryozoro · 3 years ago

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Hades Playlist - i.

NOW PLAYING : I n t e r l u d e [J. Cole]

cw; name calling, blood, mentions of murder, major spoilers

“Fate is a very weighty word to throw around before breakfast.”

Despite the red-light district thriving through the night, it looked just as beautiful during the early morning. Yn was roaming the streets on her pedal bike for the first time since winter break as she plotted different ways to surprise her big brother at his newly opened bike shop. She had already purchased his favorite breakfast meal from the little café she worked at, and all that she was left to do was see the said man. Getting out of thoughts and returning to reality, she stopped at the side of the traffic light to press the ‘crossing’ button and to text Draken to make sure he was at work before she made the trip.

“hey there pretty girl, ya wanna come ride something more interesting than the little kiddie bike yer on right now?” some bleach blonde junior high kid called out to her, smirking as he man spread and took up most of the space on the park bench. “I know ya hear me pretty girl,” he leaned and rested his elbows onto his knees, “maybe ya want me to come over and beg for yer attention, huh? Want me to come and make ya listen to me?”

She scoffed and waited for the light to signal for her to cross, but its as if the gods wanted to punish her and traffic kept flowing out of her favor. Getting restless, she pocketed her phone and tapped on her bar handles in hopes of the cars to all be generous and let her through; of course, this did not happen and the young fuck boy in training had began to approach her alongside his friend who were hyping him up and recording the event.

“You might be older than me,” he walked up behind her and kicked her bike tire before circling around and leaning against the basket in the front, “but that doesn’t change the fact that I hit girls.” Yn had to refrain from spitting in his face because Draken always said ‘never start anything with others first, let them choose their fate.’ In other words, big bro just didn’t want her to put herself at risk due to minor inconveniences that were presented towards her.

Just as the light switched from a hand to a walking figure, yn politely smiled at the boy in hopes of him getting the hint that she did not wish to engage with him anymore, but – of course – that was just asking too much of him. He turned back and looked at the sign noticing it was their turn to cross, and he surprisingly moved out the way. Yn smiled realizing that her brother did know it best when he said that the ‘dumb young boys will leave you alone after they realize you’re not going to give them the time of day,’ and she moved to pedal across the cross walk with a large smile.

However, big bro’s words are not the golden rule amongst men and the boys did not leave her alone; in fact, they decided to run at her hit the back tire with a bat and caused her to lose control and fall in the middle of the walkway. The drivers were kind enough to wait for her to get up and cross the street with scraped knees and a dirty pull over. She turned back to glare at the boys, but their backs were already facing her as they leisurely walked away laughing. This wasn’t going to ruin her day, after all, she still gets to surprise her brother with her presence and might even have the chance to see his hot amazing friends whom you grew up around. After realizing that the former gang members might all be hanging around her brother’s workplace, she got up with a huge smile and skipped the rest of her way on the crosswalk. Once to the other side, yn hopped back on her bike without checking her bloodied shins and made her way on the quickest route to the shop.

Glancing up at the familiar billboards that danced in sky and looking down at the alleys being populated with street cats and new gen delinquents, she realized she was only a block down from seeing the man who has always put her first and raised her to strive to her fullest potential. Smiling as closed her eyes for just a second - she swears it – to bask in the excitement and next thing she knew, she was on the ground covered in coffee. She could hear faint voices but those were cancelled out by her skin screaming at her to get up and quickly remove any rubble and dirt that had entered. Moving to get up, she took note of blood staining the concrete and became slightly alarmed.

“Oi, you dumb bitch, you should watch where you’re going,” a man’s voice echoed through her head, “you got a drip of blood on my Milano’s.” Trying to get up, yn went to wipe her eyes, but as soon as she lifted her hands, she felt them share the similar sting that her knees and chin felt. “You deaf or something? Ha, lucky for you I’ll take the food in your basket and whatever is in your wallet as an exchange. Pin code for your card must be included, love.” Hearing as she was about to get stripped dry of her hard-earned cash, she shot a glare up at the well-dressed man’s body just to be sent in a more state of terror when she noticed the tattoo that decorated his temple; it was the infamous Bonten symbol.

“I say we just take her to the back alley and make her pretty throat match the rest of her bloody body,” she turned and seen a pinkette with long hair and two scars that sat on each corner of his ?beautiful? mouth. to be completely honest, he would have been very much at the top of her most attractive list if he weren’t just plotting to slice her neck right in front of her; she wondered if he ever heard of the Element of Surprise. “She hasn’t even apologized yet and it’s been at least 45 seconds, that is pretty rude don’t you think, Mochi-kun?”

“It is very rude,” the built man with slicked back blonde hair spoke up, “do you want me to take her in the alleyway?” He squatted down to meet yn at eye level and she didn’t know if it was the fact he was able to stare into her soul with lifeless eyes or the extremely structured shoulders that could break her bones if he had tackled her, but she genuinely felt that she was going to die. “You seem like a worthless kill if I am being honest, and I don’t like claiming meaningless prizes. So, if you want to live,” ‘Mochi-kun’ reached over and gripped her bloodied chin, “or are you going to be good dog and run your pockets?”

She couldn’t believe it; for all her life, death threats have never been directly shot at her as Draken and the others have always been there. Of course, she emptied her pockets as quick as she could and began wiping the man’s Milano’s with her cloth lens wipe.

“Good girl,” the man with the temple tattoo said mockingly, “but I’m gonna need you to put your pretty mouth to work since you don’t know – or rather – you act like you don’t know how to speak.” She felt her eyes began to fill with tears as she looked up from the ground; they mistook it for fear, but yn was just angry she was powerless to them. “Don’t worry, I like older women, so I won’t need your mouth for that,” he laughed loudly in her face, “lick the blood off.” Her glare returned and tears began to spill over her cheeks. “Be a good bitch, and lick my –“

“What are you idiots doing?” a man with a long pink and purple mullet-like hairstyle came from behind her. “Are you guys bullying young kids again? Oh, wait, you’re not a kid.” He stared at you through his multi-colored bangs and tilted his head, “Why are you all bloody like a sewer rat walking through the back alley of feral cats?” he pushed the girl’s forehead back, straining her neck to hold eye contact with him, “you’re not some whore, are you?” He craned his neck back to the man who has been treating her like a dog, giving yn a full view of his Bonten symbol tattooed across the middle of his pretty throat. “Neh, Koko, you do realize that if you want a girl’s attention you can’t just rough her up in hopes that she takes you to bed.” He turns back to yn before sighing, “You’re cute,” for some reason she felt herself swelling with pride, “but you’re not my type,” – well there goes her ego.

“Oh what-fucking-ever,” ‘Koko’ mumbled as he gently pushed her away, “I didn’t want some inexperienced princess anyway, so don’t get your hopes up.” He quickly bent down and took all the cash from her wallet and began to slide out the card, but a baton quickly swatted at his hands.

“Your obsession with money is crazy, but you can’t take hers if you still owe me 45,000 yen.” Yn turned to see a man with pushed back purple and pink hair holding the offending stick. Unlike the other members, his tattoo was in the same place as the mullet man – maybe they took over the organization after her other big brotherly figure, Mikey, left. She drank in his appearance, and although he was thinner than the other members, something about him just screamed ‘stay away;’ but for the first time in her life, yn didn’t want to listen to such obvious red flags. “Oh no, you’re bloodied up like a rat –“

“I have already said that nii-chan,” the mullet head said, “what do you say? Wanna jut get rid of her like Sanzu-san suggested?” The now known younger brother asks. She began to tremble but not out of fear, no, out of a weird feeling at the pits of her stomach that came about as soon as the stranger stumbled onto the scene. “Oi,” the younger brother flicked your chin, reminding your body that it is supposed to be in a state of stinging pain, “staring is rude. What are you – a deer in headlights?”

“Now, now, Ridou,” the man continued to meet yn’s gaze as he motioned for her to take his hand, “where’s the fun in hurting a good little lamb? Especially one who shows that she knows to yield to her Sheppard.” Against her better judgement, yn took his hand and allowed him to help her up. “Look at you go,” he smirked and scanned over her body through hooded lids, “such a strong little girl you are standing on wobbly legs after the big bad wolves tried to tear you down.”

She should feel offended, mocked, and appalled, but she couldn’t – not with the voids he called eyes staring at her. “T-thanks,” she weakly mumbled as she began to gather her bag back together and prop her bike back up, “I know you guys said you needed the pin number, but I can’t give it to you.” She hung her head and balled her fists; she was waiting for someone to hit her but that never came. Looking up she sees the ‘older brother’ standing in front of the brooding ‘Koko’ and the other members just staring around the streets.

“That’s fine, little one,” the older brother said, “we don’t need your card. Koko here will be fine with just the cash. But I will need payment of the sort since I did calm the bully over here, don’t you think?” He smiled at yn, quickly scanning her student ID and then turning back to her face, “You’re 18, yeah?” she nodded, and he smiled lazily, “Good, give me something of yours that is valuable. I want to talk to you again and if I take it, you are going to want to take it back, correct?”

“I – um,” she began to go through the bag and seen that the only things she deemed valuable were her phone and the spare keys to her room in the brothel, “all I have is my k-keys and phone.” She huffed out in hopes that he took mercy and just let her go already; if she kept in his presence any longer, she feared that every piece of knowledge on common sense would fly out of her brain.

“Well, no one wants a pedal bike here and your phone and keys wouldn’t be of use to me,” he spoke in a rather degrading tone, “how about, you give me that pretty little necklace that you’re wearing… hmm, ... oh! Give me your number as well. After all, how are you going to know when I want you to take back your precious gems without being able to plan a proper date?” His smile was too secretive to be comforting, but this was probably the best way to saving her own life.

“Okay,” she replied quickly, “just please, don’t break the necklace…” her hands shook as she unclasped it and placed it into the man’s hands. “That’s a gift from my brother, so I promise you I’ll come and get it whenever you ask.” Yn put her hands on her bar handles before straddling the bike.

“Thank you,” he smiled and put away the baton before fishing out his phone, “put your number in it and call to make sure you’re not fucking with me, yeah?” He tilted his head and softly hummed at the soft sound of her phone vibrating in her bag. “Thank you, yn-chan.”

“No, thank you,” she lightly coughed and waited for him to look back up at her after saving all her contact information. Once he finally looked up, she flinched but proceeded to stare him dead in his lovely irises, “May I have your name… if ya don’t mind that it.”

“Haitani Ran,” the older man laughed and shifted his weight onto his hip, “and I expect you to text me whenever you get the chance.” He turned around and the other members began to follow. For what felt like an eternity, yn finally let out a small breath, well at least until he had turned back around. “Oh!” Haitani-san smiled at her, “Leave it under ‘Ran-senpai’ so your brother and friends don’t get spooked. Don’t want the fun to end before it has barely even started.” With that, he turned back around and waved half-assed before disappearing into the distance.

Yn decided to just to walk the rest of the block because riding the bike has been nothing but bad luck so far. Once at the shop, she sighed and made her way to the back where she knew would be unlocked because no one dared walk up into her big brother’s place of work. Parking her bike, she quickly takes her phone back out with 3 texts from an unknown number.

Unknown: hey little lamb, its yer senpai <3

Unknown: yer probs with yer bro so ill call you later, mm around midnight so stay up

Unknown: text me back soon or I mite accidentally break your pretty necklace and youll have to owe me a big favor for ignoring me :)

“what the actual fuck,” yn whispered as she quickly began typing away. She didn’t know if she be upset with his back-to-back messages treating her like she was his property, or mad at herself for feeling this little need inside of her that wants to please him. Yes, all of the gang members were extremely hot and DANGEROUS, but something about ‘Ran Senpai’ gave her the cold chills; what made it worse was the urge that she possessed to go against all her morals for him.

Yn: hi! Im sorry,, I was just trying to get to my brother’s shop

Yn: wait,, do you know draken-nii?

She tilted her head and rocked lightly from side to side, waiting for a reply instead of going in and surprising her brother like she initially had planned to do. While she waited, she changed his name to ‘Tani Senpai <3’ with a small smile as she imagined Draken freaking out over the fact that a boy has caught her interest. Of course, she wasn’t romantically interested in the man, but his face isn’t one that she would mind seeing from time to time – at a safe distance that is.

Tani Senpai <3: mhm, some good and bad history

Yn: oh?

Tani Senpai <3: you do know curiosity killed the cat, right little lamb?

Yn: you flirt a lot

Yn: how old are you ?

Tani Senpai <3: 28 years young bb

Yn: youre ten whole years older than me?? You look so,, young.

Tani Senpai <3: I have aged, but trust me, I am rather youthful in different aspects.

Yn: do you by chance,, like memes?

Tani Senpai <3: ofc, especially hornee ones.

Yn: haha.. well I gotta go,

Tani Senpai <3: mhm go ahead baby, remember. Midnight <3

Yn: aye aye captain.

She felt another vibration as she placed her phone in her backpack, but she was finally able to see and surprise her brother and that is exactly what she planned to do. Quietly pulling the door open, she noted that the music blaring and Draken’s back was to her as he was fixing up what looked like Pah-chin’s old CBX 400F. It was a cute sight if she was being completely honest; her brother rebuilding his old friendships. She seen the other boys’ bikes lined up too: Draken’s Zephyr, Mitsuya’s little Impulse, Kazu-kun’s Rocket, Mikey’s CB250T, and even the late Baji’s Goki.

“Pah-san still has the old thing,” she decided to speak up instead of tackling her brother, “are you guys gonna give it to some younger kids?” right as she finished her sentence, draken whipped his head back and went to cradle yn to his chest. Suddenly, all of the stinging on her skin had vanished and she was giggling while circling her arms around her brother’s waist. “How are you ya wannabe greaser?”

“I’m doing fine you idiot, how are -,” draken lifted his head to get a good look at her, but all his excitement drained as he was met with a sight of dried blood and scraped skin. “Who the fuck did this to you? I’ll kill them right fucking now, what the hell happened yn?”

“DRAKEN,” he stopped and stared at you expecting an answer, “I tired riding my bike down the big hill by the park and this happened, okay? I’m okay.” She stared at him with a soft expression and relaxed once she noticed he slumped in his posture, “I know you said to stop riding down the hill because it’ll bite me in the ass one day, so I guess today was the day.” Yn laughed and draken tried to fight the small smile that was threatening to fall on his lips.

“Go sit on the counter and watch the store for a bit, I’m gonna get the first aid kit in the back and I guess I’ll patch ya up.” With that, he disappeared into the office hall and left yn to be lost in thought. She had never lied to Draken this heavy before. It might not seem like a big deal to others, but she just told her brother she fell down a hill instead of saying that some /Bonten/ men were just threatening her life 20 minutes ago and they treated her like a dog; well, she didn’t feel that bad anymore, considering that he would have gone and wasted his life against men that played dirty. “Get out of your head, I’m back.” Draken teased her before getting an alcohol wipe and wiping the dried blood, “don’t squirm too much, loser. iss’ gonna sting a bit tho, so try to not hit me.”

It went a lot more smooth than she had expected, yeah, the cleansing wipe and ointment burned, but now she was bandaged and able to not worry about even more blood staining her clothes til they go to the brothel.

“Here,” he handed her a spare shirt and some sweats, “I don’t like seeing you all beat up, makes me want to fight the side walk. You know where the bathroom is.” Draken slightly punched her shoulder before heading back to seat near the bike, “once you’re done, we can go meet the boys for breakfast. I bet yer hungry.”

“Yer the best, ya know that,” yn smiled before taking her bag and clothes to the bathroom. “It won’t be long,” she turned before entering the hall, “make sure the cute one is there!”

“Stop trying to fuck my friends,” Draken called out in an irritated tone as she walked away laughing. It was an ongoing joke yn had played on her brother, where she would pretend to have some crush on his friends and it’d just make him twenty times more protective around them; he never knew if she was serious or not so he had to be cautious.

Once in the bathroom, yn quickly changed into the clothes her brother had lent her and stared at herself in the mirror. She laughed when she realized she kind of looked like one of the main characters from her favorite psychological thrillers. Yn took out her phone and decided to message Mana, mitsuya’s younger sister and yn’s best friend from home, with a picture of her bandaged state and the caption, ‘take out my ankles next time, daddy <3.’ It honestly surprised her to get a reply that fast as Mana was always one to sleep until noon. She didn’t know what scared her more, the fact she sent it the wrong person, or the fact the person knew exactly what she was talking about.

Tani Senpai <3: you look hot like that

Tani Senpai <3: like being called daddy, but in this context arent I supposed to call you mommy or something LMAO

Tani Senpai <3: I can break your ankles with my baton

Tani Senpai <3: make you my little housewife and call you ‘Bum.’

Tani Senpai <3: don’t worry, I won’t turn into ashes ;) <3

“Yn,” Draken called out, “you okay in there?”

“Don’t worry about it nii-Chan,” she giggled in hopes of masking her terror, “just bumped into a wound. I’ll be out soon.”

“Okay,” draken slipped a pad and a tampon under the door, “don’t know if you might want these -,”

“LEAVE YOU IDIOT,” yn genuinely laughed and heard draken’s heavy chuckles through the door, “thank you though, I’ll be out soon.”

“I’ll be outside on the bike, bubs.”

After hearing draken’s foot steps vanish, she quickly began typing.

Yn: that wasn’t meant for you -

Tani Senpai <3: shame, I love killing stalking

Yn: wait,, really? 👀

Tani Senpai <3: mhm,, we’ll talk about it later tonite ‘bum ;)

Yn: .. deal :)

Despite every shitty thing that has happened to her since she got back, it felt as if they were supposed to meet; fate as one would call it. She was offering herself to one of the most dangerous men who rule the underworld, and she didn’t even find herself to minding.

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an: hi hello, hope yer all eating well :)

ryozoro©

#haitani ran x f!reader #f!reader #tokyo revengers haitani #tokyorev haitani ran #tokyo revengers haitani ran #tokyo revengers haitani ran x reader #haitani ran #ran haitani #haitani ran x reader #haitani brothers #tokyorev #tokyo revengers x reader #tokyo revengers

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gucciwins · 4 years ago

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The Hunt

Luna has won the Halloween Hunt two years in a row and she is going for a third with Harry as her partner, the problem well they don’t really get along.

Word count: 10,761

A/N: Luna, I hope you love her like I do. She was a joy to write. I’m very excited to share so please come and share your thoughts with me. It really means the world to me. Thank you to Gianna (@hunflowers) for hosting this wonderful Halloween challenge. I hope you enjoy. (prompt: you’ve got to be kidding me).

Halloween.

The one holiday that Luna is excited to take part in with her friends, finding even the tackiest of activities fun and a joy to do. Luna and Caleb went to the pumpkin patch last weekend and spent the day drinking cider and eating cinnamon donuts. The pumpkin carving was a whole other story that ended with one smashed pumpkin and a grumpy Caleb.

Luna has spent every Halloween with Caleb for as long as she can remember. From first becoming best friends when Luna and her family moved in next door to Caleb at the age of six to now, age twenty-one going on four years of living together. Much to their parents' disappointment, sparks never did fly for them. Not that Luna ever thought there would be; Caleb just didn't do it for her no matter how handsome he was.

This Halloween, just like previous ones, they were going as a pair. Their first Halloween at age six, they went as Power Rangers, Luna the yellow and Caleb the blue. It was their most memorable one and has the picture hanging in their living room for reminiscing purposes. Last year Caleb decided on Ghostbusters, and they killed it. Being university students means low money in their bank account, so they went thrift shopping a lot that year.

Halloween 2020, it is her turn to pick. Luna decided they would be going as Princess Buttercup and Westley from The Princess Bride.

A true classic that will forever live on, yes, it may be a romantical pairing, but Luna has begged for this for years, and now is their time to shine. She pulled extra shifts at the tattoo parlor she works at as receptionist to get authentic costumes—the red dress of dreams.

It's Saturday night, there is a Blue moon, and it's Halloween.

It is time for their third annual Halloween Hunt, where her group of friends pair up and set off to find clues to win the grand prize of a crown, some cash, and bragging rights for a whole year. Luna has won it the last two years with Caleb on her side, and she is ready to do it again.

Luna stares at herself in the mirror. The gown is elegant and rich with details. The long red, billowy sleeves with a fathered cuff. A high neckline and falls into a loose, pleated skirt. The dress is tied off at the waist with a gold pattern belt. And to top it all off, the beaded crown on her brown curls. The color of her hair the only inaccuracy of the costume. The crown shines more she feels with her darker hair than the original Buttercup.

Her makeup is minimal, only having used mascara for her long eyelashes she likes having curled. It makes her brown eyes that much nicer to gaze at.

She grabs her wallet and keys that she will be leaving with Caleb as his look was blessed with pockets, and she does not want to stick anything down her bra for the entire night. She takes the stairs two floors down as they meet at Mitch and Oliver's apartment, who happen to live in the same complex.

To start the hunt, the host will let everyone get into partners before dispersing the first clue, and the first couple to make it to the final location at midnight will be crowned the winners.

They really are in for a fun night.

___

Walking in, she sees the apartment somewhat decorated, not much, purple string lights hanging over the large tv they have. Small orange pumpkins scattered around the room. The excessive amount of fake spider web in every corner of the house. Mitch has always said, why to decorate if you're going to be the one cleaning it up. Oliver did not think the same way; she imagines his room looks like the inside of Spirit Halloween.

Mitch greets her with a drink. It's water. He smiles at her costume before wandering off. She sips the cold water, never one to drink on such an important night. Also, she's wary about drinking growing up; her dad made her start driving at the age of fifteen because he liked drinking when they went over to her uncle's house on the weekends. He wasn't an alcoholic, but he did drink too often, and instead of putting her and her brother at risk, he taught her to drive. This is why now, she will instead be the designated driver than the one having the drinks. Tonight, she needs a clear head to win.

Luna moves past the kitchen, eyes searching for Caleb in his black outfit and mask, but she stops dead in her tracks once she meets his gaze.

It's a shock.

Caleb is dressed in slim black pants, a white dress shirt, a messy done blue tie, an unbuttoned black blazer, and completing his look is the signature beige blazer. He looks incredible, but not at all how he was supposed to. He winces when he sees the expression on her face.

She’s upset. He didn't even warn her. Not a single text or call.

There has never been a reason to break tradition, but here they are doing just that.

"They asked me to host," Caleb says as he steps toward her. Luna manages a nod. She changes her direction and goes across the room to sit alone on the windowsill, leading to a small flower patio. Caleb looks like he wants to head over, but she knows her well enough; it's best to leave her alone.

As Luna gets lost in thought, she doesn't acknowledge that everyone else has slowly arrived, the chatter getting louder. She also is oblivious to the lingering eyes on her. If she had looked up, she would have met Harry's concerned gaze.

"Hello friends, thank you for gathering with us here on this day of spooks and horror." Caleb stands on the study coffee table to get everyone's attention on him. "This year, you may not pick your partner. No, there will be random draws."

"Let's hope this makes Luna lose this year," Oliver shouts, getting lots of cheers in response.

Luna rolls her eyes at the banter but lets a smile overtake her face because she knows no matter who her partner may end up being, she will be a winner.

Caleb announces how only five of them will pick a name and how it has been decided it will be Mitch, Daniel, Charlotte, Abby, and Luna, who will draw a name.

She is third to pick a slip, not opening it up until the last two receive theirs. She doesn't focus on the others as they begin to search for their partners because Caleb is shuffling over to her looking sheepish.

He pulls her in and wraps his arms around her, giving her a big squeeze. Long and hard enough to leave her out of breath. A sloppy kiss on her cheeks, she is quick to wipe away on his coat, not at all wanting to dirty her dress, at least not yet.

Those hazel eyes are hard to stay mad at, and he knows it. Luna can count all the fights they've had on one hand.

"Whatever, you owe me." She bumps his shoulder.

He nods, quick to agree. "Name your price."

Luna opens up the folded slip of paper.

Harry

"A new partner." She whispers, not looking up, hoping if she stares long enough, the name will change.

Caleb leans in and smirks at the name. "That I can't do. You know the rules."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "There were no rules until today."

Caleb laughs. "Everyone partner up if you haven't already."

Mitch is already chatting with Oliver, and she knows they will give her a run for her money. These two get on so well, but their weakness is that when Mitch gets a lead, he forgets to address it to his partner most of the time, leaving them separated and lost.

Justine is with Abby, and honestly, she has no worry over them. Abby is a hard person to partner up with, always wanting to lead even when she has no clue what is going on.

Calvin is with Daniel, and honestly, she knows they are not competition. Calvin told her the clues confused him.

Mason and Charlotte, she was hoping to partner with Charlotte. That being her closest friend right behind Caleb. She's a music major, meaning their time together is always a joy. Luna singing a random song and Char telling her random facts she knows about the said song. Luna is not sure how good Charlotte and Mason get on, but only time will tell.

As she sees everyone paired up, she scans the room for Harry. She doesn't spot him, but she does see Pirate Roberts, better known as Westley, her other half. He's wearing a black shirt that has a lace-up front with a matching pair of pants. The mask and headscarf add a touch of mystery, while the sash and gloves put the finishing touch to the look. As much as she hates to admit it, he looks good.

"You've got to be kidding me." She says, looking him up and down in disgust.

Harry scoffs, now standing in front of her. "Guess that means I'm stuck with you."

"Yeah, you can lose the mask now."

"No, I don't think so. Makes my eyes pop." He bats his eyelashes at her.

She ignores him, moving on to an important question. "Who were you supposed to dress with?"

"Charlotte." His stupidly, charming English accent responds. "She asked me last week, then told me she was doing Ghostbusters with Mason. Her costume is done too nicely to be done last minute."

This is a setup.

She knows because Charlotte helped her alter the dress's length so that it didn't drag on the floor as she walked, and in return, Luna helped sew Venkman on her suit.

The only question is, why would they want her matching with Harry if they don't get on well at all, not even a little bit. Every interaction leaves with one of them storming off, not to brag, but it seems to always be Harry.

"Well, at least you were warned. Caleb didn't even tell me." She shares. "Had me walk in to see him dressed as an angel."

"Castiel, right?" Harry says, a bit uncertain.

Luna nods, surprised he knows, thinking this might be their one connection to break the ice. "He posted on his story who he was dressed as." She spoke too soon.

"You're saying you don't know Supernatural."

"No, sorry." He says, not sounding apologetic.

Luna shoots him a fake smile before looking away. "He can't be my partner; it's a disrespect to my morals."

Her only response is laughter. She wasn't joking.

"You know the rules, baby," Charlotte says, arms around Mason's waist. Luna narrows her eyes at that, mentally reminding herself to check in with Char about that.

How had she won two years without knowing any rules?

"Well, I'll still kick all your asses with Dobby on my team." When meeting Harry's eyes again, she smirks, his face shocked, not sure if she was insulting him.

"Right, do not mess up our chances of winning." Her voice was deep and threatening. At least she hoped that's how it sounded.

"I would never" Harry looks down at her with a smirk on his pink lips. "But I need motivation, so what's in it for me."

Instead of responding with half of the money because that much was obvious, what else would he want? She looks him in the eyes. "I'll kiss you if we win," Luna tells him sarcastically, and before Harry has a chance to respond, Caleb is walking over, handing them their first clue of seven.

Head to the place no one ever cleans

Harry scratches his head. "That's confusing."

"It's the bathroom. Specifically, the toilet." She hands the clue for Harry to put away, making her way there.

"You sure?"

Luna doesn't bother replying, pushing first to the bathroom, wanting to get a move on. It's going to be a long night if he keeps questioning her.

Harry opens the door and jumps back, he's startled at the sight in front of him, but Luna nudges him aside to take a look and is left impressed.

There is fake blood on the mirror, "You're next" written sloppily. What startled Harry was the body bag in the tub, bloody transparent curtains hanged to make it seem like a messy murder.

"There's not a body, right?" A slight tremble in his voice.

"Of course not. No one is a fan of jump scares her." She eyes his face. "Especially you."

Luna picks up the skull sitting on top of the toilet tank, and taped underneath is the second clue.

"That was too easy," Harry tells her, already heading out of the apartment, not waiting for her to read the clue knowing this one will lead them outside.

You may sit, you may stand, you may push, but one must never jump.

"Who even made these?" Harry scoffs. "It's awful."

She chuckles, agreeing because they do stink. "Caleb. The host has to do them all for each group. Talk with owners of shops and all. It's a long process." Luna explains to Harry as she reads the clue once more. "I'm surprised I never noticed how busy he was the entire month."

"It's what happens when you're self-absorbed." He mutters.

"Ouch." She feigns hurt, hands over her heart.

Harry rolls his eyes, not wanting to deal with her any longer than he has to. He has no clue what that clue is pointing to. He looks over at Luna, who has gone quiet.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Harry exclaims.

"Where is the headscarf? You're messing up the look." She pouts, and Harry would never admit it, at least to her, but she looks adorable.

"I took it off. It messes up my hair."

Luna stares at his hair. "Looks as messy as always.'

He gasps. "It looks fantastic, trying this new serum to make it shine."

"Sorry to break it to you, but I don't think it is working." She scrunches up her face in disgust.

"Well, your shoes don't match." He yells.

She looks down at her Molly metallic leather platform boots that give her five-four self extra height. "My boots are badass. Buttercup still kicks ass in these." She twirls and begins walking away from him.

"Luna, for fuck sake, where are you going." Harry rushes after her.

"We've got a hunt to win."

For someone of her stature, she sure has a fast pace. It seems as if she never slows down, effortlessly moving around pedestrians. All while Harry mumbles apologies as he trips over a person's shoe.

"The clue." He clears his voice. "How'd you crack it."

"Easy after a few reads. It's the swings at the local park."

Harry nods. "That doesn't explain how you knew."

"Caleb uses things in his life, and if you know him well enough, you can crack it. He's an open book, one talk with him and you'll know his grandparents' name and phone number. He loves sharing everything." Harry motions for her to continue, all while keeping her fast pace, leaving him a little wounded. "As kids, our parents' one rule at the park was that we could never jump off the swings all because one time Caleb and I were going so high I jumped and almost flew past the sand pile and landed on the concrete. No one broke a bone, but we could have."

"You and Caleb must have given your parents a hard time."

"Not really, we were angels."

"Hard to believe."

She kisses her two fingers before placing it over her heart. "Scout's honor."

"You were in the girl's scout."

"Well, aren't you nosy Miss Rosy." She rolls her eyes. "The town didn't have the girl's scout, so when Caleb joined, I made a presentation for Ulysses. He was the man in charge, and I impressed him. He accepted, and no one questioned me."

"Impressive," Harrys tells her, genuinely meaning it.

"Now shut up, Styles. You have too much information, might have to go kill you or something if these things get out."

"And here I thought we were becoming friends."

"Nope, let's keep it that way."

Harry shuts up, letting the chatter of late-night stragglers fill in the silence. Luna is stopped by a girl their age looking for directions to a party. She is happy to help, giving the girl extra detail to make sure she doesn't get lost. She goes as far as giving the girl her phone number to know she made it there safely.

Luna is an enigma.

"I thought you hated all humans, but I see I was wrong."

Harry is such a jerk that she doesn't bother responding. No, she does something much better. She stops walking, sticking her foot out, knowing how oblivious Harry is. He trips, almost falling to his face, but to some miracle, he manages to right himself without a scratch.

He adjusts his mask, brushing off the dirt he acquired at the bottom of his pants. "Well, that was mean.

"I thought it was rather kind, knock you off your pedestal." She grins at him, walking away again.

Harry mutters something under his breath, making sure she isn't able to hear him.

Luna decides to bring back the conversation of what started their night, his costume. "Why are you even Westley? You don't have the blonde hair for it."

Harry scoffs. "Says the girl with the brown locks of hair."

"The wig was itchy, besides my natural hair is pretty." Her hair is excellent, and she knows it. It's mid-waist, and she does hair therapy to keep it healthy. After Caleb's sister-in-law introduced her to natural hair products, a significant improvement. It added a shine she never had before. She is always paid lots of compliments on her hair. It's enchanting.

Harry looks at her before staying quiet. He kicks a rock as he walks. "Blondes are overrated."

Luna ducks her head, letting her hair frame a curtain around her face wanting to hide the blush he managed to get out of her.

Finally, reaching the park entrance, the swings a distance away. They stop, neither of them making a move follow the path.

"You could just stay here, and I'll text you when I'm done," Luna tells him.

Harry is quick to rebut, "I'm smart, I can help."

"I didn't say you aren't smart. It's just I know you don't like me, so why spend the time with me?"

That's far from the truth, Harry thinks to himself but doesn't deny it. "Together, we're winning this together." He gives her no room for argument walking to the swings.

Luna nods to herself; she's going to be okay. Maybe the night will start to get better.

Harry is opening up the clue as she approaches, and he holds it out further, allowing her to read it.

You walk by me, never give me a second glance. Now tonight, I dare you to give me a chance.

"That doesn't sound great," Harry confesses.

"You alright, with a bit of darkness?"

Harry nods his head, yes, but he has no idea what's coming next.

___

Standing in front of the house, Luna feels a chill run up her spine. It's not like she's never seen this house because she had. She grew up in the town and walked past the lonely house that wasted away day by day as she made her way to school.

"This place is creepy," Harry mumbles, standing next to her.

The grass is brown and unkempt; dried leaves scatter the path to the home's stairs, a crunch under their feet as they approach. She walks slow, counting her steps, and at unlucky thirteen, they reach the first broken step. The wood looked as if someone took a hammer to it, having random holes done. The windows are filled with spider webs and dust, no way to look in. The door was red and had scratches. As if someone small had clawed to be let in.

"Sure you want to go in, Luna." Harry looks at the door in fright. "You can admit you got the wrong location. You can't always be right."

"Look, Styles, I know I'm right."

Harry begins to sweep around to make sure no one is watching them break into an old abandoned house. She leans against the rotting wood, there's a chance she might fall through, but she's always up for the risk. In doing so, she shuts her eyes for a second, and a memory pops in her head; it causes her to let out a chuckle, startling Harry. He whips around to shout at her, but the smile on Luna's face makes him stop. He's never been privileged to a smile so intimate.

Before Harry can even ask her what's got her smiling, she is already talking.

"Caleb and I had our first kiss on these steps." Luna's eyes shift down as if the memory begins to play in front of her."

"With each other?" Harry asks, wanting confirmation.

"Yes, Caleb swore he was in love with me in the sixth grade, and I told him he was insane. The feelings were not mutual." She assures, wanting to get her point across. "We were walking home from school one day, and I, as the brains of the duo, told him we had to check out the house. I swore we had our own Boo Radley after reading To Kill A Mockingbird. He was going on and on about how he swore his love for me." She turned to look at Harry. "I looked at him, put my hands on his shoulders, and put my lips to his. He stood there shocked, and once I pulled back, he grinned." Luna deepens her voice. "So, I don't love you like that."

Harry chuckles, enjoying the story. She's not even sure why she began to tell him. "I was like yeah, you idiot, I see you as a brother. My mom could not stop laughing when I told her. My dad not so much." She stood up straight, took three steps to the door, grabbed the rusted doorknob, and it twisted open. There was a loud creak as she pushed.

"In we go, Farm Boy."

Harry shakes his head, mutters "As you wish." He hopes she missed that.

He steps in; first, his eyes quickly sweeping around the house, a doorway to a living room, another leading to what he assumes would be the dining room, and right in front of them a spiral staircase leading to the second floor where they might venture to if they don't find the clue in the main rooms.

"Right, together," Harry tells her.

"Awe, don't be scared, Styles. I'll protect you." She reaches out to pink his cheek.

He swats her hand away. "You'll be the one needing it."

"Don't count on you being my savior then?"

"Not ever, Buttercup."

They walk the first floor and find nothing. It's quite dull, nothing that stands out of place. Nothing haunting, really. A bit of a disappointment. They approach the stair and see footprints. This must be the correct way. She lets Harry lead. Once at the top, they see footprints are leading left and right. Harry nods left, so she assumes he means she has to go right.

It was not what he meant.

As Luna makes her way to the door at the end of the hall, she turns to see Harry entering the first room. She should turn back and go with him. She thinks about it for a second and decides it's best not and continues on.

Luna enters the boy's room. There is a race car bed, with white drawers full of stickers on either side. Everything is dusty, can feel the twitch in her nose. She approaches the bed when a paper catches her eyes on the corner of the dresser filled with different kinds of dinosaurs. It is their clue. It reads

If you wish to find me, you must go to the place where the choice of sweets is never-ending.

Luna smiles gratefully to have found it. She'll figure it out with Harry, she decides. The quicker she is out of the house, the better. As she folds the clue, she hears the door slam shut. It makes Luna jump.

She approaches the door and twists the knob, but nothing happens. Luna keeps pulling and nothing; she's slowly but surely beginning to freaking out.

Maybe Harry was playing a joke on her. That had to be it.

"If you think this is a good prank, you're wrong." She yells, eager to hear his deep laugh before opening the door. But instead, she is met with silence.

"Styles, open the door." Her voice firm, anger slowly taking over." Still nothing. "Haha, you've had your laugh; let me out."

The panic is beginning to set. Harry didn't lock her in; he's on the other side of the house.

"Harry?" She whimpers.

Meanwhile, Harry, no clue in hand, stands at the top of the stairs staring at a mirror frowning at himself. He looked for Luna, but it's as if she disappeared. He has come to the conclusion that she has finally left him.

Luna, not sure what else to do, begins to scream his name. The tears streaming down her face in panic. She just wants out. That's all she wants.

She pounds on the door, her throat hurting from the loud screams she's let out. The tears making it hard to keep on going; with one final knock, she lets herself slide to the floor.

Harry was about to descend the stairs when he hears a pounding on a door. It gives him chills; as much as it frightens him to go check it out, he has a gut feeling he has to. He goes right, the original way Luna went, and makes his way to the closed door. He takes a deep breath before turning the knob.

Nothing happens.

He takes a step back before pushing all his weight into the door, causing it to fly open. Harry scans the room quickly but sees nothing until he looks down and sees Luna hugging her knees.

Harry is quick to react. He's on his knees in front of her. "Luna, love, it's me, Harry. You're okay."

She slowly lifts her head. "Harry." She croaks.

"Yes, it's me."

The tears begin once more. "The door was jammed. I was calling for you." She throws her arms around him wanting to be close, needing comfort even if he may not want to give it.

"Thought you left me once you got the clue." He confesses as he runs his hand through her hair, he might have always wanted to do it, but not like this, never like this.

"I'm not that mean, am I?" She looks up at him through her long thick eyelashes. A tear runs down her cheek.

He brings his hand up and gently wipes it away. "No, you're sweet and sassy and perfectly you. Not mean. Ya, hear me."

Luna nods.

"Let's get out of here, okay. We need to figure out the clue now. Can't do it without your brains." He smiles at her dimples on display.

Luna smiles, he helps her out, and they walk out, Harry guiding her with a firm hand on her waist.

Once outside, the cold autumn wind hits them, and it's like Luna can finally breathe again. Harry guides them all the way to the sidewalk, where she hands him the clue.

If you wish to find me, you must go to the place where the choice of sweets is never-ending.

"Sweets? There's a candy store, right?" Harry isn't sure, remembering seeing one.

"It's named Annie's Sweets. Two streets from the library."

"Well, lead the way, Buttercup." Harry links their hands together and begins walking forward is surprisingly the right direction. Luna stares down at their intertwined fingers, and it feels nice.

Maybe, she's just a little touch starved.

Luna is quiet, trying to think of anything but that moment she had in that house. She's going to give Caleb a lot of shit for that one.

As they walk, Luna notices their hands are still together before pulling away. "Sorry."

Harry shrugs. "Don't mind."

Luna frowns and looks straight ahead as they walk; he's confusing. Why is Harry acting sweet? A little too sweet. She intertwines her hands together in the front wanting the feeling of his hand in hers to disappear.

"Are you going to tell the others about my crying? I get it if you do. Good story to get a laugh at me." She mumbles the last words.

Harry grabs her arm, stopping her. She slowly raises her head to meet his eyes through the eye mask. His green eyes soft but filled with an emotion, she can't place. "I would never, what happened was not a laughing matter, this, all this tonight will stay between us, you good with that."

Luna nods.

Harry clicks his tongue. "Verbal response."

Her brown eyes go wide. "Yes, I'm good with that."

Luna can't hide her surprise, and she knows Harry can see that. He's never acted so kind to her. It's a bit weird, but it beats the back and forth remarks. She's also sick of this façade of disliking him. It's exhausting now that she thinks about it. The banter is fun, but it always ends when it gets taken too far.

"Harry, I know you hate me for some reason," She clears her throat before continuing. "But it's exhausting all the arguing. I'm great at it, but we've been at it for the two years we've known each other. You can keep hating me and not talking to me. I'm used to people not liking me. You won't be any different. We can co-exist in the same group."

Harry scoffs, "You still don't get it."

She frowns. Get what? "You never gave us the chance to be friends. I'm giving you the chance to cut all ties while staying in the friend group." It's the most straightforward plan. It's honestly perfect.

"Luna, stop."

She continues on. "Harry, seriously, you make me miserable, and I make-" He turns around, causing her to almost crash into him.

"I like you." Luna knows the surprise is written all over her face. Harry's face is serious, no dimples insight and all his emerald eyes tell her is that he is full of frustration. "I like how beautiful and kind you are. How you don't let anyone walk over you and how you always manage to be the smartest person in any room."

"Oh."

Harry likes her. Her. He likes her, and this was his way of interacting with her. He said she's smart, but honestly, nothing is making sense. She's confused; how does she feel? How long has he felt like this? Has it been since they were first introduced?

Harry stands there staring at her, trying to see her give him any reaction, but all he gets is a blank stare. He clicks his tongue. "Alright." He turns on his heel and begins walking again.

Luna stares at him, walking away before shaking herself out of her thoughts and hurrying after him.

___

It's silent.

The quietest it's been all night, and she doesn't like it, but she's also not ready to address the bomb he dropped on her.

At the start of the night, Luna believed he hated her. That he had hated her for the longest time only to find out he actually liked her. There is no way she'll bring it up, at least not yet.

She cuts the tension in the way she knows best.

"You could have at least grown the stache." He looks over at her, confused, not sure about what she just said or how she is brushing aside what he said. "The mustache adds to the character, and well, you don't have it."

Harry gasps. "I like my smooth face." She lets out the breath she was holding, thankful he went along.

"Is that your way of saying you can't grow facial hair?"

"I can."

She shrugs and nods. "Sure, Jan."

Harry is about to go off on her, but Luna runs ahead to the candy store entrance, walking in and letting the door shut behind her.

He walks in after seeing that the store closes in twenty minutes; he finds Luna chatting with the cashier. He recognizes her as a girl he had in his intro to Psychology. She dropped out eight weeks in. He remembers because he lent her notes once and she had left coffee stains on them. As he reads on her name tag, the girl- Amy- was kind enough to pay him five dollars. Both girls don't acknowledge him, more into the conversation of Luna's costume and how pretty she looks in a crown. If Harry didn't know any better, he'd think Amy was flirting with her. Harry smirks but doesn't say anything waving at the girl before filling himself a bag of candy; he deserves it after all.

"Amy was telling me Caleb came in a few days ago. Asked her on a date and they'll be going out next week. She thinks he's a proper cutie. Did you know her?" Luna tells him as she grabs the small tweezers to get a few sour gummy worms.

"Had her for a class first year, but she dropped out." Harry is focused on getting a few cherry sours in his bag.

"Psychology. She was going through a rough time when she did it. Not that she ever needed the course. She's a theatre major now."

"How do you know her?" He really is curious now, as she talks about her with familiarity.

She drops a few Swedish Fish in the bag, sneaking one in her mouth, chewing it before moving along to add Tim Tams; he's never known for a candy store to have those. Then again, he's never been in this one. "She's my cousin. A year younger than us."

"Why hadn't Caleb met her then if you've been friends for so long?"

"God, you're a curious one, aren't you." She closes her bag and follows Harry as he fills his. He's going for Red Vines, nice and easy to snack on; Luna likes those only for movie nights for some bizarre reason she doesn't know. "I'm a protector of hearts. Amy is the sweetest person you'll ever meet, a real-life princess. Amy has been the sunshine in my life since she was born. I know Caleb, and he's going to fall in love with her, mark my words. I think they are a perfect match, but I also know not to meddle, which is why I wanted them to meet on their own."

Harry smiles down at her. "Didn't know you could be so sweet, Buttercup."

"Only to very few people."

Luna places her bag on the scale, but her eyes go wide as she meets Amy's across the counter, realizing she doesn't have any money on her. Before she can even think about asking Harry, Amy saves the day. "Both your bags are covered. He knew whoever got this clue would most likely be buying, so he took care of it, more than enough actually."

Luna rolls her head to look at Harry. "He's too kind."

"What did the clue say?" Amy asks curiously.

Harry and Luna's eyes go wide simultaneously. "Shit." He whispers before whipping out the slip of paper that led them there. "It says If you wish to find me, you must go to the place where the choice of sweets is never-ending."

"The Pucker Powder!" Luna shouts, rushing over to the middle of the store where the machine of different flavors of powdered candy stands. There the clue is, under watermelon, Caleb's favorite. "I got it, Westley."

Harry makes his way over to her waiting for her to read it, but Luna gestures for Amy to come listen as well, and she happily skips over. That's when Harry notices her costume; she's dressed in relaxed fitted jeans, a plain black t-shirt, and a faded brown leather jacket with leather boots. A charm hanging from her neck. "What are you dressed as?" He's confused.

"Dean Winchester." She answers cheerfully.

Luna feels Harry turn to look at her waiting for an explanation. "She's paired up with Caleb, He's Castiel, and she's Dean and together they are ‘Destiel’. A long-loved ship in the fandom of Supernatural.

He smiles. "You look great."

"Don't worry, Ames, the reason we aren't friends, is that he doesn't watch."

"It's not for everyone, Luna," Amy tells her before nudging her to read the clue.

You swim to the bottom to find the other side but never come back up.

"Sound like the lake," Harry suggests. “Only source of water here.”

Luna nods, agreeing with him, as they head to the door. She stops, suddenly remembering something. "Do you need us to walk you home? You know how I feel about anyone walking out alone, especially tonight."

Amy blushes, looking down. "Caleb offered to walk me home, you know it's close by, and it's still a while until midnight."

"Say no more, sweets." Luna leaves and follows behind Harry, as he now leads the way.

___

It's a half-mile away, not too far but enough to have them silent for a while as they set a steady pace.

Harry quite likes conversing with Luna and decides to ask her a question that's been on his mind since he saw her back at the apartment.

"Why this costume, why Buttercup?"

Luna runs her hands down the front of the material, feeling the softness against her hands. "It was my favorite growing up. Still is, honestly. It's a nice story that gives you a bit of everything, romance, friendship, and adventure. Each character was on an adventure, and it brought them all together. Also, because I'd read it to Caleb during lunch breaks, we didn't feel like playing with others. I'd read because he had dyslexia and he grew a distaste for reading." Luna smiles fondly, thinking back to those simpler times.

"I watched the movie for the first time last year."

"Did you like it?" Her voice was full of curiosity.

"Loved it." He tells her.

She smiles, his answer filling her with joy. "Favorite part?"

He hums, thinking it over for a second. "When she pushes him down the hill and finds out he's actually Westley."

"Because he yells as you wish, rolling down." She grabs his arm in excitement, finishing the scene for him.

Luna realizes what she's doing, and quickly let's go, muttering a small apology. "You're a romantic, Farm Boy."

"Not the first person who's told me."

The walk to Orchid Lake continues in silence. A comfortable one, each one lost in their own head. Luna keeps playing one moment in her head, the moment Harry confessed his fondness of her, but it doesn't make sense. She replays every one of their interactions, and there is not one moment that stands out to her that proves he likes her. Harry introduced himself the first time but never once pursued a friendship or anything more. Luna is so lost in thought she doesn't realize they've arrived as she bumps into Harry's back as he stopped at the entrance.

She walks ahead, and instead of walking to the trail in front of them, she goes right and takes a seat on the bench, it's a bit wet due to the mist filling the air, but she doesn't mind.

"Uh, it's this way." Harry points, wanting to get a move on.

Luna makes no moves to stand. She runs a hand down her face before letting it drop to her lap. "How is it that you hate, and you like me?" The question slips out before she can stop herself.

Harry sighs, knowing the conversation is happening now. "Don't hate you." Harry is now standing in front of her, mask in his hand, wanting her to really look at him. "But, you hate me."

Luna shakes her head, no. She's never hated anyone, she might have disliked Harry at one point, but honestly, they might have just misjudged each other. Harry gives her a look, one that tells her to be honest.

"Okay, I didn't like you, but can you blame me?"

"No, I understand completely." Luna stares at him, her eyes now locked with his.

Harry lets out a deep breath. "I think you're an amazing person. You're kind and smart. Always volunteering to help others. You help set up study sessions for everyone." Luna keeps her eyes on him, not giving him a single expression. "Was mad you didn't treat me that way when we first met." He confesses.

She nods, letting it sink it. "I've always included you, never not invited you."

"I mean, you didn't try to get to know me."

"Harry, I did when we first met." Luna is sure of this.

"No, I would remember." He exclaims.

"I'm not that memorable to you, it seems." She rolls her eyes. "Let me paint the picture for you. We are all hanging out in Mitch's apartment when you arrive a little later than the rest of us. A girl is hanging off your arm, not an inch of space between you. Kiersten, does that name ring a bell, Styles?" Luna knows it does. It's his ex, the only one she knows of. "She was rude to me the first time we met, when we were introduced to each other. You stood there and let her do that. Insulted me, and I was fuming. Mitch said you were a kind person and to give you a chance but letting someone treat someone else badly right in front of you, I wasn't so sure."

Harry stays silent, letting her go on. "The second time we met, she made fun of Charlotte's outfit, and you just sat there. Char cried in the bathroom and then headed home for the night. From then on, I was neutral with you, not giving you anything to move forward on. The last straw was when it was Friday movie night in my apartment, and she tells you it's lame seeing movies together and that the apartment was trashy. You stood there, nodding along, and as soon as I saw you alone for a second, I let you know we wouldn't be friends because you were different than I expected.” Luna tries to calm her breathing, no point in losing control over the past. She's let it go, well, some of it.

"She was bad. I broke up with her that night."

"That's not the point. Even in doing that, you didn't apologize, but you did already decide on how you were going to keep treating me."

Harry has no right answer because he was wrong. He messed up. "I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry, and I'm sorry my apology is so late, but you do deserve it. No one should ever put up with someone else's crap, Luna."

"Thank you, I appreciate that."

"Honestly, I feel terrible. I think I did it because you didn't treat me like the others and-" Harry stops.

"Yet you never questioned why. You just acted, and well, I reacted."

Harry sighs, upset that they could have been friends by now, heck even something more maybe.

"Wait, Harry."

"Yes, Luna."

"What was your' and'?" She stands up, not sure what it could be.

"Uh, I was going to have a conversation with you to see why you never talked to me and had worked up the courage to also ask you on a date, but I heard you were dating Calvin, so I sort of got jealous and well, yeah."

"We went on one date." She emphasizes. "No sparks. Who even told you?"

"Abby."

"Makes sense; she was jealous that Calvin asked me out. Seeing as he never once flirted with her. We're civil, but deep down, she doesn't like me." Luna isn't sure what went wrong with that friendship.

They both let out deep breaths, thankful to have everything out in the open now, nothing hidden. A step forward.

"I'm not that person," Harry tells her, needing her to know.

She smiles at him. "I know. You proved that today."

"I hope I haven't offended you with my remarks." His smile was sheepish.

"You haven't."

"Luna," Harry chastises.

"Okay, you have, but we can move past because it turns out you're actually really nice." She lowers her voice to a whisper. "And cause you like me."

Harry blushes, his cheeks now a rosy red and not from the cold weather. "I plead the fifth."

"Harry," She teases.

"Lips sealed."

"Doesn't work if you confessed earlier." She reminds him.

Harry chooses to ignore her. Letting her words fall silent on him. "I know we have to get going, but can I do one thing before we do."

Luna nods, not sure what he wants to do. Harry takes a step forward until he is standing right in front of her. He pulls her in for a hug, his arms around her waist. She slowly raises her hands, being as gentle as she can about it. Their height difference makes her smile; her head reaches just under his chin. She hated it before, but now, in his arms, it's actually quite lovely. He's warm and not as firm as she thought he would be; it's like she's hugging a big teddy bear.

Harry leans back, looking down at her, a shy smile on her face. His eyes flicker to her lips and back to her eyes, leaning in for a moment before stepping back. He clears his throat. "To the lake, Buttercup."

___

There's no fear as she walks to the bridge where the clue should be. It's dark, not much light guiding them besides the moon. Harry wanted to turn on his flashlight, but Luna knows it's best not to disturb their eyes with such a harsh light.

Luna knows this path like the back of her hand. She comes here every morning, sometimes before sunrise, either for a run or walk but in the summertime, she'll even go in for a swim. The lake is well cared for by the community. There is just one house in the back of the property, and the old couple living there love the visitors. They teamed up with the university to set up students to be tour guides, and it's an excellent part-time job. There's a lot of good here.

She's sure the clue is on the bridge because one time, Caleb got Luna so mad that she shoved him in. She can't even remember why she was angry, but Caleb surely does. She would bet her life on it.

It's a wooden bridge, a bit old as it creaks under each step taken. It's low, as it sits on the side of the lake, four feet deep at most. She takes a lookout at the lake, the water showing a beautiful reflection of the bright full moon above their heads.

Luna picks the paper taking a step closer to Harry so that they can read it together.

"I was the embodiment of every writer's worst fear: A cliche."

"That's a book quote." Luna recognizes it, but not a single book comes to mind. "Let's head to the bookstore. It's fifteen minutes from here, but we can make it in ten."

Harry lets her lead. They know time is counting down, not once having stopped to look at the time. Harry feels they might be falling behind with all the stops in between the clues, but he knows better than voice out his worries.

"Do you recognize the quote?" Luna asks Harry to hand it over to him."

Harry reads it over twice. "No."

"I know it, but I can't figure out where. I've read one too many books." She crosses her arms across her chest in frustration.

"Maybe it's one that you've read to him," Harry suggests.

Luna looks up at him as if he just hung up all the stars in her name. "You're right. He set this all up."

It's one she begged him not to make her read, but he gave her an offer she couldn't resist.

Luna picks up her pace; she's close to running but stops herself from doing so.

"Wait up, it isn't going to run away." Harry huffs out. He thought he was in shape, but tonight has proved him wrong. It could also very well be the boots.

"Farm Boy, put those legs to work!" She shouts, not at all looking back at him. She didn't have time for that.

"I'm tired," Harry groans. "We've walked a lot.”

"Please, we'll get something to eat after we win." She throws him a smile over her shoulder, and Harry happily returns it.

"Deal." Luna is surprised at how quick he was to recover now next to her. She would have thought he was okay if it weren't for the deep breaths he was taking. "It can be our first date."

Luna falters in her step. She recovers just as quickly, hoping Harry did not notice. It seems like he didn't. "Great joke, get serious." It's weird; she's feeling butterflies in her stomach at the prospect of what could be with Harry, a date. It doesn't sound so bad, but it's not her focus.

Luna misses Harry frowning. He was serious, but he also understands they just came to a truce of sorts less than an hour ago.

Walking into Read to Dream, the first thing Luna does is scan the clock. There are forty-five minutes until midnight. That is plenty of time to reach the last destination after retrieving the final clue.

The bookstore is a family-owned place. Mrs. Bennet, the owner, will be sure to pass it down to one of her grandchildren. Seeing as her children didn't take an interest, but dear Clara has. Clara is Mason's younger sister. She recently turned seventeen, meaning she's now allowed to close shop independently, seeing as her grandmother lives right above.

The bookstore is what everyone likes to call an organized mess. There are many books on shelves in their respected genre and ordered alphabetically. Still, there are also books on chairs that no one ever seems to touch, the books on top of the bookcases that don't fit, and the books in the back that are stacked in rows in a rainbow color because they don't have a specific genre. Luna spent many summer days here, this was her first job at fifteen, wanting to have more liberty and Mrs. Bennet was kind enough to hire her on. From time to time, she comes in to have tea with her or even volunteer her time around. It's one of her happiest places.

"Hello, tootsie!" Luna bounces over to Clara going around the counter to give her a hug.

"Lunes, it's great to see you. You look gorgeous. Red is definitely your color." Clara gushes.

"Thank you, I'd love to chat more, but I'm on the hunt for a book." Luna turns to scan the store as if it would stand out to her.

Clara nods. "That I can help with.”

"Gone Girl"

"Three aisles down, second row."

Luna quickly thanks her, and Harry follows after her. Harry's stuck on the fact that she seems to know everyone they encounter. He's never seen a person as social and kind as her.

"You read Gone Girl aloud to him." Harry finally processes the information that was given a few minutes prior.

"He paid me to." Luna defends.

"How much?"

"In lunch for an entire semester." Luna finds the book and begins to flip through it knowing it must be stuck in there.

"Fair."

"Got it!" Luna cheers. She pulls it out and hands it to Harry. He opens it, and that's when her eyes catch sight of the second piece of paper. This one is pale yellow, meaning it's not a clue and specifically for her. Luna slips it under her sleeve, careful not to have it fall out.

Evil lurks at midnight. I invite you to join me when they begin to rise.

The cemetery. A chilling place to end the night, but a perfect place to be crowned winners.

"It's a twenty-minute walk from here," Luna informs Harry, putting the book away and heading to the front.

"I've never been to the cemetery." Harry decides to tell her.

"It's not as creepy looking as you would think."

"Don't believe you," He mutters.

They say goodbye to Clara and begin the walk to the final spot of the night.

"Ready to win?" She smiles up at Harry, buzzing with adrenaline, knowing how close they are.

"Yeah, I am."

As much as Luna wants to run to the cemetery, she wants to enjoy the last alone time she will have with Harry. She knows they are going to be friends after this. She lets herself fall behind a few steps and pulls out the slip of paper. She unfolds it, and it reads, "You can thank me by making me the man of honor." She blushes, but Caleb might be right, and she honestly hopes he might be. Luna can deny how she feels all she wants, but tonight proved something there, something he saw long before she did.

Something that had been hiding there for quite some time.

This could very well be the night that changed it all, the story they tell their grandchildren. That stops her letting out a gasp loud enough to grab Harry's attention. A few hours ago, she couldn't stand him and now is thinking about a future with him, and all Luna wants to know is how she let these feelings grow without really noticing.

"You alright, Luna?" Harry looks concerned.

No future talk, not now, at least. First, they will win, and then they both can go from there.

"Luna, love. Times ticking." Harry teases.

Luna starts forward once more, not having noticed how close they actually are from the entrance. She passes Harry and is now running. "Pick up the pace, Farm Boy." She's gaining lots of distance from him.

"You can't beat me, Buttercup," Harry says, beginning to catch up, now right behind her.

Luna lets out a loud laugh causing her to slow down. "We're on the same team, Westley."

Harry laughs, pulling ahead, but grabbing her arm, making her run even faster. They turn the corner, and that's when she sees Caleb's car and knows the entrance is right ahead where he has to be waiting.

Caleb is leaning against the rusted golden fence. Evergreen Cemetery, the name on the arch staring down at them. Caleb raises his head, looking away from his phone as he hears footsteps hitting the pavement.

"Inconceivable!" Caleb shouts as Harry and Luna stand in front of him, out of breath but smiling. "You have arrived with ten minutes to spare, but I hate to inform you-" Luna's smile drops, and Harry can only frown, a profound bit of sadness forming in his stomach.

Caleb bends over, laughing. He wishes he could have recorded that. "I'm only playing. Of course, you won."

Luna punches his shoulder. "Jerk."

"Hey, be nice," Caleb backs away, his hands up in defense. "Winners aren't mean."

"They are if it's to their best friend." Harry laughs, knowing Caleb deserves the well-given punch he received.

"Honestly, I wasn't too sure you'd win, considering you two aren't- or weren't the best of buddies." Caleb nods his head to their connected pinkies. Harry blushes but makes no move to pull away. Luna tries, but Harry tightens his hold, and well who is she to fight him.

"Look who's here," Caleb says, looking over their shoulder.

It's Mitch and Ollie rushing over, a frown on both their faces as Luna and Harry step to the side so Caleb can adequately thank them for being the first losers.

Mitch scoffs, a smirk forming on his face. "No surprise, they won. Harry would do anything to see Luna smile."

Harry's cheek goes red, but Luna carries on her conversation with Caleb feigning as if she didn't hear a word Mitch said.

As time clicks closer to midnight, the teams begin to trickle in. Daniel and Calvin come in with five minutes to spare. Mason and Charlotte right on their heels, and at 11:59, barely making it on time are Justine and Abby. There were many mixed emotions as they found out Luna and Harry were the winners. A few eye rolls (Abby) and lots of cheers.

Caleb has quieted everyone down, as it is now time to crown the winners, and Luna is buzzing with excitement. She might not have won with Caleb by her side, but Harry was just as great as Caleb, if not better.

"I am proud to crown Luna and Harry, the winners of the Halloween Scavenger Hunt 2020," Caleb yells, having everyone break out into collective cheers. Luna blows kisses to her group of friends, a large smile on her face.

Charlotte steps forwards and places a jeweled crown on her head. Luna thanks her softly and watches as she does the same to Harry. He bends down so that Charlotte doesn't need to reach up to place it on him. He has a broad smile on his face, he glances at Luna, causing her to go a deep red, but all he does is give her a cheeky wink. Caleb hands over two yellow envelopes, Winner, written on the front, and in each is the $250 prize money.

It's $500 total, but it's split because of groups. She's not sure who decided everyone put in $50 to get a nice prize out of it instead of just bragging rights, but Luna was thankful for whoever did.

"Speech, please," Caleb says, backing away to stand with the others.

Harry nods at her asking if she'd like to go first, but she shakes her head no. He clears his throat and puts on a charming smile, always quick to dazzle a crowd. "This year, I was not expecting to partner up with the best at the game, but I am glad she drew out my name. Luck was honestly on my side." He turns his head to find Luna already staring at him. "I can happily say that I'd do it all over again with Luna by my side." Shoots her a smile before locking eyes with their friends. "As now reigning three-time champion, I'm proud to have been at her side. Her brains and my looks won us this hunt." He fakes a hair flip causing Luna and Caleb to let out a giggle simultaneously. She nudges him gently, shaking her head at his antics.

Harry smiles at her waiting for her to now start hers. She blushes under his intense gaze wishing he'd direct it elsewhere.

Luna knows they are waiting for her to share, but she's stuck in a trance staring into Harry's emerald eyes. She thinks back to the evening's start in Mitch's living room and the promise she made to Harry if they won.

Without thinking twice, she steps close to Harry, closing the small distance between them. Luna brings up her right hand to gently cradle his cheek and as for permission. He gives her the slightest nod, and in the next second, her lips are on his. Harry reacts quickly, wrapping his arms around her waist, needing her close, not all believing it's actually happening.

Harry's lips are soft, his mouth tasting like cherry from the gummies they bought earlier in the night. The butterflies in her stomach are going crazy, trying to find an escape. Harry lets out a small moan. That's when she knows it's time to pull away. Luna rests her hands on his chest, feeling how fast his heart is reacting to the kiss.

Luna turns to face her friends, not caring how they were all witnesses to their first kiss. "I told Harry if we won that I'd kiss him, and well, I'm not one to go back on my word."

Caleb cheers and starts to clap, not at all trying to hide his excitement. Everyone else joins in the hollers, only getting louder, causing Luna to drop her head to rest on Harry's chest as she takes in her friend's excitement, knowing the teasing will soon be next. Harry has not removed his hands from her waist, liking how close she is. Luna doesn't mind it either. It feels quite nice.

"Alright, let's head to the diner where we'll buy the winner's food." Caleb begins ushering everyone to the cars. He got Amy's help bringing over Mitch and Charlotte's car which is how they will be leaving, finally the end to all the walking.

Luna and Harry are still wrapped in each other's arms, not at all ready to move. Caleb is waiting for them at the small cobblestone entrance.

"We'll meet you there." Luna knows they have no transportation, the diner being close to their apartment that is a good two miles away.

Caleb nods, stepping closer to toss his keys to her. She catches them with ease. "I'll be riding with Mitch."

They watch the two cars drive away before turning her attention back to Harry.

"What a night."

She nods in agreement, happy that the hunting is over and can now relax.

"Favorite part?" Harry asks.

She thinks it over for a second before responding, "The haunted house."

"Really." Her answer really surprises Harry, and he doesn't try to hide it.

Luna shrugs. "Think that's what broke the tension between us; otherwise, we'd still be bickering." Getting locked in a room was not fun, but Harry coming to look for her and help her showed her a side she hadn't seen before. It was worth it, but would most definitely not do it again. "And yours?"

He leans down to whisper in her ear. "When you kissed me."

Luna nods, "That was a nice moment, huh."

"Care to do it again?"

"Only," Luna pauses before leaning close to Harry. She feels his breath against hers, mixing together. "If you would agree to dress up with me next year."

"Done deal." Harry answers. His lips are on hers once more. Harry has a hand on her cheek, deepening the kiss, not ever wanting to pull away. "We could be Noah and Allie from The Notebook."

Luna breaks the kiss. "Gross, please take that back."

"What's wrong? It's my favorite movie."

"Why?" Luna asks in disgust. "Allie cheats on her fiancé. Sure, they have true love, but cheating should never be condoned, especially in a love story. Sure the book showed their growth and maturity, but you're not talking about the book. I shall not do it, not ever."

"Guess you just won our first fight, Buttercup." Harry smiles.

"First? We've had over five hundred!" Luna tells him. "Now, kiss me again because I won."

"If we're kissing after each fight, then I owe you over five hundred." Luna shuts Harry up by connecting their lips. She knows kissing Harry will never get old, neither will these pointless arguments that will be forgotten seconds later.

"Enough of giving these dead people a show. Let's go eat."

"As you wish."

Luna gasps, pressing her right hand against her heart dramatically. "Are you saying you love me?" She clears her throat, scrunching up her face in apology. "This might be a little awkward then." She points between them both.

Harry stops walking, throwing his head back, letting out a loud groan of frustration. "You're a pain in my ass."

Luna giggles. "Would you want it any other way?"

Harry grins, looking down at her soft brown eyes. "No." He responds honestly.

Pinkies linked together, bumping into each other randomly to see who stumbles the most, Luna and Harry walk out of the cemetery forever thankful for this Halloween night.

I love you!

Thank you for reading, come chat the hunt with me

#harry styles #hunflowershalloweenchallenge #harry styles x ofc #harry styles fic #harry styles story #harry x luna #harry x original character #halloween fic #harry styles imahine #harry styles x oc #harry styles writing #harry styles angst #harry styles fluff #harry styles fanfiction #enemies to lovers #harry styles fanfic

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plus-size-reader · 4 years ago

Text

Vampire Bat

Negan x Plus size!reader

Word Count: 1658 words

Warnings: none

Summary:Reader is Alexandria’s very aloof, alternative babe and Negan falls for her almost immediately

——————————————————————————————————

You had never apologized for who you were.

This was just the way you were.

Even before the literal end of the world, everyone around you made it clear that they didn’t understand anything about you. From the way that you chose to dress to the way you reacted to the world around you, they didn’t get it.

...But they didn’t have to.

Though, that did get a little harder to explain once the dead started walking the earth and you had to live off the land with the other survivors you encountered along the way.

You were alone for a long time.

Everyone you came across on the road didn’t trust you and they certainly weren’t willing to risk the safety of their own group just to save your life,that was, until you met Rick and the others.

Carl found you out on the road, hiding in one of the shops they had stopped to raid, and instantly knew that they had to take you in.

You looked to be in your twenties or so, covered in tattoos with several visible piercings, and scary as all hell but he didn’t care about that. Carl knew better than anyone that looks didn’t mean anything.

Good people could look all sorts of ways, just like bad people could and he figured he owed it to you to figure out which one you were.

Of course, that was quite some time ago and you’d grown much more comfortable with Rick and the rest of the group that you now considered your family.

Granted, even with them, you weren’t super vulnerable or open about the things you’d done or seen before all of them. You kept to yourself mostly, but they knew what kind of person you were and you were family to them too.

They were understanding that you weren’t like most people and you even began to feel accepted and loved within their group and later, the walls of Alexandria.

However, you never once forgot who you were and you weren’t about to stop just because the world was different now. In fact, Alexandria was more of an opportunity to change yourself safely without consequence.

That was what you had been doing when you heard the commotion outside.

You were playing around with a needle soaked in vodka and a pot of black ink, touching up the lines of the ink on your left arm but you had to put it down to check out what was going on in the street.

Most, if not all, of Alexandria was pooled around the gates where a few large trucks and a gaggle of strangers were waiting. That was when you saw him…

Negan.

You didn’t know who he was then, but that would turn out to be the moment that would change everything for you. That was the first time you laid eyes on him but the first time he saw you was different.

That came when he entered Rick and Carl’s house, where you had been staying to watch Judith. You slept on the floor in her nursery, with your own bathroom and everything you could ever need.

...Or so you thought.

As soon as you saw him up close, having just entered your bedroom without so much as a knock, you doubted if that was true.

You could tell that he was the enemy, or at least he wanted you to think that he was but you couldn’t focus on that. You couldn't’ focus on the fact that he had killed Glenn and Abraham.

All you could think about was that leather jacket, and the swagger that he exuded.

“Well hello there! Why didn’t you tell me you were keeping the pretty ones all locked up?” he joked, looking back at Carl with a smirk on his face, only to be greeted with that death glare you loved so much.

You wouldn’t have been surprised if Carl killed the man himself, at some point. That kid had balls, and considering that you owned everything to him, you were glad.

It wasn’t until Negan started toward Judith’s crib, his bare feet on the carpet that you moved to pick her up before he could. He may have thought he was some sort of god around here, but she was a different matter entirely.

You weren’t going to let anyone hurt her.

...Especially not some prick from the outside who thought he could just waltz in here and pick her up.

It wasn’t going to happen.

“Well damn. You aren’t playing around are you, angel?” Negan grinned, watching the way you gripped at the young girl, keeping her close to you. You had a loose top on and a pair of jeans, giving the male a good look at the art you’d decorated yourself with.

Almost all of it came from before the world went to shit but that only made it more interesting to Negan. It had been quite some time since he’d seen work like that.

Not very many people had tattoos anymore, not to mention tattoos like that.

“Actually, I think I’ll call you vampire bat. It’s much more fitting” he joked, his free hand falling gently on your forearm as he closed the space between you, only to laugh when you stepped back.

You hadn’t even spoken to him yet, and even now, Negan knew that you were going to be his. It was going to take some time, but he knew it and deep down, you knew it too.

“Come on honey, that’s a good joke”

It wasn’t, not really and you made sure he knew it. You casually moved to the side to set Judith back down in her crib, confident now that he wasn’t going to touch her.

Once she was taken care of, you returned to your place, folding your arms over your chest. You didn’t care much for his cheap attempts to get under your skin but luckily, Negan wasn’t easily discouraged.

This wasn’t over.

“Fine, but next time I expect a smile, vampire bat” he commented, winking at you before leaving the room entirely, that bat swinging at his side for added dramatics.

You hadn’t stopped thinking about Negan since that day in the nursery.

There was something so insufferable about the way he spoke to you, like a prize to be won. However, worse than that was the fact that you actually found yourself attracted to him.

After all the horrible things he’d done to your friends, your family, you still couldn’t stop thinking about him and the guilt was killing you.

Though, the guilt didn’t stop you from being right there with the others when the gates opened that next time, your arms once again folded in defiance.

You couldn’t tell just how you felt, not yet, but it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered right now was making sure that no one else knew what you were feeling. That was all you could think about, even when he shoved that gate aside.

Negan scanned the crowd for a second, only faltering slightly when he found you standing there, behind the rest of your group with your eyes locked on him before turning to Rick.

He had truly been expecting you to be hiding from him again, but there you were, looking at him with those eyes.

...damn.

You knew that you couldn’t be obvious about your attraction to him, especially not with the rest of your group around, but you also couldn’t let him leave without talking to him again.

So, you just made sure that you were readily available to him. Actually striking up a conversation was going to be his responsibility.

That meant that you found your way over to the pantry, and just stuck around there until Negan rounded the corner, looking for something he could take.

Though, admittedly, he found more than he bargained for.

“You owe me a smile, vampire bat” he chimed, looking at you from the corner of his eye, watching you study a can of peaches instead of looking at him.

It was painfully obvious.

The tension between the two of you was palpable, but still, you refused to indulge him. Luckily for you, Negan had never been one to give up easy and you had just become his favorite game.

You looked around once or twice, finding only his people surrounding the exits to this place, likely on purpose. He had done this just to corner you but you weren’t worried.

In fact, you almost found yourself smiling.

“I don’t think I owe you anything”

Your voice almost shocked Negan, as that was the first time you’d actually spoken to him but he was quick to recover. “That’s my girl”

“Now, you have a name or what? Vampire bat” he chimed, leaving you convinced that he was just going to keep calling you that no matter what you said.

Still, you knew that you needed to tell him. After all, you knew his name and it was only fair that he knew yours, whether he chose to use it or not.

“Y/N”

It was beautiful, especially coming from your lips but again, Negan kept that to himself. This was just a game for both of you, a back and forth that you were enjoying.

...And it had to go down this way.

“Nice to meet you Y/N, I’m Negan” he hummed, taking the can from your hand and setting it down on the shelf, forcing you to look him in the eye. You still had the look there, hidden in those shining pools, and he just wanted to keep seeing it.

As much as you challenged him, it was in the best way and he couldn’t help but feel the way he did when he looked at you.

Now he just had to find a way to keep you, his very own vampire bat.

#negan #twd #the walking dead #negan x reader #negan x ps reader #negan x plus size reader #negan imagine #twd x reader #twd x ps reader #twd x plus size reader #twd imagine #the walking dead x reader #the walking dead x ps reader #the walking dead x plus size reader #the walking dead imagine

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quazartranslates · 4 years ago

Text

Welcome to the Nightmare Game - CH102

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

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Chapter 102: Slaughter Secret Society (IV)

{cw: sexual stereotyping}

When the rain stopped the next day, Qi Leren, who had been exercising at home for half a day, received a banquet invitation from a bat sent by Mrs. Kathleen. Qi Leren put the invitation letter in his inventory and went into the bathroom with deep pain - the make-up.

Yes, this was also a new skill he had mastered in ten days. Except for the red tattoo on the corner of his eye, which was painted with special material and had to be erased with special chemicals, all the other dressings have to be prepared by himself. Of course, these styles were all designed by the Trials Office, and strived to make anyone think at first sight that he was a gay man with a good “yooooo” aesthetic.

Qi Leren did not protest against this, but he insisted that a person's sexual orientation could not be judged from his appearance. Even if he was dressed in a straight style, it didn’t mean that his sexual orientation was straight. However, the court rejected his opinion, and their purpose was to make him look like a gay man. As for whether he was or not, the Court indicated that they couldn’t control him.

Half an hour later, Qi Leren looked at his unrecognizable self in the mirror and felt melancholy.

Although make-up was a good skill to have, a man doing it would be treated as a pervert…

After finishing crossdressing, Qi Leren finally examined himself in front of the mirror. Today's clothes weren’t low-necked and open-navel, but it looked strange after being accessorized with a collar. It was like going to an S&M party with a whip tied around the waist.

Qi Leren repeatedly hypnotized himself. Right now he was Red, not Qi Leren, so he walked out of the house with his head held high. Of course, in order to keep a low profile, he still put on his cloak.

On the way to the party, Qi Leren vaguely felt that someone seemed to be following him, probably from the Court, but he didn't care. Soon he came to the place written on the invitation letter.

The present destination seemed to be a small bar, which was located in the area of the Twilight Township where most NPCs were concentrated. The handsome waiter outside the door asked him if he had an invitation letter, and after seeing the invitation letter sandwiched between Qi Leren's fingers, he greeted him respectfully.

The feeling of being followed disappeared, and Qi Leren followed the waiter through the lively dance floor and walked into a quiet corridor.

"Keep walking along the hall, there is a door at the end, and someone will show you the way," said the waiter.

Qi Leren snorted lightly, stuffed the common currency used between NPCs in Nightmare World into the waiter's collar, and whispered in his ear lightly: "Thank you for guiding me, baby."

The waiter turned red, and some took a step back in a panic. He bowed and left under the teasing gaze of Qi Leren. The speed was much faster than when he came, for fear of losing his virginity if he took a slow step.

Qi Leren’s "evil charm smile" had already reached an advanced level in the business of flirting with straight men, and he walked slowly to the waiter at the end of the corridor... Well, he had already seen the waiter opposite’s face pale. Good, it seemed that this was also a straight man, easy to flirt with.

“It's fun to flirt with straight men” ——BY Qi Leren, who was having bitter fun.

After walking to the waiter and speaking flirtily, Qi Leren smoothly entered the space hidden in the bar’s basement. After the humble door was opened, mirrors and masks were hung on both sides of the wall behind the door. Each mask was beautifully decorated, looking gorgeous and elegant. Qi Leren couldn't help but pay more attention to it.

"Are you Mr. Red? Welcome, welcome." Ashley, the young man who had been saved by Qi Leren, came out from the corner and spoke with awe and excitement.

After being rescued by Red yesterday, Ashley has been thinking about this mysterious predecessor, and he was also very concerned about the man who’d played against Red. He vaguely felt that there was some kind of entanglement between them. After he told Mrs. Kathleen about it, Mrs. Kathleen just smiled and touched his cheek, saying that she also liked to play with the hierophants of the Holy See. Somehow, Ashley's heart was full of acidity.

Across from him Red nodded lightly, not caring about his complicated mood.

Ashley took a masquerade mask off from the wall and put it on his face: "Mr. Red should also choose one. Our party is a masquerade, and everyone will be wearing a mask."

With that said, he secretly looked at the side of Red’s face. He still looked so cold, but so charming, the delicate side of his face and that red tattoo in the yellow light filling him with a sense of colourful desire. With a smile on his face, he squinted at him, and his vapid, feminine voice sounded, "Oh? Why don't you choose for me?"

Ashley's face turned red and he felt overwhelmed under Red’s gaze, and even the wound from being stabbed by the Trail didn’t hurt.

"I... I think this one is very nice and suitable for you, predecessor," Ashley said pointing to one of the masks.

The mask was a half-piece, covering only the upper half of the face and covered with golden wire-drawing. There were two bright red patterns at the position of the tear groove, just like two tears, and the corner of the mask had a moon-like arc, just to reveal the tattoo on his face.

Red stretched out his hand and took the mask off the wall, putting it on his face. The silver mask made him mysterious and elegant, while the tattoo exposed in the hollow part added a few charm points to him. He looked in the mirror on the wall for a while narcissistically, then turned to Ashley and said, "You have a good eye."

"Predecessor is the one who’s won the prize."

Ashley, who bowed his head as he spoke, suddenly saw a white and beautiful hand appear in front of his eyes. The slender index finger lifted his chin. He raised his face in panic and saw Red’s face close to his. The half-mask covered his upper face, but it highlighted the charming curve of his bright red lips. He was so close that he almost touched the tip of Ashley’s nose.

"Don't waste me saving your life. So... How are you going to repay me?" Red whispered in his ear.

Ashley's comely face suddenly rose with crimson, and he glanced at Red in a panic, and then, under his smiling gaze, he closed his eyes tightly, with a shy appearance allowing this to continue.

"..." Play, play it off!

Qi Leren growled in his heart, and stood stiffly in the same place, lying in the trough, talking about a good straight man! He's a straight man pretending to be gay, and of course he only goes after straight men! What's wrong with you, you little gay! He’d only done this twice yet already gotten caught by it?! People shouldn’t respond this well!

Ashley, who didn't wait for the kiss, secretly opened his eyes. The mysterious man who hooked his chin smiled lightly and bit him full on the earlobe: "You’re so cute."

With that said, Red stepped back and blew him a kiss, swaying into the underground corridor.

Ashley gawked at his back, and the earlobe he’d bitten was burning hot. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Obviously he only liked women, but it was as if he’d been poisoned when he saw how attractive and charming the predecessor Red was. Even if he was a man, his heart beat faster for him.

Was it because the predecessor Red had saved him that he had that kind of nestling complex?

Ashley shook his head to dismiss the blushing thoughts and quickly chased after him.

The low-key bronze door opened, loud music suddenly burst out, and gorgeous lights lit the basement, illuminating the room full of men and women having fun. Mrs. Kathleen, draped in tulle and leaning against the Roman column by the door, wore a feather mask and held a glass of bright wine. She showed a charming smile to Red as he stood at the door: "Welcome to our carnival feast. Have fun."

After Red paused, he looked around at the men and women who were dressed revealingly and whispered, "My pleasure."

In fact, at this moment, Qi Leren's heart was broken: Hello, is this 110? Someone here is having a divine feast of the body, gathering people to have sex and wreak chaos. Come and save me!!!

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Editor’s Notes: Qi Leren’s just going around the Nightmare World causing everyone to have gay realizations lol. Happy Lunar New Year and Happy Valentine’s Day! <3

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[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

#Welcome to the Nightmare Game #欢迎来到噩梦游戏 #danmei

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yandere-daydreams · 5 years ago

Text

A Yandere!Satan/OC piece for a lovely anonymous commissioner and her MC, Alice. I forget how fun it is to work with more... composed characters, sometimes, if only because of how *brutally* they tend to break. I’d like to think Satan is no expectation.

Word Count: 2.0k

TW: Unhealthy Mindsets and Relationship, Loss of Autonomy, and Violence (Choking).

Anger was a dark feeling.

Satan had never been the type to be bothered by isolation. He’d never minded being alone before, and he didn’t mind it now, but he couldn’t help but feel… off, about his current arrangement. Not bad, not awkward, just ever-so-slightly out of place. As if there were a million places he belonged, but tucked into a quiet corner of his favorite coffee shop was no longer included on that extensive list.

Or, it wouldn’t be until they left, rather.

He couldn’t help but grit his teeth, his fists clenching unconsciously around the book in front of him. It was one of his most prized, an untarnished first-edition copy of a spellbook he’d been meaning to have a look at for ages, but he couldn’t care less about the dents that’d be left in the flawless cover, right now. He wanted to slam the goddamn thing against a wall, he wanted to tear out the pages, he wanted to destroy something, demolish something, and he didn’t care what it was. The anger was as familiar as it was volatile, brought to a simmer by the slightest of agitations, Satan’s refined sense of self-restraint being the only barrier stopping his emotions from boiling over. Still, every little factor served as a new test, a new trial. Another thing he shouldn’t have to keep himself from reacting to.

And it was all because of them. Alice, and the bright, beaming smile pulled across her lips, and Asmodeus, and the arm he had draped across her shoulders, keeping her pulled against his side as they giggled over jokes he didn’t know and spread rumors only shared in hushed, hidden whispers. It wasn’t an uncommon sight, not really, but this was different. It wasn’t a party he’d only hesitantly been invited to or conversation he’d had to overhear from the other side of a wall, no, this was more personal, a direct upfront. Even if neither person in the duo seemed to notice his presence.

Alice, in particular, seemed distracted. He hadn’t gone to any extreme lengths to catch her attention, but he wasn’t supposed to have to. She’d plagued his mind since her arrival, kept him up at night with feelings he didn’t recognize, feelings he didn’t care for. He had to deserve some of her attention, he’d earned it. He wanted it, and it wouldn’t be right to deprive him of something Satan was close to considering a necessity. The rational part of him knew she didn’t feel the same way, that her eye would always be caught by someone more outgoing, someone more energetic, someone less… like him, even if she insisted that all she wanted to be was his friend. But, the rational part of his mind had been forced into a cage and poked with something sharp until it agreed with the overwhelming vexation of its torturer.

Satan forced himself to sigh, to smile and exhale as he watched the pair gather their drinks and exit, never sparing a glance in his direction. It was agonizing now, but it wouldn’t be, soon enough. He wouldn’t have to deal with Alice’s refusal to acknowledge him or her avoidance or defiance.

Not if the book in his hands was put to good use, anyway.

Alice didn’t like small spaces.

Usually, Satan’s bedroom didn’t bother her, but the shelves felt too close together, today, the door too far and every surface too cluttered for her to find any sort of comfort among the heirlooms and novels and trinkets. It could’ve been how few people were in the house, the halls uncharacteristically quiet, or how restless she’d been all day, the reason indiscernible but her excess energy undeniable. It could’ve been the weather or the silence or…

Or the feeling of Satan’s teeth in her neck, and the overwhelming, overpowering feeling that they shouldn’t be there.

Somewhere along the line, she’d gone from lingering in the doorway to leaning against a stone table, her thighs pressed into the cold, rough surface as sharpened nails dug into her hips, keeping her in place as she squirmed. Satan proved to be a sturdy barrier, blocking out much of the rest of the room, forcing Alice to focus on blonde hair and soft clothes and anything but the chapped lips currently pressed to her jugular. She couldn’t remember how she’d gone from politely returning a borrowed, abbreviated Necronomicon to this, but she didn’t think it mattered. Her memory had been fuzzy all day, but she had more pressing issues to deal with, right now. More pressing perverts to deal with.

Alice was pulled out of her daze by a nip to her jaw, his teeth brushing against her skin playfully, but his hold too crushing to be light-hearted. Her arms were wedged between their chests in a matter of seconds, shoving him away, but Satan barely stumbled a step back before regaining his territory. He went for her neck again, seemingly intent on marking everything above her collarbones, but she was quick to take him by the shoulders, keeping him just far enough to earn a scowl and a glare, although both were masked as swiftly as they were brought on. She choked down the temptation to groan, rolling her eyes as subtly as she was able to instead. Why was he trying to act so indifferent now?

“Get off of me,” Alice demanded, doing her best to keep her voice neutral. It was harder than it should’ve been. “I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you, but get off of me. You’ll be lucky if I don’t tell the others about this.”

Satan didn’t even bother shaking his head, replying nonchalantly. As if he was only half-listening. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Yes, it is.” She tried to match his practiced intensity, her next push a little stronger. She couldn’t fight him, not physically, but he’d never stopped her before. He’d never tried to, at least. “We’ve had this talk already. I’m just not interested.” Not if he was going to act any colder than he already did, when their relationship was only platonic. “There’s nothing you can do to change my mind, and I don’t want to hear you try.”

She didn’t doubt that Satan heard her, the grimace painted across his lips was proof of that, but if he was listening, he didn’t seem to feel the need to show it. He leaned forward, aiming for her shoulder, fangs already bared and poised to attack. “You’re a smart girl.” His voice was muffled by her skin, the resulting revibriation more off-putting than it should be. “You should be smart enough to figure out I don’t care how interested you are, anymore.”

With that, she lashed out. Satan flinched away reflexively as she drove her heel into his foot, another shove throwing him off balance, letting her get enough distance between the two of them to slip out from under him. She didn’t attempt to apologize or ask if he was alright, only glancing over her shoulder once to make sure he was still bracing himself on the tabletop as she started towards the door. She should tell Lucifer, or Lord Diavolo, even. This wasn’t the first time he tried something so desperate, and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last, not if she didn’t make it clear there’d be repercussions. It was a miracle she’d ever liked him at all, looking back on it.

Satan spoke just as fingertips brushed against the door-handle, cutting through the air like a dull knife. “Stop.”

She didn’t want to stop. Stopping now would be idiotic, Alice scoffing at the thought alone. She tried to turn the knob, but her arm fell back to her side, limp and useless. Her feet felt like lead weights. The pact mark, Satan’s mark, burned on the top of her thigh, searing the skin it’d been dyed onto.

“Come here, Alice.”

She did. Her movements were mechanical, unenthusiastic, motivated only by the acidic feeling that she had to be moving. Alice came to a stop in front of him, her mouth suddenly dry and her mind feverishly searching for some hint at what was going on, but her attention was soon directed towards the smirk pulling at the corner of Satan’s lips, a palm coming up to cupping her chin, tilting her head back to meet his stare. “Such a smart girl,” He started, no longer bothering to hide his expression. “And yet, you leave yourself so vulnerable. Surely, someone warned you about how dangerous making a contract with a demon can be.”

She blinked, words suddenly taking a considerable strain to get out. “What’re you--”

“Humans are so weak-willed.” He cut her off without a trace of hesitation, his hold on her recentering, Satan pinching her cheek as his tone turned patronizing. She considered batting his hand away, but a wayward glare was enough to smother her thoughts of rebellion. “I really should’ve thought of this earlier. Reversing the nature of our agreement…” He trailed off, his free hand wandering to her thigh, slipping under the thin fabric of her skirt to idly trace the waning shape of her tattoo. “It didn’t even take a full hour. And now, you’re going to be perfect.”

She swallowed dryly, squaring her shoulders, her dread quickly numbed pure, unadulterated anger. “You’re fucking crazy--”

A fist was around her throat before she could finish, clenching and choking as he threw her against the table, her back taking the brunt force of the collision and her skull knocking against the unforgiving surface, black spots beginning to form on the edges of her vision. She tried to inhale, to catch her breath after it’d been forced from her lungs, but Satan only flexed his grip, something in her neck cracking under the sudden pressure. Full recovery wasn’t an option, her aggressor only allowing short, shallow, labored breaths, leaving her unsatisfied and itching to just get him away from her, the urge bordering on irrational. Instinctually, she clawed at his wrist, kicking at his chest and waist and anything she could reach, but the only reaction her defiance received as a deep, guttural growl, a flash of black and green serving as her only indication of Satan’s Rage. She could’ve looked, confirmed her theory and been done with it, but her eyes had shut the moment his wardrobe turned a little less colorful. She didn’t think opening them again would have many favorable results.

Still, she persisted, blind and breathless. She stopped kicking, though, her spirit diluted ever-so-slightly as a talon began to draw baseless patterns in her skin, just barely scraping over easily-punctured flesh. She didn’t want to know what would happen if he started to think she’d be better off without a pulse. “This isn’t a good idea,” She mumbled, the words as unplanned as they were hopeless. An appeal to his sense of logic, even if it came a few minutes too late. “Someone’s going to find out, and they will be mad. There’s no way this can end well for you, Satan.”

“I’ve thought about that.” For the first time, he chuckled, the noises stuttering and hitching before devolving into a full-blown laugh, one he couldn’t cover with a few fingers half-heartedly barred over his lips. He bowed his head, briefly, attempting to regain his composure, but his efforts were in vain, a crooked grin still splayed across his expression when he next met her eyes. “I’ve thought about, and I’ve decided I don’t care. I’ve had to wait so long, I’ve had to tolerate so much, I couldn’t care less what happens next. I don’t care. Do you know how good it feels to say that? I don’t care.” He sighed, the sound pleased, relaxed. As if every bit of tension in his body had been released with an exhale. “You don’t even know what you do to me, that’s the funny thing. You’ve just acting on your own, carefree and ignorant, not giving a single second of thought to how far you push everyone around you.”

Alice opened her mouth, but she was silenced by a flex of Satan’s fist around her throat, his grip turning all-but suffocating. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this was gentle, compared to what he had planned.

“It’d only be fair if you face a few repercussions for everything you put me through, right?”

#yandere #yandere x oc #yandere imagines #yandere love #yandere prompt #commission #Commision #writing commission #yandere commission #yandere commision #writing comission #comission #obey me #obey me: one master to rule them all #obey me satan #yandere satan #satan x oc #yanderecore #yandere core

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thestalkerbunny · 4 years ago

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Can you give us a presentation for your fantrolls? I am new here and sadly not really know them.

YOU MAY AND YOU SHALL-buckle up, I have more than 12.

Carina-She’s a Rust blood who has a Vulture Lusus and she basically used her psychic powers of speaking to the dead to locate dead bodies, dig them up and feed them to her lusus. She often hangs out with Scapin and acts as his loyal nurse

Seadna-The first fantroll I designed, she is a Fushia blood who fled to the north because she was one of the heiresses who didn’t want to fight her sisters. She was raised by a colony of seals and spends her days being terrified of polar bears and is the only known seadweller to be able to tolerate immense cold temperatures.

Merlot-Very much a Mom Friend, she’s an Olive Blood who loves protecting those weaker than her and ends up mothering a lot of people. She has a deer lusus and regards all her little wards as her herd and will protect them fiercely.

Bastte-The desendant of a leader of a Highblood Cult called ‘The Cult of Sorrow’ whose purpose they thought that suffering was the purpose of life and went to make everyone’s life miserable. Not Bastte, she wanted no part of that. She’s based off a King’s cheetah and loves moving at high speed.

Tannuk-Also a troll who lives in the same artic circle as Seadna and the source of most of her fears since he hangs out with a polar bear all the time. He doesn’t speak, but he’s very sweet and friendly for the most part.

Somali- (Ironincally I forgot that Somali was a country for a while I thought I just made up a word.) A Brown blood who lived in a sort of abandoned monastary with a bunch of capachin monkeys. He’s very unfond of highbloods and is big on ‘toppling the ruling class’ and is a super jock. He may be himbo shaped, but he’s the frat boy who would call you mean names and bring you to a party only because the party’s theme is ‘bring the fattest girl you can find and take home a prize ribbon for best pig’ He’s not very popular because of this.

Kotomi-A rare limeblood who is under Merlot’s protection and care. He doesn’t take very good care of himself after his owl lusus died of old age and is other harmful towards himself because of it. He ironically becomes a time player when the game starts and can never truely die.

Scapin-Scapin is honestly one of my favorites. He’s a Cerulean blood who wants to be a doctor-in a culture that mostly believes in survival of whoever runs faster so that’s pretty tricky. He works out of a big abandoned factory and lives with an overweight giant rat who is constantly having babies.

Mohlai-Disgusting. Gross. NASTY Boy. Unironically would love to be the protag in a freaky weird hentai. He likes to do a lot of diving for treasure, but his true passion in life is apparently unironically owning an ahego hoodie. His lusus is a giant monkfish that lives in a massive deep ravine in the ocean.

Lyrian-A hipster to a fault, he loves making music, tattoos, piercings, etc. etc. He probably has a bunch of indie records you haven’t heard of and has seen movies you don’t watch. His lusus are a swarm of hummingbirds

Echola-A Blind Fashion Designer and sex enthusiast, Echola is the one non-binary troll in the mix. They love looking good, being told they look good and regards themself as an expert on all things quadrent based despite not having currently any long standing ones other than quick flings. They were accidentally blinded because of their lusus, a fruit bat, mishandling them and leaving them outside when they were small.

Aderam-A threat; she has lived alone in an abandoned mine within a mountain with her horde of things she’s stolen thru out the years-the top of the mountain is where her lusus, a Jacobs Goat and his herd lives. She’s manipulative, charasmatic, but at the same time reckless, violent and a sort of danger to everyone’s well being if they hang around her too long. She is the catalyst for why these trolls play their session, simply wanting to see their terrible society come to an end for some unknown reason. She is very badly nearsighted and the contacts that make her eyes look like that don’t help very much.

BONUS: FAN KIDS.

Dane Harker is an artist who lives in the city. He is multi talented young man, but can never stick to one project for too long. He’s got a himbo energy to him, but his heart is always in the right place. His little sister is Mina who was adopted thru marriage. Despite their parents divorce he still regards her as his little sister and cares for her very much.

Mina Tailor is the youngest player of Sburb at the tender age of 10. She loves Fairy tales, Faeries, bunnies, studio ghilbi movies, and all sorts of little creatures. After her dad divorced Dane’s mom, she and him went off to live on a farm. She’s often concerned if Dane even cares for her now that their parents are divorced and they don’t have that thin string of connection tying them together as siblings.

Jace Ellway is an asshole edgelord thru and thru. He doesn’t have many redeeming qualities because despite being 18, he still fucking acts like he’s a 13 year old who shops at hot topic and pushes around Mina a lot because she’s ‘too young’ to be hanging out with them. He regards himself a satanist, but doesn’t know the first thing about it. He lives with his sister who is proffessional cosplay model.

Zina Ushere is a highly sheltered homeschooled girl who has an overbearing catholic mother who is a bit of a zealot. She’s very much that relgious girl in your class who is alarmed and upsetted by everything new and strange and not bible condoned. She is absolutely terrified of the trolls when they all meet up and thinks they’re some kind of demons.

#TSB ask #Homestuck #Fantrolls #Fantroll #Fankids #Fankid #Anonymous #cult mention #neglect

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jamesashtonisbae · 5 years ago

Text

She Sets the City on Fire Part 1

Word Count: 1453

Pairing: Logan x MC; Colt x MC

Book: Ride or Die

Rating: M

Warnings: Swearing - J. Cole lyrics

Summary: Aleigha is a good girl gone bad. She’s going to try to keep both parts of herself.

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, Pixelberry studios does!

Author’s Note: This flew off my fingers and is one of my favorite ideas I’ve had. I love good girl gone bad Aleigha. Ingrid starts as the narrator briefly, but MC will be the narrator for almost all the rest.

Tagging: @desiree-0816 because she is my ROD encourager. Also @brightpinkpeppercorn and @princessstellaris because 100 years ago (June or July) when I wrote a Logan x MC fic they were so kind to comment and ask to be put on a tag list!

Songs: Middle Child, Miss America, Motiv8 by J. Cole

Ingrid

“Where are you going?” Ingrid asked as Aleigha as she flat-ironed her hair one last time. Ingrid took in her roommate’s zebra Yeezy Boost’s, prison orange pants with a cutout where she could see Aleigha’s black lace panties, black bandeau showing severe underboob, and thick orange choker.

“Out,” Aleigha said as she applied some nude lipstick.

“What on earth are you wearing? You look like a traffic cone,” Ingrid shoved a bite of takeout into her mouth.

“A hot traffic cone?” Aleigha stuck out her tongue as she touched up her mascara.

More like a hot mess, Ingrid thought. Out loud she said, “You’ll have no shortage of guys who want to fuck you, that’s for sure.”

“Good. That means they’ll underestimate me.”

“Aleigha, where are you going?” Ingrid insisted. Who was Aleigha talking about that would underestimate her? Ingrid never knew what Aleigha was talking about, but especially not when she was being so cryptic.

“Out.”

Ingrid blew out an exasperated breath at her roommate. All throughout the summer, Aleigha would take off for hours upon end, and she had no idea where she went. Whenever Ingrid would text her, she would get a ‘Message Not Delivered’ response. But, as long as Aleigha kept her side of the room clean and didn’t wake her up when she came home late, Ingrid didn’t really care where Aleigha was going and what she was doing with her time.

Maybe she should have cared a little more.

Aleigha

Aleigha left her dorm in what she knew was the most revealing outfit she could possibly have worn. It had taken her months to find the underground racing connections in Boston, but with a well-placed bet on the MLB All-Star game, she won one name.

With that one name, she had been able to prove she was a damn good driver. She outsmarted more experienced drivers, outpaced faster cars, and took down whole crews. Tonight was her first night attending an actual sideshow since LA. It was her first night competing as the solo driver ever.

She got into her firetruck red car, and batted, in order, the dice hanging from her rearview window, the sparkplug necklace next to it, and the cactus ornament on her dash. After one last glance, she put LA out of her mind.

Every day she thought about getting a new paint job. She knew it wouldn’t change anything about anyone finding her, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She’d dyed her hair blonde, she’d gotten blue-colored contacts, she’d gotten a phoenix sleeve tattoo. But changing her car was something she wasn’t ready to do.

She flicked on her stereo, turning up J. Cole’s The Fall Off album, losing herself in the beat and the poetry. She loved driving in races, the precision, the strategy, the adrenaline all made her feel alive. Aleigha was a student, always studying the best outcomes and the best means to the desire end. And so, she was well-suited to racing. But, she loved letting go and just driving for fun. Like right now.

10 minutes later, she pulled up at the location. As she got out and stood out in front of her car, she knew that all her hard work had paid off. Not to get into Langston, instead, to get into this sideshow. She was finally home.

After a couple hours of interacting with people, talking about her car and her experience in Boston, trying to get anyone to take her on their crew, the races finally started. She had made it into the second to last one, the headliner was some out of towner everyone referred to as “The Troublemaker”. The irony of that being Logan’s nickname for her was not lost on her, but when she asked what he drove, she was told he drove some model she’d never heard of, not a Devore GT.

“Why do you care, Babe? It’s not him you’ll be going home with at the end of the night,” a burly man in a wifebeater said, leaning down toward her.

Internally, she cringed, but externally, she winked and said, “I know I’ll need some consoling if the Troublemaker beats me tonight. You’ll be on the list, big guy.”

He grinned, a big toothless grin, and finally walked away. She shuddered, then got into her car to drive it up to the start. As she fiddled with her radio, trying to get the volume on the right number, her playlist in the right order, and her ornaments in the right position, she heard other cars pull up next to her. Deciding to ignore them, she looked up at the girl holding the flag and wearing the same outfit she was, basically, and waited for the signal.

I’m counting my bullets

I’m loading my clips

I’m writing down names

I’m making a list

I’m checking it twice and I’m getting ‘em hit

The real ones been dyin’

The fake ones is lit

This game is off balance

I’m back on my shit

The Bentley is dirty

My sneakers is dirty

But that’s how I like it

She took in a deep breath, and then the flag went down. In an instant she had thrown her car into gear and jumped to a fast start. She maneuvered out in front of her competitors and was flying down the track.

Even if it was a bit flawed, her strategy was start ahead and stay ahead. She knew her car was not as fast as others, so sometimes she wouldn’t be able to win with that strategy, but if she fooled people into thinking she couldn’t maintain it and she did, she’d be fine. She banked on everyone underestimating her and thinking she was naïve. So she leaned into it a lot.

And the fact that she timed her playlist to the track she was driving required her to start ahead and stay ahead.

A glance in her rearview told her a car was keeping up right behind her. She knew that trying to block out this one car would probably mean that someone else would pass her. So she let him pull alongside her. She didn’t dare look, but she knew it had to be The Troublemaker.

They stayed that way around curves and corners and past the halfway mark and all the way to the final straightaway. She knew he was going to be very precise when he turned on his NOS, so she would have to be on her A game.

She held until she knew she heard her cue to release.

Fuck the man, Uncle Sam I won’t sell your crack

I won’t fight your wars, I won’t wear your hat

I’mma pass your classes, I’mma learn your craft

I’mma fuck your daughters, I’mma burn your flag

As soon as she heard it, she released the valve. She shot out in front of the person next to her and knew he had done it a second too late. She knew she had won. All she had to do was hold her car straight.

When she crossed the line a few moments ahead of the other driver, she sighed in relief. It was nice to have beaten someone who was pretty renowned at her first sideshow. She grinned and cranked her music, listening to her last few bars.

Too many times I swallowed my pride

I'm crackin' a smile, I'm dyin' inside

My demons are close, I'm tryin' to hide

I'm poppin' a pill, I'm feelin' alive

She was lost in the lyrics when she heard a knock on her window. Looking out, she saw the sideshow organizer looking in at her.

“You getting out,” he glanced down at his list and read her name, “Lennon St. James?”

“Yes. One second,” she turned to her glovebox and pulled out an orange hat, just to cover herself a little more and make herself even less recognizable.

She walked over to claim her prize money, getting second looks from all the people who had spoken to her earlier and told her they didn’t have room for her in their crew. A couple of men whistled at her still, but now looked like they had a healthy fear of her.

Aleigha took the cash the organizer held out to her, then turned to head back to her car. She was bumped by whoever the second-place finisher was on his way to get the cash on her way back. It knocked her off center and she fell to the ground, disgusted.

“Hey!” she shouted, glancing up into a familiar pair of chocolate brown eyes.

“You know, there are easier ways to get my attention.”

“Lo…” she breathed out.

“Hey Troublemaker.”

#pixelberry choices #choices ride or die #choices rod #logan x mc #ride or die fanfic #ride or die au #pixelberry rod #pb rod #ride or die a bad boy romance

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hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger · 5 years ago

Text

Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool #1, Venom vol. 4 #17, Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #1, Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #1 Thoughts

I’m trying very hard to both cover Absolute Carnage in reading order and also not bog down said coverage of the tie ins, i’m hoping to give the main book and ASM tie-ins my full attention but for all the other ones handle them less comprehensively. Obviously that depends upon their respective content.

The Deadpool issue had great art, funny dialogue, a brisk pace, some clever moments and a refreshing acknowledgment that the Peter/Wade dynamic is stupid.

Having Carnage acknowledge Deadpool as the motherload of codexes because of his bonding with the 4 Life Foundation symbiotes (a.k.a. also collectively referred to as the Hybrid symbiote) from Wade and Kasady’s last encounter was a great use of continuity. My hope is the lack of acknowledgement of his time with the Venom symbiote (see Deadpool’s Secret Secret War and Deadpool: Back in Black) confirms that those stories are not to be taken seriously as canon, at least as far as Spidey or Venom continuity is concerned.

The only real problem is that, whilst the start of the story technically precedes Absolute Carnage, when we get to the symbiote stuff it happens during Absolute Carnage #2 and thus really is best read after that comic as it does give a few minor spoilers for it.

Venom #17 was fantastic!

Now, as I said in my Absolute Carnage #2 post, the plotting is out of whack. Venom #17 should be read BEFORE Absolute Carnage #2!

The story itself, whilst basic, is effective. The Maker is as morally grey (or flexible if you like, get it!) as ever. Dylan is characterized well, believable as the son of Eddie Brock. Normie is underserved but this isn’t his story. Something that did bug me though is that the art depicts them as probably about the same age with Dylan dominating their dynamic. But really Dylan should be younger. Dylan was born between Venom Along Came a Spider (1996) and Anne Weying’s death in like 2000 or 2001. Normie meanwhile was born in the mid-1980s!

That’s a small complaint though and easily No. Prized.

Now as for the rest of the comic Cates pulls off a masterstroke in how he’s structured this event, at least in relation to the Venom book.

Absolute Carnage seems set to be the book where all the thrust of the story happens, that’s where you go to see Carnage and I suspect going forward where you will go to follow Brock/Venom. Meanwhile the actual Venom book is going to be following Dylan, who’s been adequately built up by this point. It helps make the Venom book relevant but not demand that you go other the same events twice or ping pong between it and Absolute Carnage to see the next part of the story, it’s happening adjacent to the main events but it’s also not a meaningless side quest!

There is also a lot of great use of established continuity in this book. Venom himself might not be in it much, but his LEGACY is. Dylan is his son (and remember he’s as much the son of the symbiote as he is Anne and Eddie) and so are the Life Foundation symbiotes. The Sleeper symbiote also shows up.

I confess I’m only vaguely familiar with Sleeper because I didn’t read Venom: First Host but I believe he’s strongly connected to Venom’s past, I think he is maybe literally the first host of the Venom symbiote.

There is also an interesting angle in this story because the lead is Dylan, the sidekick if you will is Normie and the antagonists are the family from Separation Anxiety, 2 of which are also little kids. I hope this factors in somehow as it seems there is a theme of family underlying this corner of the event! You could even extend that to Normie as the theme of family, especially dysfunctional family, is very relevant to the Osborns and is obviously now relevant to Venom/Brock’s immediate ‘family’ as well as the Separation Anxiety nuclear family.

The ar is also stellar. It’s not Stegman good but it’s still beautiful eye candy and looks enough like Stegman that the change isn’t jarring. I’m very happy Coello did the War of the Realms tie-ins as a taster and ‘warm up’ for this in fact.

Just great, I’m loving this one!

Lethal Protectors #1 was one of the tests for me about the strength of this event.

See of all the tie-ins this was the one I was least interested in. I don’t hate Cloak, Dagger, Iron Fist or Morbius, but I’m also fairly indifferent to them. I only liked Morbius in the 1994 cartoon (though I hear his 90s stories were quite good) and to me Iron Fist is dull outside of when he’s hanging out with Luke Cage.

So I checked this out but only out of a desire to be a completist.

I was fully braced for this issue to be what derailed the event’s thus far strong batting average.

Nope.

Even this issue delivered.

Granted it also kind of DIDN’T deliver since the cover characters aren’t even mentioned at all. Instead the closest thing to a protagonist is Misty Knight. Now I have no hate for Misty Knight but to my recollection her connection to the symbiotes began only in the Web of Venom: Cult of Carnage issue that this continues off from. I suppose having a vibranium arm makes her an obvious combatant against symbiotes, but she’s got less connection to the lore. She seems more like the vehicle to introduce the above mentioned ‘lethal protectors’ into the story. And I guess that’s fine but either include her on the cover or feature the title characters in the issue.

That’s mostly a nitpick though, the rest of the issue is great. More fun violent horror stuff with a creepy romance added on for good measure in the form of Carnage and Shriek’s toxic relationship.

The reintroduction of Demo/Demagoblin was interesting. I knew it was coming and I knew it would be a new female version but the fact that it was Shriek took me by surprise, I was sure it was going to be Lily Hollister a.k.a. Menace. Truth be told I’m disappointed it wasn’t as that would’ve been an organic use of a pre-established character and wouldn’t have swapped out Shriek (who is also very interesting) for Demagoblin.

It’s not a BAD direction but I’d have preferred the Carnage family from Maximum Carnage be reassembled differently. But seeing Demagoblin and Carnage make out is delightful in how over the top nuts it is!

They mention reintroducing Carrion and I really, really hope that happens!

The art, whilst not being as good as in other tie-ins is still doing a solid job!

Much like the other tie-ins this series is opening up a new front in this event and exploring it quite well thus far, so I’d recommend this too!

And as a plus they remember to tell you when this happens in relation to the main event book.

Miles Morales sadly...was the first slip up in this event.

Now I’ve made my criticisms of Miles (in the comics) vocal before and I don’t want to sit here and tell you this issue sucked shit or it was bad because Miles was bland in it. To be honest MOST of the protagonists of Absolute Carnage are fairly bland. Miles for instance was a knotch more interesting than Misty Knight.

In fact I wouldn’t call this issue BAD at all.

There were just some things wrong with it.

The most noticeable of these was how the events depicted towards the end don’t quite jive with the end of Absolute Carnage #2. If you just wrote them down on paper they would seem to. Miles and Scorpion are fighting Carnage cultists, Carnage/Osborn is there in charge, Scorpion breaks away from the fray, Venom shows up, Miles stands alone but is overwhelmed, he is taken over by the symbiotes.

However when you compare the art and dialogue of the two comics there are a number of discrepancies which is annoying because up until now you could make everything fit together one way or another.

Among the discrepancies, and this is a nitpick, is that the Carnage cultists are wearing their Ravencroft uniforms, which IIRC they don’t do in any other appearance. A more contrived aspect to them though is Gargan recognizing the tattoo of one of them. How? They are all covered head to toe in symbiote their tattoo’s would be obscured!

I also didn’t like how the Carnage Cultists were treated as so disposable. My impression was they each have a bona fide symbiote bonded to them so would be on a similar power level to Venom at least, so Scorpion impaling them wouldn’t be a big deal, they could heal from that. But they come off more as just super strong zombies, and not even as strong as Venom at that.

Grant that’s an issue perhaps with the event as a whole but it was most noticeable here.

The other problem with this book is that half of it is little more than a standard superhero fights super villain yarn until halfway through when it abruptly becomes an Absolute Carnage tie-in. It even kind of does that at the very start of the issue where the recap page randomly interrupts the story in progress for no reason, putting it ahead of the first page wouldn’t have spoiled anything.

It seems like a waste especially since the cliffhanger is identical to the cliffhanger of Absolute Carnage #2, it doesn’t progress the story at all it simply provides some preamble and not particular plot relevant preamble at that. It’s not that difficult to deduce Miles was probably fighting Scorpion before they were attacked.

What’s even more annoying, but not a problem with this book per se, is that the comic discloses that this should be read after Absolute Carnage #2 but similar disclaimers weren’t made for other tie-in issues. I don’t even think reading this between AC #1 and #2 would make much difference. There aren’t any spoilers for AC #2 because it simply depicts the same events regarding Miles in greater detail.

My final problem with the issue is one that’s more a problem with Miles in general regarding his status in the 616 universe. Let’s put aside how it inherently undermines the character for a moment, the recap page alone shows you how problematic it is to have him migrate to Earth 616. The blurb summarizing Miles’ backstory has to be so ridiculously generalized and use dialogue implying he might be from another universe but could equally be taken as poetic hyperbole. I don’t blame Ahmed, I even sympathize that he kind of HAS to write it that way. It’s just stupid is all and undermines the emotional resonance of Ultimate Venom being associated with the death of Miles’ mother. But then again DID she even die now? See what a mess this is?

I don’t want this to sound like this issue was terrible, it wasn’t it was just okay at best though sans the art. Absolute Carnage has thus far had good to great art and this issue is no exception.

As a standard Spidey v. Scorpion rumble goes this was fine, it was fun and got the job done, standard superheroics so I can’t complain too much. The only contentious part was Miles’ ineffective Venom Blast.

It didn’t work because Scorpion’s suit was insulated.

This is a double edged sword when it comes to analysis.

On the one hand that is inconsistent with the Venom Blast’s established power. It can work against electrical powered foes like Electro AND extremely powerful demonic beings like Blackheart. But you telling me some rubber lining enables Scorpion to just shrug it off? Bullshit.

On the other hand though...Miles having a cheat code power like that has always been reductive to his character.

The final thing I have to say on the comic is that the editors weirdly hype up the issue. In other tie-ins they praise Ahmed for reinvigorating the Scorpion, for even making him scary and a straight up killer. Putting aside how he was a fucking cannibal in Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers, Ahmed honestly didn’t do anything like that.

Scorpion is a standard supervilalin who DGAF about innocent life or killing, he just wants to preserve his own life and make a payday. He lands some effective hits on Miles and is a threat but...there is nothing revolutionary or reinvigorating about it. It’s not tired and bad it’s just standard and effective that’s all.

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thankyouforchoosingoptionone · 5 years ago

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Eldritch Book one Cht 1

The salt on the wind left his lips dry and cracked, too many days at sea. He didn’t keep track of it he just tried to sleep the most of them away, though it's hard to sleep when you are force to stand, or other wise hang by the wrists as shoulder height shackles keep you bound. The chains of the shackles were engraved with Elven spells made specifically for him. The inhibit manna flow and prevented him from using his magic. The dark confines of his cell were made even lonelier when you count he was the only prisoner being transported. He sat against the white oak of the ship the best he could with the irons digging into his wrists.

He felt the irons bite, but soon he smiled to the sweet feeling of exhaustion and sleep. He was sure he was being taken to be executed, so this was luxury to him, a bit of sleep again. "You're not done yet.". He awoke to the sudden and deafening blow of a cannon ball through the hull, blasting apart the steel bars of his cage and sending a scatter spray of splinters all directions. "Good morning to you too…" He jests with a smirk in his cage. A bell starts ringing full speed above him, he laughs at the music of chaos the elves displayed. "The yellow skins act like they've never been attacked by pirates."

Outside the ship, a massive Golden wood built ship with crimson sails was attacking this prisoner cargo carrier. Cannons lined in triangular triple gun patterns on the top row, but single more tight together on the bottom. The figurehead bore 3 serpent like necks connecting to individual unique dragon heads. The elven captain, dressed in his fancy whites and blues, only could whisper to himself from fear, "The Ghidorah" .

Atop the helm of this battleship, the captain stood looming over a crew of mixed bloods. Hybrids, orcs, humans and one Sea Elf. The captain himself, dressed wearing only leather pants, a tightly woven burlap type shirt, and leather jacket, was the great Dagon Dragmouth. Orange scales covering the body of this lumbering Dragonkin, with his wings tucked onto his shoulders as a cape. He smiled with a maw of daggers as smoke left his nostrils like trails from a burning pipe. "Fire the Scatter!" . His command booms to the lower decks of his ship as a team of crew mates push forward one of the triple guns. The cannons weld together with one powder chamber in the rear, loaded with shrapnel of broken chains, rusted bladed, and fractured cannon balls. They ignite the fuse and the guns fire in a horrible noise. The shrapnel tears through the first hole made, making it big enough to fit a crew through.

The Wiseman looked at his right hand, the shrapnel cannons blown past his hand, ripping the one shackle off with little damage to his flesh. "That’s stupid luck. Thank you impossible odds" He jests to himself again and stops when the silhouette of Dagon himself shown through the light of the ship's hole. Small waves of water would manage to reach up to his feet as he walked past the broken threshold he made. He laughs as he witnesses thirteen elven soldiers lined up in their ridiculous Black iron armor with the gilded trims. Dagon draws two massive scimitar swords, the heat from his throat was so hot the Wiseman could feel it, "whoa big guy wait!" but his warning went unheard and the Flames from the Dragonkin went fast and hot, setting fire to much of the wood it contacted with. The elves seemed to vanish inside the flames, until it was done burning. Once his mouth shut The elves stood unharmed. Red Manna runes engraved in the armor they wore shielded them.

The Pirate lizard was taken back, growling and without aid at this level he stepped back. Suddenly, 3 portals opened around the group of soldiers. Purple rings of alien writings spin making these portals causing distraction to the elves and even Dagon at this moment. The first portal, directly above the elves, dropped a swarm of slime spitting winged creatures, like scaled bats with mouths on the belly and no head. The slime they spit was stinky and stuck to them very well. One small creature taking interest in Dagon spit at his face as well and flew off. All the creatures return to the first portal once all elves have been coated. Dagon wiped his face.

The other two portals released strange tentacles covered in some kind of chitin carapace, tipped with pincer claws found on crabs but wider with bowl like openings in the very center. These claw tentacles moved quick and made short work of the elven troops. Eviscerating and devouring them as they try to fight back. The elven steel cuts through the chitin easily but there are far too much of them and soon the tentacles retreat into the portals, having consumed all elves. Dagon looked upon the scene in awe and shock, but not horror. He turned his head to the laughs of the Wiseman who had one hand freed and seemed to be the source of this scene. His eyes burned a purple haze that matched the rings. This haze, while unworldly, faded away soon. The Wiseman smirks "let me out…we share an enemy.".

Dagon sheathed his blades looking at this human. He never had before seen that kind of magic, it gave him a terrible feeling of familiarity. He had questions and this human didn’t seem to be a threat to him. The sea elf ran down stairs with two gun axes in his hands, ready to take on whatever he thought made that noise. Not expecting to see Dagon freeing the sole prisoner on the ship. "Oi, Captain?! What made all that noise? And..All this blood" he questioned, looking down at his bare feet now slick from walking in the elven blood. The Sea elf had blue green skin, and a set of frills around his neck with green hair he kept tied under a red bandanna. His teeth were like shark's razor and serrated. Dagon smirks, "A new crewmate Innsmouth, mr. …?" The Wiseman smiled brightly, and kindly. You can call me Thomas…Thomas Eldritch."

Dagon drew a blade from his belt "Can you use one of these?" and gives the handle end to Thomas, holding the blade in his claw. Thomas nods taking the heavy steel with both hands and smiled again. Innsmouth tilts his head to the side at the grin on Thomas's face. "You sure Cap'n? He looks….Sweet like" Dagon walked past him with an impatience in his step and tone, "Better this than that unholy image he burned in my brain just before.."

Both Thomas and Innsmouth fallowed Dagon out of the smoldering underbelly of the ship. Topside his crew have subdued the last of the elves they did not kill. A few bodies scatter on the deck, mostly of the yellow skinned elven soldiers. Dagon came up the stairway to the topside. He looked at the ship around him "Tell me why a Highborn Prison ship has double crew here for one single man?" There was a clueless silence about Thomas, "Oh wait your asking me? Well because I'm the Aberration." Dagon, Innsmouth, and any crew in earshot looked at Thomas in disbelief. Thomas rolled his eyes, walking towards the captain's quarters of the elven ship and retuning with a log book.

The book was small and bound with linen that was resin soaked all over except the spine which remained soft linen. Leather straps acted as the muscle of the spine of the book. Dagon peers into the book of the last most recorded date. 6 weeks ago, and only one prisoner, Aberration was put in the last name category, leaving the first name blank Dagon looked Thomas dead in the eye, the silence broke with Dagon's laugh. "Of all the ships on all the seas, I find the one holding the oldest living thing on this world! And it turns out, the legendary Aberration the elves love to hate and hate to fear, is a Fucking Human!" Thomas laughed with him "I mean I'm far from Human at this point." They laughed together for a moment, until Innsmouth felt need to interrupt, "Cap'n, she's burning hot we best go now". Dagon wiped his jaw and nods, "Aye, leave the Yellow skins and take nothing. We have the big prize here". Thomas couldn’t help but feel his vanity make him smile.

The Pirate crew bind the legs and arms of the elven crew, leaving them aboard the slow burning ship they dared to serve that day. Innsmouth took the helm of the Ghidorah and began his sailing away. Dagon taking Thomas below deck to the Galley, filled with the smell of salt meat, pickled vegetables, and fermented fruits. "The stink of a real pirate ship" Thomas smirked as he looked around. Dagon nods proudly, "Aye, if you don’t want to puke you're not on a pirate ship. Go ahead mate get some fill in you. Damn highborns must've starved you." Thomas had no hesitation to begin his inhalation of the food and drink. Dagon laughed, knowing any prisoner on an elven ship would think this food Gourmet compared to the stale bread and cold slop the elves fed you. "Come back topside when you feel acclimated mate. We need to have words and I do my thinking in the wind.".

After eating himself a food baby belly, Thomas walked up the steps of the Ghidorah and felt the breeze of the wind tug at his long brown hair. He smiled, tearing off the rag garb tunic he wore leaving only his short trousers. He spread his arms to the wind and took a deep breath "Taste different, Don’t it?" Thomas looked to the port side of the ship, A young Uru orc boy smirked at him. His red skin covered in pirate tattoos, bearing no shirt and a face like a bald wolf "You got pulled off the ship, a prisoner. The air was bitter, gross, stale. But now the wind carries the taste of Freedom on the wind and it tastes sweeter right?" The orc smiled at him and walked up, offering his hand "Name's Jackoo, Quartermaster." Thomas smiled and shook his hand, then grimaced a bit at the orc's grip, "Remember my face, your going to know it a lot, and Remember my grip and hope I don’t have to use it again". Thomas laughed, his smile was goofy and entertained "I like you already, Just call me Th" "I heard your name, Eldritch. Know your place and we'll get along fine". Thomas had to tilt his head in confusion, "And what's my place on this ship?". Jackoo pointed to the bow, where Dagon stood staring at the waves. "That's for the captain to decide. Best get now".

Thomas approached Dagon slowly, not to disturb a man in thought. He was barely up to Dagon's armpits, the man was so big. Not tall but big, and wide. Dagon's voice lost it's rumble now, a beast calmed by the wind spoke to Thomas now, "My da once told me that the seas would take men to where they need to be. You just had to trust them. Break that trust, or doubt their hold and you damn yourself. Sailors only request direction, its her choice to take you there…" He looked at Thomas, "..and here we are, Two men of equal infamy to the Highborn Order. The sea pushed us together mate, now we must figure out if it's Damnation or Salvation."

Thomas looked at him listening close. Then he looked at the water below the ship racing past. "I hear the incredible urge to jump into that water or off of a really tall place like the nest up there." He jests pointing. "But the voices that actually are there wont leave me alone about my, air quotes, duties". Dagon just stares. This madness was just that to him, madness. "Why do the elves hate you?" He demanded. "You mean you don’t know that much?"

Dagon shook his head at the question when he wanted an answer "Everyone knows the basic Bull..Your a human who doesn’t age…from before history was written, and you preach gods that don’t exist and use magic that shouldn’t exist."

"Don’t forget the part where I was taught an alien language and now all humans and a few other races speak it. How's that for a mind fuck?"

Dagon smirked at the logic for a bit but then had to ask "What's and alien?" Thomas had to think. He smiled very manically when he found his answer, "Well, something so obviously not from this world that is a living being of some shape or form. Examples. " he spins his wrists upside down and forms 3 new small purple spell rings, creating the portals in the ring. The center most portal raises a small sentient warrior inside a glass dome. The warrior had 6 arms and 4 legs with segmented plates along the spine, scaled male going over the limbs. His weapons seemed to be tiny forms of riffles with jagged bayonetted ends. The left most portal made a sort of dog creature but made of stone. The creature was infant in state and sleeping softly. Woken by the angry cries of the warrior next to it, though the warrior was not attacking the dog. It was attempting to attack the right most portal creature with futility. The portal raised a beast that was mechanical in origins but with science unknown to the pirate captain. Colors of red green and yellow strings wove through plates and joints with sounds of fluids moving metal rods and cylinders to move limbs. The machine beast was also trying to attack the warrior but prevented by a glass dome.

Once he was sure Dagon understood the word Alien, Thomas returned the creatures through the portals and made the rings vanish. Dagon was dumbfounded, but he certainly took a firm hold of alien now. He quickly took annoyance to the joy Thomas got from watching Dagon. "…Well I got no more questions right now. So your going to help me out." he started walking back to the stairwell in the middle of the deck. "I am hunting a monster…and your magic is….well I Think I might have found some other kind of alien before I Found you..".

Thomas fallowed, his ears pinned to the voice of the pirate lizard. His hope rose a bit, he wanted the alien to be the same one who changed him those years ago. Thomas had so many more questions of his own he needed to ask that being. He held hope that the alien was not dead. Dagon lead Thomas to a chart room in the ship, no doorway just a corner that holds a map on each wall and a massive globe sitting on a table. Dagon Rolls the globe around and stops it, leaving his finger over the Sea of Monsters. Thomas tilts his head looking at it. "My da and I saw it there...before the beast took his life…". Thomas lost that hope now, but continued to listen. "What did it look like?"

Dagon's tone was low, solemn, and angry, "The beast was 4 times the size of this ship…scales covered it's body like amethyst tile plates. It's spine was traced with broken stone like ridges that stuck out to rip the wood from your keel. It's tail was a single long tentacle covered in tiny little hooks, just like the ones that covered is face…" "It's face..?" Thomas interjected. "Well if you call that mug a face, it bore what was like some freak leviathan squid as a head with the most hideous eyes. It's maw was several beak teeth that spit acid that burns flesh like my flames, it turns wood to mud and combusts in the water…I call it…the Nightmare Dragon."

Thomas nods and looked at the globe "I know what it is, I can help you kill it. But why chase that thing when you seem to be capable as a pirate alone? You are Captain Dagon Dragmouth the most famous pirate ever." Dagon picked up his belt at his sides and let out a deep sigh, "I'll be straight with you mate, I am mid way through my life, and I've yet to find my own MATE if you get me." Thomas nods, understanding the sentiment. "So I want to do one big thing before my…Hiatus lets call it. I want to be able to tuck a wee gecko into bed on a galleon I built myself. This bed will be that monster's bones woven into a glorious nest for my child, and that gecko will look up at me and go, 'Da, tell e again how I got this amazing luxurious bed Da oh please tell me again.' and I'll go on and tell them How I Took it on my own beautiful self to slay this beast in my Da's name just to build my spawn the most perfect nest!"

Thomas and Innsmouth both laugh, Dagon turned his head to face his second mate, "The fu..when did you get here?" Innsmouth salutes like an elf "Oh da please da tell me again" making Thomas laugh hard. Dagon growls at the two making them silent fast. "Point is mate, I want to give my family a legacy, or die trying. What say you Mate??" .

Thomas returned the stares Innsmouth and Dagon were giving him. He sighed a little bit, "What the fuck it'll be fun". Innsmouth and Dagon both cheered, as did Jackoo and the crew above who all eavesdropped through the stairwell. Thomas laughed, he brought Dagon's attention back to the globe. "that creature, we are going to keep the name Nightmare Dragon, so much cooler than what it's called, is going to just sit and huddle in the squid waters. One ship clearly wont work, you need at the least…4 galleons."

"how in the hell do we get 4 fucking galleons when we can barely keep track of 3 brigs?" Jackoo tossed the question at Thomas, who responded by putting his finger on one spot on the globe. Everyone leaned in to see the location, Seaport City. The only human city in the world. Innsmouth jests "Oh Excuse me Queen Annabelle but we PIRATES need to borrow 4 of your Galleons to hunt a monster that eats monsters and turns wooden ships into soup." Dagon smacked Innsmouth on the back of the head, "Seaport has no Dry Dock Construction laws, we can build the boat's ourselves…" Innsmouth rubbed his head and pouts defeated, while Jackoo thinks and looks at Thomas "But how do we fund that?" Thomas smiled, "Your Hunters, pirates, and enemies of the Highborn Order. Queen Annabelle will gladly trade with us any ink, meat, and Beaks you get from squid, as well as spoils taken by the elves."

Dagon nods "It'll take some years to do it, getting it off the ground earning her favor and what not." Innsmouth interjected again "some time means like twenty years or what ever, that’s fucking forever." Jackoo glared, "yeah for me, you’re a newt, he doesn’t age, and captain is a Dragonkin.". "Call me a newt again you mud born little.." Dagon growled, "Enough, we are sailing to Seaport…We build the Galleons to Eldritch's specifications, as long as it takes to do it.". The Ghidorah ship began it's sail towards the most diverse city on the planet, and home to the last of the human race.

#monsters #cthulhu #Kaiju #pirates #elves #orcs #dragons #dragon #magic #magics #gods #devils #eldritch #fantasy #writer #writing #write #writers #amature

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bigskydreaming · 6 years ago

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Random bits of writing beneath the cut. Yo @russianspacegeckosexparty, these are scenes yanked from the 10 years ago manuscript I was telling you about, the magic I cannibalized to use for the magic system/worldbuilding in this series.

Mostly just action scenes so the only thing you really need to know in order to follow is that the Cunninghams are a family of nine kids (yeah I know, look this was a very early book of mine), who each have magic that manifests via a specific medium. They can do pretty much anything they can imagine involving that medium, even if it doesn’t make any kind of physical or logical sense or just riffs off of symbolism - however it doesn’t always work the way they think it will. Its magic without instruction manual. They’re all just winging it.

Other key detail is that for most of the book they were all dealing with a curse someone’d put on their family years ago, where the sight of one another whipped them into a homicidal rage and thus they had to stay apart and take great care not to be around each other in ways that could trigger it. Eventually, they discovered that there was another magic family out there (well, several), and one in particular had put the curse on them for Reasons.

Anyway, of the Cunninghams, oldest was Serena, whose magic involved tears, Trent (shadows), Dennis (blood), Cam (art), Alice (mirrors), Rowan (coins), Katie (echoes), Megan (fingerprints) and Micah (dust).

The other family in this had similarly distinct magic, with Paul (breath), Mina (light), David (music), Jonas (crossroads) and Teri (memories).

Oh and the last three scenes that don’t make sense chronologically are flashbacks of Micah’s (the narrator) from when he was younger, thanks to memory magic making him relive them.

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

I spun to see the windows lining the side of the house that faced us – changing, for lack of a better way to describe them. The glass folded out away from the walls, then grew together in a slick, sinuous movement that formed a bridge into the sky, snaking and curving back on itself. It thickened until the bridge was a column that expanded towards the base, branching out with a thinner neck, wings, legs, arms. The whole sight was painful to watch, trying to wrap my mind around the impossibility of it and just how many laws of physics were violated as Alice grew a glass dragon out of Mom’s prized windows.

“Oh, that’s just Alice,” I said. “She and Cam are having a little spat.”

“I see.” Teri sounded faint. “Do we really want ring side seats for this?”

“Probably not. Especially since Alice’s mirror magic can’t really do something like that on her own. A stunt like that only works if she’s mirroring someone else’s magic, like, a kind of reflection of it.”

“Which means Cam’s probably test driving his new tattoo,” I added as a trumpeting roar shook the beach and a giant golden dragon crashed through the wall of my house. “Also, run!”

I grabbed her by the hand and we tore down the beach, the sand catching at our heels and making us stumble. The mirror dragon roared back, a strange tinkling sound somehow reminiscent of both wind chimes and nails on a chalkboard. The ground darkened beneath their shadows as the two behemoths slammed together overhead, and then strange prisms of light danced across the dunes. The sun was shining through Alice’s dragon as much as it was forced around it. Her and her damn glass and mirrors. She liked to mess with physics as much as possible. You’d think she had a personal beef with Einstein or something.

We reached the cliff and pressed ourselves up against its face. I hoped the angle would be enough to protect us from sight. I could never be sure how the logistics of Cam and Alice’s magic worked. Alice could scry through mirrors, but could she see through her mirror dragon’s eyes? And if so, would catching sight of me that way be enough to trigger the curse? And what about Cam’s dragon? Being a tattoo, I figured it probably had a closer link to him than Alice’s.

Ugh. Fucking magic. The headaches it gave were so not worth the price of admission.

“What do we do now?” Teri panted. I had no answer. Instead we just stared up at the two beasts as they circled and dove through the air at each other. The golden one caught the other by one leg with its talons, and with a crash and a ragged splitting sound glass rained from above. The mirror dragon whipped its tail in response. The shards at the ends of it ripped into the gold’s wing and blood fountained free.

******

“This is going to end well,” Teri muttered, but she followed me inside and up cracked hardwood steps. We climbed three flights of stairs into the gloom of the seemingly deserted apartment building. It wasn’t that late, but I heard no noises from the apartments we passed. We made our way down a dingy hallway that sported dirty gray carpeting and stained green wallpaper. The lights in the wall sconces were on their last legs. A roach skittered out of our path.

I didn’t have to worry about ruining the locks on Megan’s door. It was already ajar, and a Really Bad Feeling rose wailing from the pits of my stomach. I batted it away and cautiously pushed the door all the way open. It creaked on unoiled hinges as I stepped inside.

“Is it too late to go back to the car?” Teri asked. I raised a finger to my lips. She hesitated and stepped across the threshold behind me. The apartment inside was way better maintained than the rest of the building. And my sister had been here recently, judging from the relative lack of dust lining the surfaces. We ventured further inside. I closed the door.

“Should I turn on the lights?” She wondered. I shook my head and looked around. It was sparsely furnished, with only the minimum of pieces. A dining room table, a couple of wooden chairs. A small TV stand beneath an even smaller TV. A painfully bright orange couch probably rescued from some college dorm room, and a coffee table straight out of the Ikea catalogue. There were two potted plants decorating a low, long set of bookshelves that stretched across one wall, beneath a window that opened out onto a fire escape. Instead of books, the shelves were lined with dozens of glass jars.

“What are those?” Teri wandered to the nearest jar and reached out a finger, just shy of touching it. I pulled her back. More jars crowded the kitchen table, the coffee table, the counters and shelves of the small corner kitchen. They were all empty, just glass jars full of air, lids sealed tight and with tiny strips of masking tape to serve as labels. Names and dates written across them in small letters. Delicately printed in black Sharpie.

“Megan’s armory,” I whispered. Couldn’t say why I felt a need to keep my voice down, but my Really Bad Feeling hadn’t fled far. It still crouched behind my too-quickly beating heart, twined around my nerves, keeping them tight and coiled and ready to spring at the first sign of danger. “Her magic is keyed to fingerprints. She can find people with them, access their thoughts and histories. Take on their shapes and skills and very identities.”

I picked one up, careful to keep my fingers around the lid, and raised it to the window. Silver moonbeams spilled through the panes and shone through the glass of the jar. Several fingerprints gleamed in the light. Thumb, index, middle fingers of both hands. “This is how she stores them. So that even when she changes back to her real form and the person isn’t around anymore, she can still tap into them if she needs to use their shape or skills again.”

Teri drifted through the apartment, eyeing the jars with wide-eyed wonder. “There must be hundreds of them.”

I shrugged. “Megan’s always been more at home being other people than herself.”

It didn’t take a shrink to figure out that probably wasn’t that healthy, but we were Cunninghams. Magic and issues came included, batteries sold separately.

“Micah, she has one of you. And all the rest of your siblings, I think.”

I nodded and followed her into the kitchen, where nine jars sat by themselves right behind the sink. “Yeah I know. When she taps our fingerprints and takes our shapes, she can use our magic too.”

“Damn. That’s pretty potent.”

“Yeah. But it’s Megan. She’s pretty much the only one of my siblings I’d trust with that kind of mojo. I mean, Alice and Katie can sometimes kinda echo or mirror the stuff the rest of us can do, but they can’t tap into our power sources directly like Megan can. Now if Rowan or Serena could do that – forget about it. Time to run screaming.”

Teri chewed a strand of her hair, unconvinced. “If you say so. Why does she have one of her own fingerprints?”

“Oh.” I frowned and looked back around the apartment. I wasn’t even sure where to begin hunting for clues to her present whereabouts. Maybe the dust could tell me something? “She’s kinda paranoid about getting stuck in someone else’s shape and not being able to turn back into herself. The magic’s – tricky like that, sometimes.”

******

“Micah, cover your eyes,” Trent yelled from somewhere nearby, and I obeyed on instinct. It wasn’t that I suddenly trusted him again, it was just…I had no idea what the hell was going on anymore, and I was happy to listen to anyone who seemed to have some kind of grip on reality.

On the plus side, I was no longer convinced I was going crazy. It was the universe I thought was going crazy, instead.

I felt the cold, slimy grasp of my brother’s shadows wind around me, and then there was a brief sense of disorientation, of the world falling away beneath me as he slipped me through dark nether dimensions. I emerged into the cool humidity of the September New York night.

“Look straight ahead,” Trent directed then, coalescing from the shadows right next to me. He reached out to grip my hand in his, and I jumped. It took every bit of concentration I possessed, focusing intently on every nerve and muscle in my body as I fought the urge to glance over at him. I may not have known what was really happening, but I knew triggering the curse was the last thing I could afford to do right now.

We were on the sidewalk in front of a traffic circle. The tall bronze statue of a rearing horse and its rider loomed in front of us and its shadow stretched beneath the streetlights, landing at the shores of our feet. Trent reached out a hand to caress the shadow of the horse’s back – I could see that much of him without anything happening – and with a restless shudder, it came to life.

“Cover your eyes,” he said, just before he grabbed the flailing hairs of the stallion’s mane and heaved himself up on its back. “I’m going to pull you up, and then I need you to turn yourself around so you’re facing the other way from me.”

“Wait, you want me to ride your magic shadow horse backwards?” I protested, even as I covered my eyes with one hand and let him drag me up behind him with the other. I expected him to have to struggle a little, but he managed it with ease. I’d forgotten how strong he was. “Are you nuts?”

“Desperate times, desperate measures,” he said grimly, and I was reminded of a similar situation with Teri just a few hours ago. It seemed like a lifetime already. I settled on the horse and leaned back into my brother, wrapping one arm around his waist behind me and bracing the other against the muscled shadow flesh we sat upon. Our steed pranced in place, aggressive and straining to be set free, but Trent held it back. We were a block down from where Teri stood with Paul, Mina and the others, but they were racing in our direction, Paul gliding through the air while the other four sprinted down the block.

“Trent, what the hell?” I asked at last. “Why is Teri with them?”

He didn’t answer at first, still consumed with the task of feeding some kind of directives to the shadow mount. It reared up on its back legs, and I almost slid down its flanks before it landed on all four feet again. Then we were off galloping down the street in quick, fluid motions. The buildings whizzed by us.

“She’s their sister,” Trent said. The winds of our passage burned my face and roared in my ears. I had trouble breathing.

“What?”

“Paul, Mina, the other two, she’s their sister,” he said again. “It wasn’t a coincidence that she was in the coffee shop this morning; she’s been following you for weeks. Same with the other two guys…the one David, he’s got some kind of music magic, we think, he was tailing Cam, but could never get close. The other one, Jonas, he was sticking by Alice.”

“How do you know this?” It couldn’t be true, I mean, it couldn’t have all been a lie, right? And yet, looking back behind us at Teri and her what, siblings, as they gave chase…I knew Trent wasn’t lying. Paul rose into the air, climbing higher and higher into the sky. He was arrowing towards the roof of a nearby apartment building. From this distance I could just make out the outline of a woman…and then thunder crashed overhead and stormclouds gathered with supernatural speed, and I knew it was Serena. Within seconds, rain came pouring down.

“Let’s just say Serena and I had our own encounters with Paul and Mina,” Trent said grimly. “Speaking of which, hang on.”

The stallion reared again and turned left onto a main street, still busy with traffic even at this late hour. People leaned out their car windows to gawk at us, but at least the cover of night made it look like we were just randomly riding a horse through downtown Manhattan, rather than a physical manifestation of my brother’s shadow magic.

The river of light that cascaded around the corner in pursuit of us was a little less easy to explain.

Colors flowed down streetlamps and off flashing neon signs to join in the chase. A serpentine length of red luminescence struck from the bulbs of a theater marquee, and we dodged just in time. Blue and green ribbons split off from the gaudy sign of some high end night club, and the yellow beams of several cars’ headlights bent and swerved in mid-air to flank us on both sides.

Strands of multi-colored light wove and twisted themselves around each other and across our path, looking like nothing so much as sparkling strands of DNA, complex double helixes that snapped at our heels and in front of us like tentacles or the arms of some demented, magical octopus. Trent pulled darkness from rooftops and alleys and splashed them all around us, dousing the lights under buckets of black painted shadows.

We cut through a park and crossed a small man-made river, our horse running across the top of the water without making splash. The other side led out into the heart of the concrete jungle, and curtains of light dropped down the lengths of skyscrapers all around us, gaining fast.

I realized we weren’t alone. Alice was racing through the reflections alongside us, flashing briefly through one window before reappearing in the next. She threw me a grin and then grew, until her reflection was one story high, and then two, and then three. Giant sized Alice reached down with a hand that was six windows high and three windows wide, and grabbed a fistful of light like so many ribbons. Despite everything, I laughed. Silly Mina. Don’t try and play with light when Alice and reflective surfaces are around. My sister refracted the illumination through the windows of her body, and a thousand tiny golden threads shot back through the air at dizzying speeds, heading backwards along the trajectory that had led them here.

Then space warped, and twisted. My stomach tied itself in knots. In the blink of an eye we were two blocks ahead and facing the other direction. I’d never travelled so quickly or seamlessly with any of my siblings’ brands of magical transportation.

Space warped again, and a blink later the two guys I’d seen with Teri, Paul and Mina were standing in the intersection in front of us.

“Shit,” Trent cursed, but there wasn’t time for anything else. One of the guys pursed his lips and whistled a sharp, vaulting melody. David, I guessed. His tune crescendoed up the musical scales and cracks raced up windows of the skyscrapers on both sides of the street in sympathetic harmony. Alice opened her mouth in surprise and then the windows fell apart, raining down on us below. The tinkling chimes of falling glass sounded almost like a scream as my sister’s reflection vanished.

“Alice!” I shouted and an answering screech echoed my cry. Cam’s gold dragon dive bombed from above, plunging down the lengths of the buildings, jaws opened and ready to flame despite the rain coming down. The other man grabbed handfuls of air and folded them. Space twisted again, and a blink of an eye later and the mighty beast crashed into the street a block away. “How is he doing that?”

“That’s Jonas,” Trent spat. He threw a rolling wave of blackness hastily over Cam’s dragon like a blanket of shadows, and kept it advancing across the street towards the other two men until Jonas just grabbed his brother and they blinked behind us. “His magic’s something to do with crossroads, or intersections and doorways. Can’t tell, it’s hard to pin down.”

I nodded, feeling useless. There wasn’t much I could do to help as long as Serena kept this storm up. Any dust I could raise would just be beaten back down by the downpour. Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough control over the waters she summoned to work around my magic. She just turned storms on and off, she couldn’t control what they did or where they went once she’d conjured them. Lightning flashed and Mina wrestled control of the jagged electric spears from wherever she was hiding. A bolt crashed down into the street right next to us and the sudden burst of illumination extinguished Trent’s shadow stallion in a wash of white light. We fell to the ground.

I think it was safe to say we were getting our asses kicked at this point.

*******

By the time it dissipated, Trent and Cam had vanished, and Serena was pulling a pouch full of small glass vials from her pocket. Alice was several stores down from us, and every time she passed a window her reflection leapt out and joined her, until the far courtyard was filled with an abundance of Alices.

“Can Jonas come out and play?” She called mockingly. The target of her derision jumped to his feet and took off across the tiled floor. But instead of sprinting towards her, he was headed in the opposite direction, running scared. Space warped and he crossed the room in the span of a few blinks, jumping intervals of twenty feet at a time. But then Alice stepped out of a window right in front of him, and slapped him in the face, fingernails hooked like claws. Blood spewed from his lip and he blinked away.

Only to find another Alice waiting for him. He blinked again, and she was there too. Everywhere he jumped, there was a reflection of her waiting. And for every reflection, she had a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, until he was mobbed by her in multitudes, no matter which way he turned.

A sound like nails on chalkboard scraped across the atrium and I turned to see a chalk outline sketching itself along the wall of the courtyard’s upper floor, overlooking us from above. Stark white lines superimposed themselves across walls, windows and doors, the shape and imagery of crackling flames that sprang to life. First they flickered two dimensionally, then they gained depth and volume, color and voice and fire ringed the floor above. Cam appeared, leaning over the upper balcony as he scooped his hand through the flames. Molding a perfect sphere he hurled it at David, raining down fire from above.

I’d totally forgotten how much of a pyro he was. Freak.

Paul levitated straight up into the center of the courtyard, his winds sweeping up water from a large bubbling fountain in front of the nearest department store. He flung a mini-typhoon at Cam’s inferno. The flames hissed angrily when doused, but there were a lot of them and Cam didn’t need much to fuel for his fireballs. He grinned and threw several more at David in quick succession. The last Bradley brother sang a quick, discordant melody that slammed into the balcony beneath Cam, shaking it and tossing him from his feet.

Serena drew forth a vial of her tears and threw it to the ground in front of David. The glass shattered and smoking acid bubbled forth, eating away at the tiled floor and spreading like a virus. He cried out and jumped back, and Paul whipped up another wave to wash away the acid. Then he caught Serena in a whirlwind and threw her into the fountain.

Mina crooked her fingers at me and multi-colored rays of light shot in my direction. I dodged and a shadow hound hurtled itself from a corner behind her and knocked her to the ground. I pointed my hand at the ceiling and rained debris down on her, burying her in a mound of rubble and then I was falling too, somehow gone from the floor to the ceiling in the blink of an eye. Crap. Fucking Jonas.

I hollered in a possibly slightly unmanly fashion and flailed arms and legs uselessly, but I couldn’t muster the concentration needed to turn myself to dust when falling from two stories up. I jerked to a stop anyways, bobbing up and down in the air like I’d reached the end of a bungee cord, and I looked across the way to see giant sized Alice reflected in a window. She held my T-shirt pinched between massive fingers.

She set me down gently, and then she was gone, racing through windows. I caught sight of Teri behind me in a reflection, and I spun as she conjured more of her sister’s light shows in a riotous rainbow display that sparked and fizzled around me like fireworks. I stumbled backwards, and Cam sketched himself into the scene between us, appearing first as lines drawn into the air, then fleshing out with color and dimension.

Teri set her jaw and a wall of shadows surged forth from a shop behind her and poured into the shape of a pack of snapping wolves. Cam swept his hand through the first shadow wolf and turned the memory into a photo, mashing it down into two dimensions bordered within a Polaroid frame, a snapshot of any of the dozens of times Trent had pulled that trick when we were kids.

A silver and copper cloud of coins erupted from the fountains and came wailing our way with all the screeching fury of a banshee. Cam made a picture of that memory too, and a snapshot of Rowan’s typical gaudy display of force fluttered to the floor. Teri sketched fireballs from mid-air, cried tears of acid rain and drafted ghosts to animate the mannequins the department store windows. They marched our way like so many toy soldiers, but Cam packed them all up in a small frame and banished the memory with just a photograph to keep in its place.

She yelled in frustration and turned and ran down a side corridor, headed for the escalators to a lower level. I sprinted after her, Cam close behind me, but a harsh, grating melody cracked the ground in between us, forging a jagged chasm that left Cam on the other side. He whipped off his shirt and his panther tattoo leaped free, bounding across the floor towards a wide-eyed David. The other man ducked behind a potted plant and conjured a tune to soothe the savage beast.

*****

I rose to my knees, choking - but it wasn’t his grip on my neck that had me gasping for air. His magic was a sandstorm swirling in my lungs. Every breath I took stabbed the walls of my throat with shards of spells and broken glass. Paul grinned down at me through the white spots dotting my vision and I batted at his arm, trying desperately to break free. Dude was on steroids or I was really just that scrawny, but either way, I was still going to die here. Young. Virginal. Alone.

Epic fail, universe. Epic fail.

And then winter came early.

The sharp crackle of ice knifed through the empty food court like an overactive toddler popping bubble wrap without supervision. And if you don’t like my similes, blame my brain’s current lack of oxygen. Paul let his magic and me slip free and I slid bonelessly to the floor, wheezing and flopping around like a geriatric trout with asthma and a smoking problem. I raised my head in search of whoever had kicked the AC into overdrive and found my sister standing regally at the top of the escalator.

God. She was such a drama queen.

Serena was soaked head to toe from her impromptu swim in the fountains earlier, but if it bothered her you’d never know. A silent wind tossed her raven hair behind her, and an endless stream of water dripped from her t-shirt and jeans, pooling around her bare feet and cascading down the steps of the escalator in far more quantities than her clothes could have ever contained. Her face was pinched tight with cold fury, and a chill leaked from her bone-white skin. Frost coated the railing of the escalator beneath her hand and three frozen tears tracked slowly down her cheeks. Big Sis was pissed, and I was just glad that for once it didn’t seem to be at me.

I scooted out of the way just to be on the safe side.

“I think you‘ve been a pain in my family‘s collective asses long enough.” Serena announced into the vastness. Only the rhythmic trickle of water rushing forth from her kept her voice from echoing like a bell. Like a death knell. “And no one gets to kill my baby brother except me.”

Now that was just unnecessary. I frowned. “Okay, see, stuff like this is exactly the reason Megan’s my favorite sister.”

They ignored me in favor of making angry eyes at each other. Serena started slowly down the escalator. One frozen tear dripped free of her cheek and fell into the water puddled at her feet, freezing it over in an instant. It spread forth from there in a river of blue-white light, rattling like dancing ice cubes. Unlike the glaciers they resembled, there was nothing slow moving about either her anger or her magic. The ice coated the escalator in seconds and raced towards Paul.

He swore and leapt higher into the air, twisting, shimmering until he was nothing but fog and mist. Pale smoke riding the wind. Serena smiled, showing teeth, and raising a hand to her cheek collected a second frozen tear on her fingertip. She flicked it at the rising fog and Paul crashed into a near table, all tangled limbs and solid, weighty flesh. He jumped upright but the ice reached him before he could take a step. It locked him in place and kept climbing slowly up his legs.

“Bitch -” he snarled as Serena reached him. She silenced him, pinching his lips together between her fingers. His eyes bulged, furious, but the ice had reached his arms by then and locked them at his sides.

Paul tried to shout something between smashed together lips, but Serena just reached her finger to her cheek again and collected her last tear, placing it on the tip of his nose.

“No more talking now,” she whispered. His eyes widened but too late. The ice rushed over his face and down his chest, pale blue forks of frost burrowing deep beneath his skin and replacing his veins. In moments he was completely translucent. Not just covered in ice, but flesh become ice. Serena pushed gently and he toppled over backwards, shattering with a sharp screech like a single, stunted scream.

*******

We made it as far as the escalator before a song hit us full in the chest, knocking us both on our asses and sliding back along the floor.

“Murderer!” David shouted at Serena. He whistled two sharp, high notes, and she raised her hands to her head, screaming in agony. Whatever he did to her passed, and she glared at him through dripping eyes.

“Pot, meet kettle,” she coughed and brushed a finger across her face. She flicked the moisture she found there at him and he stumbled back, hollering as her tears raised red burn marks across his skin. They burrowed into his flesh, worming their way down to blood and bone. David sang a song of agony and rage, and the ground erupted beneath Serena, plunging her into a hole that gaped open like a ready grave.

He turned towards me with red-rimmed and hate-filled eyes, spitting out sharp, staccato notes that hammered into the wall behind me, punching holes into the plaster. One note caught me in the shoulder and I spun, thrown backwards by the impact.

“You people,” he rasped, standing over me and placing a hand above my chest, “have caused my family nothing but grief.”

David started humming and I gasped as I felt his magic wash over me. His music matched the rhythm of my heartbeat, and then he twisted his song. My heartbeat followed the lead of his music, angrily accelerating at a supernaturally rapid pace. My heart rate tripled in seconds. I grabbed frantically at my chest. It felt like it was going to explode. Was this what a heart attack felt like? Or was this something else altogether?

******

I was eight. Katie nine, Rowan eleven. We were in the 7-11 nearest our house, which meant a three mile hike, basically. Which also meant we were entirely justified in any trouble we got up to there as a result. We’d earned it, after all.

So Katie and I prowled the aisles of the empty convenience mart, snickering as we grabbed every bag of candy and oddly flavored soda that caught our eyes. Rowan dutifully added them to his already overloaded hand basket, laughing himself each time a new addition made the mountain of junk food spill over the sides and onto the floor. We scrambled to gather it all up off of the stained linoleum tiles and piled it in the basket. And then Rowan would struggle to pick it up again, usually with a violent heave that made it all spill back to the floor. We made a big production of it. We had time to kill.

The lone clerk watched us with bored, jaded eyes. He was red haired under the cheap visor they all wore here, and skinny and pale beneath even cheaper fluorescent lights that buzzed and flickered sporadically. Freckles, acne and a sour disposition marred his face. Peach colored fuzz that could use some grooming spotted his chin and his uniform shirt was wrinkled and dirty. If ever there was a kid who hated his job more, I’d yet to meet them. Judging from his frown, he definitely knew us. But then, it was a small town in North Carolina, and our family had something of a reputation. Everyone knew us.

Restless fingers fidgeted with the scanner – probably itching for a cigarette, if his teeth were any indication, yuck - and every so often he would look up like he was about to say something. Maybe yell at us to get out. He definitely knew we were going to make his otherwise peaceful shift difficult. He just hadn’t figured out how yet, or how to prevent it.

I almost felt bad for him. But then, I was a total shit back then, so the feeling passed and I added some more M&M’s to the basket.

By the time we got up to the register, our basket was so full I had to help Rowan get it up on the counter. The bell over the door tinkled as three more customers piled into the store and headed straight for the beer, talking loudly at each other and giving each other obnoxious shoves on the way. The clerk sighed. Rowan grinned. Katie smothered giggles behind her hands.

It took several minutes to scan everything in our basket, and by the time the clerk gave us our total of fifty some odd dollars and change, the three men were waiting in line behind us and two more customers were wandering the aisles.

“You sure you can pay for all of this, kid?” The clerk asked.

Rowan made a show of digging around in his pockets, and nodded. He looked up with an apologetic smile, his face as angelic as I’d ever seen it. He was still capable of seeming innocent back then. I attributed it to the baby fat still lining his cheeks. “I only have change. Is that okay?”

The clerk looked like he’d just swallowed a lemon. “I’ve got other customers waiting, and I don’t have time for games, kid.”

Rowan bit his lip and seemed to give this some thought. “Can I give you what I have and anything else you can just put back?”

He sighed. “Hurry it up, then.”

“Cool,” Rowan said and pulled two big handfuls of change out of his pockets. Dumping them on the counter, he started to count them out. Slowly. It was mostly nickels and dimes. The customers behind us started to stir restlessly.

“Here, let me help you,” the clerk said, and tried to reach for the coins scattered all across the glass counter.

“Hey, I can do it! I’m in fifth grade you know.” My brother glared.

“I didn’t mean that you couldn’t.” The kid behind the counter knew better than to lose his patience with any customer, even a little punk like my brother. Especially with the two women who’d been browsing the store now standing in line as well and smiling indulgently at that same little punk. Rowan knew how to run a con even before middle school. He might be a dickhead, but he was as precocious as all of us, in his own way.

It took about five minutes to count all the change on the counter, and it came to a little over eleven dollars. The clerk moved to take some of the candy off the total, but Rowan stopped him, digging around in his pockets again.

“Wait! I think I have some more.” He pulled another two handfuls from his pockets and dropped them on the counter. This time there were almost twice as many coins.

The clerk stared, confused. I could see him trying to figure out how my brother had all that change in his pockets. There was no way he’d been walking around with twenty to thirty dollars in pocket change weighing him down just a few minutes ago. Katie squeaked behind her hands and shook with silent laughter. Rowan just beamed and resumed counting.

“Hey, aren’t you in my sister Serena’s class?” He asked the clerk, seeming distracted by his math.

“What?” The clerk was busy eyeing the men behind us nervously. I took a peek behind us at them, and one of them scowled down at me beneath a thick salt and pepper mustache and squinting red eyes. He wasn’t happy. I smiled politely.

“My sister,” Rowan said. “Serena Cunningham? I think you’re in her class at school.” He pulled another handful of change from his pocket and started counting it out. All pennies this time.

“Yeah, I know Serena. How much more change do you have, kid? I really need to get to my other customers.”

“I don’t know.” Rowan gave him a withering look. “That’s why I’m counting. And I’m not ‘kid.’ I have a name.”

“Sorry, ki-“, the clerk started to say impatiently, before he caught himself. He tried to smile in apology at the customers behind us, but they weren’t having it and he wasn’t as practiced at it as Rowan.

“And you shouldn’t call my sister a slut,” Rowan continued. He was still intent on his counting, but when Katie and I looked at him, startled, we could see he wasn’t keeping his head down for any great attempt at concentration. He was just trying to hide the smirk that played across his lips.

“What?”

“My sister, Serena? You shouldn’t call her a slut. It’s not a nice word,” my brother said. He was the very picture of innocence.

The clerk swallowed, really nervous now. His eyes darted around, but he found no support from the customers behind us. Particularly not from the two women who were by now listening intently.

“I didn’t,” he started to protest, but Rowan cut him off.

“Oh. That’s too bad. Because my brothers think you did, and they’re kinda pissed. You know my brothers right? Trent and Dennis? Trent’s on the football team.”

“Yeah, I know them,” the clerk said weakly. His face was looking considerably paler now. I wasn’t totally sure what was going on anymore, but I had picked up enough at this point to take some pleasure in that.

“Serena doesn’t know you said that yet, though, so that’s lucky,” Rowan continued. He pulled out some more change. “Because she’s a lot worse to piss off than my brothers. Trust me. When she gets mad, oh man. Look out, you know?”

The clerk swallowed. His head bobbed up and down.

“Look,” he said. “I’ve really got to get to my other customers. How about I just take care of the rest of this stuff for you? It’s on the house.”

“Really? Are you sure? I think I have enough change for the rest, still.”

“No, it’s cool, I’ve got it.” He hurriedly piled our spoils of war into a few plastic bags and shoved them across the counter at us. “And tell your sister that whatever she hears about Jimmy, from trig class? Tell her he’s really sorry and he just was really drunk at that party and said some stupid shit – stuff, I mean, he just said some stupid things.”

“Okay, I’ll try,” Rowan said, sounding a little doubtful as the three of us pulled the bags off the counter. They were so heavy they almost dropped straight to the floor, but we managed. “I don’t know if it’ll help though. She doesn’t always listen to me, you know. She thinks I’m just a kid.”

Weighed down by our bags, we tottered out the door. One of the women from line had to help us with it and she beamed down at Rowan.

“Thank you ma’am,” he said politely. The door chimed overhead and we made our way outside into the sweltering spring humidity. Heat danced off the pavement, twisting the air in warped, waving ribbons. I could still smell the smoke from the clerk’s last cigarette break and I looked back into the store. He was staring after us while ringing up the next guy.

“Rowan, what’s a slut?” I asked. We crossed the street to the small shaded park on the next block.

“It’s a bad word nobody’s ever allowed to say about our sisters. Got it?”

I nodded vigorously. Katie looked thoughtful. Then she clapped her hands and started to skip. The sound of her handclap echoed back to the convenience store’s parking lot and a sudden boom erupted in the middle of the three or four cars there. Two different car alarms started blaring in opposition to each other, off tempo and allowing no reprieve from their wails. Still weighed down by our bags, we ran off through the park, laughing as customers piled out of the store to see what had happened.

It took us three hours to eat all that candy. We were up puking most of the night. Totally worth it.

*******

“Micah! Katie! Get back here!”

We laughed and ignored Serena, continuing our wild spins across the hallway. Our sneakers squeaked across the stained white floor, probably accounting for a good half of the short black streaks that marred its surface. Then we lost our balance and crashed together. We fell in a tangled heap against the water fountain, but this only made us laugh harder. And Serena more pissed.

“Seriously you two, enough! We’re in a hospital,” she hissed. Uncomfortable green chairs lined the hallway, but just because she was sitting in one reading her stupid magazine didn’t mean we had to. Reading was boring. Spinning was fun. It seemed self-explanatory to me, but she reached down and grabbed me by the arm anyways, pulling me to my feet and steering me into the seat next to her.

“But why?” I said. I moaned and kicked my feet. “We’re not sick.”

“Yeah,” Katie chimed, dancing out of reach of Serena’s grasping talons. Her fingernails were long and pointy and they hurt. “We never get sick.”

“Katie, sit!” Serena snapped her fingers and got that dangerous look in her eyes. Katie sulked but plopped next to me. You could only push Serena so far, after all. “And you had your chance to go home with Trent. You’re the ones who wanted to wait here until Mom got off work, well here we are. Running around and acting like baboons while people are trying to get better wasn’t part of the deal.”

I rolled my eyes and slid down my seat like a snake. Her arm lashed out like an even faster one and pinned me in place before I could squirm all the way to the floor. “No, we wanted ice cream,” I clarified. “Mom said we could have some when she got done working.”

Which nobody told me would take hours. I felt lied to.

“Yeah, I changed my mind,” Katie said. “Can we go home now?”

“No, we cannot go home now. Trent has the car and I’m not ferrying you brats home in Mom’s just to turn around and have to come back and pick her up. Now stay put, zip it, and stop pissing me off.”

She gave us a stern glare and whipped her magazine back up in front of her face. Katie and I eyed each other. Rowan would say she was being a B-I-T-C-H, and I mouthed as much to my sister. She giggled, and Serena snapped. “Watch it, Micah!”

I sat bolt upright and wiped the guilt off my face as best I could. “I didn’t say anything!”

“Learn to be less predictable, baby brother. And stop hanging around Rowan so much. He’s a bad influence.”

She flipped a page and dismissed us. I crossed my arms and joined Katie in sulking. This sucked. There was nothing to do. Serena sucked. She wouldn’t even let us get candy from the candy machine.

“Can I have money for the candy machine?” I tried again anyways.

“No.”

“Then can I just use my magic – “

“No.”

“No, no, no, no, no,” started echoing up and down the length of the hallway, bouncing from wall to floor to ceiling and back again like someone was dribbling a basketball while paying no attention to gravity.

“Katie!” Serena slapped her magazine against her leg.

“I didn’t do it!”

Our oldest sister shook her head and rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes. “Mom really needs to start paying me for this.”

The automatic doors at the end of the hallway wheezed open.. A nurse in flower-decorated scrubs slowly wheeled an old man past us. For several minutes, Katie and I passed a century’s worth of commiseration back and forth via athletic facial contortions.

Serena ignored us. I nudged her leg with my knee. “Rena. Rena. Rena!”

“What?!”

“Now can I have change for the candy machine?” I grinned up at her. She groaned and threw her head back. It banged into the picture right behind her on the wall. Katie laughed and wiggled out of her seat onto the ground.

“Katie. Off. The. Floor.”

“Yeah Katie. Somebody probably threw up on there.”

“Eww!” She shrieked and jumped to her feet, blond hair swinging wildly as she scrubbed herself. It hit me in the face.

“Eww, puke hair.” I howled and shoved her away from me.

“That’s it!” Serena stood and pointed down the hall. “Both of you! Go find Dennis and Alice. You can be their problem now.”

I looked at Katie. She looked at me. This sounded too good to be true. It had to be a trick.

“Where are they?” I asked cautiously.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you go find out?”

I looked back at Katie. She shrugged.

“Okay!” We took off running down the hall.

“And don’t go in anyone’s room,” Serena hollered after us. We made no promises.

Instead we slid around corners and chased each other down halls, ducking into doorways and behind water coolers and crash carts any time we crossed paths with hospital staff. Even we knew better than to make Mom look bad at work. Well, not intentionally anyways.

“Where are they?” I complained at last. Katie stopped and squinted, sparking a speculative gleam in one eye.

She cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered. “Oh Dennis…”

Then she cocked her head and listened as her echoes travelled through every room in the hospital. He must have answered in some way only her magic could hear. Either that or my sister was really good at holding one-sided conversations.

“We’re looking for you. Where are you?”

“What’s he saying?” I hissed. Katie waved her hand at me, concentrating.

“Come on,” she said at last, racing down the hall towards a pair of heavy double doors. She smacked the metal plate on the wall that opened them automatically. “Follow me!”

We sprinted down another hallway and through a side door and up a flight of stairs, taking them two at a time and shouting “echo, echo, echo” down the stairwell in our wake. The hospital was a maze of corridors that all looked exactly alike, and there were way too many people to dodge, even at nine o’clock at night. Wasn’t everyone supposed to be asleep by now? The only reason we weren’t was because Mom was still working. And we hadn’t gotten ice cream yet.

Even following the course Katie’s magic laid out, it took us a good ten minutes to find Dennis and Alice. We plowed to a stop just outside the doorway of a room on the third floor. The lights were off and our siblings were hovering around the bed of a sleeping man around Mom’s age. Katie and I looked at each other, debating the wisdom of defying an Edict of Serena and venturing inside the room. For now we settled on just peeking around the doorframe.

“What are you guys doing?” I asked. Dennis jumped and Alice glared.

“Shh!”

Katie threw up her hands in exasperation. “Why does everyone keep saying that? It’s not like we’re in a library.”

“Katie, he’s sleeping.” Alice squinched her eyes at us through her new square-rimmed glasses. She looked like a total dork, but Mom said she couldn’t have contacts again until she learned to take care of them properly. Dennis didn’t say anything. Just looked nervous.

Clearly, something very interesting was afoot. Interesting enough, I decided, to risk the Wrath of Serena. I ventured a cautious step into the room. No lightning rained down on me from above, and growing bold, I walked over to my brother and sister. Katie shrugged and followed.

“Are you sure he’s sleeping?” I asked doubtfully. “He looks dead.”

“He’s not dead,” Alice said. “And you two shouldn’t be up here anyways. Go find Serena.”

“Ugh,” Katie moaned and stamped her foot. “Serena said go find you. You say go find Serena. I’m tired of finding people. I want to stay right here.”

She folded up and sat smack in the middle of the floor with crossed arms and a defiant stare. The room was silent save for the occasional slow and steady beep of a heart monitor.

“Puke floor,” I whispered at last.

“Oh shut up, Micah!”

Alice sighed. “Fine. You can stay, but be quiet. Dennis needs to concentrate.”

“Why does Dennis need to concentrate?” Alice ignored me and turned back to one of her boring textbooks, sitting on a nightstand next to the guy’s bed. She flipped pages with purpose. I felt neglected, and turned to my brother. “Why do you need to concentrate, Dennis?”

My older brother licked his lips and darted a quick glance at me. I’d never seen him so nervous. He opened his mouth but instead only shook his head and turned back to the sleeping man. Who still looked dead to me.

“He’s not dead, Micah,” Alice said when I declared as much. She never looked up from her pages of gross looking pictures. “He’s just in a coma.”

“Like the guy from Sleepless in Seattle?” Katie asked excitedly, perking up from her seat on the floor. It was this old movie Serena had acted a scene from for drama class. She’d watched it like, a thousand times to study it or whatever. Katie was addicted to it.

“No, not like the movies. He has a rare blood disease. Dennis is going to cure it.”

“Wow,” Katie breathed, eyes wide.

“Huh,” I said. I grabbed the railing on one side of the bed and stood on my toes for a better look. Dennis was on the other side of the bed, staring down at the man. He looked like he was about to faint, like Rowan did that time he woke up face to face with the snake Cam put in his bed. “You can do that, Dennis?”

“No. No, I can’t. This was a stupid idea,” my brother blurted suddenly. He ran for the door. Alice grabbed his arm as he passed. “Get out of my way, Alice.”

“Dennis, wait,” she said. “You can do this. You came to me, remember?”

Dennis hesitated, shaking his head. His messy black curls flopped over his forehead and hid his eyes. Alice jabbed a finger into his chest.

“You said you could feel it. You felt the badness in his blood, and you wanted to know what it was.”

“I could,” he whispered. “I mean, I can.”

“Well then you can take it away!” Alice gestured triumphantly. “Look, its just like the pictures in my book. This is what the diseased blood cells look like, and this is what they should look like. You just have to use your magic, change the bad cells to healthy ones.”

“I can’t. I’ve never done anything like that before.”

“Well duh, that’s because you’re a wimp.” Our brainiac sister rolled her eyes. “You have just as much magic as the rest of us do, you just need to stop being so scared to use it.”

“That’s easy for you to say! Your magic can’t kill people.”

Alice reared back, insulted. “My magic could so totally kill people.”

Feeling neglected again, I piped up. “So could mine!”

Katie bobbed on the floor, raising her hand. “Me too!” She frowned and wrinkled her nose. “Wait, why are we killing people?”

“We’re not,” Alice said severely. “Nobody’s killing anybody. That’s the point. Dennis, you can do this. You could totally save this guy’s life.”

I really had no idea what was going on, but when Dennis still hesitated, rocking back and forth on his feet uncertainly, I supplied additional incentive. “And then we can get ice cream!”

“”Micah!” My brother snapped. “Just, be quiet okay?”

I huffed and flopped on the floor next to Katie. She leaned over and patted my leg sympathetically. “You know how everyone’s always like, Micah why can’t you be more helpful?” I griped at her. “See? This is why!”

She nodded, sharing my pain.

Dennis took a deep breath. His hands flexed at his sides, clenching and unclenching. “You really think I can do it?”

“Yes!” I shouted.

“Oh my gosh, just doooooooooo it,” Katie moaned, rolling on her side on the floor. Both our older siblings whipped out their soon-to-be-shouting faces again, and she sat back up. “Oh. They weren’t talking to us.”

“Well, I don’t think we should talk to them either,” I said. “How is your day, sister Katie?”

“Very boring, brother Micah. How is yours?”

Dennis and Alice stared at us some more, but we pointedly ignored them. That’s when you put extra effort into ignoring someone. I know because Serena said she was doing it to me all the time. Alice put her hand on Dennis’ arm. “You’ve so got this. Just let the magic guide you.”

Despite their extreme rudeness Katie and I both watched, fascinated, as Dennis took another deep breath and with a shaky nod walked back over to the bed. He raised his hands over the not-dead guy’s chest and looked at them, turning them this way and that as though he didn’t know what to do with them. Alice peeked out the door into the hallway and checked both ways.

“The coast is clear,” she said.

“Yeah, you’re welcome,” Katie muttered. Alice shot her a quizzical look. “Even though noooooooobody will tell me what’s going on, I made it sound like everyone is sleeping up here. You guys are really loud. That’s how much I love you.”

She sniffed. Pointedly. “Just so you know.”

Alice closed her eyes and Dennis laughed, looking up for just a second.

“Thanks Katie. I love you too.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Come on, Dennis,” Alice said, walking back to stand next to him. She squeezed his arm. “You’ve got this.”

My brother curled his fingers one more time and then spread them wide. A warm, ruddy glow started in his fingertips and spread until a wash of red light bathed the bed beneath his hands. I’d only seen Dennis unleash his blood magic a couple times before. Like Alice said, it wasn’t something he liked to use a lot. But each of those times it’d been an angry, violent color. Hungry, almost. But this was different. Comforting. A wide grin broke across Dennis’ face. Alice made small approving sounds.

Then a small tendril of darker red wiggled up from the bed, swimming across the pool of light like a worm or small snake weaving its way across a field. Panic chased the elation from my brother’s expression and he snatched his hands back.

“Dennis, no! You have to let it finish,” Alice shouted, but it was too late. The light had vanished as though someone had flicked off a switch. We all knew our brother well enough to know he wouldn’t be touching it again anytime soon. The steady beeps of the heart monitor changed to an angry, insistent whine and Katie shrieked and clapped her hands over her ears. The man on the bed started jerking like a puppet dragged clumsily across the floor, yanking on the wires and tubes that connected him to machines alongside the bed. Alice frantically tried to hold him in place. “Dennis, help me!”

But Dennis just backed further away from the bed, looking anywhere but it as he put as much distance between himself and the man as he could. Then he ran out of room, his back up against the window along one wall. He clutched at the curtains, knuckles white around fistfuls of fabric.

Footsteps pounded down the hall outside, accompanied by urgent shouting, and a small mob of people in blue and green scrubs and white coats started to pour into the room. Mom was in the front, and she pulled up in shock when she saw the four of us, questions and horror rising simultaneously in her eyes as she took in the scene and leaped to her own conclusions.

“I was trying to help,” Dennis said in a small voice. He looked terrified. Alice looked guilty, but couldn’t seem to figure out if she should aim it at him or our mother. She bent and grabbed Katie and I by the arms, dragging us to our feet and propelling us across the room towards Dennis. We piled into him and back into the window. It opened up into new dimensions and the room fell away as Alice led us into the reflection and away from the mess we had made.

*****

Cam launched himself at Trent with an animal, inarticulate cry, crashing into the bigger boy and knocking them both back into the glass coffee table. It shattered under their combined weight and glittering shards sprayed everywhere.

“Cam!” Megan shrieked. She and Alice jumped off the couch.

“Both of you, cut it out!” Dennis snapped, pushing off the wall.

They ignored him as shadows massed into a line of leering wolves and poured in a wave at Cam, knocking him off of Trent and onto his ass. They clawed and bit at him and he cried out before arching his back. His skin bubbled, and his panther tattoo fought its way free of the two dimensional confines of his flesh. Growling as it grew to full size, it leapt at Trent.

“Dennis, do something!” Alice yelled.

“What do you want me to do? I could hurt them both!” He yelled back, panicked. He paced at the edge of the fight, hesitant to step in the middle of the chaos. Trent rolled across the ground, struggling with Cam’s panther. Its jaws were inches from his face, snapping furiously as he frantically held it at bay. Shadows flowed up the lengths of his arms, wrapping them in gauntlets ,and absorbing some form of strength from them he threw the great cat across the room. It slammed into the wall and flipped back to its feet before leaping back into the fray, this time aiming for the dark swirling dogpile Cam was buried beneath.

“Now is not the time for performance anxiety! Do your slow the blood trick and put them to sleep.”

“I can’t,” Dennis insisted, shaking his head. His unkempt black hair flew wildly. “Serena, stop them!”

Serena was standing with eyes closed and fists clenched tight. Tears streamed down her face. The windows slammed open, rattling in their frames and a warm breeze flowed into the room. I inched back along the walls as the air grew thick and heavy with humidity. We were all sweating, I noticed.

“I am,” she said, icily calm.

“Well that doesn’t sound good,” Alice whispered. She grabbed her book and scrambled to the door. Rowan beat her to it.

“Stop it, stop it, stop it!” Katie screamed at our brothers, now wrestling on the floor. Cam slammed a fist into Trent’s face, and his nose erupted in a spray of blood that spattered across the white carpet.

Katie’s magic kicked in and the echoes of her shout multiplied. Rebounding from wall to wall, they increased in intensity each time until they were a single, continuous high pitched whine that clawed through our ears and made straight for our brains. I fell to my knees, clutching at my temples. Beside me, Dennis and Megan did the same. Caught in the grip of their own magic, Cam, Trent and Serena were afforded some protection. Then the ground started to shake.

The far side of the living room was lined with a wet bar, Dad’s pride and joy that he insisted would come in handy for all the parties he wanted to throw. This was before he realized he’d fathered a litter of freaks, of course. It’s hard to pretend you’ll still be inviting company over after your eldest two toddlers have spawned thunderstorms and armies of shadow goblins whenever they felt neglected by their parents. Now the wet bar was rolling as if it were caught in the epicenter of an earthquake. The faucets in the sink vibrated in fury. I looked outside and saw thick fogs weaving their way through the windows. Every glass surface in the room was streaked with condensation.

Then the fog poured in, a single, rolling wave and it wasn’t fog anymore - it was a literal wave of crashing water that slammed into our midst. The first crush hit Cam and Trent directly, but we all got caught in the backwash. All save Serena, who stood calm and composed and utterly unaffected as the raging waters whirled through the room, hurtling us against the walls.

The wave subsided as swiftly as it had been summoned, escaping down the hallways and probably out the side doors. We all coughed and sputtered, spitting out mouthfuls of water as we dragged ourselves, sopping wet, off the floor.

“Damn, Rena.” Rowan’s voice floated from above. He and Alice were crouched at the top of the stairs in the foyer. They peered down the length of the hall through the doorway.

“Seriously,” Megan said, scowling and stomping her feet through puddles. “Overkill much?”

Serena shrugged, unfazed. “It’s not quite what I was going for, but can’t argue with results. I trust I made my point?”

That last was directed at Trent and Cam. They both grimaced at her and glared at each other, but the effect was somewhat lessened by the fact that they looked like drowned rats.

Trent opened his mouth, no doubt for some smartass rebuttal, but it never came. Instead we all followed his gaze past Serena.

“Uh oh,” Megan muttered. “Mom’s home.”

She stood in the far doorway, still in her hospital scrubs. Her hair, streaked with gray, was pulled tightly into a bun and her mouth even more tightly in a frown. Serena started to speak, looking guilty for the first time, but Mom just raised her hand.

“I don’t want to hear it,” she said. I think we all winced at how tired she sounded. It was always easier when she was angry. Then we could muster righteous indignation at how parents just don’t understand us and all that. But here, this, now….there was really no way to justify anything that had just happened.

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lighthouseofthewanderess · 6 years ago

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Experiment

Have you ever done something you clearly know isn’t meant for you? If yes, welcome to the club of Unlucky yet Brave Experimenters. UBE was a one member secret club for the longest time before the founder, me, dissolved it out of realization that life itself was about experimenting. But I could resurrect it and we can pretend to be the Illuminati or something.

My years of experimenting started long ago. I don’t know if we can count it, but I ate chalk when I was in kindergarten. In my head, I had eaten earth from the garden and it had tasted so rich. The texture was brilliant, and the color stuck to my fingertips. Some of the earth got under my nails and I could snack on that later. Chalk I thought was no different. But when I ate it, oh boy it tasted so much better! It even came in an easy stick format to break off into bites. My grandpa on my mother’s side looked amused every time I bounced up to him demanding slate chalk. I would always say it got over, I’m studying well, or that my friends stole it from me. He willingly gave into my trickery till he caught me chewing on it while practicing my alphabets on the slate. I just couldn’t help it; I need to think and chewing chalk helped. After that, my grandpa made it a rule that I drink a glass of milk -- “she’s eating chalk because her body needs calcium.” he would scold my grandma like it was her duty to have figured this out before him.

Anyhoo, I kept UBE a secret affair. The caterpillar that just won’t float on water? I really thought they were capable of it. The dolls with eyes carved out and replaced with marble? Why was it creepy, she had beautiful eyes now. For a long time I stuck to things around me and it fueled my curiosity but I also got bored of it too soon. I gave it up -- for the poor butterflies, the ants, and flowers that were getting tortured by me. My heart was a noble one. Head held high I went about life accepting things the way they were. Then I got the brilliant idea of experimenting with myself. The mission was simple; do one unexpected thing every day. What was I on the search for? The million different parts of me that make me who I am. It started with the coloring. My teachers in India complained that I might have an eye problem. “She is coloring roses blue and all.” I wish I can see their faces now when there’s not just blue but black roses as well. Ha! Then I thought why not fight for the things I believed in. I undid the red ribbon of a girl in class and when she yanked it from my hand, I yanked it back. It turned into a fight just like I expected and we stood on top of the benches and wrestled with each other. That experiment ended up with bruised elbows and a 100 ‘I am sorry’ on the blackboard. Damn that girl. I was just trying to see if I had a fighter in me. UBE would have to some basic rules that saved them from situations like this. Rule #1: If your experiment involves a person, an animal, a flower or any living thing… do not harm it. Fate will boomerang back. That left me the only choice of putting myself in awkward situations. After pre-school, mom would take about 2 hours to come pick me up. Her job was tricky. So I would play around, seesaw on my own or just sleep on benches. A light bulb went off in my head during one of those slumbers. Next day after I finished up, I climbed the stairs and sat inside the 5th grade class. The teacher didn’t object, the students welcomed me with open arms. Literally. They picked me up and took turns seating me on their lap. The blackboard swarmed with letters and symbols I didn’t understand but I stared at it fully in awe. In my eyes, this experiment was a successful one. I would come back and wait right on time for mom to pick me up. I was so used to the routine that even the lunch my mom packed would be forgotten, eaten only minutes before she arrived. One unlucky day she caught me eating my lunch, which had kind of gotten spoilt in the summer heat, on the steps by myself. I looked super content, but my mom almost burst into tears. After that she got an aaya to pick me up right after school and keep me with her, make sure I was fed on time. Time for UBE to have another rule. Rule #2 - Tread with caution when there are moms involved. They have the power to banish all experiments.

With these two rules, I had my fill of experimenting without hurting anyone for years. Even in the US. Climbing trees, hanging like a bat, fries in my ice cream. Life was so rich when every day was a new affair. There was one time I took UBE to the next level. A midnight release of a new Harry Potter book was announced. There would be games and exciting gifts, almost the whole school was going. But I wasn’t a fan. I knew nothing the other potter heads knew. Rise to the experiment, oh brave one I told myself and dragged my mom with me. At the library every one had dressed up. Polaroids were being clicked. There were cauldrons with little wands. There was a line of people waiting to answer and get their prizes. I happily went and stood there. As my turn approached, I didn’t have the slightest fear that I wouldn’t be able to answer. The point wasn’t to win, it was to experiment. The lady at the counter asked me a question.

“What was the name of Ron’s brothers?” Um, no clue. I shook my head. The line behind me gasped. I heard them whisper that I didn’t know even the basics.

“Okay. Here’s an easy one, hon.” She asked me about the platform number. Someone in line even offered to answer for me. I shook my head again.

“I just wanted to know what the prize was, that’s all.” I said to her, shrugging my shoulders. She smiled and gave me one last questions.

“Who are Muggles?” I paused to give it a thought. The line was getting restless, they hated my guts. Well, everyone has to human right? Plus she used ‘who’.

“Humans?” I stated. Everyone broke into an applause and some even clapped me on my back. Well done they said. At least you know the difference between the wizard and the human world. I was just happy I get the gift. It was a pack of gummy worms. Aw man, really? Rule #3: A smart experimenter assesses risks.

From there I went on try one thing after another. Spanish classes. Adding ‘ito’ to everything didn’t work so I stepped out of class. Bharatnatyam went on for a bit but Ballet was more fascinating. Swimming felt like I still needs to sprout some fins so I made a mental note to try it out later. Caramel apples. Plaster-of-Paris. Swinging from the door. They all went down in UBE’s history. I remember playing the piano for a recital. I practiced with a Casio keyboard at home and rendered the beautiful ‘To a wild rose’ by McDowell. Bach. Beethoven. It started getting too sad for some reason. Switch to something else. Karate. Held onto that till the gold belt and then tossed that away too. I was super restless. I was focused so much on getting my little feet into everything that I never stuck to anything for too long. What if I’m meant to do something more? Ice skating. The flute. Singing. It was all a whirlwind when I look at it now. I don’t even know if I had a favorite hobby. Well, maybe climbing trees. But I couldn’t choose one. Too much experimenting. Rule #4: UBE practices a good interval between two experiments. To learn and experiment better in the future.

Somehow, on the way to India, I lost UBE. Maybe I packed it with the wrong boxes. Maybe I have to join another secret club when I land there. I knew it the minute cranberry juice was placed in front of me, a thousand feet above sea level. I didn’t feel like trying it out. What? That doesn’t normally happen. I tried to sleep it off. Then I blamed it on the jet lag. Then came the ‘national’ language called Hindi and what a horrible experiment. When my Principal, John Zachariah, admitted me in the middle of the year he asked me why I was hell bent on Hindi. Why not try French? “I am a secret experimenter” I whispered when my mom stood far, straining to hear what we were discussing. In a year, I changed that to Tamil, another experiment but a successful one at that. I tried my hand at throwball, loved the matches in the rain. For the sports day, I did the ridiculous thing of trying out for tug-o-war. Here was another joke -- this girl was underwait, a thin fragile thing and she fainted a lot. But when pitched with others at the tryout, I won all three. Pure bone weight. All those glasses of milk and chalk must have nursed my bones. The last significant thing I tried, apart from writing, was the National Cadet Corps. NCC in a lot of ways made me tougher, even thought I was just eyeing the 15% marks that would come out of it. On my first NCC camp, I tried a lot of new things and every night I would ache all over but feel intensely successful as a member of UBE. In the early morning jogs and yoga, I came to realize two things about me. I am not a morning person and Yoga made me sleeps. And just like that, I was able to draw observations about myself after every lab session. Even from the ones I think I would suck at the most. Rule #5 - When you’re unsure about it, that’s the UBE sixth sense telling you that you have to do it.

I have been following these rules for a long time now. I have surprised myself time and again with the things I set out to do. Solo travel. Tattoos. Gardening. Oh what the hell, even babysitting. And I think the only mistake one can make as a member of UBE is fearing the outcome. That gives birth to normalcy and monotony. The kind that makes you pick the same things from a menu, the same colors from the clothes aisle. Choose a heavier ball when you go bowling, take a different route to work, eat Doritos with chopsticks. Sometimes I’ve taken a chance on people too; meeting them once just to see how it goes. I love getting to know them and experimenting in understanding what I feel for them. Even if this goes against Rule#1, I know I wouldn’t harm them no matter what. I know to step back from there. One can argue that repetition of certain tasks and decisions forms tastes, styles, and shapes one’s personality. And I agree. Yes, comfort in the familiar is a safe thing, but then again as Tove Lo puts it, ‘If you had any flavor in the world, would you still choose vanilla?’

#nanowrimo #nano 2018 #nano writing #lifestruggles #life story #life stories #writedaily #loveforwriting #writing #wrimo #day19 #anecdote #experimental #experimentation

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octoberwren · 7 years ago

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If it’s words you seek (I’ll Remember You)

Summary: Darcy Lewis is many things, avoidance expert, current holder of the Hydra Survivor Cup and not to boast but she's at an expert level with self defense in sarcasm and shiny wit.

What she's absolutely not is Steve Rogers Soulmate, she doesn't give a flying monkey what the universe is trying to tell her with the gifts she's recently acquired, i.e Reading His Mind and other tricks that have to do with The Good Captain.

Her and Steve? Pffft, that's never gonna happen.

I’m back for the Steve X Darcy fandom. Yay? Seriously though all of you have been so lovely that I had to write some more. And achievement (or disaster waiting to happen?) It’s my second mult-chapter in years. So super nervous. I got this odd idea and I had to run with it. I’m a lover of angst and a good slow burn so buckle your seatbelts kids, it’s about to get rough.

As always thank you for your continued support in my writing, your guys comments always give me a confidence boost, so this is a really for you. You guys inspire me

A heads up though, Darcy has been in the hands of Hydra for 3 years so there will be mentions of that, incase it’s not your cup of tea, also naughty language galore.

Onwards then! Much love Dolls, I love ya to bits! Thanks for reading! Also if you want me to tag you for this story please let me know! I love things like that.

I’m tagging @shieldshockfanfic because admin got me into this downward spiral and I’m handing over any blame.

(I own nothing, marvel owns me.)

You can also read it on Ao3 if that pleases you!

Chapter one: Fairy Tales are for Chumps.

It’s been three years and spare change since Darcy went missing.

Today she’s been found.

…Sort of, she’s been found adjacent, found-ish,

The heroes didn’t exactly storm the castle to find her. (Those things only happen in Fairy Tales and if Darcy has learned anything from captivity it’s that Fairy Tales are for chumps.)

So being rescued is slightly exaggerating, she’s actually really lost, and not to be dramatic or anything, but she also feels like she’s going to die, on account of some bullet wounds and some broken ribs that are calling her an asshole.

She’s also trying like super duper hard to not go into shock and or hysterics, because the streets are so loud it’s overwhelming, she hasn’t heard this much noise is so long and it’s frankly grating on her last nerve that hasn’t been shot at, she’d say she’s sort of missing her cell right about now, but then Darcy would be a lying liar that lied, it’s heavily implied though.

Good thing the New Yorkers are giving her a wide berth to work with as she’s stumbling and clasping to shop windows and walls. But that’s probably more to do with her hospital gown being blood drenched and her dirty bare feet, than any amount of politeness they have for her. They look at her with wide unbelieving eyes, she must have looked liked the dead walking and not in an awesome costume kind of way, in a scarred for life kind of way.

She feels scarred for life, so there’s that.

Honestly, the city has seen aliens coming out of thin air to bring the world to an early apocalypse, but she’s the weird one? Yeah, okay assholes. Thanks for the help.

Darcy knows that Jane isn’t in the Avengers tower she’s seen it, but fuck knows where the compound is, her ‘gift’ hasn’t exactly given her any information she could use. It would have been a big help if the man’s eyes she saw out of, looked at an address to- Thor forbid- help her. But no, she’s just been an unwilling exhibitionist all these years.

Her grip slips and she hits her knees hard, falling into an alley and apparently garbage, if the smell is anything to go by. She’s laughing so hard, that her ribs are screaming at her to cut that shit out, but she declines to comment.

Because wouldn’t this be the cherry that tops the fucking cake on her crap-tastic day, not only is she sure blood loss is really a factor now, but she’s nowhere near close to finding her best friend, she’s a big girl and Darcy will freely admit that she desperately needs a hug right now.

After everything that happened, after everything she had done…

This is how it all ends, thrown out like trash, she tries to get up, she really does because she wants to see Jane, are her and Thor married yet, has she invented more crazy things? Darcy wants to know all that and infinitely more, so she tries getting up one more time, using all the willpower and stubbornness that had helped her survive this long. But when her knees buckle and her breath catches across her lungs, she feels the black despair wash over her.

Darcy isn’t laughing now, she’s far beyond that, she’s sobbing, ugly tears that her mother would be ashamed of, Darcy dear, no one likes an ugly crier, how do you think your Soulmate will feel if he found that out?

Her mother’s words ring in her mud feeling mind and it only leads her to think of her actual soulmate, because she’s sure he wouldn’t care how she looked like when she cried, not because he loved her exactly the way she was, no, that would be far too easy, and the universe liked to kick her in the balls.

He didn’t remember her, let alone know what she looked like while she cried, so suck it Mom.

Darcy knew he couldn’t know her face from a crowd because she saw it, fate was a bitch and so was Hydra. All those pain induced experiments didn’t make her a weapon, it made her the number one expert on their most wanted; Captain America.

She looked through the world with his eyes, she felt his emotions, and Hydra thrilled that they knew before he did, Steve Rogers had a soulmate and he didn’t even remember her, they never let her forget that little nugget, that more than all the torture almost killed her, that she was lost among the many faces of everyone he had met.

Darcy saw the moment the girl with a toothy smile and hand delivered coffee slipped his mind, she felt the moment she vanished like smoke as another world ending situation weighed on his shoulders.

Darcy’s blood was pooling around her, just another gory site in the alley, and she had the fleeting thought of Steve and how wide his eyes would go if she had ever said a word to him. Oh she knew what his words were, they were tattooed on the skin above her heart. It was enough for her to know fate got it wrong. So she never said a thing, Darcy just loved him for afar, trying to make his life just a little bit better.

She was bit bitter, a wet laugh escaped her, along with more blood staining her lips, how she was still producing more red to this mes, Darcy had no clue.

Her only dying regret was that she couldn’t extinguish the love she had for him, even now, she hoped that he would run into the light and smile at her for the first and last time, because she was a sappy fool.

But no one came, she was all alone as she fell listlessly to the side, her last conscious thought was that Fairy Tales were honestly the very, very worst.

She wished it was like in the books, waking up after a harrowing experience in a hospital would have been nice or at least a qualified doctor would be at the top of her list, call her a snob.

But no, she didn’t even get the good drugs, what she got was all the fucking pain, that had her bolting up while Clint-fucking-asshole-Barton, dug a bullet out of her leg while Natasha-I’m-not-calling-her-a-name-she-could-kill-me-Romanov, shoved a cloth into Darcy’s mouth and pushed her back down. Also, she was in a moving vehicle, so the cloth was probably a good idea seeing as she was trying not to throw up.

“Mmmffffffkkk!”She was cussing though, it helped with the burning agony and no up chuck problem.

The Black Widow on the other hand looked cool as a cucumber and just stared at her calmly while Darcy screamed like a banshee, her voice was indifferent when she said, “Darcy, you have to stay calm or we might hit an artery.” like this was a normal day.

It probably, totally, was to her, Darcy on the other hand ignored the pain for a split second to look at the Avenger like she was bat shit insane.

Natasha just smirked, which didn’t exactly help Darcy with thinking she wasn’t two bullets short of a clip.

“Got it.” Barton’s deep voice sounded like it came from under water, “Next up, the chest.” and thankfully Darcy lost consciousnesses after that.

The second-less painful-time she woke up it was in a bed and if she didn’t feel like absolute shit, she might have appreciated the softness of it. But she did feel like shit so, call her ungrateful.

“You’re awake.” An unknown feminine voice came from her left and Darcy’s heart spiked with adrenalin and a unhealthy dose of fear ran through her, too late to stop it, too late to try to calm down to stop the-

“What do you mean you brought someone in? That’s against protocol and you know it Romanov. Bringing in a stranger puts all our lives at risk.” So much anger and frustration, Darcy drowned in it, and underneath it all worry as Steve stared at Natasha, who lifted an eyebrow that had made lesser men piss their pants, she couldn’t see it but Darcy was fairly certain The Captain only frowned harder at the action.

“She’s not a stranger,” Natasha said slowly, as if she was talking to a moron, “it’s Darcy, Steve. Darcy Lewis who doesn’t have a mean bone in her body.”

But Darcy could feel Steve’s unyielding mind, it had been one of the things she had always adored about Steve. He always stood up for what he believed, no matter the consequence, he did what was right, she just never thought in a billion years that she would be considered wrong in his head. Well no that wasn’t true, wasn’t that why she never said a word to him, the very reason she never said his words? She knew, deep down, he’d hate what he saw. Give her a prize then, looks like Darcy hit the nail on her coffin.

“You know that for sure do you? Alright, so where has she been for who knows how long?” Steve said in an accusing tone and Darcy wanted out, she wanted to leave this fucked up vision, she wanted out of his head right the fuck now.

She could feel the pressure of trying to break free, her brain felt to tight, but she wasn’t giving up. It didn’t matter that it never worked before, she’d make it work, Darcy was screaming inside his head to let her go, but just like every time before, Steve didn’t even flinch.

“It’s been three years Steve and by the look of her I’d say she was captured.” Natasha was a smart woman, and with her words came a red haze of rage that Darcy only felt a few times being linked to Steve.

“Yeah and you know what else happened three years ago Natasha?” He didn’t let her respond, he cut her off while he gritted out through clenched teeth and black swirling anger, “Hydra. So that can only mean one of two things. Either she’s been compromised or she’s been a sleeper agent all along. So forgive me if I don’t trust her, there are kids here, I won’t risk it.”

Her mind snapped free with those cutting words, while the woman who had started all this was bending over her trying to inject her with something. Whatever it was Darcy was not going to find out. She pushed the doctor out of her way and the other woman gasped and tumbled down, she had a momentary feeling of guilt but it was overshadowed by the panic and fear swimming in her veins.

She jumped out of the bed and made a run for it, Darcy didn’t care that her body protested the movement, she gave no flying monkey fucks that she could feels stitches popping and blood dripping down her skin. She needed to put as much distance between herself and that self-righteous jackass, no matter how her body paid the price. She had been through worse.

She slammed the door open and ended up in a hallway, fifty-fifty shot, the left showed more doors and a bigger possibility of getting caught, the right had a clear shot of the kitchen, which Thor willing had a back door.

Left it was then, may the odds ever be in her favour.

They were not, of course they weren’t. The universe, her? Pfft. Those odds were never going to be in her favour.

Darcy stopped dead as she entered the kitchen only to see two kids drawing at the dinner table, past them she spotted a large window and next to that was the holy grail, a front door.

The boy who looked around seven dropped his crayon with a wide mouth, the girl who looked younger pointed at her in fascinated horror, Darcy was 99% positive she was offended by the crazy ladies wild looking hair.

“Hey,” Darcy croaked trying to seem less threatening, but by the squeaking of their chairs as they moved backwards, far away from her, she felt like she may have failed, miserably.

“I’m just ganna,” she pointed to the door while moving slowly around them, still trying not to frighten small children, “If you could keep this just between us, that would be awesome sauce.” The boy nodded so fast his blonde hair shook at the action, while his sister (Darcy was guessing they were related or Steve and Natasha had opened up a daycare, which was amusing to think about actually,) kicked him under the table while shaking her head in the negative, vehemently.

Whelp, so much for a united front, “Cute picture, I like dragons.” She was still moving at a snail's pace and Darcy was really getting jittery, but the little boy smiled so brightly at her compliment, showing all gums and two missing teeth, that she almost didn’t care that she was a hair breadth away from getting caught. She sorta melted inside, and it was such a pure feeling, it made her feel warm and a little happy, an emotion that was sorely lacking in her life.

She almost considered sitting her butt down with the children and drawing a picture, she would have done it years ago, but the girl stretched her mouth open, and all Darcy’s warm feelings vanished.

“Uncle Steve!” The girl screeched like an opera singer, but Darcy was already running and swearing, “The lady said a bad words, swear jar, swear jar!”

Damn little Gremlins.

She finally made it to the door and pushed it open, the wood of the front porch banged against her feet and Darcy jumped the stairs leading to freedom, she absorbed the impact when she landed on the ground even when it sent a shock waves across her legs and her bullet wound was not thanking her as she ran through the yard.

But this was it, she was free from stupid damn soulmates and tattling children, she could taste the rest of her life, without worry, screw the pain of a few injuries.

The silhouette that jumped from a fucking tree almost had her wishing she didn’t leave her stolen gun behind in the flaming building that was her prison, but Bucky Barnes would live another day as she barely dodged him.

Not fast enough for a second guy to launch himself from the bushes (what the ever loving shit were they doing? Playing hide and seek?) and grab her elbow forcefully pulling her to a screeching halt.

“You got her Sam?” An eerie familiar voice said from behind her and it had been forever that Darcy had heard that deep voice live and in stereo and not bouncing around in her head that it had her paralysed, her muscles locked up and her spine straightened.

“Yeah I got her, man” Sam answered while keeping a tight grip on her and it was weird that she actually knew these men, but they knew diddly squat about her.

Sam liked tomato sauce but not tomato’s, he secretly listened to Taylor Swift when he thought Steve wasn’t looking but Steve was a snarky man after her heart and videotaped him for blackmail on chores. He was loyal, fierce and would walk besides Steve even when it landed him in hell.

Bucky liked his coffee black first thing in the morning but drank it the rest of the day with way too much sugar and cream to be healthy, even for a super soldier. He kept a list like Steve did, but instead of pop culture to keep up with, it was a list of names and next of kin of the the people he had been brainwashed to kill. He kept an eye on all of the families, making sure they were safe and Steve felt a sense of deep guilt and pride every time he saw that red leather bound notebook.

And Steve, she practically knew it all, she was the Wiki of Steve Rogers and a little of the dark web. Darcy knew he still feared the cold even though he thought it was illogical. He had a vinyl that he would listen to on the day he went into the water, he’d think of Peggy and wonder why it wasn’t her that was his Soulmate. He’d wait for a girl that would never come and look at the sentence across his chest with hope and confusion. Both of their words convinced Darcy that fate had a nasty sense of humour, it’s also made her know deep in her bones that they weren’t Meant To Be.

So yeah, Darcy knew things, to much things for her own good, if she knew nothing it might take the sting out of them looking at her with suspicion and anger. As it was, it felt like a scalpel running across her skin.

Blue crashed against blue as she looked into Steve’s eyes, she flinched when he took a step closer to her and he narrowed his eyes in response to her movement, “Why did you run?”

Instinct had her shutting her jaw and avoiding eye contact, muscle memory, Sam squeezed her arm in response to her silence, and she turned to glare at him. “Let me go, I don’t like being touched.”

He scoffed, “Yeah I don’t think so Lady, you’re a flight risk and The Captain asked you a question.”

“The Captain,” Darcy snarled his title so viciously that Sam’s eyes widened, “can kiss my ass. Let me go now, while I’m still asking nicely.”

“This is you playing nice? Sweetheart, I think you might not understand what that word means.”Bucky drawled out the words sounding smooth but when Darcy turned to glare at him next his hand was holding his gun that was strapped to his thigh, an intimidating move not lost on her. Her Hydra guards used to do the same thing when she got out of line, and thinking of Bucky in the same thought as them sent a shiver down her spine.

The Captain and the Winter Soldier didn’t miss the the action but she hid it like she normally did, with a bucket full of snark, “I haven’t kneed him in the balls yet, so yeah, this is me playing nice. Call me sweetheart one more time and that threat might become his reality.”

“Why do I get the punishment, he said it.” Her captor said in a whine, sounding not at all threatening, but Darcy knew better, they were one wrong action or word away from hauling her ass back inside.

“You’re closer.”

“Enough Miss Lewis. Play times over, why did you run if you’re supposed to be on our side?” Took Steve long enough, she thought his jaw was going to crack with the way he had been clenching it this whole time.

Still she refused to say anything, not to him, never to him. He may be stubborn but Darcy Lewis was no quitter, gym class had never and would never count.

“I don’t think she likes you, Steve.” Bucky, smirk in place turned to say to his best friend, but Steve didn’t respond he took another step into her personal space and just like last time she froze.

He opened his mouth to demand more questions maybe, but at the final moment hesitated as his eyes glanced down and then his lips thinned and his whole demeanour shifted to grim mode.

Which rude, a lot of people loved the girls, she didn’t know whether to blush or slap him, Darcy was leaning more to violence really, when Steve spoke, “You’re bleeding, again”

Oh, right, she wasn’t going to say anything, but yeah she was in quite a lot of pain.

“I’ll bring her back inside to Helen.” And even Darcy could hear the excitement in Sam’s voice when he spoke.

But the panic returned to her full force, she couldn’t go back in that house again, not when Steve despised her, not when she knew she couldn’t actually talk to him.

Sue her for wanting the guy to like her without the universe trying to shove it down their throats or for him to trust her without having to say his damn soul mark out loud.

“No,” She said the words to Steve but aimed them at Bucky over the Captain's huge shoulders, she was a pro at avoidance by now, “I will not go back in there,You want to hear my story so you can trust me? Fine, but spoiler alert, it doesn’t have a happy ending. It’s about a lab assistant that was forgotten.” Darcy could see Steve’s shoulders tense at her last words but she went on heedlessly, still looking into Bucky’s eyes.

“She loved working with hero’s, she loved making a difference even if it was something as shallow as giving out coffee and trying to help the geniuses with their important work. It made her small world seem larger that it actually was, she felt appreciated, but one day she knew how wrong she was. Hydra came and took her away while she was in Captain America’s office, leaving the all important, shallow coffee to spill on his hard drive, so they wouldn’t be able to extract information from it. They took her and tortured her, because now she became that information she destroyed. They pored placebo into her veins and said it was poison, they poked and burnt at her skin and then poured what was left of her into a cell that was cold and wet. Only to do it again and again and again”

“Miss Lewis-” Steve tried to interrupt her, his voice the softest she’s ever heard it, the deep timber was never that quiet or worried when it was directed at her, she also didn’t notice Sam’s grip leave her as he took in a shuddering breath.

Darcy was to lost in the memories, she was too busy drowning in them, her voice rising with the beat of her sore heart, she wasn’t paying any attention to her surroundings, “I never broke, I never told them anything even when-” and here Darcy stumbled to a stop and a gasp ripped from her, because she could swear to high heaven that she was innocent and maybe for a year she was.

But then they got into her head, they saw what she saw and the Avengers paid dearly for her gift. Steve suffered the worst because of her and by the time she was lucid enough to figure out what was happening it was too late. His team had been broken.

Darcy was guilty.

After-the final plan was to use her as bait to kill Captain America, the leader, and see the team fall even more and Darcy couldn’t, she couldn’t- “I killed them, I couldn’t, they wanted to and I couldn’t let them!”

Somewhere in the back of her head she felt warning signs flash brightly but she was to exhausted to care, she just wanted to lay on the ground and not come up for air for a good long while.

“Darcy I need you to look at me,” That was the last thing she wanted, she just wanted to sleep, why couldn’t he understand that?

Skin touched skin and all other thoughts ripped from her mind, she felt everything Darcy was swimming in emotions, but they weren’t her own, she knew what this was, she could feel the familiar touch of Steve’s mind, but it never happened like this before.

His guilt, his worry, but underneath it all a tinge of fear and surprise and overriding that was confusion, because looking up into his blue eyes, Darcy knew that the jig was up.

For almost three years she had being unwillingly peeking into his mind and it now looked like Steve was riding the Darcy Lewis feels train.

She had shitty luck, because she knew the only emotion in her now marked her as a traitor.

Love it? Hate it? wish i stopped while the gettin was good? Oh well, Thanks for reading any ways!

#steve x darcy fanfic #shieldshock #angst like whoa #soulmate au #because I love those #also soulmate with a twist #my fanfics #steve is a grumpy pants #and stubborn #darcy even more so #hence the slow burn #also slow burn #; )#shieldshock fanfic

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magicgeekponsol-blog · 7 years ago

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||Event Drabble||

Title: “An Heir’s Complaints” Synopsis: Ponsol’s POV about what he thinks about the upcoming party that he’s been preparing for. Word count: 1,864

I absolutely dread this upcoming party that was going to be held on Halloween. Dreading it. Honestly, if the world could implode that day, I would be pretty happy if not for the fact that I’d then get upset a mere seconds later because then all my hard work would be for naught.

Do you know how hard it was to convince all those old cronies that the help of the nearby shops would be beneficial for them? Not only would good relations be created between the shops and the corporation, but there was certainly going to be more revenue if popular shops were to be joining in on the festivities.

With shops aiming to be festive but also wanting to promote themselves by showing off their own work at the party, it gave them, the corporation, less to worry about. Some space at the ‘Milky Way’ was given to them as they rented out the entire place for the night. Various stores were then given their own spots to set up booths or whatever else they wished to erect at their spot to attract customers.

There was no limit on what it was they wished to do at their own store run areas. Now there was also a bar that was going to be supplying alcohol for those who wished to have some more fun during the party, but the bar tenders were going to be given strict instructions to be very careful about how much alcohol to give to the customers, and of course, bouncers were going to be present for obvious of reasons. Drunk people reasons.

A suggestion of making the costume runway into a costume contest was made, but I quickly shot down the offer as judges would have to be made present and if it were a contest, then that would require even more effort on all of the staff. People would have to adhere to a strict code of conduct, an age limitation may be placed, and of course, a prize would have to be given. Not only that, but judges would be needed, and not only that but a certain minimum of entrants would be required to make the contest worthwhile.

Most contests required an entrance fee and he did not think that for a joint party such as this, should such a contest be necessary. This party was for fun, and a contest would take the fun out of things. People would stop at nothing to win, and dealing with cheating was not on my to do list, thank you.

It then dawned on me to just simply have it be a runway. The staff can at least make sure that the costumes were appropriate before letting people show off their costumes on the stage before they walk off of it.

Haah… truly this was very troublesome but I had to be in charge of most of it, and of course as the main planner of the event—I would have to be there. It’s in the during the week, so that I just going to tire me out, especially since I’ll have to be there for them tearing down the party too. Do you know how long that could take? DO YOU?

Most likely by the time everything was said and done—it’ll be at or past the time I normally sleep at. Don’t even get me STARTED on how much sleep I’ll lose just trying to set everything up. I have to get the catering preparations prepared, approve of all of the costing and funding for the party, and look into the working personnel.

All the shops in attendance had to fill out forms and get their plans approved, and that of course means, that I have the second to final say on what is accepted and not at the party. Even if one of those old cronies have a problem with my ruling, it’s simple enough to just state my case and get them to agree with me. Most of the time they’re only disagreeing to just get under my skin.

Sometimes I just want to kick them down a flight of stairs, quite honestly.

Well, a small infrastructure inside of the ‘Milky Way’ was being designed to be used as a mini-house of horrors for people and kids alike to enjoy. A lot of it was going to be jump scares and some people dressed up in scary costumes. Sound effects, lighting, and of course even a fog machine would be utilized. Not too much smoke will be used of course, for health and safety regulations.

All costume designs will be approved by me prior to allowing the purchasing department and the financial department to do their jobs. That old man was making this a project to force me to do more work that he doesn’t want to do—and to just I don’t know, ‘prove’ that I’m fit for the job. Fuck that, I’ve BEEN fit for the job, are you shitting me right now?

Just because some of you are BUTT HURT over the fact that the ‘better’ of the brothers didn’t get the position, it doesn’t mean you can write my achievements as infinitesimal. I can be just as good as my brother, but when it comes to social events, I’ll show you that I can be the only one who I fit for the job. Do you want to know what Shugarl would do in a situation like this? Nothing. He’d simply state that a party for Halloween was stupid.

‘Trick or Treating exists, so shouldn’t that be enough?’ I could see him saying something like that, or ‘Halloween is for children and college kids. They will have their own parties. Why should we make our own?’

The guy was a stick in a mud, that’s what he is. Well, he does have a point, but this is a good way to get their name out there. Not only that, but they can help other smaller stores and establishments. It creates good networking, and also helps them with their own revenue. The flow of money through the community was a great way to keep the community healthy and strong.

Promoting growth was something they should do as a big power in Akounri. That’s why this party is being held. This started with someone (that someone being me) hearing from the grapevine that some of the stores were thinking about holding an event themselves, and then ‘suggesting’ something to the big man anonymously. He loved the idea and he called to order a meeting.

It was brilliant planning, really. I was pleased by my results, but I wasn’t too pleased to know that all of the responsibilities were dumped onto me. Just my fucking luck.

You know what? The catering for the party is going to be an issue, now that I think about it. People now a day are just so unprofessional sometimes. Does it matter what my age is? Does a ‘proxy’ mean nothing to do? If I’m coming on the behalf of someone else, and I’ve got my own card and attendant to match, then just do your job.

Okay, I do know that things are more complex than that, but do let me complain, won’t you? It’s not often that I get to complain to anyone, even in my mind. I’m too busy for that now a day. That old man needs to lay off my back or I’m just going to end up passing out—again.

Well, whatever. I’ll just stop there for now and focus on the real important topic at hand. You see this here? Look, if I move my arm like this--- that’s right. Did you see that movement there? Did you see how if I turned my arm like that, the feathers expand out. Certain parts of the wings are connected to a brace, so certain movements of my body will cause the wings to move. It will either span out or in. I was creating black wings. There are many tutorials out there that detail out how to make rather realistic wings, wouldn’t you know?

One that I’ve found on one of those artsy-sites is very good. She detailed everything and started out with a biological explanation—and this pleases me. She knows the anatomy of birds and how the wings move. The way the wings are created used this principle and that’s what results in a realistic looking wing.

I made mine black in color rather than white because I thought it would be a nice contrast between my hair color. Obviously, there was going to be a limitation on the kinds of props you are allowed to bring, but making your own fake weapons are not against the rules as long as you used lightweight materials. I planned on making a sword that I will attach to some chains.

I enjoy the image of chains so I wish to add those to the look. I’m not too sure on what I plan on doing with the outfit just yet, but I do know that I want to make use of a temporary face tattoo. Making some snap on fangs would be nice. Horns? A tail? No, no tail.

Horns though, that was something to look into. I think colored contacts would be cool. One that made your eyes look like slits? Should I change the color or keep them gold? Red would be nice.

Fake long nails to work as claws would be nice. If you couldn’t guess already, I was thinking about being some kind of monster. Probably a demon of some kind. A humanoid one, don’t worry. I won’t be giving anyone heart attacks at the party. What kind of host would I be if I let that happen, right?

Just in case anyone else brings a scary costume in, paramedics are on standby.

Let’s see, how long have I been working on this—Oh shit. I have to be down at HQ in an hour to meet with those old bats. Shit shit shit! I didn’t get nearly as far as I wanted to on these wings. These are taking longer than I thought they would! I started I started working on all of this last month and I’m still only this far.

Hm? Of course, I’m going all out. I’ll definitely be on that runway at that party. I’m great at sewing and creating things so I’ll definitely be making my own costume this year as well. Halloween was a great time as any to show off my skills. Don’t chastise me.

What was I last year you ask? A gruesome zombie. It truly put my good looks to shame, but I’ve made multiple people trip over themselves in fright. One poor girl passed out, even. Good times.

Before that, I was—you didn’t ask? Does it look like I care? I’ll tell you anyways that the year before that I went as a humanoid dragon. If I am going to use horns for this look, I’ll probably remodel the dragon horns for this year’s costume.

Shit, 58 minutes. Alright, time to go. I’ll continue this mental complaint session another time.

#neo's fic #Fateloween #Ponsol ic Drabble #Fateloween Drabble

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sushoii · 7 years ago

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Finally

This is the Percy Jackson story thingy I mentioned earlier, I edited it but probably not that well, sorry for the bad writing skills.

1736 words

Long into the future, you are lost on a road unused for many years, after driving for awhile you find an old farmhouse on a hill next to a large evergreen, surrounded by fields of strawberries and grapes. You knock on the door, after no answer you open the door.

Inside that farmhouse you find a man in a wheelchair who’s looking a bit old to be living alone, you ask him where you are. He says to you that you are in a magical place only to be reached by those who believe, that he can even show you something magical. He then leads you to another room, a very large room, inside the room there are multiple showcases. Standing there in awe at the sheer amount of it all, you turn around to ask the man why these are here, he tell’s you that they are his prized possessions from his favorite kids at the camp from long ago. He then exits the room to leave you be. You go to look at the showcases unknowing of where to start. You see at the end of the room the largest showcase of them all, you look inside and see a tattered old yankee cap, a rusty old pen, a satyr flute, a basebal bat, and a pair of glasses and a coin. There is a piece of firewood along with an old canadian flag, a couple gems and rare minerals, a couple of native american children books along with a dagger, and a metal dragon head. Underneath each set of item’s there is a necklace with countless beads and a picture of a tattoo. You look around the room noticing random things in the showcases, things like a silver tiara, an old Mcdonald’s happy meal box, a pair of shoes with wings, broken spear, a pair of sunglasses with one lens, and too. On the other side of the room there is a wall, on the wall there are words, almost illegible from the age. You look closer and make out the words, they are names, “Silena Beauregard, Charlie Beckendorf, Zoё Nightshade, Ethan Nakamura.” there are only few you can make out. Everything in this room confuses you, the yankee’s is a team that stopped playing many years ago, they stopped serving Mcdonald’s happy meals like those over fifty years ago, canada changed its flag a long time ago and got rid of all of the old ones.Looking around the room you see a small bookshelf in the corner, every shelf full of pictures, the pictures ranging, there are pictures of kids, pictures of couples kissing, pictures of what looks like camp counselors with young campers pictures of families, of friends hanging out at random places. On the top shelf you notice two large pictures, in those pictures are a group of about ten plus kids in front of two structures, one of the structures says SPQR, the other says Camp Half Blood. You then look down the bookshelf, noticing a set of books, you take out the first one, reading the title “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” becoming curious you start reading. After a couple hours the man comes back in bring in food and blankets, suspecting you’ll be here a while for the books. In the end of the first book you are highly intrigued. You ask the man if you can stay to read all the books, he says you may, he then leads you to an extra guest room for you. You stay for around two weeks. After finally finishing the last book, you walk back into the large showcase room. The elder man is sitting in his wheelchair in front of the large showcase. As you put the books away he mutters something. “I truly miss them, they were the best” You look at him confused, it then clicks. “They were all real, you’re Chiron, aren’t you” The man looks at you, his eyes wet, “Yes. Those books were written by themselves, the orginial copies, they all had ones that they kept, they were even in every cabin here” Soaking it all in, you suddenly realize how long it must’ve been since these books were written, how long has it been since they passed you ask. “Around sixty years,” he answered. “Everything in this showcase is theirs, wanting to leave me something so i’d never forget them.” There’s a wavering to his voice, as if he’s going to cry. “The gods have gone back to Europe after following the majority of the world. I’ve been left here tending to the strawberries.” Thinking back to the beginning of the series, “In the beginning you told Percy that you were to live until you were no longer needed to teach the campers?” “Yes I did say that, as you can see I am dying, I can no longer stand on my hooves so I resorted back into the wheelchair, as soon as I help the last person that I need to, I will pass.” You suddenly become very sad that it will most likely be very soon. After having read all of the books you gained a sudden attachment to all the characters, feeling as if you knew them in person, that you had gone on the adventures with them. “Who do you think the last person you help will be?” You ask. He answers very solemnly, “I do believe that the last person will be you, I can feel, in a couple months maybe weeks I will be gone. You have been the first person to come by here in over thirty years.” Weeks pass, Chiron slowly becoming weaker, you stayed to watch over him and be there for him, all of a sudden one day he says “I want to give this house to you, I could tell while you were reading that you truly began to love them, and after knowing you for long, I trust this to you.” In the end you had began crying“Okay” you answer. For the next couple months you watch as Chiron becomes even weaker than he had been that day. Slowly making memories of your time with him, and of all the stories he’d tell you. The day he passes everything around is completely silent, as if the world itself was mourning the loss. Years pass and you have published every one of the books for others to enjoy. Opening the farmhouse as a small museum for the fans of the books, they gained a large amount of fans, that also learned to fall in love with the stories and the people in them.. Although none of them know that it was all real. That all of these things were really theirs, that the man who lived in this farmhouse was indeed Chiron. Many years later, when you grow old, you close the farmhouse up, giving all of the things in it to your grandchildren whom you had told all the stories that Chiron had told you and the memories of Chiron from those short months, you trust them that they will forever believe that is was all real. But knowing that in their futures years they’ll stop believing in things, you remain worried. The day you pass is a peaceful one. After death you wake up, in what looks of what Chiron had described as Hades’ throne room. “Well finally there you are.” you hear a familiar voice. Looking up you see a man who looks like Chiron, except many decades younger, and not in a wheelchair. You look down at yourself realizing you’re as young as you were when you first met him “I have some people you would like to meet, I’ve been telling them stories of you. I’ve had Hades keep an eye on you too, making sure everything went right. I love what you did for the farmhouse and everything. You spread joy to everyone that read the books” You begin crying, tears of joy, you never thought you’d see Chiron again, in those few months you began to love him as if he was your own grandfather. “Would you like to meet them?” Chiron says holding out a hand for you to help you up. Confused, you look behind him, seeing some people that look strangely familiar but you know you’ve never seen in person. After a couple moments of silence you realize where you’d seen them before. They look as young as they did in the two large pictures on the bookshelf. “I would love to meet them” Chiron guides you over to them. By the end of the day you had learned that because of the things they did in life, Zeus and Poseidon persuaded Hades to build them a castle in the underworld where they get to live there for all of eternity with all of their memories intact after having heard about you from Chiron they got Hades to agree that you got to live down here too. After a couple days you realize Thalia was immortal being in the Hunter’s of Artemis. Questioning this you ask them, they answer that because Thalia is immortal another rule they got was that Thalia gets to visit them whenever she has time. The next day Thalia herself visits. When they first introduced you to her, you were confused because you have met this person before in life she was your best friend that used to visit.. Thalia explains that she had been watching you ever since Chiron passed, she had been there when you came to the farmhouse, that she was just in the other room making Chiron some lunch. Chiron had told her that you were there and she had left. After he had passed she had began hanging around the farmhouse, when you opened it, she had started to visit you, slowly becoming close friends over the years. One year she had disappeared, because she knew you would notice she did not age. Knowing she would meet you again she stayed away, finally being able to today. Lying in bed that night you realize that you got to ‘live’ your dream of meeting them. That finally after reading the books, you get to go on adventures with them for real, throughout the underworld, that they’re your friends. You think finally that, in the end, everything is perfect.

#Percy Jackson #heroes of olympus #sorry #it's so badly written #it's also kinda sad in the middle

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starfiremoonbeam-blog · 7 years ago

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Today would be a good day to be a butterfly

I Learned that the way life, people and situations are portrayed are all a select state of mind, if you glorify dirt long enough, even dirt can become diamonds in the eye of the beholder....

Dedicated to my Rock-the other half of my soul-because of you I believed I could fly-because of you my wings have healed-because of you I became a butterfly. My best friend..

1. Mom

I guess I should start with where I came of so to speak. Mother, we'll call her windy, that's not her name, why she chose to "change" her name I'll probably never know the truth, she went by this name before I came along, her real name, I'm not sure if she knows what it is . Windy was orphaned in the late 60's, born a country bumpkin in South Carolina, her parents, from what I can gather were fucked from the word go, I dont know alot about them, one fact I'm sure of is grandpa killed grandma, and then grandpa killed himself in prison. Mom was 12, her older brother was 15, "Uncle Roger". I think the main problem was grandpa liked drinking and women, grandma did not. The story goes, grandma fed up not knowing how to drive, she walked away, walked away from exactly what I don't know, maybe it was grandpa, maybe it was the kids, maybe life is what she wanted to walk away from.. Grandpa I'm sure like everything else in life he made the desion for grandma, he went after her, grandpa ran her over with the front and rear tires. Grandma died, grandpa went to prison. Windy and Roger moved to China with relatives. I suppose that's when mom started to become the destroyed mess I grew to love.

2.Dad The old man came from a very different background than Windy. Busha and Goji-Busha was Polish, Ga was German. They lived and bought their way out of Nazi Germany concentration camps along with my 2 aunts. Goji died when I was a few months old, he was ate up with cancer. Busha, she was my best friend, my salvation, my safe place, my teacher. She was soft and kind, she had the softest skin and most clear blue eyes I'd ever seen, she had a deep polish accent I loved, and she loved me. I was her favorite of all her grandchildren and she never tried to hide it. Busha always made me feel like number 1. My Busha showed me how to live, how to be a lady, how to cook and clean. Busha taught me to read palms, she told me I was going to change the lives of many people, that I was special, I have a half moon in my palm and a half moon of freckles on my cheek, she said together they make a full moon, and 1 out of 10million people have those markings, Busha always told me I was meant for something grand in this world. My mother taught me that I have to survive... Busha didn't talk about her past to much. I suppose I wouldn't either. Busha told me two stories about their life in Germany. Her youngest daughter born in Germany, she wasn't supposed to be, Busha said it was against the law, if your birth wasn't preapproved you were murdered, taking your first and last breath in unison. Busha and Goji using their wealth of sheep to their advantage bought their daughters life and eventually their freedom. My Busha went creek side and delivered her youngest daughter on her own. She left the newborn by the river to muffle the cries, for 2 days and nights busha couldn't go back to even check on her baby girl, the consequence of getting caught was death of the entire family, Goji worked a deal with the Nazis and bought his daughters life with 30 sheep. The other story of their freedom, they gave up everything that took generations to build, the farm, livestock, the house. The entire family was moved to a camp where all four of them were tattooed, she showed me once, it was a long number tattooed in black, it looked like it was done with a safety pin, big bold numbers, jagged, the ink spread out it was deep, all the way up the side of her calf. Busha said they had armbands marking there heritage, you don't forget your armband, she said those men would beat you close to death ,man, woman, child ..they didn't care.. she was always vague mentioning the past, I don't know how long they endured Nazi Germany-camps, but it eventually led to a boat bound for America, a refugee camp off the east coast eventually led them to Chicago IL.. Busha and Goji worked for the railroad until retirement. I guess your wondering where my dad came into the picture, it was June 1956, Busha was 52 years old when she gave birth to my father. Busha was at work and as labor started she called a cab and went to the hospital, only after she found out it was a boy did she call Goji, himself being 56 wasn't excited about another child, until he was told he had a boy! Goji had his boy. I guess that's any fathers dream is to have a son to carry on your name. The story goes Ga left work to come meet his son, and in the 50's you didn't leave work unless you were dead. Busha and Ga were strict but loving parents, private catholic school, dad received many honors throughout school, and graduated top of his class, Busha had his diploma on her wall until she died. Joe went directly to the railroad after school, he had a great start in life.

3. Joe&Windy-1975 When this tornado and hurricane collided...like most natural disasters, the effects were devastating. Mom was homeless living on a rooftop in Chicago, feeding her well developed addictions. Dad was working on the railroad and a few addictions of his own. Joe and windy met thru a mutual drug dealer and Joe moved onto the rooftop with Windy. In reminiscent highs they'd mention suitcases of drugs, gallon bags of various potions and powders they begged for "borrowed" and stole. In the first year of Joe meeting Windy, Busha and Goji retired, told Joe he was on his own and moved to small town Illinois, Wenona, population 1,000. I would guess that Joe and Windy "borrowed" from the wrong dude, shortly after Busha and Goji moved Joe and Windy followed. Joe and Windy were married under a huge weeping willow tree in Bushas back yard august 27th, 1977 is how they tell it. I think that may be a lie, or my birthdate is a lie, maybe the journey of this book will reveal some of my questions. Goji nor busha cared for mom, they seen she wasn't right, 2 people she couldn't manipulate thru her smile, Goji offered dad 300.oo dollars to not marry mom, defiance, love, who knows, they were married. They jumped into the honeymoon van, with Pam and Loney (best friends, maid of honor and best man, eventually god parents)...The rest is history..or a blur..a forty year blur...

4. Almost here. July 4th, 1978. The only pregnancy picture of mother taken was 5 days before I was born, bottle of beer in one hand, joint in her mouth and a Marlboro red next to her middle finger. Smiling from ear to ear, her eyes were smiling...That's what TWO HITS OF ORANGE SUNSHINE LSD WILL DO TO YOU, in Wenona there's a coal dump, it looks like a little mountain covered in trees, it was always a cool spot for various deviant acts. Joe and Windy along with their group climbed the cole dump to watch the fireworks, being 5 days before delivery she was to big and to fucked up to make the 500ft climb down the hill, they found a cardboard box and slid her down the hill. I was born 5 days later. She always told that story as a fond memory, I used to be fond of sharing that memory too.... Looking back I see it, text book DCFS no no's, looking back a human being with a conscious couldn't of trained me like they did. More than half my life I was proud of the drugs, the acid taken before I was born, I could roll a joint, tap a keg, seal a baggie all by the time I was 5. Wearing my prettiest dress, pool chalk on my eyelids, rolling joints and popping bottle caps, winning my dad beers, I didn't know what I was doing but I was always told to smile pretty, and bat those big eyes, mom taught me before I could talk a pretty smile can get me whatever I want, and dad gave me practice at the bar, I remember mom fixing my hair and help me get dressed up, shortly after dad would say "come on kid, lets go play the jukebox." It really became a normal, so normal I could roll a joint one-handed. My normals were not "normal".

5.Charity Ann Mietelski. July9th,1978. I was born in a catholic hospital, to a witch an addicted witch. Windy was 18, Joe was 20,they weren't ready to be parent's, I don't know if they ever were actually ready... but I was here, I was a regret, they were busy and I was in the way. There wasn't a baby book, no pictures either. My first smile, My first word, first step, I don't know, I doubt mom or dad remembered. We weren't the " Tell me the story of when you brought me home mommy", kind of mother-daughter. Besides the prized LSD story she told, there was one more "memory" she liked to tell, I'm not sure if "saving me" was a justification in her mind for all the shitty things that she allowed, with mother I'm not sure of a lot.. The story goes, when I was first born, they lived in Wenona, in a tiny rundown shack, this place was a relic from the age of when Wenona was a coal mining town. 4 room, little shiplap shack, backed up to a horse farm. Windy said an entire loaf of bread disappeared, she swore dad was drunk, and ate it, (that was probably close to the only food there was.) That night, mom said she heard me screaming, she came to check on me and in my playpen was a rat, a rat the size of a loaf of bread, it had eaten the nipple off of my bottle, mom said she grabbed me and went and got dad to get the rat, it wasn't there by the time dad came back with the gun. My playpen was built into a wooden cage with a lid basically, they surrounded the play pen with plywood, I was safe I guess.. Dad had a story he told me once about being born. The 70's in a catholic hospital, fathers weren't welcome in the birthing room so as my dad watched thru the little wired "prison" window, the moment I came out he thought he had a son, he hooted and hollered then they cut the cord, dad about passed out. Joe thought he just had a son who was going to set world records at birth, and the nurse CUT IT OFF, Jesus..I would bet money dad was still tripping when I was born. I bet I was tripping too .. These are my baby stories.

I'm in a lot of pain right now, I've been hesitating on writing because of it, staring at the paper. I'm forcing myself right now, I force myself a lot...distraction good or bad can help sometimes. There's not a lot of "good" or happy moments thru my book, except Chris, he's my shining light, its an amazing gift to be loved and love equally...I would go thru this whole life again to share just a little part with him. The lies and truth over the first 5 years I guess we'll never know. Joe and Windy went on a "honeymoon" to Mexico. This is where the story goes a little foggy, wedding date August 27,1977. My birthdate July 9,1978, again in reminiscent highs I was told I spent a month with some friends of there's when I was first born, most of what they said I took in, but couldn't comprehend until I was older...so I'm not sure if the wedding date is a lie or my birthday is a lie, we lived in literally a shack. They didn't have Mexico honeymoon money, or wedding money, until mom got an inheritance from her relatives of some sort passing away. there's really no telling what they actually did at that time. We never had a connection mom nor dad, I felt like a burden I guess always really. April- She is one of my 3 younger sisters. There's a year and 7 months in-between April and I . I don't remember her being born, I can't place when she showed up she was just always there. I remember her sometime during our life in Varna. April was a mean lil bitch even at 2, we weren't the holding hands singing songs kind of sisters she wasn't my best friend, I'm not sure if she was even my friend. I was gullible and a show off , and April knew it, she'd bet me stupid shit all the time like getting my foot into a cinder block and then shed push it off the porch or putting a hanger hook in my mouth and she yanked it , it went thru my check like a fish hook. we didn't go to doctors until many years later when they were forced to give us health care. Dad cut that wire hanger out of my mouth with wire cutters piece by piece. April was naturally bigger than me and she knew it, liked it and pushed her bad self around as soon as she knew what it was. She always said she wanted to be the oldest. I'm pretty sure she tried killing me 3 times. I remember even as a young child being confused by her actions of aggression and hate I just wanted to play and Love... I don't remember a lot of stories with April in Varna... except this one, this was the day I knew I had to always protect my sister. April and I were walking around the pond with our German Shepard dog, wonder. I'm not sure what led up to April falling from the bank into the pond, I may have pushed her I have really no idea. April was still very little she had a diaper on. when she fell all I heard was a scream and the cattails on the bank swallowed her up, before I could finish my first scream of helplessness Wonder boy jumped in to that pond and found her!! He pulled her all the way back up the bank she didn't have not one scratch on her. Mom was in the trailer about 2 football fields away from us, she didn't hear me until the problem was over, April would've drowned if it weren't for that dog. That day gave me a new outlook on my sister, I loved her and no matter what I would always do my best to protect her. The story goes wonder was caught stealing baby pigs and a farmer shot him.

6.Lakewildwood, Varna IL. 1981 -?? The story goes when mom turned 18 she got some kind of an inheritance and they bought a big piece of land with a little trailer and an outhouse. It was a beautiful piece of property, there was a mile long gravel lane, right before the land opened up There was a forgotten cemetery, it was dilapidated and severely overgrown with briars it was eventually discovered and repaired. As soon as you passed the cemetery the land opened up, to the left were cow pastures as far as the eye could see, to the right was a huge pond it was very deep and a football field long, you could see a foot down into the water it was so clear. A couple hundred feet above the pond sat a little trailer on top of a hill. There was no running water, no bathroom, no electricity, it had a wood burning stove on one end and 2 bedrooms on the other, there wasn't a refrigerator nor a stove, there was an awesome front porch that wrapped three quarters around the trailer and the best shade tree turned into a tree-house ever, past the shade tree and the barn red outhouse, was a huge hill ( huge for Illinois) walking down this hill was like walking into another world, huge lush trees that reached for the clouds, thick briars and brush mixed with wildflowers and tall grass, at the bottom of the hill was a creek that wound deep into the trees it was a wide creek with crystal clear water, the creek was shallow and clean magical and scary all in the same thought. The life in Varna was rugged, now that I think back I never knew we were dirt poor, in our world you washed your clothes in the creek, took showers when it rained, peed in the grass and cooked over a campfire. I had no Idea electricity was an option in life, a bathroom inside was never a thought, stabbing frogs with my dad and plucking feathers off a wild turkey was just what you did. I was a very happy little girl, I loved pretty dresses and ribbons in my hair, I was also the mud pie queen, and a champion tree climber in my own eyes. One piece of society we did have was toga parties, about 5 cars full 2 vans and a few motorcycles would show up a few times in the summer, everyone would have sheets on and flowers in their hair there would always be a keg, I was the "bartender" and I was drunk, mom and dad never seen a problem with drugs or alcohol, for kids...there used to be a polaroid of mom holding a fishbowl full of beer, helping me get a drink, my parents had a gift of making wrong or bad things regardless of what it was acceptable, even cool, I used to carry a lot of this bad parenting around with boastful pride. In my child's mind we lived there for along time, we moved a lot a few years down the road. Mom and dad acquired a wine still somewhere, I remember smashing apples in there with my sister, I remember being trashed a lot, child inebriation was supported in my life they called me practice whatever they messed up with me they knew not to do with the other ones... I know there's a lot of incomplete memories in this book and aspartic thoughts...welcome to my life. We had a neighbor down the road, we called him Mr. Charlie, he was a walk thru the cow pasture, he was a very old man, he had peacocks and swans all over his yard, swans are mean birds...not the point, It was winter time I guess it was Christmas I'm not really sure if it was Christmas day or a week before I don't know. It was snowing, it had been snowing it was a few feet deep and it was cold, when winter came there that was it, no one came there no one left, that old man came walking up that driveway, he had a evergreen tree over one arm and a big black garbage bag over the other shoulder. I had never had a Christmas before I didn't know who or what Santa Claus was, I remember being confused as to why he was carrying a tree, but I was excited with joy I loved Mr. Charlie, he was a sweet man and I hadn't seen another person in months, he brought that tree in and put a big shiny star on top, we didn't have electricity, he brought a bunch of shiny candle holders he attached to the tree and lit it, his big black bag was full of food already cooked and tree decorations presents of all shapes and sizes wrapped in paper that was so beautiful I thought that was the present. I had never see Christmas decorations before and he pulled out this old plastic decoration it was red and had points on 2 ends it had a hollowed out middle with shinier plastic thru the middle, it was so precious to me, I had no idea beautiful things like that existed, I wanted to exists in beauty like that, I still had no idea what was going on but it was a great evening, before that day and shortly after that I remember a lot of powdered milk and Popeye cereal that was a long winter the snow got to deep to walk thru, the outhouse moved into the kitchen in the form of a bucket. That winter mom had a miscarriage she sat in a hall closet, I think where the furnace should of been. I stepped in the blood that had leaked thru the bottom of the door as I was going into my bedroom, I freaked out and started screaming for mom, dad came and hurried me off reassuring me everything was okay. They said it was a little boy, I never seen him, I seen blood on the blanket he was wrapped in. Dad went to the tree line on the far end of the trailer and thru the 3 foot of snow and the Illinois frozen ground dad dug, I seen him fix his broken down shovel more than once, he was out there for hours trying to break the frozen ground, with his dead son cradled in the snow next to him. Dad buried that boy, mom said he was born to soon, she never mentioned him again, dad never mentioned him. winters last a long time in Illinois. Dads famous saying, no matter how bad it seems we can always rest assured the sun will rise again...a new day a new start Springtime always made it worth the wait, dandelions and baby kittens, mud pies for everyone, catching lightning bugs and chasing rainbows, the sun on my face I always loved how the sun made my blonde hair seem as if it sparkled, life opened up again. The passing of seasons also brings the passing in age and I was becoming a little momma I had four cats and about 30 kittens I loved them all so much the poor things as soon as they got big enough to tear the living hell out of me they would, I couldn't get within 5 foot of a cat over 4 weeks , I loved too much I guess. Springtime meant toga time, it didn't matter I was only 5 I had my toga and lipstick, I was the bartender and joint roller I was encouraged to drink and smoke a passed out kid is a good kid I guess. As I write my story memories come that I have forgotten, I'm terrified of what I might remember..

There used to be a picture of 10 squad cars lining the driveway. Mom's version of what happened is that sometime that season there was an escaped prisoner, after talking and researching I think it may have been dad, there were cops and dogs all over that land with 20 plus drunks lined up in the grass. The cops didn't find who they were looking for in mom's version of the story but half the party was taken away for warrants. That was the first time I had ever seen a cop car, I think the first time I seen flashing lights ever in life, I thought it was great a freaking parade had just pulled into the driveway. The next day I was the parade as far as I was concerned, my long lost uncle roger had come to visit, first and only time I had ever met him and his sports car, I don't remember him really but that bright red sports car with all the lights, bells and whistles, my mind was blown. When that car started talking, Yes talking my 5 year old self not ever having the opportunity of technology of any kind, that beautiful car that told you your door was ajar and to buckle your seatbelt (whatever a seatbelt was) I was convinced Uncle Roger had to be a King somewhere. The rest of the summer was normal mud pies, singing made up songs, watching my blonde hair in the sun as I swung on my tire swing. Dad killed a deer that summer. I remember seeing it hanging I didn't know who bambi was. I had never seen a movie...So to me it was a project, it was food, it was interesting. I was curious and all about helping. When mom cut open that deer and all the blood and intestines everything came oozing pouring out I was terrified, my animals only had cotton in them, after the initial shock my weird little self was right in there, I wanted to feel the blood, taste it, feel what the organs felt like. I helped mom all day, I was covered in blood...mom. She tried I guess in ways with no clue to what she was doing. The meat rotted, the only salvageable piece of that deer was the hide, we scraped on that thing all summer it was never preserved in anyway or cleaned, it was disgusting and she drug it around for years. As they always do the seasons changed. Powdered milk, snow and the bucket all came back around and dad disappeared. He was gone for a long time, I didn't know he was gone until he came back.... Child's mind. I was never told where he was, still to this day I don't know where he was. winter passed, we were well into summer it was uneventful as far as my child's mind can remember. Then things changed, I woke up one morning and mom wasn't there, Busha was, Busha never came into our house, my whole life busha actually came into the house 2 times. I loved her soo dearly, I was soo happy she was there it never crossed my mind of where mom was...until it got too long, days and days had passed..still no mom. I don't remember being distressed about mom being gone, she was my distress, Busha was my safe place, my whole life busha was always my safe place. I don't remember the transition but one day mom was back and busha was gone. Mom had another child this is my second little sister Jess, she was born July 22, 1982. I don't remember her coming home, I'm not sure if she came home when mom did. Jess was a preemie she was 10 weeks early. I don't remember mom being pregnant with her, I don't know how she came about delivery in the hospital, small town rumors jess was an addicted baby and not my dads. I still had no Idea where he was. Not long after mom returned I remember seeing dad walking up to the trailer, mom met him at the door, they hugged and kissed, I remember watching them, I remember being happy for them, I remember them, I don't remember caring if they where there or not....

Chapter 2. Liberty Missouri. The first time I remember going to busha's house in Wenona I was 5, I know now we were on our way to Missouri saying goodbye to busha.. I had to pee after 2 laps around the house I was frantic I couldn't pee in bushas yard. I tore thru the house "mom, mom, help I have to pee where's the outhouse!" standing there dancing, its in the hallway was her response, I asked in the house?! I was confused bushas house was perfect how could she have a outhouse in here? She opened the door, and ohh my god I had never seen a bathroom like that there was no wood it was all shiny white, it smelled good and it was clean like I had never seen. I peed 20 times that day, flushing amazed me. I lived terrified of that disgusting black hole I had to sit above my whole life to go to the bathroom. I don't remember going there I don't remember actually getting there. I remember the house tho I couldn't believe we got to stay there it was light blue house with tall ceilings and huge windows, I felt as if we had a castle. We had neighbors right outside of the front door. There was an old woman who lived next door who would chase us off the sidewalk with her broom.. until mom caught her doing it, mom came off the roof party they were having and broke that woman's broom in half, then she threatened to woop her old ass with it..momma back in the day was full of fire. I'm not sure why, but for the one and only time in my life mom went to work and dad stayed home with us. Windy was an ass wiper im pretty sure, I remember the white uniform she looked like nurse Ratchet from "One flew Over The Cuckoos Nest" she was not a nurse, she didn't have an eighth grade education. If I know Windy , which I do, she wasn't there for the 3.25 an hour, it was the thousand pill count bottles of drugs she went to work for. Joe..as a babysitter well he was no Mr. Rogers, Joe had the fatherly equivalence of Homer Simpson, he wasn't violent, he wasn't mean he just wasn't..anything too us..He was drunk. At this point in life I don't remember anything fucked up happening too me. I've grown up and no I'm not a MD of anything but I'm pretty sure a 5 year old girl who indicates and instigates anything sexual with a 7 year old boy, that baby girl was soiled before she got to that boy. Windy caught me in the entryway of our garage in a cardboard box, I had my pants off, she spanked me. I don't think a 5 year old can have any developed sexuality that wasn't taught, the little boy was poor and damaged too. I ran away at 5 I ran to his house, dad came and retrieved me, I never seen that little boy again. Life was very different compared to the seclusion of Varna IL, mom and dad dug up this group of good ole'boys they called themselves Easy Co. These people became a big influence over the years . We also had a wealthy aunt who lived in Missouri, she was my dads oldest sister If I had to guess she was a influence on our move to Missouri. She tried to help mom be a better mom in societies eyes, mom of course took any and all advice with offense, my mothers pride and fear of embarrassments ruled her life. She has a lot of shame she wanted to ignore and hide. She became a pro at ignoring, if she couldn't keep it hid, she'd "throw" it away. Okay, so The Easy Company. Redbeard, Lance, Theresa and Rat. Redneck, beer guzzling, motorcycle riding, speed freaks. They were always at the house helping dad "babysit", always messed up putting whole fish in the garbage disposal off the wall kind of weird things. We were drastically ignored, this is the time in life I became a little momma. Jess was a baby and she seemed to always be wet and stinky and I didn't like touching her because of it so when life forced me to step up I figured out how to change her diaper and feed her, I don't remember a lot of Jess. I would smoke cigarette butts, put them under her crib and I blamed it on her.. I did once... I got spanked and I got better at hiding. I convinced Jess the garbage truck was the welfare man coming to take her away, I got a 30 minute break once a week. Jess was scared of her own shadow, poor thing hid from the garbage truck and pissed her pants until she was 10, for years I didn't even notice she was still hiding. She hid until I told her the truth, I never realized until it was too late all of my sisters needed my help and protection, I guess I was overwhelmed and jess was my burden.... I carry guilt now that I cleared the fog, I guess it's guilt I don't deserve...Mom and dad were pro's at ignoring overwhelming situations, I guess I am too, my entire family we all are. Our first real Christmas was at our aunts house, she had an 80 foot Christmas tree, her house was like a good housekeeping magazine-cookies-homemade candy everywhere, garland and lights on anything that would stand still. The bathroom was decorated! There was a shower curtain and a toilet seat cover with a big white haired man on them, I found this very odd, I still at this time in life had no idea who Santa was or what he was about. That year I received every single Orphan Annie Item on the market. I had never seen that movie, it wasn't until a few years later I figured out who that red curly haired girl was. Aunt S. tried for many years in many different ways to help my sisters and I out of the life we had and give us a life that Joe and Windy could never provide.. They never allowed their "love" to supersede their pride. after so long and so bad..Aunt S gave up on me... I was the only one who didn't give up on me after so much and so bad, hell I gave up to once or twice. Mom quit or got fired from her job, we started "visiting" a lot, Joe and Windy drug us everywhere. "The Easy Company" became our family, we were always in one of two places "The Caves" it was a bar built into a cave, well actually more like a cave with a door put in front of the hole, it had a couple flood lights, a pool table and a jukebox. I loved that place, I would play the jukebox, drink PBR and explore the caves a little, ( I didn't go further than the light of the bar). I'm pretty sure we did all this "visiting" to make money..to put it nicely mom was a whore, she started using her sexuality to her advantage at the age of 12, it was easy for her it seemed like her go to. Our second place to "visit" was this little apartment always loud always filled with leather clad people and smoke, there were never any other kids around, we were ignored to the point people without kids would feel sorry for us. Lance noticed April and I looking at a playboy, he gave us a phonebook told us to read that we got extremely bored with that very fast ..when lance cruised back by and we had another dirty magazine he took us to his room and let us prank call people and gave us rags, he was trying hard to be a biker and had a tore down Harley in his bedroom. My sisters and I cleaned on that bike for hell God only knows, weeks, months..maybe it was only days but watching the grease and surface rust disappear I don't know it was rewarding and calming in a way, I watched that pile of dirty rusty steel and chrome turn into a big ape hanging Harley chopped motorcycle.. every time we came over it took more shape than the time before, in my family you never seen anything "come together" in anyway, they had a lot of dreams but no ambition. So seeing those confusing pieces of twisted rust become a mean beast of a bike made me realize...addicts could function I loved motorcycles, I loved leather, I loved the breeze on my face and I was already always high. I was hooked before I realized what hooked was. I have 2 more memories from Missouri, Halloween, mom took us trick or treating, we got home and the power was off that was common so we walked in without hindrance and around the corner here comes a ghost it was dad, he chased us all around the house J had a freaking mental breakdown..poor thing.. she pissed her pants and froze on the floor the fun was over and lights came on. I thought it was great fun dad never interacted with us or played with us hell he didn't talk to us unless he had to tell us something at this point in life. Joe wasn't mean or violent, he never called us names or hit us, he just wasn't ..Joe was fucked up.. Was it a game? Regretful payback, maybe a commodity? The next day we went to a really fancy house a dark house, shiny dark wood covered the ceilings walls and floors, shiny dark double doors all over the house. I don't know where J was, mom took April and I to a room a huge room. I think know it it was a library floor to ceiling book shelves on 2 walls filled. enormous windows with dark heavy drapery it was a quiet room with fur rugs all over the floor. There was a huge desk with every drawer locked across the room was a chess set on its own assigned table and two huge leather chairs . Okay so here goes, mom told us to be good and play chess, I was sitting there looking at the pieces, looking around the room everything had become blurry, trying to focus holding different chess pieces closer and further away, I asked April if she was blurry she told me no and she was looking at a book of somesort. I was confused as to why they were blurry, I convinced myself it wasn't blurry that it had to be some kind of art that was made blurry on purpose. Sometime over the course of me trying to get my eyes and head back in order using all my illogical logic to not panic a man came in the room, I had seen him before at various parties and places the parents drug us too, he looked like every other man around the crowd and I had never felt caution or fear at this stage of life. I trusted Joe and Windy if this man was in here they knew it about it. The man walked over picked me up and sat me on his lap , I was so happy he was going to show me how to play this blurry game I couldn't believe it attention wasn't something I was accustom too, as soon as he sat me on his lap I felt it, I didn't know at this time what I was feeling of course, I kept squirming he told me to sit still that I was hurting him, he positioned me to where I was facing the chess table and gave me the queen and told me they had to kiss a hundred times before the game could start, chess is a game of war and they had to show love to one another before they could fight incase one of them died. I heard his pants unzip and through my dress he sat me on top of him, I didn't know what was happening, he held me at the waist and jostled me on his lap. I was so fucked up on whatever whoever gave me, I remember getting tired and laying back on his lap I couldn't really see or hear. I came too with a king in one hand and the queen in the other laying back on this man...my inner thighs and dress was wet he told me I peed my pants so I was to little to learned to play chess, he got up and left. I was a girly girl the idea of peeing my pants didn't make sense to me I hadn't peed myself since I was 2 and I loved the 2 dresses I had. I was checking myself frantically and my panties weren't wet, how did I pee myself if my panties aren't wet, I thought maybe April peed on me, I didn't want to ask her incase she didn't do it then it was my fault so I didn't ask I rubbed my hands on the wetness to smell it didn't feel or smell like pee, I was nervous and embarrassed and I wasn't sure what was happening I sopped up the mess with a corner of my dress and wadded up the corner. Mom soon after came into the room she asked if that man had touched me? I told her no, I told her he sat me on his lap and showed me how to play chess, I told her I had an accident I guess I peed my pants but I didn't get my undies wet. Mother pulled my dress up and felt my panties, and kind of patted me down she felt the wet sticky spot on my dress, she looked into my eyes in a way I'd never seen. she didn't say a word, she went and got me a freezing cold paper towel, I tried to clean up my legs the best I could I was all fucked up. Mom carried me to the car...in the blink of an eye we were back in Illinois.

#my book #abuse #child abuse #healing #love #hate

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