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jin-c-stories · 4 years ago

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Mori White

For as long as she could remember, Mori could see spirits. As a child, she would wander around their old Victorian home in Oregon speaking with the spirits that had once lived there. Her favorite was the older woman who would host tea parties for Mori and the other spirits in the house.

At first, her parents smiled while she was playing with her imaginary friends. She grinned as she showed a picture of one of these friends to her mother. The child stared in confusion, her mother’s face turned into deep concerning frown. “Where did you see this, sweetie?”

Mori mirrored the frowned as she hid the other pictures behind her back. “That’s my friend Norma. She hosts a weekly tea party in the attic and invites all of our friends to play-” Mori stopped seeing her mother’s face. The frown she had before had reached her concerned eyes. Her mother kneeled down in front of her, Mori felt like she was in trouble.

“Honey, how would you like to play with the other children?” The next day Mori had her first ‘playdate,’ with a neighbor’s child.

After that Mori stopped talking about her friends even though she still played with them every day. They would go explore the house and the yard, she would attend tea parties and sit reading out loud to the woman who smiled and listened.

At five, her parents grew more worried about her imaginary friends. They were reading books and considered taking her to a therapist, that was when a young boy in her class passed away. Her parents dressed her up in a nice black dress and took her to the sad party held in a gigantic building that gave Mori a sense of ease.

She saw the boy, now dead, dressed in a pair of dinosaur pajamas as he glared at his mother. Even though her makeup was excellent, Mori could tell she had been crying. The boy that was standing behind her and the radiating anger made Mori hesitate before stepping up to him, “What’s wrong?” Mori asked him.

The woman turned and brightened when she saw Mori and her perfect ringlet curls that her mother had spent an hour curling. She bent down to give the child a hug. “What a blessing it must be to not understand the surrounding sadness.” The mother said into Mori’s hair while the boy who stood behind her gave Mori a puzzled look. He realized Mori could see and speak with him.

“They let me die!” He shouted, expelling more of his energy into the room. The sensation caused Mori to panic. She looked around for her own parents.

His mother pulled away, giving Mori a better look. She looked defeated, didn’t the boy notice that? She was about to tell him when Mori jumped, feeling someone’s hand on her head. It was her father who gave the woman a fake smile. They began speaking in their adult language that Mori wasn’t listening to.

The boy pointed to a box that was open on the table. The Funeral home had lined the lid with a soft-looking white fabric. “They are happy that I am gone. My parents are going to get rid of me as if I never existed!”

Her father removed his hand to give the woman a pat on the arm. Seizing the opportunity, Mori walked over to the box. She had to stand on her tiptoes to see inside, but when she did, it was the boy. He looked like he was sleeping, even though Mori already knew he wasn’t. They dressed him in a nice suit, wearing one of his hats. The boy came up and stood next to her, looking into the box. Mori saw flashes of his life, doctors, the pain, his mother crying at night when she thought no one was listening. He was always listening, wondering why God made him sick, why he couldn’t just be healed.

“It’s not their fault. It wasn’t yours either. They loved you, but now you are not in there.” Mori said to him, giving him a small smile. The woman turned, having heard Mori, the child’s words troubled her. Her father looked embarrassed, and he came over, seizing her.

“Kids say the weirdest things, don’t they?” He laughed, downplaying her words.

The older woman that Mori played with had told her about death, but now seeing it up close she felt cold. Her father held onto her as they left the child’s funeral and went home. The experience made Mori see the spirits in their home with a new appreciation.

Over the next few days, things went back to normal. Mori stopped, glaring at all the spirits with worry and distrust. Soon they were back to host tea parties in the attic and exploring the woods. In fact, she had almost forgotten the incident when the woman from the funeral was waiting for her when she got out of school.

She smiled at Mori as the child was walking towards her and the bus. The woman then waved at Mori and said with great excitement. “Hi Mori, do you remember me?” Behind her, the boy glared at her and Mori nodded. “Good, I was wondering if I could give you a ride home. Your mother has been so kind to me since the funeral. I just wanted to thank her and since your school is along the way, I was wondering if you would mind riding with me.” It sounded more like she was telling her rather than asking her, so the child nodded.

Something about her attitude seemed happier than a normal woman who had just lost her child and was now standing on a playground where he used to play. She snatched Mori’s hand and led her to her car. She got in the front seat. Behind them, the boy glared.

“Did you know my sweet Timothy well?” She asked Mori, who took her eyes off the dead child to shrug at the woman. The woman laughed. “Children are always so honest. I loved that about Timmy, he was so honest with us about everything. Even when we ignored him.” She was silent for a moment. “Well, that is all in the past now I have learned my lesson. You know Mori when I was a child, my grandparents would tell me about these people who could see and speak with spirits. I always just shrugged them off as myths or tall tales to scare us. But at the funeral, you were speaking to my son, weren’t you? Can you describe him to me?”

Mori had a bad feeling in her stomach about this. She glanced back at the boy, causing the woman to look into the back seat. “He is very pale and wearing a pair of dino PJs. They were his favorite. Did he love dinosaurs? I see a lot of toy dinos when he is around.”

The woman beamed at Mori as tears streamed down her face. “Yes, Timmy loved dinosaurs. He wanted to be an archaeologist when he grew up. Is he really here with us now, back there?” She pointed randomly into the back seat. Mori adjusted her hand towards him and nodded. “Now Honey, I have a very important question to ask you. Can you bring him back to me?”

The child flinched away from the question as if it were a physical object being thrown at her. She could see dead people, but she had never tried to bring any of them back. The boy slithered from his place in the back seat and sat on the center console between them. “Yesss” He answered for Mori.

With a smile and aura beaming with joy, the woman patted Mori on the shoulder. “Perfect. You are such a sweet child.” Mori touched her own face, unaware that she had said anything. The boy made his way back to his seat with a satisfied smile at Mori, which made her blood turn cold.

When the car pulled into a driveway with slightly longer grass and a few more weeds than their neighbors, the woman quickly got up and began helping Mori out of the car. She held the child with a grip of steel, as if she knew Mori was going to run away. Practically dragging her up the stairs into the suburban home. Mori was trembling in fear. An icy breeze hit Mori from the house but didn’t affect the woman or Mori’s clothes.

The inside was clean. Far too clean for a home that recently had a child living there. Little glass decorations from the last holiday were hanging around the place. Mori shivered, the temperature in the house was freezing but the woman didn’t seem to notice as she continued to drag the child up the stairs to a child’s bedroom that was untouched for what looked like months. “This was his room.” She said finally releasing Mori. Everything looked like a normal kids’ room. There were plastic dinosaurs near a box of toys, a rug with a jungle layout was rolled up next to the bed with a green dino quilt. But on the floor drawn with precision in white chalk was a pentagram.

Mori hated it. The black candles around it were lit and flickered in her presence. She stepped away from the scene, but behind her, the boy pushed her forward. She stumbled into the room, but the boy jumped into her. “This is wrong.” Began chanting her in mind like an ancient prayer. But the boy was in control now and made her take a deliberate step to the edge of the circle.

He stepped out of her but held control over her body as he began shouting. It wasn’t English, but Mori understood every word. Her throat became sore from shouting after him. Her body was not her own. A gust of wind blew out the candles and the light above them shattered. The woman gasped with wide eyes, but Mori barely heard her over the boy. “That’s it, Mori, bring my baby back to me.” She encouraged.

Then suddenly it stopped. Mori fell to her knees, exhausted. The boy stood above her from the center of the circle, smiling. With a cry the mother leaped at the child that was no longer her son, wrapping him up in her arms sobbing. As soon as the mother broke the circle, a dark presence filled the room, relighting the candles. Mori’s stomach began doing cartwheels. She held herself to keep her lunch down. She slowly backed away from the circle.

Mori thought she was going to pass out as she reached the door. Her mind was swimming through the evil energy that now filled the home. The sound of soft flute music cut through the thick fog and filled Mori with a sense of calming peace. She smiled and had the longing to dance to the music. In the doorway was a large floating creature that reminded her of a dumpling. In its small hands, it played the most calming flute music, around it other ghost children were dancing. Mori danced past it into the hallway, about to dance around it again into the room when a hand aggressively pulled her away.

She turned away from the creature as a set of claws released her shoulder. Taking a moment to look around the exhaustion and dread flooded back. The creature was covered in paint and flags, and Mori knew it was there for the boy with its squinting eyes.

Trembling she ran out of the home stumbling down the stairs and not bothering to close the door. That boy was evil, that creature was there to take the boy with it. She ran out into the street, nearly getting hit by a car.

A man dressed in work clothes leaned out the window and shouted. “Oi Nina watch where you are going!” Mori nodded and got out of the street, trying frantically to find out where she was. Seeing her distress, the man sighed and parked his car. “Dios Mio, hey kid, are you alright?” He got out of the car and kneeled next to Mori. “What’s wrong?”

On her face, her tears burned as she sobbed and pointed at the house. Behind him, an elderly dead woman supplied her with the words. “El Diablo es aquí. The devil lives in that house, please mister, get away from here.”

Shocked, the man nodded. “Okay.” He helped her into his car next to his own children, who tried to smile kindly at the traumatized Mori White. With a couple of miles between her and the boy along with some ice cream, Mori finally told the man her mother’s phone number along with what had happened. The man said a quick prayer and quietly crossed himself, as did the dead woman guarding him. Then she crossed Mori for good measure. Mori giggled at the woman she was wearing a bright and colorful dress, her face looked like a skull with flowers, her long black hair was back in a series of braids twisted with some flowers.

“Your grandmother is beautiful. I love her flowers.” Mori said, twirling with the woman. The man confused quickly took the lost child back to her own parents.

Her mother signed in relief when she saw Mori. When she had not returned home from school, she had grown worried and was about to call the police when the man called. The man told her where he found her, but left out the part about the dead boy. Mori agreed with him and decided not to tell her mother about what happened.

For weeks Mori was really sick. Her parents worried over her, but soon it faded. Her mother tried to keep in contact with the boy’s mother as a rumor had gone around that she had gone crazy after her messy divorce. From time to time people would see her on the streets or at the store. Her skin was ghastly pale and her frame had grown smaller. She whispered to herself about her beautiful baby boy, miraculously returned to her. But no one paid it any attention saying things like, “She has been through a lot.” or “Give her some space.”

Years went by, Mori grew older and taller. The surrounding ghosts taught her about literature and would occasionally supply something useful about her gifts, like how to protect herself from other evil spirits. One thing she learned was how to put them to rest. She would sit up at night and whisper softly to them, comforting them in their pain. Then she took their hand and guided them to the light, where they were at peace.

Her living friends were few. At school, most of the kids stayed away from her, though they didn’t know why. Mori could see it in their eyes and hear it from their spirit guides, they thought she was weird. She could dress like them and learn to talk like them, but she would always be different. She celebrated her 8th birthday with a few of the children who had parents that forced them to go. Her parents frowned with worry as none of them approached her unless prompted. But Mori didn’t mind. Once all the guests had left, she practically ran to the attic where the ghosts had set up a small celebration to congratulate her on her birthday.

It was a snowy January day. Her parents had spent more time with her, believing her imaginary friends to be a cry for attention. A thick coat of snow had covered the Oregon roads and though the plows and already driven by a thin sheet of ice made the blacktop glisten. In the back seat, Mori was nodding off to sleep after a movie. In the front, her parents listened to music as they talked.

Something nudged Mori awake. Her eyes gently opened as she looked around for a ghost or toy, but saw none. The night was creeping in around the car. The soft shadows seemed to dance around her. Mori looked up out the front window and screamed. A dead man stood in the center of the road, bloody and in pieces. With a mangled hand, he reached out. Her father jerked at the wheel, swerving the car to avoid the dead stranger. The car ran off the road and everything went black.

A pounding in the back of her skull thumped Mori out of unconsciousness. A tree stood like a stone trying to tear the car in half. Looking to her right, Mori noticed that her mother was gone, replaced by a hole in the windshield and a bloody strip of snow illuminated by the car’s headlights. To her left, Mori’s father sat motionless. His mouth hung open as his eyes were wide open. Blood trickled down his forehead onto the bloody seat below him. Tears and blood streamed down Mori’s face as she cried out to him. “Daddy, please wake up. WAKE UP!” The last words were not in English but in a language Mori related with the dead.

Only a couple miles away Officer Williams was just about to head home when he heard a little girl’s voice through the radio shout “WAKE UP! Please, I need help.” With a street name, then static. Confused, he messed around with the radio, but the voice was gone. He shrugged it off as probably nothing. A small feeling gnawed on his insides, turning his car in the street's direction, the voice had said. It couldn’t hurt just to check, he told himself.

His head twitched. Mori stopped screaming for a second, unsure if her father was really dead, or barely alive. His neck snapped back into the place as he turned to look at Mori. The car was freezing as the snow drifted in from the broken windows. Her father climbed out of the car, rushing to Mori’s side. He ripped the door off the car but gently picked her up. He limped but never struggled to carry her up to the road. Mori snuggled against his chest as if she was four again and needed to be comforted by her dad.

Headlights passed, then flashed into police lights, quickly flipping around. Carefully her father set Mori on the ground, kissing her forehead before tumbling back down the hill, dead.

Officer Williams called the accident in as soon as he saw the bloody man setting the little girl down on the road. He carefully approached the child, unsure of what to expect. The kind eyes of the child that looked up at him warmed his heart a little. He handed her his coat and began checking to make sure she was alright.

The police station was cold, as Mori sat on a lonely bench. Both of her parents died on impact, though Mori could have told the officers that. The paramedics had looked her over and placed a bandage on her head where she received a cut, otherwise she was fine. Her feet swung absently. She could feel that her parents were at rest. They went without a fight.

A shadow moved in an empty room near to where Mori sat. She looked up looking around for the owner of the shadow but saw none. Shrugging, Mori was about to look back down at the floor when she saw it again. This time the door opened on its own. Her legs shook as she stood up and crept to the door. Once she was inside, the door softly clicked shut.

Mori tried the door only to find it locked. Bewildered, Mori turned, scratching on the hardwood gave away the entity’s location as it moved from behind a large empty desk into the light from a half-closed window on the door. “It is nice to finally meet you, young necromancer.”

“Hello.” Mori greeted it with respect. A part of her knew it should terrify her, but something about its energy seemed familiar and calming.

Its head did a 180 as if it was getting a good look at her. It crawled closer, its claws dragging against the floor, leaving an imprint on the floor that would be heard until the floor was thoroughly cleaned both physically and spiritually. When it spoke its voice changed tones, as if it couldn’t decide which voice to use, each had an undertone of nails on a chalkboard, but the child did not flinch when it spoke again. “I know your abilities make getting close to people difficult, but know that your parents are at peace.”

Mori nodded, agreeing with the creature. It took this as a sign to continue.

“Even though that is important, it is not the reason I came to you today. I am here to guide you, and to offer my advice. The officer you met earlier is a good man, say yes to his question, and be kind to the boy you will meet.” Mori’s face scrunched up in confusion. “One last thing, accept Death’s second gift.”

“What do you mean?” Mori asked, but the creature had disappeared, leaving the door open. She sighed and left the room as she heard footsteps coming towards her. Officer Williams entered the room and smiled kindly at Mori. “Hello Officer.” she greeted.

“Mori, how did you get in there?” Mori was just closing the door. He tried it, but it was locked again. Shaking it off, they sat together on the cold bench. “Mori dear, I have permission to take you home with me. If you want to, you are more than welcome to stay with us until the court finds your nearest relative is that okay?” With a smile, Mori nodded and left with him.

The next morning she woke with a crashing noise from downstairs, followed by shouting. For a moment her panic in the unfamiliar surroundings. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in Officer Williams’ car. Now she was in a room with sparse decor. The shouting from downstairs grew. Carefully she got out of bed to find some clothes laid out for her on the dresser. They were a little big and Mori frowned and the big sweater that was slowly drowning her, but someone had been kind enough to think of her and set these out.

Her socked feet moved silently across the wooden floors as she slipped down the stairs. Something smelled fantastic and her stomach growled. The officer was leaning over the stove cooking, while a confident woman was shouting at a boy who was only half dressed and shouting back. “I ain’t gonna listen to no pig and his wife! What ya gonna do, arrest me, beat me up? Y’all don’t know the meaning of a beatin’”

Mori watched in silence as the woman signed. She looked tired, as if she had been fighting the same fight for years. “Isaac, I will not beat you up. In fact, if you are not hungry that is fine, but I don’t want to hear you complaining that you are hungry.” He glared at her and said something unintelligible. His defiant stance matched the woman’s hard look.

He turned on his heel and quickly made his way to the stairs running into Mori, who had been quietly standing there. “Hey watch it!” He shouted before getting a good look at her. “Who the Hell are you?” his face soured at her.

“I am Mori.” She said, taking a step back. His energy was large and loud, not overwhelmingly so, but it drew her focus in on it, while repelling the other ghosts in the room.

Behind him, the woman smiled at her. “Mori, honey, you’re up. You must be starving, unlike someone.” She took a moment to glare at the boy. “There are some pancakes down here with plenty of syrup. If ya want some.”

She nodded and smiled back, then she smiled at the boy. “Sorry for running into you, you don’t have to leave because of me.” She stepped aside enough for him to storm past, but he blinked at her with distrust.

“I am not hungry.” He announced to the whole room before leaving up the stairs.

The woman sighed and fell into her chair. Her hair was back in a bunch of small braids that fascinated Mori. The child came down the stairs and sat next to her. “Your hair is really pretty.” Mori said while Officer Williams placed a plate of pancakes in front of her.

She almost laughed at the difference between the two children in her home. “Why thank you sweetie” Upstairs something was being thrown around while Isaac was throwing a tantrum. The woman sighed, turning back to Mori. “I am so sorry to hear about your parents. I know things can be difficult here, but if you ever want to talk about it, we are always here.”

Mori nodded. “Thank you.” she said politely, smiling at the woman, then the pancakes.

In time Mori learned Isaac was there because his mother was on drugs, and his father had abandoned them. His energy was large despite all the challenges he had faced. Looking at it was like looking into a kaleidoscope while listening to loud calming music. Whenever he was around, Mori could focus on him to distract herself from some spirits, which became more important as she got older.

Portland, Oregon, was a historic city with a long and complicated past. Walking down the street, Mori could see all the spirits of the past screaming and demanding that she help them. Killers would come up and try to possess her. Alone she could not block them all out, but whenever Isaac was with her, she could focus on him and they could get by. He, like most humans, didn’t even react to the surrounding ghost. In fact, they tried to stay away from his lively energy. Mori came to rely on him being there to help her get by.

When they were twelve years old, the Williams family finally officially adopted them, Isaac proudly changed his name and didn’t judge Mori for keeping her own last name. Things for the family became normal. The woman of the house taught Mori how to braid her hair, while Isaac began his karate lessons. Mori hoped things would never change, but as life goes, things changed.

Isaac had just turned 15 and was being very proud of that fact. They were eating outside a burger place at the mall, their mother was inside paying for the food. The heat was almost unbearable, Isaac’s colorful button up was drenched in sweat while Mori’s black laced top remained dry.

“Your poem is missing that emotional connection to the reader.” Mori commented after reading Isaac’s newest song.

His eyes went wide with shock and his brows knitted in confusion.. Based on the color of his energy, Mori could tell she had offended him. “First off,” He squealed not as calmly as he was aiming for, “It is a rap, not a poem. Poems are for dead people and sissies.” Mori rolled her eyes at him. “Second, my rap is awesome. People love raps about everyday things.”

Mori shook her head, “You have written a poem, rap sorry, about a sandwich. I am not sure that’s Top Charts material.”

He laughed at her sarcastically when a man approached them from the parking lot. “Isaac?” He asked almost shyly. The two teens stopped to face him curiously. Mori thought he looked a lot like Isaac, with similar facial features and the same dark skin and defiant brown eyes, though she kept quiet.

“Yeah, who are you?” Isaac got still and defensive as he asked.

The man gave him a relieved smile. “It’s me, don’t you remember me?” The confusion on Isaac’s face said more than the words he didn’t say. “I’m your dad.” He said with a sense of pride.

Isaac shuddered next to Mori as if someone had stabbed him. Shaking his head, he regained his glare towards the man. “Sorry mister, but my dad is at work right now, so you are mistaken.”

Behind the man, Mori spotted at least half a dozen ghosts that flared, feeding off of the man’s anger. They were all bloody and shot, drenched in sea water. She got flash images of the man standing before them shooting each of these figures, before dumping their body in the ocean. “No Isaac,” He growled through gritted teeth, “I am your father. Sorry I wasn’t around, but I had to make a name for myself. I had to become the man you could look up to, I wanted to come get you as soon as I heard about your mom, but I wouldn’t have been able to support us. But it’s okay because I can now, and I have come to take you home.” His eyes held a false hope that hid some deeper meaning.

Mori turned towards the ghosts for further explanation, only to get one sentence that they repeated while showing her what they meant. “HE OWES A DEBT THAT CAN ONLY BE PAID WITH BLOOD.”

She shuttered reaching out to Isaac unaware that she had said anything. He grabbed her elbow, and the man glared at her for interrupting them. “Mori, what’s wrong?” Isaac asked, not noticing the man behind him looking annoyed by her presence.

“Blood for blood, he owes a debt that can only be paid in blood.” Mori whispered more to herself than anyone else, but Isaac looked at her, concerned. She looked up at him, her gray eyes wide and frightened as it all washed over her. One man he killed, his family wants revenge, an eye for an eye. “Isaac, I know you won’t believe me, but you have to trust me. He is not here to make amends.”

Isaac nodded, something in her eyes made him believe her without question. He turned back to his father. “Sorry man, but I don’t know you, or that woman who used to be my mother. I have a better family now.”

Their mother stepped out onto the patio and froze, looking between her children and the man who was fuming. She rested a hand on Isaac’s shoulder before looking at the man confused. “I am sorry, but can I help you?” She asked him with a raised eyebrow, though Mori could tell she knew more about what was going on than she was letting on.

He glared at them, and from his belt pulled out a gun. “Listen, I didn’t want to do it like this, but Isaac is coming with me.”

The ghosts behind the man began feeding off of Mori’s fear and the man’s pent up rage. She closed her eyes to focus those emotions on her energy and stopping the man. The oldest of them leaped forward, grabbing the gun. Their long seated need for revenge took over as they all began stepping forward, holding the man back, beating him. Mori took a deep breath, remaining in control of her energy as she reeled it back in, releasing the man.

Instantly he jumped to his feet, a black eye taking shape. He frantically looked around for his attacker but saw none. Behind the teens, their mother had called the police. Glaring at Isaac, then Mori, the man ran off.

The older teen looked at Mori with an unspoken question that she wasn’t about to answer. Luckily for her, their mother patted their shoulders, “Are you two okay?” They nodded, and she sighed in relief, seeing that they were fine. “Oh my Lord, Isaac honey, I am so sorry you had to experience that.”

She must have been terrified because she continued like that for the rest of the day, only letting the two out of her sight at bedtime when her husband reassured her they would be fine. Two days later the man was found dead in a dumpster and the ghosts came back to Mori with questions. He was dead, so why hadn’t they moved on? She smiled and patiently answered their questions.

Despite his father’s death, Isaac was far more interested in Mori’s abilities. She had been dodging him and the questions he had for nearly a week when a soft knock stole her attention away from her book late one night. One ghost that was sitting in the corner looked up and told her it was Isaac. Carefully she got up and answered it, letting him in. He looked at her as if she was the suspect of some crime that she didn’t realize she had committed. “How did you know my father was there to hurt me?”

Mori sighed, he glared at her as he sat on her floor and she sat across from him. “Hello Isaac, it is good to see you as well.” She tried to take control of the conversion by changing subjects. His glare deepened. She sheepishly looked down and pulled her long black hair back into a braid. “Alright, I will tell you, but you have to promise me you will not think that I am crazy.”

He looked at her confused for a second, but nodded. “Okay.” He said looking serious for once.

Taking a deep breath, Mori continued. “I see and speak with dead people, spirits if you will.” Mori told him about the ghosts in their home as she was growing up. Then about the dead boy and energy. She told him about his energy and how it affected the surrounding ones. He laughed and made a joke, causing her to loosen up and smile.

When she had finished with her story, he sat silent for a moment with a strange smile. A part of her wished she could take it all back while the other part of her was relieved to have a living person know her story. When he spoke, he was still smiling. “I knew it. You were always just alone at school, or attached to me, I knew something was up.” Mori smiled and was about to respond when he continued. “Do you know what this means?”

She blinked, confused. “That I am weird?”

“No, it means you can be a superhero! People could call you Madam Death or Madam Deathtify since you defy death. No, I got it, Friday! Yeah, your slogan could be…” He made the vampire with a cape pose using her blanket. “You can call me Freaky Friday, but the dead call me Everyday.”

Mori giggled despite herself. “It doesn’t work like that.”

He set the blanket down, giving her an oh really look. “Of course it does. Look at how you saved mom and I from that man, and I could help. I could be your partner, IceMan!” He waved his hands in the air as if they were hanging above him.

Thinking about it for a second, Mori weighed the pros and cons of the proposal. When she spoke, she had an air of finality to her. “Alright IceMan, under two conditions. One; I am not using that slogan, and two; promise me you will be careful.”

Smiling with a giddy look in his eyes Isaac responded. “I promise!” He stuck out his pinky for her. She intertwined it with her own, sealing the promise.

He started taking his self-defense classes more seriously after that, knowing that he had to be the best to be a superhero. Mori began speaking with more spirits. She passed the ones she could over and began learning how to deal with overly aggressive spirits. She mostly used her abilities to find their cases and stop serial killers along with other criminals.

During the next year of their lives, their adopted mother grew ill. They sat by her bedside trying to find some way to help, but eventually she passed on. The event destroyed their father, he still worked but attempted to spend the most of his time with his children. This disrupted the teens’ nightly patrols and crime fighting activities, but to Mori it was a worthy trade. During one of their family outings, they were getting ice cream when Mori saw something that chilled her.

Walking down the street across from them was a thin pale woman followed by a dead boy. She already looked dead herself while the boy looked almost alive. Around her, no one else seemed to notice her as she passed. The boy glared over at Mori with red eyes and smiled with razor-sharp teeth. Though she recognized the boy, it was the floating dumpling like monster following him that concerned her more. Its eyes were half open as it watched the boy. Noticing her reaction, Isaac dabbed her arm, asking her what was wrong.

Mori forced herself to look away and smile at him. “Nothing, I just thought I recognized her.”

It wasn’t nothing, and in the cover of darkness Mori walked up the steps to the woman’s home wearing her Friday cloak. She lightly rapped at the door, smiling as the woman answered. Mori knew what she had to do. The woman answered with a fake smile. She looked so thin and sick, behind her the boy glared, he had been stealing her energy. “Hi, I am not sure if you remember me. My name is Mori White, I was friends with your son.”

Her smile became genuine, and the door opened for her to enter. “Oh yes, my sweet Tim, you knew him?” Mori just nodded, entering the cold, dusty house. “Please, won’t you come sit down, I can make us some tea while we discuss my lovely little boy?”

She led Mori to a living area with a dusty table and a couple couches. The boy hissed at her as she sat down on one couch. Mori just smiled at the woman, pretending like she could no longer see or hear the boy. The woman shot Mori one last smile before she stepped into the kitchen, leaving Mori alone.

Finally, being alone, Mori got up and began her plan by drawing a circle around the couches with salt. Putting her hand in the center, she used her own willpower to reinforce the circle.

Faint flute music drifted in from the kitchen, and Mori quickly sat back down as the lady came back with a tray of expired cookies. She sat down across from Mori, and the teen could feel her grief. The boy has been attempting to possess her, replace her consciousness with his own. But he was already dead. Her lips were a soft shade of blue, poorly hidden with pale pink lip gloss, her eyes looked dark and sunken into her face. The boy, Tim, sat outside the circle trembling with rage. Mori had to pull them apart. The creature was going to move the boy on, no matter his state and if he was still possessing the mother it would kill her.

Mori smiled kindly at the woman and accepted the cup of terrible tea. “So how did you know my little boy?” She asked Mori while sitting down across from her.

Not breaking eye contact, Mori answered, “I went to school with him. When he died, you kidnapped me to bring him back. He remembers me, even if you don’t.” Mori turned to the boy who was pressed against the salt. The woman’s eyes filled with shame and her smile faded on her thin face.

With a grace and elegance she has never had before, Mori stood and pulled out a vile of holy water. Tim screamed while Mori sprinkled it on his mother. She withered and screamed on the couch, unable to fight back. The necromancer began speaking in another language while the boy threw himself at the invisible wall, trying to fight Mori. The woman fell to the ground crying out in pain.

Mori was the least of the boy’s problems. His red eyes glowed as he used most of his strength trying to keep his hold on his mother. He snarled and screeched, more like an animal than a human. Behind him, the flute music had stopped while the monster stared at him with its eyes wide open. The woman quieted to a faint whimper. Mori turned to find the monster with a firm grip on the boy’s ankle. He screamed with tears streaming down his face, begging Mori to make it stop. She stopped at the edge of the circle, “Wait! Give me a chance to pass the boy over peacefully.”

The monster stopped facing Mori. When it spoke, its voice was like a gentle breeze. “No, young necromancer. You have much more to learn before you are ready to move a child demon on. But your day will come.” Before she could argue back, it disappeared, leaving behind the smell of grassy meadows.

She turned her attention to the weeping woman who was cold to the touch. With a gentle grace, Mori got her standing. The woman was too drained to stand or walk properly. Before Mori could call an ambience, a figure in the door smiled. “Need a lift?”

Isaac had followed her and waited until they were leaving to say anything, since he knew this must have meant a lot to her. On their way home from the hospital, Mori explained what had happened to the boy, starting with the reaper.

A week before her 17th birthday, Mori saw something strange. It was almost Halloween, a time of year when Mori sees many unusual things and is bombarded by more ghosts than usual. The creature she saw was tall, thin and a ghastly white-gray color with a few strands of thin black hair.

Their father had just come home from work when the creature stood on their lawn with his wide white eyes and screeched. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard. Every hair on Mori’s body stood on end while she desperately tried to cover her ears. The wail stopped, and all was quiet. It stared through their dining-room window at their father. Whatever it was, Mori didn’t like it.

The thing followed their father for two days, screeching loud enough that Isaac heard it once. Mori didn’t know what it was, or how to get rid of it. Looking it over, it didn’t seem attached to their father, just following him, like it was waiting for something to happen. She searched through different bestiaries but could not find the creature in any of them.

A few days after it arrived, she learned what it was. During a routine traffic stop, a nameless suspect had shot their father, killing him. The creature had been their warning, a banshee.

Alone, the two teenagers couldn’t stay in that house and didn’t want to go back into the foster system. They stuck together and found a cheap one-bedroom apartment. Isaac struggled to keep up with school and a full-time job, and on top of everything he still wanted to be a hero. While Mori wanted to help, the ghosts in the city were overwhelming, giving her crippling anxiety. Their apartment became her sanctuary with wards that kept the spirits out.

But she was not just willing to sit there and do nothing. She learned how to make potions that could solve all kinds of ailments. She would make large batches of potions and sell them to local Witch stores or gift shops. Isaac would often act as her delivery guy and take the potions to the different stores, occasionally finding Mori a little magically trinket that she could use. That is how next year went. At night they would go out as Friday and IceMan, while by day they were just a pair of teens alone against the world.

Dawn was Mori’s favorite part of Saturdays. She and Isaac had come home around 1am the night before, and he was currently sleeping. Sleep was much harder for Mori than it was for Isaac. She would sleep for a few hours than a ghost would come and wake her up. Today it was the elderly gentleman who had lived in the apartment before they moved in.

“It surprises me that a beautiful young lady like you is still single.” He grumbled as Mori packed the last of the sleeping potions she had made into a small box. She wrapped it up and tied a small black bow on the top.

She smiled, picking up the box and turning towards him, “Not many boys are interested in a girl who can speak to their dead grandparents.” She said as set the box down where Isaac would remember to take it with him.

The old man huffed at her, “Well, when I was your age, I would thank God for any woman who gave me a moment of her time. It didn’t matter if she was ugly, pretty, or could see spirits. In fact my dear Lorane, God rest her soul, snored, and I never complained.”

Mori giggled as she put the teakettle on the stove. Isaac would be up soon, sore and reaching for a cup of coffee. The night had been tough; a dead woman had led them to a prostitution ring. With some help from the other side, and the Portland police, all the suspects were in custody and a bunch of young women from all over the United States got to go home. Isaac had taken a few blows, as usual, while Mori had been a little overwhelmed by a strong negative spirit. A glass jar sat in the bathroom cabinet that held a salve that Mori had made for Isaac’s bruising and sore muscles.

Sure enough, a few moments after the teakettle whistled she heard someone fumbling around in the bathroom, “Speaking of another sadly single fellow. When is that brother of yours going to ask a girl out? I mean he’s a little dark but surely he could find some pretty thing to ask out.”

The scent of coffee filled the room, pleasantly mingling with the earthy scents of Mori’s craft. She rolled her eyes and snorted at the old man’s outdated statement. Soon Isaac came in, rubbing the medicine she had made on his sore shoulders. He took the offered coffee mug with a smile. “Did you get any sleep?” He asked, noticing that she was still dressed as Friday with the long black cloak.

“I got a couple of hours, but it gave me enough time to make some more potions. That magic shop on 25th wanted some extra bottles of the sleeping potions. I also finished your history paper with Gregory’s help, and my math homework.”

Isaac nodded with a smile, then glancing around for the invisible Greg he said, “Thanks Greg.”

As he took a sip of his coffee, Mori continued. “Would you mind stopping by there today on your way home from work, to drop them off? Also let them know I added a cough potion as well for the girl who runs the counter. Her baby has been sick with a cough, a finger of the potion once a day should clear that up.”

With a laugh, Isaac nodded. “I love how much you pay attention to what she says, or did one of her ghosts complain?”

Mori smiled, sipping her own darker coffee. “Both.” A strange and terrifying half human, half bird screeching echoed through the apartment from Mori’s plant area. “Look who else is up.” Mori sighed as she elegantly set the mug down and stood up, walking towards the strange plant.

The plant was tall with round green leaves. Hanging off a couple of the limbs were bundles of branches and roots that looked like little people with their eyes closed. Their mouths were open as they screeched. “Dear God, those things are hungry.” Isaac watched Mori pull a container from the fridge that was filled with long, wrinkly orange fruit.

“Here you go, little guys.” Mori cooed as she fed the people like bundles. As she fed them, the screeching quieted down until the apartment was quiet again. The big one that was halfway buried in the pot was the last one to be fed.

Isaac had to admit since their father died and Mori had got more into her craft, things had gotten a lot weirder. He watched the plant silently sleep again while mentally counting all the other strange things that had happened. “I’m surprised the neighbors haven’t complained about the Mandrakes yet.” He said, giving them a curious look.

Mori gave the plant a devious smile. “They have. So I introduced them to my little baby Mandrakes.” She gently began petting one of the little bundles.

Rolling his eyes, Isaac checked the time and sighed. “Alright, I’ve got to go.” He grabbed the neatly wrapped potions off the counter. “Try not to scare the neighbors too much while I am gone.” Isaac asked while pulling on his work shirt.

“No promises.” She watched him take his bag, then stick his tongue out at her. She mimicked the gesture as he left.

The apartment became quiet and oddly empty when Isaac left. That’s how it always was. His energy is so loud and vibrant that when he leaves a space everything seems suddenly mute and dull. Mori’s energy was more like that of a ghost than an actual person which is what made her space so still, like a graveyard.

Letting the stillness wash over her, Mori went back to making a couple batches of different potions. A woman down the street had asked her for a nausea remedy, while a single mother next door asked Mori for something to prevent migraines.

When those were finished Mori sighed and turned to Greg who was watching her. From underneath the couch, she pulled out a hula hoop filled with salt that she had sewn onto a hoop skirt. Tossing her Friday cloak onto the couch, she pulled the skirt over her black leggings and dug around for a matching top. She stood in the center of the living room facing Greg. “Try to break my circle.” She challenged him.

He got up and stood right outside of her circle. “You realize sweet cheeks that there are going to be more than one old ghost out there, right?”

“Yes, but if I can keep you out, then I can keep the others out as well.”

With a nod, he tried but could not enter her circle. Mori smiled in an early victory, but then he moved. She lost him for a second as he came up behind her and shouted an inhuman scream that knocked Mori off her feet. All the salt went to the other side of her circle, giving Greg the win.

She sighed as he stepped into her circle. “Sorry to scare you sweet cheeks. But the other ghosts might not be as kind as I am.”

Mori got up, smoothing out the skirt. “I know. I didn’t think about all the salt falling onto one end.” Thinking about the problem, Mori took off the skirt and began digging around her desk with an idea.

“What are you looking for?” Greg asked as he watched her.

Smiling, Mori pulled out a hot glue gun and a dagger that she occasionally used to carve the baby Mandrakes. She sat on the floor and began cutting open the hula hoop.

Stepping out of her wards without Isaac was enough to light up her nerves with the beginnings of a panic attack. She jumped in place, attempting to dispel the energy.

She stepped out wearing the hoop skirt in a very Victorian gothic fashion, only to find the streets empty. Alone she went about making the deliveries receiving payment and thanks for each potion she dropped off. Her stomach dropped as she passed the cemetery, but nothing happened. Usually spirits were everywhere ready to jump out and overwhelm her.

Slowly, courage found its way into her stride as she made her way back home. When she opened the door to their apartment, a gust of icy wind blew out, nipping at Mori’s energy. Confused, Mori walked in, searching for Greg when she heard the scratching of a creature moving from the hallway to where she stood.

The creature was the same one she had met the night her parents died. It crawled to her with an almost sad look. “Hello again, young necromancer, I am sorry for your most recent loss. I know it was hard on you.” It said in that grading voice that would have driven most people mad.

She nodded, remembering how angry she was at herself for not realizing what the Banshee was until it was too late.

It scooted closer to her with something like sympathy in its eyes. “Memento mori, a concept hard for most mortals to understand. Though I am sure you and the boy will understand it better than anyone.”

Mori smiled. “I am not sure Isaac will ever understand the concept of death.”

“He will make an excellent spirit guide for you Everyday.” The creature said with a chilling smile that turned into a frown when it saw Mori’s expression.

The room was spinning; it had to be. “Isaac isn’t dead. He’s at work and will be back in a couple of hours.” Breathing suddenly became difficult.

Her panic filled the room with a tense energy. The creature having realized their mistake disappeared into the shadows.

Something must have really freaked Mori out. She had been texting Isaac nonstop for over an hour. It was almost cute how his little baby sister worried about him so much. She has been like that since their father died. He knew that in a way she blamed herself, since she could see and hear the ghost warning her of his death. But growing up with her, she had always been kind to him, even when everyone else struggled to show him kindness. Mori cried when someone else got hurt, she even cried with the ghosts that she spoke with as she passed them over. It was what inspired Isaac to fight crime with her.

The magic shop on 25th street was a little out of the way, but Isaac didn’t mind the trip. It was a rare clear night and the cool air felt good on his skin, refreshing his lungs. He stopped at what looked like a normal antique shop. Stepping into the crowded store, Isaac could barely squeeze through all the tables and knickknacks that littered the place.

Most of the items were just junk, but all the trinkets with a purple sticker held some kind of magical properties. He made his way to the back where a large glass counter sat filled with jewelry and small gifts. There beside the register was a small display of Mori’s potions, they were completely out of the sleeping potion.

Isaac set the box down on the counter and smiled at the young woman who always sat there. “Special delivery!” Isaac announced in his best pizza delivery voice. He then opened the box and continued. “We have more than enough of the sleep potion to knock out an army, and one vial of cough potion. Mori said to give a finger of the potion to your sick baby once a day.”

“Aw, she is so sweet!” The girl smiled, picking up the cough potion. “Just give me a second to get your payment.”

She turned her back to him, going through a red curtain to a back room. Isaac glanced down at a couple of the necklaces in the cabinet, most of which were just costume jewelry, but one necklace with a red crystal on a silver chain caught his attention.

It was beautiful. Shadows seemed to reflect and move from within the gem. “Isn’t that creepy?” The girl started coming back with an envelope with his and Mori’s names on it. “A scary looking gentleman brought that in last week. It has some kind of protection seal on it.” Seeing Isaac’s confusion, she explained. “Usually a protective seal protects the wearer from something within the object. It is rare to find an object with one.”

“Oh.” He looked back at it. “It looks stunning.”

The girl raised an eyebrow at him. “If you want it, you can have it. The damn thing creeps me out.”

His eyes grew wide as he was like a little boy on Christmas filled with excitement. “Really, are you sure?”

She laughed while putting on a pair of gloves. “Yes, Isaac really. Now, because of the magic on it, don’t touch it with your bare hands.” She pulled it out, placing it in a velvet pouch. “And if Mori hates it, don’t bring it back here.” She handed it to him with the envelope.

“Thank you.” He said, leaving with a smile.

It had been four hours since Isaac got off work and panic was setting back in. It never took him this long to come back, even if he had to stop by one of the magic shops. What the strange creature had said earlier was echoing in Mori’s mind.

Her head poked up when she heard the familiar footsteps in the hall approaching their apartment. The key jingled in the lock. Relief flooded Mori as she stood up. His face was serious, but it was him. He walked towards her, giving Mori a wicked grin. His aura seemed dim, so much so that Mori could barely sense him in the dark room. He stood right in front of her and she couldn’t see his energy. “Isaac?”

A doppelganger? No, this was physical. The surrounding aura was a deep red color that radiated malevolence, “So you’re what he was trying to hide from me.” He took another step towards her, she instinctively took a step back.

“What are you?” Mori demanded in her commanding guide of the dead voice. The red gem around his neck caught her attention. There was something odd about it.

He laughed with a voice that wasn’t his. “What do you think I am dear?”

It was mocking her. Mori flushed, realizing how powerful the creature was to blatantly ignore her demand. A demon; realization filled Mori with a deep-seated sense of dread. She had heard of the creatures of darkness that only harbored malevolent thoughts. Seeing one in person now possessing her brother brought a panic attack to the surface of Mori’s skin.

“What’s wrong petty spell caster, are you scared?” He stepped towards her again, looking less and less like her brother.

Her back was against her desk, her silver enchanted dagger was right behind her where she had placed it. She glared at it, trying to focus her energy. “Get out of him! That body is not yours, I will not let you take it.” Her energy pushed against it trying to pull it out, it only laughed at her.

Tears ran warm down her cheeks as it grabbed her throat. She met its eyes with her own and saw Isaac’s chocolate eyes pleading. His voice was soft in her mind, “I will be okay, Mori, but you have to stop it.”

Behind her, she grabbed the dagger, its silver handle familiar in her hand. She brought it up and stabbed Isaac in the neck. The monster let go of her falling back gurgling on blood. With air returned to her lungs, Mori screamed. The necklace seemed to wink at her from the pool of blood. With shaky hands, she found the velvet pouch in his pocket and pulled the stained piece of jewelry off his neck.

Everything had fallen apart for the young necromancer as she sat in the police station with Isaac’s ghost leaning against her, trying to comfort her. The officers that had shown up said that it looked like self-defense, but Mori couldn’t help but feeling defeated.

Their apartment felt empty, and even though Isaac was still there, it wasn’t the same. She couldn’t get the blood out of the floorboards or her clothes. The rain soon turned into snow, the world felt colder. Oregon felt different somehow, and Mori didn’t like it. Packing a couple items and carrying her mandrake, Mori walked down to the nearest bus station and bought a random ticket.

#Supershorts #superhero #orginial character #necromancer #goth character #character backstory #short story #writing

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getoutofthewater · 5 years ago

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@dbhrarepairs Tuesday Day 2: Highschool AU / Unrequited

[Gavin/Leo]

Rating: G

Warnings: None

Words: 2,266 [AO3 Link]

Notes: Leo’s visit to Carl is based on Indig0’s beautiful short [Let Down]

He went over his calculus homework as he waited for the usual tap on his window, calculus was fucking useless but he needed a decent grade if he wanted to stay in the wrestling team, and Elijah had already told him he wasn’t going to help him cheat, the prick.

Gavin turned on his desk lamp, glanced at the window, it was getting dark and that idiot hadn’t arrived. Gavin frowned without meaning too, Leo was not a creature of habit, he’d start something and leave it half done because a moth or similar distracted him, but he always came on Thursdays after his ice skating lessons. He’d done so since they had met in 7th grade, and from then to now at 16 It had never failed, not even that time Leo had broken his wrist trying out a jump that was too hard for him yet, the idiot still climbed up to his window instead of knocking at the door like a sane person.

If Gavin wasn’t there when he arrived, he’d come in and just live it up in Gavin’s bedroom as if it were his own, Leo had no shame, Leo didn’t really think before he acted and maybe that was the only reason they were friends, anyone who actually spared a thought to their actions wouldn’t walk up to Gavin and just start making conversation. Gavin had a total of 3 close friends, Tina who was his friend because they had known each other since they ate crayons, Elijah because he was his cousin and Gavin was going to live with him and his Aunt and Uncle for the foreseeable future and Leo, because Leo was a fool.

“Mom says she’s leaving dinner for us in the fridge” Elijah knocked at his door “You and Leo can come get it whenever, I’ll be working on my robot”

His cousin looked like a sleep deprived, sickly raccoon, same creepy long-fingered, clammy human-like hands and nocturnal habits. Gavin had been living with him for years now and he still wondered if Elijah actually slept, or ate, or did anything else that normal people did. His cousin looked around the room “Where is he?”

Gavin shrugged “Who knows, I’m not that idiot’s keeper”

“Did you have fight?” Elijah asked, this was unusual, his cousin usually avoided conversation as much as he could (unless it was about code or robots or computers) Gavin could relate to that (not the robots part), maybe it was a family trait like the coffee addiction.

“What did you do?” Elijah asked

“Nothing” Gavin huffed, at least nothing he was conscious of

“You should ask Tina what was it that you did” Elijah said

“Why the hell are you fixating on this?” Gavin said irritably

“He’s always here on Thursdays” Elijah unlike Leo was very much a creature of habit “He’s often here, but he never fails on Thursdays, mom even counts him for dinner, he was here even when he broke his wrist or last year when he got mono”

Leo’s mom had come to retrieve him 3 times ‘I don’t even feel that bad,’ Leo had said before falling asleep immediately, drooling his mono infected spit right into Gavin’s pillow covers.

“He must have forgotten” Gavin said “He’s busy with school and shit,”

“I’d ask Tina to make sure if I were you” Elijah said before closing the door to Gavin’s room.

Gavin finished his homework, glancing at the empty window far too often for comfort, he had the dinner his aunt had left in the fridge while Leo’s share remained uneaten; he prepared to go to bed putting on the old hoodie and sweats he wore to sleep. Once there he checked his email, nothing new, checked the social media accounts that Leo and Tina had made him open. Leo had no new posts.

“Did I do anything?” he texted

“U r using your words!!! Must be important” Tina replied

He usually only communicated through emojis Tina and Leo could read like hieroglyphics

“Did I do anything?” Gavin texted again

“Did you?”

“Tina…”

“What u mean?”

“Did I do anything, as in worse than usual?”

“Well you DID punch Connor in the stomach for NO GOOD REASON, and you told Mr. Anderson he stank of booze to his face, and you did throw your coffee right to Richard’s head, everyone knows it was on purpose by the way, and you pushed Simon out of your way, you can be such an absolute bully sometimes, that kid looks like a dying victorian child”

… Tina is typing

“I don’t give a fuck about any of that, I mean to Leo and shit”

Tina stopped typing and restarted again

“Not that I know of, why? Did he say anything?”

“He didn’t come today”

“Oh shoot!” Tina texted back “It mustn’t have gone great with his dad then”

Phck, Gavin had forgotten that was today.

Leo had gone on and on about how his mom was going to take him to meet his dad for the very first time this week, he was some famous, rich art geezer or something. Gavin didn’t fucking understand why Leo was so eager to please someone who’d never showed one iota of interest in knowing him. Gavin and Leo had met at a time when Leo still talked and asked his mom about his dad often, he worried about his dad often, waited for any signal of his dad often, wondered why he wasn’t good enough for his dad often, and Gavin knew he still did all of that only he didn’t say it aloud. It wasn’t good that Leo wasn’t currently sitting at Gavin’s desk babbling away about how awesome and incredible his dad was, staying up until 1 am because he had to tell every single detail of the day to Gavin as soon as humanly possible.

Gavin got up not even bothering to change out of his pajamas “I’m going out, Elijah!” He shouted as he went down the stairs, he thought he heard a muted response from his cousin. His uncle was on a business trip, and his aunt wouldn’t return from her shift until late in the morning. He went to the garage for his bike.

He pedaled through the suburb streets, it was a cool, quiet night, and Leo’s house wasn’t far. When he got there Leo’s room was dark, there was a light on in the kitchen and another in his mom’s music room. Gavin circled the house trying to find a way to go up to Leo’s bedroom window, just like Leo always got to his. He tried to stand on the porch railing to get on the ceiling. The railing gave up under his weight, but no fucking problem he had enough upper body strength to get himself up, how mad would Leo’s mom be about him destroying her house was something he didn’t bother to think about.

“You better get the fuck out of my fucking property motherfucker!,” Lorelei Martinet came out of her house charging like a viking warrior, holding a baseball bat in one hand and her cellphone presumably with *91* dialed already, in the other “I have had a day, and I’m eager to hit something, I’ll fucking end you!” she wasn’t one to ask someone to do something for her if she could get it done herself

“Miss Martinet” Gavin said sounding a bit strangled, the rain gutter was starting to hurt his hands rather unpleasantly, but if he let go he’d probably impale his leg on the splintered wood of the broken railing and there would go the wrestling team for this semester.

“Holy Fuck, kiddo!” Lorelei huffed “What the hell are you doing, I could have beaten you to a pulp,”

“Is Leo home?” he asked, trying to sound as casual as he could, hanging from the ceiling like that corny ‘hang in there�� poster the school nurse had in her office, he’d never felt more fucking stupid

Lorelei huffed out a laugh “hang in there” She said and Gavin thought that the rumors of Leo’s mom probably being a witch were true, she must be reading his mind, just like her to make fun of him, like mother, like son “I’ll bring you a ladder” she added

Gavin waited for what seemed like hours but wasn’t even a minute, with his hands killing him until he felt the relief of his weight being taken by the metal ladder “It’s late, don’t even think you are going back,” Lorelei said firmly “I’ll text your aunt to tell her you are staying over” she said, in a tone that meant it wasn’t optional.

“Fine” he said getting onto the ceiling, you had to have common sense enough to know when your opponent was much more powerful than you, especially if they were a witch

He knocked on Leo’s window, noticing that his nightlight was on; he could be such a kid at times. There was no movement in the bedroom and Gavin thought he may be sleeping, or maybe wearing his headphones. He got his phone out

“I’m outside your window, dumbass”

Finally signs of life, the glow of Leo’s phone, and then the idiot himself moving under his weighted blanket, Gavin’s phone lit up with a notification

“It’s open”

For fucking real, Gavin thought, pushing up the window and walking to the pile of blankets he assumed to be Leo. He pushed them down putting all his weight on it

“What are you doing?!” Leo’s muted complaint came from under the covers

“Checking if you are alive, dumbass” Gavin replied

“Not for long if you keep crushing me!” Leo said finally coming out of his blanket, his hair was messed up, and his eyes were puffy and red

“You sick or what?” Gavin said, getting on the bed and scooting until he could sit with his back against the wall

“Are you in your pajamas?” Leo asked sleepily

“Are you?”

“Of course I am, I’m in my house trying to sleep” Leo said “Weirdo!” Leo curled under his blanket again

“Aren’t you going to tell me how it went with your old man and shit?” Gavin said, kicking gently at the blankets, feeling he was really bad at this

“There’s nothing to tell” Leo said

Leo having nothing to say was bad news. There was a sleepy silence in the room while Gavin sat on Leo’s bed watching the teal-green sparkles from his nightlight twirl on the walls.

“If you are like cold, I’ll share my blanket” Leo said eventually, holding the weighted blanket up for Gavin to get in.

Gavin lay on the bed next to Leo, it wasn’t awkward, they had been having sleepovers for what seemed like forever, only it was usually Leo in his room and very rarely the other way around. Gavin vaguely realized, as much as a 16 year old could, that he was selfish, careless, letting Leo do all the work.

“You okay?” Gavin forced himself to ask after a while

“I don’t think he liked me at all” Leo said, sounding defeated “I just felt so stupid all the time, he asked me about school and the things I wanted to do, and I told him about going exploring abandoned places and whatever, and he just– Everything I do and like felt so stupid and small and pointless“

“He sounds like a prick” Gavin said derisively “Don’t worry about that fucker, he gives you money, right? Who cares about anything else?”

“I just” Leo said “I just wanted him, I don’t know, I knew he wouldn’t like love me or anything but I thought he may like me a little”

“Fuck him, who gives a shit about that crusty prick” Gavin said “Your mom loves you”

“I know” Leo said sounding more like himself

“I love you,” Gavin said, “Not, not like your mom does, but I do” he said awkwardly because he meant it and he’d probably not be able to say it again in years, but even Gavin with his atrophied emotional intelligence knew Leo really needed to know people loved him today.

“What?!”

“You heard me, I’m not fucking saying it again” Gavin said daring to look at Leo’s face “Don’t fucking cry! I’m not telling you so you cry, dumbass!”

“I’m not fucking crying” Leo sniffed “You really mean it, is not like you are only saying it to make me feel better?”

“Have I ever said anything to make anyone feel better?” Gavin said drily

Leo hugged him then, cuddling up to his chest, Gavin felt his face grow hot and he was glad Leo couldn’t see him blushing

“I love you too, like a lot,” Leo said into his chest “a lot, a lot, do you wanna go on sort of like a date over the weekend?”

“sort of?”

“No,” Leo replied “a date, date”

“We can bike to that abandoned amusement park you talked about the other day,” Gavin suggested “the one with that old merry-go-round”

“Don’t you think that would be stupid?”

“Do you think it would be stupid?”

“No… I think it would be super neat” Leo said softly “We can see if we can make the merry-go-round work” Leo added sleepily

Gavin didn’t have to answer to that, Leo fell asleep just as he usually did, all of a sudden and without warning, not surprising when he was tired and spent up from crying. Gavin drifted off to sleep as well, thinking the merry-go-round would be a great place for their first kiss; Leo was the type of sappy idiot that’d love that type of thing.

#dbhrarepairsweek #leo manfred #gavin reed #gavin x leo #leovin #detroit become human

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