#also an older woman's body in the bg | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

momolady · 2 years

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Vintage Misery: Part One

This has been a patreon exclusive for a year now, and I've been just dying to share it. This story takes place in the 90s, set in a southern college town that has secrets hidden to keep the genteel atmosphere. The kindly locals almost seem to smile too much, and anyone from outside is looked at with odd glances. (Features horror elements.)

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I’ve learned a few things from car salesmen, televangelists, and other hawkers - how to razzle-dazzle to sell something that many don’t believe exists. For most, what I sell is a form of entertainment - movie franchises, late-night television hosted by busty goths. But it's all too real for me, having inherited my family’s knowledge and a touch of my mother’s gifts.

Much like a traveling salesman, I try to hit up well-to-do neighborhoods. But college towns are also a boon for my business, especially when sororities and fraternities are involved. They usually reside in old houses, children of old money. Old money means new money for me. But it's the old houses that usually hook me - the older the better, and the more columns on the porch, the better. Especially in the south. I love taking business to the old south.

The houses are usually remnants of plantations, and there’s enough history to build off of to scare some idiot kids into making their parents pay for my expertise. Pretending to be a fortune teller and medium and performing for parties is how I started. After that, I would usually have repeat customers come asking for more. And then, bit by bit, the hauntings started.

One party I went to recently was supposed to be a bg break. One of the girls in the sorority was the daughter of a notoriously superstitious beauty tycoon, known to do business deals under the strict guidance of her horoscope and the placement of celestial bodies. She used crystals, tea readings, and all sorts of new-age bullshit to run her business and family. And her daughter was within my grasp.

I pretended to read the young woman as her sisters watched expectantly, with big eyes surrounded by too much eyeshadow. I sometimes think how I could have been one of them, had my parents not dragged me across the globe. But that was me being bitter. “And you, young lady,” I said to one of the girls, “you are currently dealing with unrequited love.”

The girl looked scared, and then near tears. “How did…”

I tilted my head as a cool breeze stirred my hair. “It’s for one of the professors.”

“I knew it,” another girl said as smugly as possible.

The lovestruck girl shook her head at me. “Can I make it work?”

I feel the cold breeze against my ear. “No. He’s your fucking professor, and he’s either gonna use you and lose you, or keep you on the side until he loses everything in the ensuing scandal. Get over it. Besides, there’s a boy in Delta house who has your picture in his wallet.”

The girl, through tears, sniffled and looked at me hopefully. “Who?”

The breeze went through my hair. “Something Buchanen.”

“Max?” The smug girl said.

I checked my wristwatch. “Oh, dear, look at the time ladies.” I tapped my watch face. “Time’s up for me.” I stood and blew out the candles, then turned on the lights.

Smug girl jumped up. “Wait! What did you say about Max having her picture?”

“It’s in your room,” I scoff. “Go and look for yourself if you don’t believe me. Now if you want me to stay longer, you’re going to have to pay more.” A chill ran down my spine. “And buy me some burritos for dinner.”

Smug girl ran to her room to search for the wallet. I left with my money, and descended the front stairs of the old place. It was dark already, and the streetlamps were casting shadows.

“You should have stayed!” The cold wind hit the back of my head.

“What for?” I snapped. “I can get you burritos, Neil. There was a Mexican joint down the block from here.”

“But that one girl had a stash!” The wind materialized beside me, looking like a wrung-out stoner.

“You’re dead. You can’t get high anymore.”

“But I can remember,” Niel whined. “Just by the smell, the smoke…”

I shook my head. “You died stoned. Of course you remember.” Neil was my best friend. I met him ages ago during one of my parents' many paranormal studies, the victim of a ritualistic sacrifice, lured into a trap with food, pot, and a promise for his poetry to be published. His ghost had haunted the site for ages looking for his promised gifts. I promised him everything except the publishing, which by then he had given up on.

“Whoa.” Neil grabbed my arm. “What is that?”

A troop of girls passed by us - beautiful, almost too beautiful, with creamy pale skin, impeccable clothes, radiant hair. As they walked by, another chill ran up my spine. Behind them trailed another girl on forearm crutches. She was just as beautiful as the rest, even more so with her wounded bird atmosphere.

“What on earth were those?” Neil whispered.

“They’re called women, Neil,” I scoffed and continued walking along. The chill from those girls wasn’t new. I was alway anxious around pretty people, but for some reason I couldn’t shake the feeling even as we walked away.

I took Neil to the Mexican place and ordered him the burrito of his dreams. As long as I supplied him with his favorite food, he stuck to our deal. I suppose I scared the waitress when I recited Neil’s order to her. The burrito he craved would have been monstrous even for the likes of bigfoot or a tyrannosaurus rex. When I first met Neil, I equated him with my favorite teddy bear - short, husky, hairy, and wearing a denim jacket. He was all too happy to leave the site of his death, and it was lucky for him I had a droplet of my mother’s abilities so I could free him.

The takeout order was extremely heavy, most of it from the weight from Neil’s burrito. As we went back to the motel I was staying at, we passed a phone booth. “Wait a second.” I told Neil. “I should call home.”

“Oh, come on! Can’t you call at the motel?” Neil whined.

I entered the phone booth, slid in the quarters and dialed. The phone rang four times before the answering machine kicked in, and I heard my dad’s voice before the beep. “Hey, it’s me. Just giving my weekly update that I’m alive,” I sighed. “Guess you’re still out, or at the museum. Anyways, it’s me. Your daughter. Alive.” I hung up the phone, and as I stepped out of the booth I saw giant globs of beans, beef, lettuce, sour cream spill out onto the sidewalk. “For the love of God, Neil!” I snapped.

He was holding the burrito, practically unhinging his jaw to bite into it even as it went right through him to splatter on the ground. “You’re just wasting it!” I snatched the bag from the ground, not realizing he’d taken it from the shelf in the phone booth while I wasn’t watching. “That was a fucking twenty-dollar burrito!”

The last bit of burrito hit the ground, sending sour cream and beef juice to splatter over my feet and ankles. I glared at Niel, and he just licked his fingers. I rolled my eyes and moved along. No sense in arguing about it now.

The motel smelled like cigarette smoke and bleach, but it wasn’t the worst one I had ever stayed in. The yellow walls, orange bedding and brown carpet made me feel like I was in a sepia-toned picture. “When should I go back?” Neil asked.

“In a couple of days,” I huffed. I sat down at the sticky little table by the window so I could eat my food. “Let them stew for a few days and get comfortable again. Then you can go back and do your business.”

Neil sat down on the bed. “I feel so bad picking on girls, though. I much prefer scaring guys.”

I opened my takeout box. “Well, one of those girls can get us good connections with her very rich, very superstitious mother. We might be able to stop this nonsense and live the high life.” I stopped mid-bite when I grasped my own wording. “No, you won’t be able to get high.”

Neil pouted, then floated away through the wall. After I ate, I climbed into bed and lay staring at the ceiling. There was a huge water stain there. How long had it been there? Was it a sign of pipe damage? A shoddy roof? I thought about these things until I fell asleep, to keep other thoughts from invading my mind.

I woke to the sound of someone pounding on the door. I sat up and caught a glimpse of Niel’s ass before he pulled himself back through the door. “It’s the cops!”

I huffed and got up to answer the door. “What are you doing?” Neil snapped.

“What are you afraid of? We don’t have anything.” I opened the door, but kept the chain latched. “Do you know what time it is?”

“Ma’am, were you at Alpha Sigma Alpha house last night?” the cop outside asked me.

“Good morning to you, too,” I grumbled. “What is this pertaining to, officer?”

The officer was stone-faced, and obviously not in the mood for anything other than being obeyed. “Please answer the question, ma’am.”

“Yes, I was. Now what is this about?”

“Please step outside, ma’am.”

I looked back at Neil, who had hidden under the bed, and rolled my eyes. There went my chance for explaining myself with a haunting. “Not until you tell me why I should.”

“We need to take you in for questioning,” the officer replied, stony as ever.

I furrowed my brow. “Questioning? For what?”

“So we can get your testimony of last night’s events.”

A chill went down my spine. This wasn’t good. Either those sorority girls turned on each other, or I somehow passed by a murderer on the way to the restaurant and didn’t know it. “Can I get changed at least? Maybe a coffee?” I huffed.

“I’ll be waiting here.”

I closed the door and started getting dressed. “Come out, Neil. You have to go with me.”

“I ain’t going nowhere in no cop car.”

“You’re dead, Neil,” I snapped at him. “Besides, you owe me for wasting that burrito last night.”

“You can’t use that against me.”

I threw on my jacket and glared at him. “You know I will, so don’t fight it!” I opened the door and stepped outside. “Okay, I’m ready.”

The cop looked over my shoulder into the room. “Are you in there with someone? I thought I heard a male voice.”

“It’s next door.” I closed the door behind me. “The guy in there has been pacing and mumbling all night.” Crap, this cop might be sensitive. He heard Neil, but I didn’t think he could see him.

The cop looked me over. His badge read Mercy. “What’s your name?”

“I’ll tell you when I’m questioned, Officer Mercy.” I followed him to his car. It wasn’t my first ride in a cop car. I leaned close to the cage that separated the front from the back. “Am I allowed to request a coffee, Officer Mercy? You did wake me up rather rudely.”

“We have coffee at the station,” he said sternly.

“You play the part really well. Let me guess, it’s a family thing. Father a cop? Brother a cop?” I waited for Neil to climb into the front seat. “Your mother’s a cop, too. But she retired, right? To raise a house full of boys.”

Mercy twitched and looked at me in the rearview mirror. “What are you talking about?”

“She ran the house like a bootcamp, right? Is that why you have trouble with constipation? You’re still stressed about it?”

At the stop sign he braked hard and turned around in his seat to look at me. “What are you talking about?”

There was a bottle of constipation pills in the glove compartment, along with a note from a doctor suggesting he take time off for stress. There were also a lot of pictures in Officer Mercy’s wallet. Sentimental, despite the bitterness of his upbringing.

“Coffee first? Or do you not understand what your last name means, Mercy?”

Officer Mercy gave me the eye before turning back around in his seat. “You really are psychic,” he muttered.

“Oh, so you do get it?” I leaned back in the seat while Neil came back to join me. “What happened last night? Did someone die?”

Mercy was quiet, but in the mirror I saw his tense brow and the look of fear in his young eyes. I knew that look, unfortunately.

“How bad was it, Mercy?”

“Ma’am, I won’t talk about it here. You’re being brought in for questioning.”

“That bad, huh?” I murmured. “Was it your first time seeing…”

“Ma’am!” he snapped.

I stopped, knowing I might be making his stress-induced constipation worse. I sighed, crossing my arms against my chest. Once we arrived at the station, I was led to a room where I saw some of the girls from last night. They looked awful, frightened, and I felt for them, whatever they had to witness last night. I was taken to the back and made to sit in a very cold, dimly-lit box with a two-way mirror.

“How do you take your coffee?” Mercy asked.

“With enough cream to make it beige,” I answered.

Mercy furrowed his brow at me.

“It’s not the worst thing you’re going to deal with today, Officer,” I scoffed. “I’ll behave, promise.” He left and I sat, knowing I’d be kept waiting a while. I learned that from my parents, who’d done it before during their studies.

Another cop came in, bigger and more like a pitbull than baby-faced Mercy with his thin mustache coming in. “You are Alice Young, correct?” he said in a chain-smoker wheeze.

“I prefer Al, but yeah. Can you tell me why I’m here? Officer Mercy was chintzy on the details, as well as the coffee he promised me.” I leaned back in my chair, waiting for Neil to return.

Officer Pitbull tossed some pictures onto the table. I recognized them as Smug Girl and Hot-For-Teacher Girl. “Did you speak to these young ladies last night?”

“Yes. This one hired me.” I pointed to Hot-For-Teacher.

The officer placed his elbows on the table and one of his chins on his knuckles. “Can you explain why?”

I looked away from the picture, still waiting for Neil. I hoped I could hesitate long enough. “What were you told?”

Office Pitbull was obviously there to intimidate me, but I had seen much worse than him. “It doesn’t matter. I need to know what you were doing at that house last night.”

“I was hired for a job. The girls were having a party and I was brought in to perform as a medium for entertainment. I performed, then I left and got food at Habanero.” I met his gaze. “Why am I here, officer?”

The door opened and Mercy came in with my coffee. He looked white as a sheet, but he quietly placed my coffee before me on the table. I took a drink as Neil whispered to me, having followed Mercy in. “Thank you, Mercy. This is perfect.” I sat the cup down. “The girls were killed? I’m sorry.”

“You told her?” Pitbull snapped at Mercy.

I shook my head. “They were found in their beds, doors locked, windows open.” I looked directly into Pitbull’s eyes. “No blood, but…”

He slammed his palms down on the table. “You stop your voodoo priestess horseshit this instant! I won’t have it in my building!”

“It’s real…” Mercy started but quieted himself and went back to his uptight stony demeanor from before.

“They said you were hired as a psychic,” Pitbull spat.

I nodded. “I was.”

Pitbull thought he had me there. “And yet you couldn’t predict they were going to be murdered? Or did you not warn them?”

I glared at him. “What do you think?”

He slammed both palms down. “You could be an accessory!”

“I was there, yes, I admit it. But all I did was tell them things they already knew. I can only tell things about people when I’m near them. I can’t tell the future. My abilities lie elsewhere.”

“Yes, I saw your card.” The officer slid it out from the same folder he took the pictures from. “Exorcisms and ghost removal. What sort of bullshit are you trying to sell?”

“Is this about me, or are you going to do anything about those poor girls?” I pressed my finger into the picture. “I’m not at fault here, officer. I’ll tell you what I saw last night, but I had nothing to do with this. I was just in the house as a guest, a party act.”

Office Pitbull glared at me with his lip curled.

“I passed a group of young women as I walked down the street. One had forearm crutches. It was late and dark, and I didn’t really see many people out and about. Even the restaurant I went to was empty aside from a few drunks at the bar.”

“Those girls must be the Harvey sisters,” Mercy said.

Officer Pitbull glared at him. “You’ll have to give me a full statement of what happened last night. Everything from the moment you arrived to the time you left.”

This guy wasn’t going to let me off easy. He probably thought I committed the murders, just because I was a stranger claiming I had powers. He probably thought I was crazy, and for him that was enough to label anyone guilty. I gave my statement from top to bottom as best I could. Then I was allowed to leave, but since Officer Mercy brought me here I had to walk myself back to the hotel.

“This is bad, Al,” Neil shivered.

“We did nothing wrong. What’s bad about this?” I huffed.

“No,” he shook his head. “Those girls, how they died… It’s bad, Al. Really bad.”

I stopped to look him in the eye. “What happened? You only said the bare minimum in the police station.”

Neil’s eyes were bloodshot and dilated. That was usual for him, but there was something new to them, a fresh look of fear. “They were ripped apart.”

“But you said there was no blood,” I huffed.

“There wasn’t!” Neil shook his head wildly. “It was like they’d been… partially eaten.”

A stone sank heavily into my gut. “Oh.”

Neil looked distressed. “I’ve seen some things, but I ain’t ever seen anything like that, Al. Those pictures… those poor girls.”

“Well, there goes my big payday,” I scoffed.

“Is that all you care about?” Neil snapped.

“Look, we’re lucky this is all that this has to do with us. We’ll get out of here and that’ll be the end of it. I’m sorry you had to see that, but there was nothing we could have done. Nothing we can do now. These aren't ghosts, obviously.” I huffed and shoved my hands into my pockets, continuing the walk back to the motel.

Once there I began packing, which wasn’t hard. The bus wasn’t leaving until that evening, so I stayed in the motel the rest of the day. Then, just as I stepped out of the motel office, I saw the girl with forearm crutches outside. She was very petite and lovely. Her long hair was tied back into a sleek braid, and she was wearing a plaid skirt with a matching jacket. She reminded me of a doll. “I’m glad I caught you!” she said breathlessly. “You’re the psychic from the Alpha Sigma Alpha house, right?”

“Not anymore,” I huffed. This girl was so pretty it was almost criminal. My hands were getting sweaty just looking at her.

“Please, I need your help.” She came closer to me. “It’s about what happened last night at the house.”

I walked away from her. “I’m sorry, but I don’t…”

“I saw something last night, and no one will believe me! Please, you have to help. If anyone will believe me, it's you.”

I stopped in my tracks, but only because Neil had grabbed hold of me.

“My name is Beth,” the girl said softly. “I can pay you for your help.”

Neil forced me to turn around. “What did you see?”

“It climbed up through the window last night. I saw it when I was coming back from class,” she said. “It looked like a demon.”

“Last night?” I frowned. “You had classes that late?”

“There are night courses I have to take,” Beth replied. “I even drew what I saw.” She took a piece of paper from her jacket and handed it to me. I unfolded the paper and inside I saw a contorted, long-limbed figure. The mouth was opened, stretched wide and filled with jagged long teeth.

“It reminded me of that movie, the old one,” Beth said, breathless. “The tall man with the hunched shoulders, bald head and pointed ears and teeth.”

“Nosferatu,” I grimaced. “Vampires aren’t real.”

“But I saw it!” Beth argued. “Please, you have to believe me. You’re the only one who can possibly help us.”

I looked back at the picture. “This won’t be cheap.”

Beth shook her head. “I don’t care. I need you.”

I folded the picture and stuck it into my own pocket. “Let’s talk, then.”

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I just wanted to get out of this town. If Officer Pitbull had any say in the matter, I was the primary suspect in a double homicide, and this held the possibility of him unearthing a slurry of unsavory facts about my family. Facts he could use to connect me to the murder of these two girls, or at least provide character evidence indicating my likely guilt.

Beth took me to a twenty-four hour diner so we could talk. It was quiet, filled with exhausted university students, a few truck drivers, and the two waitresses on shift. I ordered coffee and waffles, but only because Beth was paying. My bus had already left, I would have to wait another day to leave.

“There’s not much on her I can read,” Neil sat beside Beth at the booth, going through her pockets and small bag. “Just some loose cash and a student ID.”

I was looking at my coffee while he spoke. Beth could see the creature going into the window last night, but not Neil. It seemed strange.

“I know who you are,” Beth finally said. Her songbird voice was warbly and timid. “I’ve read the books your parents have written.”

I swallowed hard, pressing my tongue against my teeth. “Is that why I’m here, then? You’re a fan of my parents?”

Beth shook her head. “No, I’m genuinely asking for your help. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this creature around campus. And you might know something about it. Your parents have been all over. The Wakefield house, the Seamstress murders…”

I set down the coffee mug a bit too hard on the table. “I know what my parents have done. That was them. Not me.”

Beth’s eyes widened. “But your card says you perform exorcisms and paranormal investigations, just like they do.”

“Go back to what you said before,” I said. “You’ve seen the creature around campus before? Why have you not told anyone?”

“I’ve tried, but my sisters call me crazy. But your parents’ books claim that all sorts of phenomena can occur. I suspect this could be some sort of demon, or even a poltergeist.”

I shake my head. “Demons aren’t so subtle, and poltergeists don’t let themselves get seen. Is this the only strange thing you’ve ever seen? Or has this happened to you before?”

Beth shook her head. “Not that I could recall. Have you seen anything like this?”

I was seven years old when I experienced my first real paranormal phenomenon. My parents were good about keeping me away from their work, and the museum they kept close to the house. My mom talked about a lockbox or something too, but I never knew what that was. Fed up with my parents’ constant reticence and absence, I snuck into their museum, where I was never allowed to go, a treasure trove of artifacts and trophies from their past jobs. I was clutching my teddy bear, the one that I would later equate Neil with. Next thing I knew my dad was dragging me out, my mom was screaming inside, and I didn’t see that teddy bear again until years later, when I discovered it locked into a glass box like a fire extinguisher. I didn’t remember what transpired in the museum, but afterwards it became apparent to my parents I had a gift - I was able to attract ghosts in a way they hadn’t seen before.

I sighed, pushing my plate aside as Neil looked at it hungrily. “I missed my bus for this. I need something more concrete to go off of. Your friends were murdered, and I know you’re shaken. But I don’t deal with murder in the present tense. I deal with the aftereffects, the residual anger so powerful it lingers for centuries. I’m not quite sure what you’re asking me to do, or even to look for.”

Beth stared at me, frustrated almost to tears. “But what about this creature?”

“Call animal control. Wrap yourselves in garlic, hang crosses over every opening in the house. Call a priest, but don’t call me.”

I tried to stand up, but Beth used one of her crutches to hit me in the leg. “Could you tell if something was there if you went to the house?” she asked.

“Maybe, but it’s a crime scene. And the top dog in charge already resents me. I don’t exactly want to give him ammo.” I had already been inside that house, and there was nothing there. I didn’t need to go back to know that.

“I can get you in. No one will be there tonight. There wasn’t even anyone there when I came to get you.” Beth sounded so hopeful. Perhaps if I gave in and went with her, I could convince her there was nothing and leave it at that. Whatever got to those girls wasn’t a ghost, because I’d never heard of a ghost rending flesh like that.

“Fine,” I sighed. “But this will cost you extra.”

Beth nodded, so determined to see this to the end. “That’s fine with me.”

She took me back to the campus, which had been partially closed down. The girls in the sorority house had all gone home by now, and the area around the sorority itself had been cordoned off with police tape. Leading the way on her crutches, Beth guided me to the back of the house. All the doors should have been locked, but the back door opened with relative ease. “I’ll stay here and keep watch,” Beth said. “Be safe, okay?”

I nodded and went inside. As Beth closed the door behind me, I waited for Neil to materialize. “There’s nothing,” he said.

“Nothing at all?” I asked. “Did you check their rooms?”

Neil shook his head. “I wouldn’t dare go in there.”

“You’re a ghost, Neil,” I scoffed. I stepped from the kitchen into the foyer. I had been here before, but everything felt so different. I took a deep breath, smelling the air for any sort of changes. I was starting up the stairs when Neil grabbed me and held me back. I huffed. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t think you should go up there. It could be dangerous.” Neil’s bloodshot eyes stared into me. “Please.”

“There are no ghosts here.” I yanked my arm back and continued to walk up. “So stop acting like a…” The stair under me opened up. I can’t say exactly how it happened, but it almost felt like it was pulled out from under my feet. I grabbed hold just before I plummeted, and dangled there in the darkness before my grip completely failed me. I plunged through the darkness before I fell into water.

“Al!” Neil screamed from above.

I panicked. Unable to find anything solid, I splashed and kicked wildly. I screamed for help, hoping Beth could hear me. My voice echoed off something, so there must have been walls nearby, at least. “Neil!” I cried out.

His hand clasped around mine, pulling me above water and guiding me to something solid. I heaved myself out of the water, gasping for breath and shuddering all over. I reached into my pocket, praying that my lighter still worked. “Are you okay?” Neil asked.

The lighter sparked and squeaked as I tried to get it to light. “No, I’m not fucking okay.” It sparked to life, and the tiny flame cast a small circle of light around me. I stood up on a patch of bare earth. “What the fuck is this?”

“The basement?” Neil chirped.

I shook my head. “There’s no way. A cistern under an old house? Does that make sense?”

“It’s cold down here,” Neil whispered.

“How would you…” A chill cut through my body, and I wished it was because I was soaking wet. I stretched out my arm, moving closer to the edge of the water. I could see things on the surface, floating near the bank. “Are those…” Something clung to the small patch of land that I was on. The water lapped against it, rocking it gently against the dirt. It looked like tattered clothes and rope.

“This isn’t good, Al,” Neil whimpered. “We need to find a way out.”

“Yeah, no shit.” I moved back again. “I need something to light. I can’t keep this lit forever.” I felt across the dirt. “You start looking for a way out.”

“Are you sure you want to be left alone?” Neil asked.

“What else do I have going for me? Just go.” I kept looking, hoping to find something to illuminate better than a solitary lighter. Eventually I found what looked like an old flashlight, and by some miracle it still worked. I turned it on, shining the light over the water. That’s when I saw it. I switched the light off and held my breath.

“Al, I think I found something!”

“Show me.” My voice cracked.

“It’s over this way.” Neil touched me. “Did you find a flashlight?”

“Neil,” I swallowed hard. “It’s bad. It’s really bad.”

“Well, sure. That’s a given.”

I shook my head. “No. It’s worse than that.” I closed my eyes, turned on the flashlight, and shone it out over the lake. Neil screamed, and I turned it off again. I didn’t need to open my eyes to see the skeletons, the bodies, draped over the patches of earth against the stone walls.

“What the fuck is that? What the fuck? What is…” Niel was beginning to panic. After all, this looked vaguely similar to the mass grave he was left in.

I grabbed him. “The exit, Neil! We need to get out!”

“It’s a murder house! What is happening?” Neil was still babbling as he tried to come to grips with what he saw.

“That’s why we need to go!” I yanked Niel hard, hopefully snapping him back into his senses. He ran, pulling me along behind him. I had to move through the water, stepping on things that felt like bones, but we eventually made it to a door. There was a grate covering it, but the grate buckled easily when force was applied. I stepped out onto the marshy wetlands behind the campus, under an overpass where I could hear cars driving by.

I took deep breaths as I looked around, shaking all over. “Okay.” I breathed. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Neil snapped. “What was that in there?”

“I don’t know.” I started walking around with my fists clenched. “But we’re leaving, that’s for damn sure. I don’t care if Beth begs me to stay. I’m not going back.”

“Are you not going to tell anyone?” Neil quickly ran up beside me.

“No, of course not! I’m not telling anybody about a mass grave! Not until I’m a thousand miles away and can leave an anonymous tip at some phone booth in New York.” I trudged through the sludge until we reached dry land, and it took me a moment to realize we’d wound up in someone’s backyard. “I just want to get out of here.” I started walking across the lawn, hoping it was too late in the evening for anyone to notice me. “Get my fucking things and go.”

The back door of the nearby house opened. Light flooded my vision, and the sound of a gun cocking deafened me. “Don’t move!”

I stood still, quickly throwing my arms up into the air.

“Ms. Young?”

I squinted through the light until I could focus. There was a young man on the porch wearing a shirt and boxer shorts. “Mercy?”

He lowered his gun and stared at me in confusion. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“That’s my question.”

“You’re soaked.” He lowered his gun to his side and waved at me. “Come in.”

I shook my head. “No. I really should go. I need to go.” I turned to continue making my getaway when I tripped over a hose hidden in the grass and fell face-first into a rock.

Needless to say, I was pulled inside by Officer Mercy, who gave me ice for my black eye and even offered me dry clothes. Then he sat down at the table across from me. “I’m sorry about what happened at the station today. I didn’t think Gradings would go off like that on you.”

Seeing him like this, he didn't seem like a police officer, just some baby-faced guy. “I’m sure he’s perfectly nice when coeds haven’t been brutally murdered.”

Mercy shook his head. “No.”

I sighed. “I see.”

“Tell him,” Neil hissed.

I shooed him away like I was swatting a fly. “Is this the first murder around here?” I asked. “I mean, like… gruesome as it is.”

“We’ve dealt with a lot of missing persons reports,” Mercy said. “But nothing like this.” His eyes drifted away into nothing as he rubbed his hand over his jaw and mouth.

I furrowed my brow. “Missing persons?”

“It’s a college town. Kids run away, join cults, bands, lovers, you name it. Most of them turn up, or we’re told they got home.” He shrugged. “I mean, I heard stories that before the college was built here, there were some shady businesses around. But that’s just rumors.”

I lifted the ice bag away from my face. “What kind of shady business?”

“Oh man, that looks bad.” Mercy stood up and approached me. “You’ll probably have a shiner in the morning. I’ll get you some aspirin.”

I scowled. “I’m not going to stay. I really should be going.”

Mercy made me hold the ice back over my eye. “Look, the buses don't run again until the morning, so you might as well stay the night. Whatever you were doing out there, it can wait too, can’t it?”

“Some cop,” I huffed.

“I don’t think you’re guilty. I felt bad even waking you up this morning, but Gradings was dead-set on it. Especially when he found your card on one of the… the girls.” He couldn’t even bring himself to say ‘corpses’.

“You’ve probably had a bad day too,” I muttered. “You saw right?”

Mercy’s skin grew pale and clammy.

“Look, take it from an old hat, there was nothing you could have done. But you can work hard to see that it doesn’t happen again.” I took the ice away from my eye again. “I’ll sleep on your couch.”

“Why don’t you tell him?” Neil snapped at me.

Mercy gave me a curious look. “Old hat?”

I stood up from the kitchen table. “I deal with ghosts, remember? I see death in a different way, but it’s still death.”

That seemed to be enough for Mercy. “Oh, right.” He led me into the living room. “If you need another blanket, just ask.”

I saw an open book on the recliner, along with half a beer. “Can’t sleep?”

Mercy avoided the question by pretending he didn’t hear me. He turned off the light then the one in the kitchen. “You need to tell him,” Neil snapped at me.

“How the fuck do I tell him?” I scoffed. “I told you, I’ll give an anonymous tip once I’m out of here. There’s no sense in putting myself into this drama.”

“You were literally dumped into the middle of it, Al!” Neil hissed. “Something is going on! Those poor girls could be part of it. You could have been, too! The stair didn’t just give way for no reason.”

I put an old throw pillow over my face to try and drown Niel out. “This has nothing to do with ghosts!” I snapped.

Neil threw the pillow across the room. “You’re an idiot,” he snarled into my ear.

I lay there, staring out into the shadows. Everytime I closed my eyes, I saw the bodies in the flashlight beam. I had to stay awake to keep that image out of my head.

I got up as soon as there was light out, and when I did I noticed Mercy sitting in his kitchen, already in uniform and with my dry clothes laid out on the table. “You’re awake.” he said simply.

“So are you.” I took my clothes. “I’ll go change and get out of your hair.”

“How’s your eye?” he asked.

I touched my face. “Sore. How does it look?”

A slight smile appeared on Mercy’s lips, and he looked almost handsome. “Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Did you use my phone last night?”

I clenched my fist around my clothes. Mercy had done this at the hotel, too. “No. Why do you ask?”

“Because I thought I heard you talking to someone last night.” He shrugged. “Sorry. Must have been a figment of my imagination.”

“Yeah, there wasn’t any talking.” I went and changed, folding up the things I’d slept in and laying them aside. I looked back into the mirror and saw Neil standing behind me. “You really almost got me in trouble.”

“I did?” He laughed. “You and I must remember yesterday very differently.”

“Shut up,” I hissed. I left the bathroom quickly, exited the house, crossed the street and kept going. I could see signs for the campus in the distance. Once I got there, I’d be able to find my way back to the bus station, but that Beth girl had my stuff. I needed to find her first.

I turned back around to see Mercy getting into his patrol car, and I went back across the street and leaned over into his window. “Those Harvey girls,” I started. “Do you know where they are?”

“The Harvey girls?” Mercy asked, taking off his sunglasses. “I think they said they were staying somewhere off campus. But they’ve probably left with everyone else.”

“Just tell me where they are, please.”

Mercy motioned to the car door, a slight smile on his face. “Get in and I can take you there.”

I sighed and hopped in. He drove in silence for a while, seeming to want to say something. “How did you know…” Mercy hesitated.

“About your… medical condition?” I shrugged. “I don’t know. Just did.”

Neil scoffed from the back seat.

“It’s pretty amazing. Being able to see things like that about people.” Mercy said. “I wish I knew stuff like that sometimes, without having to speak.” I noticed the way he was rubbing his fingers along the steering wheel, like he was trying to comfort himself.

“It’s not amazing,” I sighed. “It’s a problem.”

He nodded. “I see.” He started slowing down. “This should be it.”

The house was old, and looked like it should have been part of the campus. I stepped out of the car and looked up at the windows, which were all closed and shuttered.

“Do you want me to wait for you?” Mercy asked.

Then I saw my bag, sitting on a chair on the porch. I went up and grabbed it, putting it over my shoulder, then noticed there was a note and a key under the bag. “I don’t know what happened to you last night. But if you come inside you can wait until your bus has to leave. I can take you to the station and pay you for the trouble. - Beth”.

I wanted to leave and wait at the station. But I felt I owed an explanation to Beth, or at least to let her know I was alive. I shook my head at Mercy. “No, just go. Get to work.”

I used the key to open the front door, finding the house dark and quiet. “At least it’s not a death lake,” Neil whispered.

“Shut up. Everyone must still be asleep.” I walked inside, hearing the click-clack of the grandfather clock by the stairs. There was a sitting room just to the right of the entrance, and I sank into a chair, feeling drowsy.

“Should I go and look around?” Neil asked.

“No. Just stay put,” I grumbled. I went through my bag to make sure everything was there. Luckily, it all was. I stood up just to look outside and make sure Officer Mercy had driven off.

“Oh, good, you’re here.” I turned around, and there was Beth standing there.

I stepped away from the windows. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“I was actually just making my way to bed,” she chuckled. “I was up a bit too late doing schoolwork, and then I thought I heard you come in.”

“Go to sleep,” I said. “I can rest here on the sofa.”

Beth then tilted her head. “You look awful. What happened to you last night?” She approached me and stood very close, and one hand left her crutch and took hold of mine.

“I was…” My voice cracked. “It’s hard to explain. I was trying to find your creature, and I got a bit sidetracked.”

“Liar,” Neil grumbled.

She smiled at me. “Why don’t you take a shower, and then you can get some rest before you have to go. I’ll even get a bed made up for you.”

I felt drowsier than before, and I let her lead me away. As I walked down the hallway, I saw one of the other girls through an open door. She was standing by her bed, but when I walked by her head turned. It seemed to twist much farther than it should be able, and her eyes looked red. But I was exhausted. I probably wasn’t thinking right.

#exophlia #vampire #vampire girlfriend #ghost #vampire story #horror story #momolady monsters #my writing

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roosterforme · 1 year

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I'm so so so happy you mentioned the possibility of Roo & Baby Girl adopting!!!

I love kids but I hate the idea of getting pregnant. It's quite literally body horror for me and I panic even thinking about it. I tend to avoid pregnancy fics like the plague bc they make anxious so reading something that includes having kids but through adoption makes so happy ♡

They could adopt a toddler or even an older kid, that would be so cute! The process of getting to know and bonding with their adopted child would be top tier tooth rotting fluffy content 👌🏼

But obviously, that's just me and how I feel about it. I'll make sure to read the warnings in case you eventually post pregnancy fics in the future!

I love your works 🥰

Hey nonny! Back in Deployment Diaries, Roo and BG talked about kids, and they both said they would be interested in adopting if they couldn't get pregnant. So really for them, it's more of a matter of when there will be children in their house, not really a matter of if. And if I do another series, their kid(s) wouldn't be the only children involved, so I would make sure to label things well. (I also know kid/pregnancy fics aren't for everyone, so I'm trying to end A Love You Don't Find Everyday in a satisfying spot for anyone who may not want to read further).

My other fics that have kids in them, I made sure to introduce the kids right away so it was obvious that's what the stories were about. And as someone who has been pregnant multiple times, I'm the first person who wants to punch a woman in the face when she says that she enjoyed or enjoys being pregnant. So no matter what I write in the future, it would never have graphic descriptions of pregnancy or childbirth, just an FYI.

Okay, thanks for listening to me ramble!

#if you ask emily #b&bg

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josieoh · 1 year

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[ moon gayoung, cis woman, she/her ] - was that JOSIE OH i saw by the lighthouse today? i heard that the TWENTY SIX year old who has been in nightrest for HER WHOLE LIFE and works as a PARALEGAL has a reputation of being PERSUASIVE, but also OBSESSIVE. they reside in ASHMORE & people in town usually associate them with ADAM AND EVE IN THE SECRET GARDEN, A DAMSEL WHO BECAME THE DISTRESS, & SILK SHEETS KISSING BARE SKIN. let’s hope the killer doesn’t go after them next. ╱ pinterest. dossier.

BRIEF BACKGROUND!

tbh i'm too lazy to do anything special with the bg so we just gonna have to agree to settle for this sry

raised in the shadows of her siblings, jealousy was the emotion most often felt, especially towards their mother's favourite jacob. tried to be the best kid, kept her grades up, got every award she could, played sports, danced, but nothing seemed to work to gain her parents attention ( or the attention of the adults taking care of them ). by her first year of high school, josie was over it. while she maintained her grades, she began hanging with the wrong crowd and leaning more into the black sheep persona among her peers while still trying to be the golden girl for her parents. nothing was off limits and by the time she graduated, she'd secured acceptance to a university out of state where she got her bachelors in paralegal studies. she took a year off to travel ( read: party ) and got together with the wrong guy. long story short, it was another two years before she was able to break away from that situation and finally come back home to nightrest where she's been putting her degree to good use ever since. -- basically she's been back nearly two years now.

HEADCANONS!

now onto her as a person.. she's a #Mess. petty, spiteful, overly confident, twisted, loves to argue and will literally do it just for shits and giggles ( even better if it pisses someone off ), does whatever she wants whenever she wants with no regard to other people and their feelings, and very i am woman, hear me roar. she's loyal to one person and that's herself ( and her siblings so ig 3 people ). here for a good time, not a long time. doesn't believe in anything that isn't a dress or skirt but wears pants suits to work bc the men she works with are pigs and she likes her job. speaking of her job, i imagine she works for one of the best lawyer firms in the area and specialises in criminal law, but she knows her way around business law too thanks to her parents ( yes she's still trying to find acceptance what of it ). takes her beauty seriously --- the type to have an extremely intensive skin care routine, work out routine, and diet. think like patrick bateman from american psycho sorta serious.. just minus the psychopathic murderer tendencies ( maybe. it's a surprise ). a practicing wiccan with an altar and all. will happily read your palm or tarot for free if you're a friend or for a "price" if she thinks you're hot enough. still a partier with nothing being off limits. has probably gotten really good at detoxing herself just in case there's ever a drug test at work. despite the fact that nothing's off limits and she's..well, her..she's very diligent when it comes to her job and probably one of the best around. organisation skills are on point, attention to detail is top tier, mistakes are an absolute no-no, etc etc. don't get her started, she can talk about how amazing she is forever still very much jealous of her older brother, but won't hesitate to add your ass to nightrest's body count if you fuck with him in even the SLIGHTEST way 😠 and did she settle in ashmore to be close to said brother? maybe. we don't talk about it. if you wanna help her help her bro find love tho......ig you can hit her up. just don't use her in an attempt to get to her brother. been there done that didnt want the ugly tshirt. did i mention she was a scrapper? bc she is, she just prefers to do so verbally due to her job ( tho given her parents, she's probably not likely to lose it even if only due to them trying to keep their rep in place ).

anyway she's an annoying lil hellion but i hope yall love her as much as i do thank u

#nightrest:intro

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cinnamonest · 3 years

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Ngl with all i’ve seen on the tw:incest tag here im like, Xingqiu is def getting a sister-wife huh. His older brother is hopeless at running the fam business and he’ll have to take over or be the one in the bg who’s truly running the show. His parents also know what kinda of “buffonery” interests the second son of the Feiyun Commerce Guild and would prefer to keep his antics a family secret, so instead of finding some girl whose family would be too afraid to breathe a bad word about Xingqiu, they wed him off to his sister. I think it’d be spicy if its his older sister, and maybe she was originally meant to wed the first son but his incompetence... yeah, the parents didn’t want to waste their arguably good daughter on him. You can even throw in a pseudo-mom kink for Xingqiu, as he’d be the baby of the family and his big sister may have been the one to shower him in affection and care since his infancy- might’ve even been her fault why he’s so obsessed with the Guhus Clan and chivalry to begin with. After all, a proper gentleman doesn’t fantasize about fucking his sister open every time she stretches and groans and a flash of skin peeks out from her shirt. A good younger brother doesn’t covet his older brother’s fiancee. A good younger brother doesn’t sneak into his sister’s room after a “nightmare’ and ask to sleep with her, and wait till she’s deep asleep to start exploring her body and licking her sopping womanhood clean when he’s done, or get her drunk at a gala and take her home to nurse her better (and fuck her warm and inviting pussy raw as payment for his kindness), or take advantage of their family’s questionable morality to make her accept teaching him how to pleasure a woman properly bc thats what good big sisters do, right? So you should stop covering your face and tell your cute baby brother what feels good and how he should arch his fingers and angle his dick. (Don’t mention your eldest brother- Xingqiu hates it. Don’t breathe a word of how he fucks you or how his dick reaches in deeper than Xingqiu’s currently can. He’ll only get meaner and rougher and he’s a growing boy- he’ll exceed his brother soon enough.)

Most of all, a good son doesn’t threaten/beg his parents to make his sister his wife, or else he’ll abandon the Guild and leave it in the incompetent hands of his older brother. Where it would surely stagnate or worse, fall into ruin.

#lena's asks #q #!!!#tw: incest

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angelanimedesaray · 3 years

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Wings in the Dark Chapter 6: Stories From the Dark

AN: I feel like this chapter should have been posted around Halloween, but there was NO WAY I was waiting that long XD Also its a bit short, I think, to me, it goes a little quick, partially because I didn’t want to have to write Levi wandering around this little town this whole time having all this meaningless chit-chat meant to fish information, I decided summarizing was best with detail where it counted XD

Characters: Levi, Fem!Vampire!Reader (Mentioned), Erwin, Various OCs and BG Characters

Pairing: (Eventual) Levi x Fem!Vampire!Reader

Warnings: Descriptions of Violence, Descriptions of Murder Aftermath, Description of Fatal Injuries, Description of Buried Alive, Descriptions of Injuries, Language

Word Count: 5188

<----Previous Chapter Masterlist Next Chapter---->

*Levi's POV*

While taking such a sudden few days off might have caused a couple bumps in the way things were developing around HQ, but he knew Erwin would be able to handle it and smooth things over, so he stayed focused on the task at hand.

Stripped of any signia, symbol, or uniform resembling clothes that could suggest that he was part of the military, Levi was dressed in plainclothes, having taken a carriage out to L/N’s supposed hometown early in the morning. He still arrived with plenty of time in the day to investigate the town and see what he could find on-site, taking in the small, easily overlooked town that was more of a loose collection of homes bordered by farms, with a central farmer’s market to keep some local trade and business going. Any serious buying and selling probably consisted in a day’s trip to one of the larger towns within Wall Rose, but it seemed they had basic foodstuffs here. He managed to find a blacksmith tucked away in a corner between a small grouping of houses, as well as an old, empty building that had a weathered carpentry sign in front of it. So there had been more trade smiths around here, before the town gradually lost those businesses.

Talking casually with the blacksmith informed Levi that a ways past the farms, there was a home that was the reason for most of their outside visitors--people who could afford to would put their elderly loved ones in the care center, and there was a separate building for the mentally ill to live comfortably and get the care they needed as well. Visitors to the town usually consisted of relatives visiting their loved ones in the homes, or they were descendants that had moved away but came back for the occasional hometown or family visit.

Which meant Levi, having no ties himself and not knowing about the homes, stuck out a bit despite his best efforts. The communities of small towns were tightly knit and they knew their own, so it couldn’t be helped, and he would have to deal with the fact everyone was going to be curious why he was here.

While talking with the blacksmith, he also heard that the carpentry shop had been the family trade for the Frazier family--the family who lost the daughter sharing L/N’s first name. With the murder of their only child, there was no one to take on the family business, and the building had fallen into disrepair after the parents had gone to the home outside town.

That had caught Levi’s interest. They’d been in the home for years judging from the sign alone, and the impression he’d received was that only the well off could supply their own stay at the home, or their family members paid for it. If there were no children to pay for them, and they’d only been a small carpentry business in a no-name town, how could they afford to be in the home? He doubted it was by the grace of the community, though it was a possibility considering the tragedy that had happened here.

Moving on from the blacksmith so he didn’t ask too many questions in one place, Levi made a mental note to make his way up to the homes to investigate the still-living parents of the original Y/N. Making his way to the farmer’s market, Levi perused for any small town hidden treasures and struck up conversations, looking for a town gossip to get talking about the town’s history so that he could eventually hear the more personal tale of the double homicide than the technical report Erwin had scrounged up for him.

While trying to get the man selling the baked goods to be a little more forthcoming, Levi overheard a small group of children, three or four gathered around each other as one of the older children attempted to scare the smallest of the group with a surprisingly gristly tale.

“...clawed at the wood of the coffin, screaming for someone to hear her, too afraid to realize her screams took up what little air she had. Her fingernails broke and blood coated the coffin, her elbow busted open as she pounded and shrieked for help, but no one could hear her so far beneath the dirt. Some say she did manage to break the wood, but halfway through the dirt falling on her she couldn’t breathe, and body’s still frozen in her silent scream, so close to freedom, no one above ground aware of the terror she felt before she truly died. Now, so she doesn’t feel so alone, Screaming Sally’s ghost crawls out of her grave and drags children like you from their beds and drags them into her coffin below ground.”

The poor youngest was visibly trembling, tears of fright in their eyes before one of the other kids shouted and grabbed them, making the youngest shriek and cry as they laughed and continued to pick on them.

“Tch.” Levi turned to them, a glare in his eyes that he pinned on the older kids who should have known better. “Oi! Cut it out.”

Spooked by the scary voice, and even more so by the scary man they saw glaring at them, the older kids bolted, with the youngest running away once they were free of the older kids, most likely to run home and find comfort from a parent.

Levi turned his attention back to the stall in front of him, a woman beside him buying a basket of rolls as he scowled over the childishly cruel display he’d just seen.

“That’s one messed up horror story for kids to be telling each other,” he muttered, paying for a loaf of bread and waiting for the man to finish wrapping it for him. The woman beside him turned with a small shrug.

“All the children around here know about that stupid story about Screaming Sally. It’s been around for decades, and at this point, it’s almost a rite of passage to hear it eventually.”

Levi looked at her, sensing he might have someone who would be willing to share if he asked the right questions. “How did it start?”

The woman sighed, shaking her head. “Some poor caretaker for the graveyard by the woods about forty years back snapped after that double homicide and started trying to tell people one of the girls crawled out of her grave. Everyone knows it’s impossible, not to mention the grave was undisturbed when folks checked in the morning after seeing how sincere he was. They had to put him in the home because he kept insisting he saw it, and eventually the story turned into the Screaming Sally legend the kids are always sharing to scare each other.”

Levi’s head tilted slightly to the side, eyes widening momentarily in surprise as the unsuspected connection jumped out at him.

For the briefest moment, he was looking back up at Kenny years ago as Kenny shared some outlandish story to try and scare him. When Levi had called out it’s legitimacy and accused him of spewing a nonsense legend that wasn’t even possible, he’d suddenly appeared a little serious, a small frown appearing beneath the brim of that signature hat of his as he gave Levi the reply that now rang in his ears.

“There’s always a little truth to every legend.”

Pretending his surprise was over something else the woman had said, Levi took the chance to try and pry the local story from her.

“Double homicide? Out here?” Levi asked, suggesting that kind of thing never happened in places like this.

In his opinion, they were more likely to happen out here, since it was so damn isolated.

As Levi took his wrapped loaf, the two started to walk together, just a little further down the path as she indulged his curiosity.

“I know--it’s the darkest stain on this town’s history. Still unsolved, too--one of those locked room murders I think they call them. Y/N Frazier and Victoria Schultz. The Fraziers’ daughter had been out late the night before and came to her parent’s home to rest instead of going back to her own home. She was sick the entire next day, and her best friend Victoria came to visit her. Sometime between the moment Victoria and Y/N were in the room together to the time the Fraziers checked in on them a few hours later, some psychopath managed to find their way into the room, tore Victoria apart beyond recognition, and disappeared with the Frazier girl. Without the Fraziers hearing anything amiss! The police thought it might have been the Frazier girl, because it was the only possible explanation considering the bedroom door was locked and any attacker would have had to come in through the window, and neither girl made a sound, so perhaps Victoria knew her attacker--but Y/N’s body showed up on the edge of the woods a few days later, poor girl. They never found out who did it, or what exactly happened. It still haunts the people in the town who are old enough to remember it.”

As the woman spun the more personal version of the tale, Levi’s mind filled in the gristly details that had been in the report he’d read. How there had been hardly any blood left in the mutilated girl left behind lying on the bed, but far less in the room than there should have been, how L/N’s namesake had been found lying just within the forest’s edge, neck bruised and broken, as well as several bones, covered in bruises and lacerations. It was a closed-casket funeral for both. They had no leads, no one with a motive, no mysterious footprint or shadowy figure seen leaving the crime scene. They’d just been murdered out of nowhere, and nothing like it had happened anywhere near the town ever since. It was a sudden, violent anomaly in their history, and one that was going to leave a mark that would never disappear.

Levi said goodbye to the woman with the bread roll basket, standing in the middle of the road with his gaze turned towards the homes he’d been told about, a thoughtful frown on his face.

It seemed he had two reasons to visit this place: the Fraziers and the caretaker.

Once there, as curious as he was, Levi decided against visiting the Fraziers and asking about the events of forty years ago. From what he’d been able to dig up, it was likely something that still haunted them to this day, and he wasn’t here to terrorize the elderly.

He did, however, pry into who was paying for their stay at the home. Once at the front desk, he suggested that he wanted to pay for their stay, asking after the amount it would take and how often, before insisting whatever payments they were making themselves stop so they wouldn’t have to pay out of their own pockets. At that point, he’d been politely turned down, the secretary informing him that the Fraziers already had an angel donor who was paying regularly for their stay at the home.

“Can I get a name so I can talk to them about splitting the payments?” Levi asked, leaning forward slightly in anticipation.

“I’m sorry, but...angel donors are what we call anonymous donors who don’t have any ties to the family but still pay for their care. We don’t know who makes the payments, only that they’re made regularly and on time, so Mr. and Ms. Frazier can spend the rest of their days here. I have no name to give you, not that I could, considering that would be sensitive information,” the secretary said politely, though there was a bit of a chill in her voice brought about by Levi’s questioning. He ignored it, busy mulling over this new detail.

He had no evidence to support it, no reason to suspect it, but what if the angel donor was L/N? He knew she was looking for ways to cut costs with how she spent her money, it was one of the reasons she had the tea garden at HQ--it would save her money in the future by cutting costs she spent on things like tea. And her lack of personal belongings could also be from a lack of money to buy nice things for herself. What if the money she saved from her salary was going towards the Fraziers’ well-being?

Again, he had no evidence. It was just a thought, a far-fetched theory, but it was something to take note of and consider, just in case it wasn’t far off the mark.

Getting the hint from the secretary and knowing he was at a dead end as to who was taking care of the Fraziers, at least for what he would find here in town, Levi moved on to the next objective.

“All right, well, I also came to talk to someone in the psychiatric home. He used to be a cemetery caretaker about forty years ago.”

Recognition immediately sparked in her eyes, as well as a bit of apprehension. “We’ll need you to sign in, as well as put down a reason for visiting.”

“Fine,” Levi replied, taking the paper she slid over and writing Jacob, no last name--not that he’d have one to give even if he was using his actual name--and then wrote down social visit before handing it over. Her eyebrows rose slightly and her gaze flickered up to him from the paper, and Levi gazed back at her calmly, waiting patiently for her to at least direct him the proper way.

“Room seventeen. Follow me,” she said, leading them out the door--since they’d been in the home for the elderly--and a little ways away to the other building that acted as the psychiatric home. Once inside she led Levi up two flights of stairs and down a fairly long hall to let Levi into the room marked seventeen in white paint. “Mr. Briarton, you have a visitor,” she said after opening the door, allowing Levi to step into the room and take in a man in his late fifties, early sixties, suspicious pale green eyes narrowed at Levi as he stepped inside.

“I don’t knows you,” the man rasped.

“Jacob,” Levi said bluntly, stepping deeper into the room and staying conscious of the fact the secretary was temporarily lingering to make sure everything was going to be all right. “I came to hear your story.”

“Hah? Here to mock an old man?” Briarton sneered.

“No. Just to listen,” Levi responded simply. Briarton sized Levi up for a moment, then looked at the secretary still standing in the doorway and gave a small wave.

“We’re fine, Janice, you can leave now. I’s knows the rest of you’s is tired of hearin’ my tale.”

“Are you sure, Mr. Briarton.”

“Eh,” he grumbled, and Janice sighed and shut the door, leaving the two of them behind. “Why exactly are you’s interested in hearin’ my story? Everyone else says I’m’s crazy. Locked me up for it, too!”

“I’ve heard the town legends. Someone I knew used to say there’s always a bit of truth to the legends. So I’m here looking for the truth,” Levi answered, leaning up against the wall with arms folded over his chest.

“Hmm…” Briarton hummed, contemplating Levi’s reason before he sighed. “I’s guessin’ you’s already heard ‘bout the murders, if you’s here.”

At Levi’s nod, Briarton skipped over the events that came before, and went right to talking about the burial. “Closed caskets they’s were. Victoria had a pine box, Mr. Frazier insisteds on makin’ Y/N’s hisself, out of willow. We’s buried them midday, six feets down in the grounds, six feets dried earth on those boxes. I’s told they’s were both dead for sures, no comin’ back--specially poor Victoria. Schultz’s weren’t allowed to sees hers it was so bad. Course we’s all thoughts abouts it, we’s all hoped back then the killer’d get caught. People kept comin’ by till it gots too dark and I’s closed the cemetery for the’s night. My’s job was to make sure no ones messed with the graves, and I’s was patrollin’ like usual, and for the’s longest time, I didn’t hear nut-thin. But sometime in the wee hours of the mornin’, as I’s was comin’ up on the girls’s graves, I saw somethin’ movin on the ground on tops of one. I’s went to yells at them, to tell ‘em kids to scram, cause that’s what I’s thoughts they were. But when I’s got close enough to see a bit better, I’s realized they’s was comin’ up from the ground--outta the ground. I’s was frozen in place, watchin’ them’s drag themselves out of the dirt, clawin’ across the ground likes a wounded animal. I’s was tryin’ to scream, but I’s couldn’t makes a sound.”

Briarton stopped, his wide eyes turned towards Levi. “Do you’s know how heavy the dirts is on a coffin? How hard it is to break open a coffin? Impossible’s what it is! My’s brother once locked me’s in one to scares me, and my’s mother lost it whens she found out. I’s was kickin’ and screamin’ for what’s felt like hours tryin’ to break out, but all I’s got from it was bloody hands and elbows. Ands that was without the dirts on tops of it. But I’s swears this girl busted out and crawled outta hers grave. Even if she’s managed to breaks the coffin, she’d’da been crushed bys the dirts. But she’s still crawled outta hers grave. She’s stood up, covered in fresh bloods and dirts, and she’s shoved dirt backs into the hole she’s crawled outta like a drunkard, gaspin’ and wheezin’ and wailin’ like a banshee, an’ then she’s disappears into the night. An’ I’s ran for help, jus’ to get calleds crazy and locked up in here.”

Levi listened to Briarton’s tale in silence, studying the man’s face closely as he spoke to see if the man truly believed every word he was saying. The terror in the man’s eyes was real, though, as he spoke of the impossibility of the haunting image, and there was no trace of insincerity in his face as he spoke. He truly believed in the tale he was telling. Considering the impossibility of it all, Levi also doubted, but he wasn’t going to call him out on in--enough people already believed this man crazy, Levi wasn’t going to add himself to the mix.

He only had one question.

“Who was the woman who crawled out of her grave?” Levi asked steadily, though the crawl of his skin as he said it told him he already knew the answer. He just wanted to hear Briarton say it.

“Y/N Frazier.”

The day had cooled--in fact, it was starting to feel chillier, the sun frequently hidden by clouds that seemed to be gathering across the sky, hinting at fouler weather on the horizon. After taking his leave of Briarton at the home, Levi went looking for the now infamous cemetery--infamous in his mind, at least--and had made his way to the grave of one Y/N Frazier, where he now stood in silent contemplation, staring intently at the headstone that had engraved upon its surface the girl’s name, a birthday and date of death that showed she had barely been in her twenties, and a brief, “Beloved Daughter.”

He wasn’t really seeing the grave anymore, though. His mind was a flurry of thoughts, theories, memories, information...none of the connections he’d made here made any kind of sense to him, but there were far too many to be ignored. There was something here, something that seemed to be staring him in the face, but he couldn’t see what it was, so he couldn’t use it. Not yet, anyway.

Maybe Briarton really was crazy, maybe he hadn’t seen Y/N Frazier crawl out of that grave that night and he’d simply snapped like everyone suggested he had. But there was nothing to have caused him to snap, no trigger. Not to mention, the sheer coincidence was far too strong to be a coincidence.

So, he entertained the possibility that the bizarre and impossible happened, that Y/N Frazier somehow survived, a mistake had been made somewhere and she was buried alive, and managed to crawl out of this very grave. Ignoring the impossibility of that scenario still didn’t give him many answers. If Y/N Frazier was still alive, she would have been sixty, seventy years old by now. L/N back at the Scout Headquarters was in her early twenties, and very clearly /not dead/. So, L/N definitely wasn’t this Y/N Frazier.

But that didn’t mean she couldn’t be related somehow. If the original girl did survive, it would be possible for L/N to be Frazier’s daughter, maybe even grand-daughter, though that was starting to push the theory beyond what he was willing to suspend believing as impossible.

One thing the Screaming Sally horror story had made him remember, and that Briarton’s recounting had brought to the front of his mind to offer him another connection, was the conversation the other day between the rest of his Squad and L/N.

He remembered the tremble in her hand, the stillness in her posture, the flash of soul-deep fear, trauma, and pain in her eyes as L/N had softly stated that her biggest fear was being buried alive.

He had something big here, but he wasn’t sure where it fit in this messed up puzzle he was trying to solve, and was missing some key piece that connected it to something else. He needed more than ever to see what she was doing in the Underground when she snuck out at night--whatever it was, he was convinced at this point it was the missing piece he needed to make sense of all of this.

But first, he needed to do something that would give him a definitive answer amongst all these legends and tall tales.

It was a new low for him, he knew that. The entire ordeal felt wrong and filthy on an entirely new level, but it was something he had to do. No one else had thought to look, to disturb the grave of one of the murdered girls to see if there was any validity to Briarton’s claims, to the stories of Screaming Sally. Everyone brushed it off as nonsense and went about their day, probably because it was so certain, and it was easier to believe the horror stories were nonsense.

Levi didn’t have that luxury. He didn’t have the certainty, and the easier route was not the one he was going to take. He needed answers. So, he’d returned briefly to Headquarters in order to enlist Erwin’s help to give him the opportunity late that very same night to dig up the grave and settle once and for all whether Y/N Frazier had died. It would help clear up some of the questions and theories when he found her body in the coffin, and it might put them back at square one in figuring out why this place and this name had been chosen by Y/N, but it would help bring them back to a world that made some sense, and it would help weed out a few questions that these legends and stories had brought up.

He didn’t want to think of the implications if the grave was empty. He doubted it would be, but if it was...then this entire mess went far deeper than he could ever imagine.

Perhaps that was why Erwin agreed to help him, why he’d paid off the caretaker to make sure the grave was empty but leave the section Levi was going to be in undisturbed until Levi left. Erwin clearly hadn’t approved of disturbing a gravesite, especially the gravesite of a murder victim, but Levi had strongly believed it was necessary despite his own misgivings, so Erwin had relented.

Now, Levi was in a hole that passed his head, digging the last few inches to the willow coffin Y/N Frazier had been buried in, filthy and tired but determined to get to the bottom. Just a little further, and he would have his answer. He would see the bones in an undisturbed grave, fill in the grave once more, go home, wash up, hate himself for a while for doing this to confirm what he already knew, and then go back to trying to figure out why L/N seemed so deeply connected to this place.

He hadn’t found any bodies frozen on its way to the surface, so he could already rule out the legitimacy of the children’s scary story about Screaming Sally, at least.

The shovel Levi was using scraped against something solid, and Levi paused. Here it was. He’d found it.

Kneeling down, Levi started brushing away at dirt so he could find the coffin lid, fingers brushing against wood, hand brushing a little harder to smooth away dirt--

He had to pull his hand back as he unexpectedly came into contact with splintered wood sticking up into the dirt, piercing his hand and drawing blood as he jerked in surprise, breath catching.

No…

A few more careful brushes with his hand, and he was staring at a coffin lid that had been busted open, shards of wood buried in dirt, but the hole clearly enough for a person to crawl out of. He froze where he was as he stared at the sight before him, the odd, irrational fear that a hand was going to burst out of the hole and grasp his wrist strangely flashing through his mind before he pushed it aside. He wasn’t breathing anymore, an admittedly trembling hand reaching out to pull back the lid, just to double check and confirm what he was seeing.

The grave was, in fact, empty. The coffin was busted open with gouges that had old red stains upon them, as if it had been punched and clawed through from the inside.

His blood running cold and his breaths shallow, Levi had to fight not to think of the haunting image Briarton had described, the fear in L/N’s eyes, and the mental image of a woman trapped in this grave screaming and crying for help, having to tear apart her own body and defy all odds to crawl her way to the surface, tried not to imagine the terror of being buried alive like this.

Kenny had been right. There was always a bit of truth to the legend. He never imagined it would be this much truth, though.

When Levi returned to HQ, the first thing he did was clean himself up and get changed. Then, he made himself some of the tea L/N had gifted him, choosing one of the blends meant to calm in the hopes that it would help settle his nerves after what he’d seen.

Outside, he might still appear stoic, but inside, he was shaken.

Once he was clean, he had his tea, and he felt he had a better grip on himself internally and he was ready for the conversation, he went to Erwin’s office and very solemnly relayed his findings to the man, who looked no less disturbed by this unexpected turn of events than Levi had been. They’d expected some kind of secret while digging into the truth about L/N, they hadn’t been expecting a full blown conspiracy on this level.

Once Erwin was up to speed on Levi’s findings, they started to hash out some theories and details, both of them well aware that they were still missing something crucial as they attempted to make a broader picture with the pieces they were currently in possession of.

The running theory they were working with was that Y/N Frazier was L/N’s mother. It was the most logical connection they could come up with, even though it dumped a whole new slew of questions into this mess.

Why did Frazier run after she crawled out of her grave? Why not return to her home and family, alive and well? Why leave the town behind and everyone in it believing she’d died so terribly? Why never come back to tell who had attacked her and her friend Victoria? What happened that night forty years ago? How had she managed to crawl her way out of a grave? Why had she instead disappeared somewhere inside the walls never to be discovered or heard from again, hiding her true identity remarkably well? Or more importantly, how had she been alive? How did she survive those injuries? Had a mistake been made and she’d been assumed dead? Was the report faked?

How was the Underground supposed to come into play in all of this, and what part did L/N have in it as well? If Frazier was indeed L/N’s mother, was Frazier still alive and living in the Underground? Was that why L/N went down there every now and then? Why not bring her mother to the surface with her? Why, when she came to the surface, did L/N take Frazier’s first name and not use her last name? Why not use her real name? How did the events of forty years ago play into now, and how had it had an affect on L/N?

As always, whenever they uncovered something about L/N, it always came with a thousand more questions. They could theorize all they wanted, but it wouldn’t bring them closer to finding the answers that they craved at this point.

And still, despite the shock and the...unease he had felt to find the empty grave and realize the reality of what happened in that town--or at least part of it--Levi still felt like there was another reality altering twist in this dark tale that was unraveling in front of them that would be far worse. He still felt like they were far off the mark, that the still failed to understand the reality of what they were stepping into. More than ever, Levi felt there was something dark behind this, and he began to feel the first hints of malice surrounding these secrets.

Whatever L/N was hiding, at this point, Levi knew it had to be dangerous.

Erwin’s concerned eyes probed Levi’s expression as Levi gazed at the empty teacup in front of him, well aware that despite his feeble attempt to calm his nerves and thoughts, he wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight.

“Levi--” Erwin started to say in a grave tone of voice, but Levi cut him off. He knew what Erwin was about to say, and he already knew what he had to do next.

“I know. All I’m waiting for now is for her to make the next move. This time, she won’t shake me.”

Next Chapter---->

Levi Tags: @clary-quinn @humanitys-hottestsoldier@whalerus @sunny-flo @thirstyforsometea

Wings in the Dark Tags: @regalillegal @animeluver23 @theshylittleelfgirl @queenthorin1 @dilucs-thighs @sociallyanxiousmouse

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alejandovari · 5 years

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The Ideal Fat Burning Supplements For Ladies

Women require specific vitamins and also minerals as component of their day-to-day diets in order to operate correctly, and their requirements vary from those of men. Making certain that she obtains an adequate intake of minerals and also vitamins will certainly make particular that a female's body will certainly utilize power successfully as well as melt calories, on the condition that she exercises frequently and consumes a healthy and balanced low-fat diet. Some of the most effective supplements for a lady who is seeking to shed weight to take are Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, and Chromium. These various supplements are reviewed in more detail below. To begin, Vitamin B2 is an excellent supplement for a woman to take if she is wanting to lose weight. This vitamin is additionally referred to as riboflavin. It is needed for the proper functioning of the thyroid. It assists to control an individual's metabolism. Maintaining one's metabolic rate in check is needed for somebody to keep a healthy, Dietonus Reviews BG and balanced weight. Both males and also females require appropriate degrees of this vitamin in order for their bodies to be able to change carbohydrates right into glucose for power. As Vitamin B2 is water soluble, the body does not save it. Thus, people require to make sure that they good suitable degrees of this vitamin every day. Ladies in their twenties and also older ought to access least 1.1 milligrams of this vitamin each day, and the number jumps to 1.6 for ladies that are breastfeeding. Next Off, Vitamin B3 is likewise needed for ladies who are seeking to lose weight. This vitamin is likewise provided the name of niacin, and it assists in aiding to maintain blood glucose degrees controlled. When blood sugar degrees drop, hunger is the unfortunate end result. Getting sufficient of this vitamin in one's everyday diet can aid in quiting desires. Vitamin B3 additionally assists with maintain thyroid functioning as well as cholesterol degrees controlled. Females in their twenties require to obtain at the very least 14 milligrams of this vitamin daily, with the number rising to 17 milligrams for ladies that are nursing. Vitamin B5 is likewise crucial in keeping a female's weight down. Taking in sufficient Vitamin B5 likewise aids in reducing triglycerides in one's body. Women that are in their twenties require at least 5 milligrams of the vitamin each day, as well as those that are nursing their children must take in 7 milligrams of it. Vitamin B6, likewise referred to as pyridoxine, normally controls metabolic rate in the body. It collaborates with the B2 and B3 vitamins to form thyroid hormones. Simply as in the situation of Vitamin B2, pyridoxine helps the body to maintain its metabolism in check. This subsequently burns calories in a much more effective way. Ladies in their twenties require at the very least 1.3 milligrams of this supplement, as well as those breastfeeding demand 2 milligrams. Lastly, chromium is a fantastic supplement for women that are aiming to reduce weight to take. When there is inadequate chromium in one's diet regimen, it the very least to an enhanced level of triglycerides, blood sugar level degrees, and also a raised threat in developing diabetic issues and heart problem among various other conditions. It likewise helps the body in developing muscle mass masses that are lean, which assists with burning fat. Women in their twenties require a minimum of 25 micrograms of the vitamin daily, with the number jumping to 30 micrograms for those that are breastfeeding. To conclude, there are a number of supplements that ladies who are aiming to slim down can take. When gone along with by diet as well as exercise, these minerals and vitamins are very helpful in slimming people down. They consist of Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, and Chromium.

Women need specific vitamins and minerals as part of their everyday diets in order to work correctly, and their requirements vary from those of men. To start, Vitamin B2 is a good supplement for a female to take if she is looking to lose weight. Next Off, Vitamin B3 is also required for ladies who are looking to lose weight. Vitamin B5 is also important in keeping a female's weight down. They consist of Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, as well as Chromium.

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secondhvnd · 5 years

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k, 24, pst→ Is that JOE KEERY walking down Old Town Front Street? Nah, PHOENIX MAE just looks like their identical twin! The TWENTY THREE YEAR OLD has been a SETTLER for SIXTEEN YEARS. On their good days, PHOENIX is CHARISMATIC & PROTECTIVE, but if you catch them on a bad day, they may be SHORT-TEMPERED & IMPULSIVE. Keep your eyes on this BODY PIERCER. Wonder what they’ve been up to lately in Sunnymead!

i have a whole lot™ to say because phoenix is one of my oldest muses, so check out this baby boy!! ( TW: DRUG MENTION, CHILD NEGLECT/ABUSE )

born to teen parents who had a tendency to dabble in ~illegal substances, a lot of people would argue that phoenix never really had a chance. from the time he was born up until he was six years old, he dealt with his parents’ neglect. he would wake up to an empty house at least a couple of nights a week. WHICH HE THOUGHT WAS TOTALLY NORMAL until he mentioned it to his teacher and cps plucked him out of the home he knew and threw him into foster care.

he spent the next eight years in a foster home. things were tense, and they thought about kicking phoenix out many times as a result of both his temper and the clashes they would have about the sort of trouble he would get himself into.

when he was fifteen years old, he spent about nine month in juvenile detention for breaking and entering -- which he’ll claim to this day was a necessity. was it truly? no, probably not, but he was bored. okay??

once he was released, he was put back into his foster home temporarily while the social workers looked into a group home out of town that he could get sent to where he wouldn’t get into as much trouble.

of course, he had to visit his social worker more frequently -- finding out that she liked to have a lot of meetings with him and his probation officer.

it was one of these days between the time his last class finished and the meeting when he was out in the parking lot with his old skateboard when he tried to bum a cigarette off of a heavily tattooed man. he turned phoenix down (of course!) and when his social worker poked her head out of the door to call out to him, he was pretty sure he was in trouble. instead, the man and a woman phoenix assumed was his wife were standing there and there was a flurry of words he only half listened to until he heard the words new placement. it turned out the couple was interested in fostering him? though he was confused, phoenix was up for anything.

though the couple was only about fifteen years older than him, they already had three adopted teenage children around phoenix’s age. he wasn’t generally one to get comfortable quickly, but it was easy in this household. they were treating him like he was family despite the fact he’d just gotten there.

by his seventeenth birthday, phoenix was adopted :’)

now twenty-three, he still goes to weekly family dinners and is close to his adoptive siblings.

NOW THAT MILES OF BG INFO HAS BEEN INTRODUCED, HERE’S SOME FUN FACTS:

phoenix has a lot of tattoos, most of which were stick-n-pokes or home done tattoos. the largest one that he has is on his inner arm that said born sick because he thought “take me to church” was the absolute best song in the world when it was released (he wasn’t wrong !!)

despite being kind of a trainwreck, phoenix is also really smart and had earned a master’s degree in astronomy by the time that he was twenty years old. it was done on scholarship -- which is nice because is he using it at all??? NO!!

ummm but he’s absolutely obsessed with aliens???

ANGER ISSUES!!! he bottles up all of the negative things he has from past so it boils over sooner or later.

he stumbled upon the piercing job by spending a lot of time of at a local tattoo shop until they offered to train him in piercing.

he has a three year old adopted sister named kale who is absolutely his favorite person in the whole entire world.

he also has a cat named Jolene

if you get to know him, he’s a lil soft once you peel all of his layers away.

WANTED CONNECTIONS

pls give me a close friendship where they call him ‘nickie’ thank u :(

tbh some exes?? he’s bi and he’s kind of the type to have tumultuous relationships in every facet of his life, so romantically...... it is obviously no different.

FOSTER SIBLINGS??? YES????

drinking buddies. phoenix and drinking go hand in hand hnonestly

ANYTHING

#sunnymeadintro #drugs tw #abuse tw #hewwo...................................

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badlydrawndrawnings · 5 years

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ASOUE SEASON 3, Part 2

There are some things that I enjoy, some things that bug me, and some of those things that bug me are thing I do enjoy but i have to question regardless. The post grew so long I’m cutting it into two parts, and frankly this covers The PP and The End (part one won’t be linking because idk what Tumblr did with that update with links).. We are in the second half of the season, and boy, do I have a lot of hot opinions! Most of it it’s under the read more to not cog the tags.

Frank, Ernest, and Dewey: I feel so validated my theory of Dewy was talking to the Baudelaires last and pretending to be Frank or Ernest is confirm...here at least! Speaking of them, I think Frank was the first one the Baudelaires talk too, then Ernest talk second. In the first convo, Frank or Ernest was Serious and To the Point, and Frank (confirm in book it’s Frank)) was like that with Violet. In the second convo, Frank or Ernest was Friendly and Emotional with his words, and Ernest (confirm in book it’s Ernest) was being a bit cheeky with Klaus and humorous when lassoing Larry Your Waiter up (RIP). Sorry about your brother you two... but boy the shot Dewy floating in the water looks beautiful.

I think the show was trying to pull a red herring that Kit was ‘evil’ due her asking Dewy to give Frank her regards because no one knows about the unicorn that is Dewy.

Lack of Sir and Charles/Switching roles/The JS Debate: I learned beforehand Charles’ actor couldn’t make it to filming so they had to rewrite him out. Didn’t expect to get rid of Sir (granted, I hear Sir’s actor is like..expense to get back or something and season one was lucky to get him). Still, nice to see that they were able to get Jerome to fill in his (kinda) canon role and Charles. Also, are Charles and Jerome together? That’s a great step up Jerome! Also, nice to know Babs and Miss Bass are together (man I wonder how the in-laws will react to that). I think what really threw me into the loop is that the Netflix Show made JS, the person behind it all, to be Justice Strauss with others JS helps. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the book had ‘JS’ be anonymous as not even Justice Strauss or Jerome knew who is the real JS since they thought it was meet for them (with theories saying it’s Lemony pretending to his brother and the taxi driver in the PP is him. Thanks Netflix for actually confirming the taxi driver part). Didn’t mind Nero being with Esme. I like that (they didn’t show the report who name I freaking forgot. Guess that says something).

At the Opera Tonight & (Lack Of) Bertrand : Hey, Netflix...Olaf’s parents death was A HIT MURDER by Beatrice, The Snickets (Kit and maybe Lemony if 13 Secrets is valid, who know about Jacques), and most importantly, BERTRAND. The books made it clear both were involved in some way or form. In fact, the lack of Bertrand is so insulting. Lemony may not say talk about him too much, but damn it, Lemony liked and respect Bertrand and never hold a grudge. Lemony in the show is the same, just less because the writers really did put more of an emphasis on Beatrice as the Lost Lenore and true OTP (????). In fact, why did the Opera events paint the noble side of VFD good with the accidental death? It was hit, and everyone was guilty and not free of sin. Here though, they are guilty as hell but free of sin as ‘it was an accident’. Well, since Bertrand wasn’t involve in the events here...the guy is actually innocent and free of sin good job Bertrand you don’t have blood on your hand (this sounds like sarcasm but it’ not). Also. you a handsome man.

Personal Headcanon That I Will Never Let Go Now Due to the Above Nonsense: Olaf’s parents were part of VFD, and were sympathetic to the fire starting side of schism, but overall close to neutral (Olaf didn’t and will never know, and book implies the schism wasn’t bad until after Olaf did his thing to frame Lemony for the crimes), due to their positions of society as aristocracy, a father in a high government related job (thanks Netflix for making Dad the Chief of the Official Fire Department it almost lines up perfectly) and mother as A-List Theater Performer. They managed to get a faster reunion when Olaf is 17 (Lemony, Olaf, and a few others are supposed to be the same age while the other siblings are older by a few years, and 18 seems to be the legal age of becoming an adult in this world). The three were at the opera for their first time reunion, and Beatrice and Bertrand were given the task on getting rid of them, and they thought ‘oh this will be easy’ because Kit was helping to deal with Esme and they succeeds. They were about to celebrate and leave when they hear Olaf and see him running to his dead parents (they have no idea he was there. If Lemony was involve, then they did knew but used Lemony as a distraction to make sure Oalf won’t witness the deed. As to why Olaf as to see the body? Because seeing a body adds extra fuel to people waiting revenge). Olaf is still on the noble side at this point (if barely), and he doesn’t know the truth until later, after somehow losing the family fortune and a switch to the fire starting side. Incompetent banking may or may not be involve.

Hotel Denouement (Fire): Bit upset the sign isn’t written backwards, but hell, I want to stay there regardless!!! Also, I like how the show kept most of the fates a mystery expect Justice Strauss (how did she get down from the roof). The books implies Mr. Poe will die another night, so ergo in Netflix Show Mr. Poe and oddly enough, Vice Principal Nero of all people, survive as well. Thanks Nero for saving Mr. Poe for his offscreen date in the future. Side topic, but my headcanon in the books is (excluding Mr. Poe as his is given) Esme, Ernest, Hal, Hugo and Colette and Kevin survived. Those that made it out but died due to fire related injures later on (within a day or a week) would be Frank, Jerome, Charles, Sir, Nero and the Teachers, and Carmelita. Everyone else is 100% dead (guess I got to change my 100% dead Justice Strauss status lol). The choices were pick due to drama (Esme cares for Carmelita and would be 100% heartbroken to see her die after the two made it out. For Frank and Ernest, I figure losing one brother would change their hostile relationship to a reluctant team up to get out of the fire together. Frank, being noble, gets Ernest out first resulting getting injuries and dying later, leaving Ernest all alone. Sir and Charles were still holding hands when they got out, but Sir died first and Charles went next due to a broken heart) or luck (Hal survived one fire already; I want Hugo, Colette, and Kevin to catch a good break).

I cried when the ending happened that song f*** me up so bad like things could have been different and happy but I’m stuck in misery and woe.

THE END/VFD AND SCHISM: I HATE THIS EPISODE SO FREAKING MUCH. Well, the Island parts (lol the red herring of Beatrice II being Sunny just by wanting to be call by her last name). They cut characters stuff with Friday (and her mother), the mutiny (that was the best part!!!)...almost all the stuff that made The End good! Also, wtf was with the BS of Ishmael making VFD? Like, I like how he was the Principal, that I can accept. But I got the impression, and it was actually implied, it been around for a long time before Ishmael was even born. He made it sound like a book club for the prestigious good people that are rich and bored. Newsflash Netflix: IT’S NOT. Kit flat out mentions that the schism started when she was four, and it only got worse when her generation came. In fact, the schism only got worse when Olaf went after Lemony, making it the schism everyone knows today. The way the show paints it...it’s the pettiness form of petty and revenge and actually revenge I would like normally but I hate it in the context. I have more, but I’m be making a post about it...a (crack-ish/shitpost comparison of sorts you will of sorts. All I can say is the the White Face women are younger than they look or lost their family and sister in a fire while in their 20′s or 30′s (Ishmael and the Man with Beard but no Hair and Woman with hair but no Beard and Co -> Lemony and Co aka Schism start at teenage/young adult years -> Baudelaires and Co).

Honestly the good stuff was Sunny thinking of pushing Olaf overboard, and the whole thing leading up to Olaf and Kit’s death I cried so much.

Chapter 14: Okay, I’m a sucker for a happy ending after so much crap happened. Lemony and Beatrice II found family again (if for a short time), Fiona and Fernald got a Pushing Daisies ending when Captain Widdershins shows up (referring to Emerson Cod’s reunion with his daughter), Quigley reuniting with his stock footage siblings + Hector, the Troupe having a happy ending fulling their dream, and IDV maybe making it to the the islanders in time. Do I admit that the whole point of their ‘last appearance’ with the Great Unknown (or IDV just disappearing) is to give a message that you can’t always know what happens and mysteries are still out there (imo). Yes, but again, I’m a sucker for happy endings, so I’m fine either way. Also, in Season One there was a narration of Lemony with a very tiny Self Sustaining ship in the BG. Since we know Lemony is actually narrating from the future...it’s a given the Quagmire and Hector would survive. It’s a blink and you miss, but it’s there. So yeah, while everything else could be chalk up as a fake happy ending imagine by Lemony and/or Beatrice II, the Quagmire Triplets and Hector were given a happy fate from the start! Okay, I guess they still need to come down at some point but...

I would watch the PP episodes, but never the End unless I want to make myself angry.

#netflix asoue #denouement triplets #dewey denouement #beatrice baudelaire #bertrand baudelaire #asoue season 3 #a series of unfortunate events #ASoUE #spoilers #asoue spoilers

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wolfofwinchester · 3 years

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that countess; backstory.

“Think what they may; let ‘em hate me, let ‘em love me, let ‘em think whatever they will! But they won’t ever forget about me.”

WARNING: mentions of starvation, body horror, the great famine of ireland, cannibalism.

Claudia Ó Faoláin was born in Donegal, Ireland from the illicitus affair between Máire Ó Faoláin & an unfaithful Lord Phantomhive, coming into the world as an anemia-ridden but spirited, social girl that was nigh unstoppable. She was raised by her mother and her mother’s twin Róisín, her father never present - never even met outside of being seen thrice when she was just a babe and very little, but she didn’t need him around; she grew in love and comfort, and she was a handful. Adults failed in stilling the girl, she shot off like a rocket the day she learned how to walk; an energetic & highly active personality driven by this compulsive urge to live her life unrestrained! Her body contradicted itself quite often – even into late adulthood – where it’d be riddled with fatigue while also being imbued with the fidgets that refused to rest. Of course there were moments she hadn’t a choice, but otherwise she kept herself consistently occupied.

Claudia was raised in an enormous house filled to the brim with family; although she was an only child, she had no shortage of cousins - both of which were blood related and non-blood related! The Ó Faoláin household was actually a tight-knit coven of Celtic Paganists made up of multiple families that had been interwoven for generations by bond & by pact. They were one of the biggest families in Donegal, and also one of the most loyal. Betrayal wasn’t something that existed within their homes - they were the very essence of a loving family. Colorful and different each, but family just the same that pulled their weight and had their name known quite popularly in their side of Ireland. Not a wealthy family, but one that got by just the same - especially with how they pooled their resources. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners all eaten together and in fair amounts.

It was essentially impossible to be born into this family and not have a domestic streak. Even for the ones that never had children they still stuck around as aunts & uncles to help look after the youngins. The fact they were a family known to worship the Goddess of Hearth, Brigid, might have something to do with this naturalborn affinity. The newest blue-haired addition was certainly no exception.

It was the age of seven when Claudia received what really made her childhood so special; her companion Gelert, who was a small pup just like she when he first came to her thanks to an uncle that reared hounds and bred what at the time was both the most daring & unusual thing; domestic wolves. Gelert was the runt of the newest bunch when Claudia found herself drawn to him, completely enamored - love at first sight! Máire, of course, had her own reservations, but was comforted by the uncle that he would help little ‘Dia raise the wolf and see to it she learns absolutely everything there is to know about caring for a wolf. Seeing her little girl bond so immediately with the wolf pup did bring a good feeling to the faith healer’s gut too, and her gut had yet to deceive her. Máire agreed, and the two became a match. A girl and her dog - or rather, a girl and her wolf!

Gelert was not her only source of companionship though, Claudia’s playful & rowdy personality earned her a great many friendships and tight bonds with relatives her age, becoming a go-to when a problem arose and the muscle when confrontation sparked among children. She’d gotten into her fair share of fights as children are wont to do, inflicted with bruises and cuts, the rare busted lip and the black eyes, but thankfully her mother was the local faith healer that seen to her recovery – as well as her punishment! Still, such things were normal, and it was a very happy childhood.

In time as she approached the age of 10, it was a surprise to no one that even while young, Claudia vouched to work with the Ó Faoláin lumber business. She’d watch how her older cousins went from being thin things to having muscle, and she wanted in on that. The way her body would feel so weak absolutely aggravated her beyond measure, so this, by her logic, was the perfect way to build up her strength. It worked for her cousins! While her mother told her that’s not at all what would solve the issue, Claudia wouldn’t hear of it - in one ear and out the other.

Enough pleading to her blooded grandfather than ran the business led to her landing a meager position that involved learning how to swing an axe, and when she finally proved she could swing that damn thing hard and well, and eventually knock down any tree in her way, she made her way up. Not quite to the grown-ups, but still, she was a tree chopper! And like she’d hoped, she did feel her body growing stronger over the months and years dedicated to the work. It did boil her blood to learn this wasn’t going to stop those bouts of exhaust though ( Máire in the bg: “I told you so!!” ), and it did eventually become the reason she had to drop from the work due to being driven by her own frustrating and driving herself into overload, her body giving out all together more than once. She was young, she was emotional, she was angry with herself and that anger brought out self-destructive tendencies such as working herself to exhaustion, which was especially bad for her health. Her grandfather benched her, and Claudia became despondent, swallowed in her own self-loathing and anger.

The uncle that’d given her Gelert was the one who eventually shook her out of her loathsome caccoon, offering to show her the ropes of how to raise hounds and brush up on new wolf rearing techniques. It’d direct her attention and take her mind off her own negativity, and it’d give her something fun to do while also not giving her the capability to work herself to the bone so fiercely. Claudia joined forces and indeed learned exactly that, and she became damn good at it, too. He called her a natural and said she had to have been truly blessed by the Morrígan to be able to handle this sort of job so well, as if rearing dogs is something she was meant to do. And boy, did she love it.

From logging to raising canines & domestic wolves, Claudia paved herself the small, respectable and trustworthy reputation alongside her uncle when it came to the business. She reared expert hunters, sheepherders, search and rescuers, protectors and loyal, loving and obedient companions, and she raised ‘em well. Her uncle couldn’t have been more proud.

Then everything became Hell on Earth in 1845. The Great Famine struck across Ireland and it was merciless if you were of the common and lower caste. The Ó Faoláins were no exceptions. For a while things were fine with their businesses being what they were, but they were a very big family, and they did have to communicate with other humans. This led to contractions of smallpox, which hit a portion of the family hard while the rest were stricken with hunger. Claudia was one of the early ones to go down for the count due to starvation and became bedridden, secluded and safe in her bedroom where she would view such a horror show as time went on through an open door. It was Hell if ever a thing existed; to be forced to lie there helpless and watch your once enormous family fade to skin and bones before your very own eyes, become so unnaturally thin, become so gaunt or bloated as they lost their teeth and hair, and form such horrible rashes across their skin. Eventually, she began to witness their deaths.

Claudia was beginning to lose some of her own hair as her own weight dropped, but she was kept afloat just enough due to her wayward father sending secret food supplies every now and then that her mother made stretch the best she could, and eventually run out of. Death hung over Claudia constantly, for months. She felt herself starving, she felt like her stomach was eating itself. She was in so much pain, and her lungs hurt too much to sob properly. It was weak rasps and silent tears, and the only time she managed to scream was when she noticed through drifting consciousness that some of her relatives, the uncle she’d gotten closest to due to their houndwork, were cutting digits off their own hands and slicing off pieces from their own bodies in complete desperation to feed the family. The shock was enough to make her sick as she realized they’d been the ones in charge of feeding their family as they were among the healthiest, and she’d noticed their arms were wrapped up tight in her mother’s medicinal cloths. Retching during her starvation period was pure agony on her body.

Máire was at her wits ends with both caring for the family and for pleading with Lord Phantomhive through her mystical means. While so far away he’d only brushed these communications off as tricks of absinthe or odd dreams, Máire shifted into becoming completely ruthless. Pleading dreams and sporadic thoughts of Claudia and the state of Ireland went from being harmless to harmful as the faith healer dug her claws in deep and summoned the more darker energies of her darker Goddess, the Mórrígan. Dreams became nightmares, thoughts became ungodly hallucinations, pleading became demands. His will was being summoned to make a move and to make a move now to rescue Claudia, and eventually, he cracked. A ship departed from London with the Head on board, shaken up and pale, dark-eyed and on high alert. He made for the shores of Donegal.

When he arrived, Máire was quick to meet with him on board. The exchange was… heated, wrathful, intense, but he was damn frightened of Máire at this point, and completely sold on all suspicions that she was a woman of the dark arts. He thought her a genius woman of faith, but no doctor he knew of could cast the dark cloud she had over him. The exchange went on for hours, from an afternoon to deep into the night. Many things were said, and many great points were stacked against him. His former lover laid down all her cards that she knew about him:

1] She knew about his wife, thus discovering he was unloyal to her.

2] She knew he’d failed to conceive an heir with his wife, and Claudia is his only child. His only hope for a continued legacy of the Phantomhive name. ( This was a curse delivered by Máire when she discovered she was nothing but a secret lover to him and that he did, in fact, have a wife back home. She cursed him with infertility while she was pregnant with Claudia. )

3] He was growing old, and his family name meant everything to him. If he left Claudia here to die, he was his family name and stature to die.

4] If he didn’t take Claudia, then she would personally see to the downfall of the Phantomhives. Hell have no wrath like a mother scorned.

5] She knows there is a part of him that does care for Claudia. He’d sent coin, he’d sent gifts and he’d sent dresses for her. He was a miserable excuse for a father, he would not have come if it weren’t for the pushing of Máire. This is his only chance for redemption.

Needless to say, she was successful. The Earl even surprised her by saying he would take her away from here too, along with immediate family, but just immediate, meaning Claudia and her twin sister ( their parents had faded with the Famine ). From what he’s heard through rare letters, Claudia’s stubborn and devoted to family - there’s no way she would stay in England if she didn’t have her mother present at least. That was his guess. And.. just a sign of “good will”. For the memories he did make with Máire.

Leaving.. wasn’t easy. It gave great bouts of anxiety and reluctance to both of the Ó Faoláin twins. This felt like betrayal. This felt sick. Leaving their family to suffer while they went elsewhere was a notion that completely haunted the both of them. This was their clan - this is what they’d known all their lives and what they expected to know until their final days. To leave their heritage, their home, their family behind to go to Britain of all places, ruled by the heinous monarchy that’d forsaken their country, their people, was not something either of them could make peace with, and will never make peace with. Still, the second they confessed this to what little clan remained, there was almost no hesitation: Go.

The Ó Faoláins weren’t without their hate for England and Queen Victoria, and the youngers were quick to curse them. This hate is blood deep, but love for family is even deeper. If one of them had a chance, there’s no other answer and they would not let you ignore it: Take it.

Máire wept.

Claudia wasn’t present for the conversation, she only heard their quiet voices beyond her door and the sounds of her mother’s sobs. Her consciousness waned strongly at this point, but Gelert kept her awake as he rested by her side, underweight. Malnourished. Claudia remembers her mother coming into her room and how her voice sounded like it was close but in the same breath so far away, and loose explanations of the situation. She remembers her mother lifting her from the bed as her Aunt Ros picked up Gelert. She remembers seeing over the side of her mother at the other aunts, uncles and cousins who had all eyes on them as they left through the doors, weak smiles on their faces and ache in their eyes that was new.

She remembers how windy it was, and the sight of the prettiest ship she’d ever seen at the dock. She remembers this intimidating man with piercing narrow eyes and blue hair. Her consciousness would drift, but her last memory would be of seeing how suddenly far they’d gone from the docks and how they were on this gorgeous ship, and how the rest of their family was not; but they were there, gangly and skeletal, some toothless, some hairless, and watching Claudia from the docks. The situation hit hard and she felt frantic, but her mother held her tight in her arms as hot tears poured down onto Claudia from above, Máire trembling. Róisín was buried into her sister’s shoulder, other hand resting on Claudia to keep the frantic child still.

It’s an image the future Countess will never forget.

The voyage was long and tense, but there was food. A night came where both Claudia and Gelert had gained enough strength to move, to walk. It was so damn difficult, she kept falling as her legs gave out from under her, but she didn’t give up. She stumbled, she tripped, she dashed, and eventually she bolted gracelessly with her wolf at her side, rushing to the deck as her mind burned with determination for home - for family, but right as she grabbed onto the ropes to one of the dinghys, she’d had her first encounter with her father.

It was a cold conversation, and a shocking introduction to say the least. Lord Phantomhive wasn’t exactly warm, or gentle, he was very factual and very much to the point. Cold truths were dropped on a very emotionally fragile Claudia, and the biggest one made her heart sink into her stomach. It was a very uneasy interaction, but it was enough for Claudia to release her hold on the ropes as her aunt appeared and whisked her back to bed, shooting furious glances at the noble.

They docked, and Claudia woke in a new home. It was so small and cozy, but it was alien. She was on edge, but Gelert had approached her side in bed and comforted her as he sensed her thriving anxieties. Her body still ached, and her legs did their best to make her regret how she’d stumbled about the night before with no grace and no exercise, but she had no regrets - no matter how they hurt. She’d be bedridden a while longer as the situation sunk in with the information given by her mother & aunt through long, quiet talks to make sure Claudia absolutely understood everything that was happening.

They’d arrived in Winchester, Granwy; a small, relatively “new” wooded village on the map. This house was a small two-story, charming and newly built, and all theirs. This is where they lived now, and they had more than enough food to get by now. But they were in Britain. They were on English soil, and that was a very tough pill for all three of them to swallow. The sun outside was bright, but the situation was incredibly, incredibly grim, and neither could wear a smile for a long, long while. They could recover though, and their health would rise back up. No more hairless, no more aching stomach and aching body.

Claudia did recover in time and was back on her feet, feeling weightless as the situation sat like a heavy pit in her stomach. She would wander their spacious land, and settle beneath the biggest willow tree they had behind their house. Her situation had been explained to her when she was well enough, and it was, and is, a bitter fate to accept - especially since she never had choice or voice in the matter, her life was all at the will of adults: She got to be one of the three Ó Faoláins to survive the famine, but her future was already decided and given to the man that allowed all this to happen. He even told her a gist of it back on the ship that night;

“You’re the Heir to a powerful House of Nobility, Claudia. My Heir, to inherit the name of Phantomhive.”

Eventually the Lord Phantomhive would come for her in a year’s time, and when he would, Claudia would feel her body begin to tremble beyond her control as she’d stare long into the carriage. It looked more like she were stepping into an a black, endless abyss rather than some ornate transport glowing with polished wood. The gentle words of her mother and aunt would only take some of the edge off, but nothing could ever shake it. No loving word, no comforting gesture would set her at ease.

She’d dreamt about stepping into this exact same coach many nights before, and whenever she did, she fell down a dark rabbit hole rife with discord and animosity, smiles and leering eyes. Fire and ash. Shining silver and blood. When her feet touched solid foundation, it was an enormous funeral locket with her name on it - but there where there should have been her surname, there was a P.

It should have only frightened her, and it did, but the feeling much stronger than that was the wrath that burned in her chest. Not only did stepping into this carriage mean she’d be going into a mad world, but she would be forced to give up her name. That was truly traitorous. Her life had been damned the moment she was brought onto the boat.

But they wanted her here.

They wanted her to live, and to thrive. If she ran, she’d be dashing on sacred hope. She could be angry about this, and she will hold on to that anger something fierce and let it grow into a beast unstoppable, but she was going to accept something else besides that fury; pride. Loud, unfiltered Pride.

“Let her show them an Irish woman can run a House better than they could ever care to. Let her show them the true values of living. There’s no more stubborn an Ó Faoláin than Claudia. Let ‘em shake in the presence of a proud Irish woman. Let her at ‘em.”

The trembling in her body would begin to subside, and the tension in her muscles would begin to release, but all intensity had flourished into her eyes. Lord Phantomhive felt pure intimidation when his fifteen year old daughter glanced his way, looking directly into his eyes - but it felt like her gaze went deeper than that. It went through him entirely, right through his own soul.

“I’ll be takin’ your name Lord Phantomhive, but don’t you forget for one little second who I am. Until the I die and I lie rotting in the Earth, I am an Ó Faoláin.”

And with that, Claudia didn’t fall, but she strode her way right into the Abyss with her wolf at her side.

#【 hc. 】 ¦ the wolf of winchester.#writing.

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bonkaisecretsanta · 6 years

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Happy holidays @shayspencer from @fuckitimfangirling!

Summary: They're doomed, probably. He still wants that heartbreak anyway. Warnings: Role reversal of sorts; pre-show/S1/S2 AU; alternative Salvatore backstory to fit the story and bc some things in canon did NOT fit Civil War era customs; bg DE; KC and SK if you squint; dark themes; abuse; bullying; murder; violence; underage not-quite-smut; dead and dying characters; angsty bullfuckery; mentions of suicide; anachronistic storytelling 💔🔫 = past, 💀🔫 = present (s1/2 AU stuff); de-aged Kai (b. 1991)

Grams makes her put on her nice dress, the one reserved for special occasions at church. It's pretty, yellow and red, and super fluttery - it makes Bonnie feel like a princess - but it's also too layered and itchy for the muggy weather. The AC in the old courthouse is down, and the windows are open while electric fans whir. The relief is transient when the rotating air cools her form. Bonnie, in all her seven year old discomfort, feels oppressed. Wearing so many layers of cotton and gauze in such heat is probably against the law. She'll ask Judge Kincannon.

But Grams had been stern and left no room for argument when she woke Bonnie early to braid her hair and get her dressed, so Bonnie suffers in silence. The older Bennett woman seems anxious, looking at her watch repeatedly as they wait for someone to arrive.

Truthfully, Bonnie is confused. They arrived nearly an hour ago and after speaking briefly with Old Sheriff Wilson and Mrs. Forbes, who quickly disappeared, Grams told her she would make a new friend soon. It was exciting news. But it's been an hour and she's bored.

Her legs kick the air in patterns. Left, right, left, right. The swinging makes them feel heavy and cold, like metal. Bonnie is made of steel, like Superman. She bet she could be a hero like him too, save lots of people and everyone would love her like they love him.

“Bonnie! Bonnie!” the crowd cheers in her mind. Her imagination is distracting, to the point she misses when Grams stands up. She doesn't miss the sharp swat on her shoulder or the side-eye from her Grams as she hops to attention. Bonnie smoothes her dress out and clasps her hands behind her back like they teach in school, and smiles pretty. Her knew friend must be coming!

Mrs. Forbes is back, this time without Old Sheriff Wilson. Bonnie can't really see him at first, because he's half hidden behind Mrs. Forbes’ legs, but then the police officer comes to a stop and Bonnie can see the little bruised hand gripping at her belt loop.

“Come on, honey,” Mrs. Forbes coaxes. It's the same voice she uses at sleepovers, when it's time Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena to settle down into bed. Blue-grey eyes peek out out from behind her, small face as bruised as the knuckles. The other little person is a boy, smaller than even her. Bonnie thinks he must run around a lot, if he has so many scrapes. Grams is always yelling at her not to run for fear of getting hurt.

The boy glances between her and Grams then retreats back behind Mrs. Forbes.

“No, no, Malachai,” the blonde officer states. “This is Miss Sheila Bennett, your foster mother. You'll be staying with her now.”

She moves herself so that she's standing behind the boy, her hands on his shoulders and patting soothingly. Bonnie can see the sling that holds his left arm and the patch of gauze taped to his head. His hair is buzzed short, to the point where she can see a scar zigzagging across the top of his head. It takes her by surprise and she can't stop the tumble of words from leaving her mouth.

“What happened to you?” the question sounds almost accusatory, even to her own ears and she flinches at herself even before Grams swats her again. The boy grimaces as well, looking down as Grams tells her to apologize. He swallowing hard and he looks like he's biting back tears. Bonnie is instantly apologetic.

She steps forward and tries to take his good hand, but he pulls it away from her. Bonnie doesn't pursue it.

“I'm sorry,” she says. “I didn't mean it. I'm Bonnie. Want to be my friend?” This time she holds out her hand, leaving the choice up to him. The boy stares at it and takes a breath and reaches out and Bonnie feels hope flutter. And die, when he pushes her hand down gently and walks past her to her Grams.

“May we go now, please ma'am?” He says politely. Grams looks between her and the boy - Malachai Mrs. Forbes had called him - and nods.

“C’mon Bon,” in her Grams’ voice, she can hear the implied try again later and so she follows dutifully behind, anticipating an awkward drive home. Bonnie's hand burns where Malachai touched her.

💔🔫

The drive is awkward and so is dinner. Kai (he asked to be called this instead of Malachai) is her age, but where he is polite and obedient towards her Grams, he all but ignores Bonnie when he can. When he must interact with her, his responses are short and he avoids her space like she's diseased. It's infuriating. He acts like she isn't there and it makes Bonnie’s temper flare. She wants to shake him and scream at him until he looks at her, says or does something. It's the most destructive feeling she's ever felt and it overwhelms her.

By the time her dad arrives to take her home, Bonnie’s fists ache from being clenched. She doesn't know why she’s so angry. He wasn't even mean - Tyler Lockwood had dumped a bottle of glue on her head once, the meanest thing anyone’s ever done to her, and they were friends. She shouldn't be so put out by Kai’s non-reactions.

But the anger is still there when she gets ready for bed, when her dad tucks her in, when she goes to sleep. It seeps into her bone marrow, takes over the fresh blood cells that enter her body. It remains when she wakes up the next day.

If Kai doesn't want to be her friend, fine. Bonnie will hate him like no one else has before.

💔🔫

Maybe he should've tried harder to be her friend. From Miss Sheila’s sighs and and heavy looks, Kai knows that she at least thinks he should have. But her perfect little granddaughter looked so pristine in her dress, like some sort of rose, green eyes pricking him like bramble. It was uncomfortable at best. Then she looked at him with something like disgust twisting her pretty face as she asked what happened to him, the likes of which she couldn't possibly fathom...Kai hated her in that moment. He'd never felt so low for what his dad did, never fell victim to self-blame, never thought he could have done anything to prevent it until that question.

What happened to you?

And shit (and he knows better than to use that word around Miss Sheila, he can tell how strict she is) maybe it was. Maybe if he wasn't what he was, maybe if he'd still been of any use to the coven.

What happened to you?

Joshua Parker did. It's not his fault. His dad was crazy.

Kai insists on doing the dishes, but Miss Sheila only allows him to clear the table because of his arm. He wants to help and his arm is healing nicely - it's his head that's killing him - but she hears none of it. When he finishes, the older witch shows him where he'll be sleeping and he gets ready for bed without prompt or protest. He doesn't want to cause any trouble. But sleep tugs heavy at him and his bad arm is starting to ache real bad along with his headache and he just wants to take his medicine and go to sleep. The faster he finishes his self-designated chores, the sooner he can do that.

When his head hits the pillow he decides he'll try once more with Bonnie. He'll apologize for his behavior and they'll be friends and when he starts up at school with her, she'll introduce him to her other friends and he can be himself without any worries about covens or merges or restoring family honor. It will be a fresh start, a new life better than the last. An adventure. Kai likes adventures.

His will start in the morning.

💔🔫

Joshua’s house is a gory mess when Jason finishes his walk through. He's back where he started, the spot where he found his brother attempting to beat his own son to death.

The Supreme feels sick, staring down at the small puddle of his nephew's half-coagulated blood.

He'd felt Melissa go first, then Josette quickly after. It was sudden and felt so violent that Jason doubled over from nausea and pain as he felt his coven members leave him. He'd summoned his Enforcers and the Board of Regents immediately then ported to his brother's house the second he was able. He'd been too late to save Joey and he'd barely been able to save Kai. Kai, his favorite of his nieces and nephews, whose tiny body felt so light when Jason had scooped him up. If it hadn't been for the boy’s shallow breaths and their faint connection, he might have thought his nephew dead like the rest. He can still hear his older brother's mindless, angry rants.

It should have been me, he had screamed. If you weren't an abomination, you could have made it right, he'd yelled at Kai.

Jason scowls at the memory. Josh hadn't ever deserved Kai. Any of his kids, really. His crazy older brother had been right in some respects. Coven leader was his potential birthright, but his own twin had died in a freak accident. Jason and Isla had been the spares.

But Kai was not an abomination and Jason would fight tooth and fucking nail to prove it to anyone who said otherwise.

He peels his eyes away from the browning puddle. Kai is safe now and the Gemini Supreme intends to keep it that way. Joshua is in coven holdings, preparing to be dealt with. Jason hopes he goes crazy trapped alone in the prison world he has ready for him.

For now though, there's an injured little boy that needs him.

💔🔫

He’s not able to talk to Bonnie the next day. She has school and he has a doctor’s appointment and a meeting with his uncle’s lawyer at the police station. The other man is a Gemini witch that Kai vaguely recognizes. He talks to him like he’s very slow and Kai doesn’t know how to tell him he has a prodigious IQ, that his dad’s break down didn’t erase it.

Although maybe his head injury did.

The police set up a camera and Kai answers all the questions as best as he can. Getting his head cracked open with bat didn’t make him dumber (luckily), but it made that night fuzzy. He can barely remember anything, just the fear and the stink of Joey’s pee. Even that memory makes him sad. He misses his brother.

“And where was your mother when you and Joey were hiding in the wardrobe?”

“She was with my dad in the room, trying to get him out. She was asking him to stop. She kept saying ‘calm down, Josh,’” Kai answers mechanically. He feels distant. Like he’s watching TV, but the TV is his body. His own hands don’t look real. The doctor used fancy words for it at the hospital. Trauma dissociation. Kai is dissociating because he suffered trauma.

He answers the rest of the questions like a robot, pretending he’s the Terminator. He wants to go home, back to Portland, before May ninth, before his dad hated him.

When it’s over, the lawyer thanks him and tells him he’s a strong boy. That he should focus on living a good life and that he’ll never have to worry his father hurting him again. Kai doesn’t want to know. Ever. The camera is off, so the lawyer blesses him and the familiar heat of friendly magic feeds Kai. The feeling wears off soon, but it’s enough to remind him of home.

By the time he gets back to Miss Sheila’s, it’s late and he’s started shaking. Kai falls in the older witch’s arms like the little boy he is and cries himself to sleep. He never gets to speak with Bonnie.

💔🔫

Kai doesn’t get to apologize the next day either. His head hurts and he’s sick from the magic being worked on him at a distance. Sheila explains that his coven leader is severing Kai’s connection from the Gemini Coven so that Joshua can’t track him that way. It’s for his safety, she assures. Kai still feels abandoned.

The boy cries himself to sleep. He never gets to speak with Bonnie.

💔🔫

When the connection breaks, it wakes Kai up. It’s very weird, like something he’s suddenly been dropped into ice water when he’s always been warm. He doesn’t like it. His back itches, feels colder than the rest of him, and it tastes like magic, so Kai gets up and goes to the restroom.

He has to take his sling off to remove his shirt and he jostles the cast slightly. He hisses quietly, rubbing at it until the sting fades, then he turns and twists so he can see his back.

There’s an intricate scar on his upper back. It looks like someone branded his skin with clock cogs, but when he runs his fingers over it, the skin is smooth and cool and sensitive to the touch. Kai shivers, retracting his good hand. The design looks very familiar, like something he might have read before. Kai racks his brain, but he’s tired and can’t think of it. It’s magic related, so maybe he can ask Miss Sheila later.

Curiosity satisfied, Kai puts his shirt in the bathroom hamper and goes back to bed. He feels better now, still a little sad, but he thinks tomorrow, he’ll finally be able to set things right with Bonnie.

💀🔫

Things never really get right between Kai and Bonnie. For that interim between when they first met to when they'd been able to spend more time with each other, the combination of Sheila’s initial focus on him and Kai’s dismissive attitude had poisoned Bonnie to the idea of building anything fruitful between them. Sheila’s refusal to divulge anything magic-related to Bonnie was another point of contention between all three of them. Kai disagreed with Sheila, but kept the secret, and Bonnie, nobody's fool, could tell they were keeping something from her, which led to her jealousy and resentment.

By the time Damon Salvatore swaggers into town with his bourbon and black leather and blacker moods, the animosity between Bonnie and Kai is a well-fed beast. Kai had resigned himself to merely keeping it contained between the two of them.

💀🔫

Bonnie didn't have a lot a people she cared about. She could count them literally on one hand: Elena, Caroline, her dad, Grams, and in some weird way, stupid Kai Parker. To some extent, she cared for Elena and Caroline’s families, but only in that they belonged to her best friends and were a part of them. Her relationship with every single one of her people was complicated.

Elena and Bonnie were closer to each other than Caroline, but they didn't always like each other either. Caroline was too insecure and competitive towards Elena and too dismissive of Bonnie. Sometimes, she preferred other cheerbots to them. Elena wasn’t coddling enough for Caroline’s ego and too often took Bonnie for granted. Bonnie wasn’t trusting enough towards either of them sometimes, because Elena was too selfish and Caroline was too controlling. Blonde and brunette both agreed Bonnie could be too ruthless or too passive with no in-between. They were best friend from childhood though, with a deep platonic love, and any of the girls would kill for the other two. It was a weird tumultuous relationship between the trio. Sometimes they were more enemies than friends.

Rudy cared, but he was a textbook workaholic. If Bonnie kept herself out of trouble and Grams didn't report any misgivings, Rudy Hopkins was content to give his daughter all the freedom and funding in the world. Grams was something weird. She was Bonnie's favorite person in the world, no doubt, but she was always lying to Bonnie about something big - something Kai knew about - and it angered Bonnie. At first, she figured it had something to do with Kai because whatever happened to him had been so bad that the records were sealed and the newspaper clippings had limited information regarding the events. Regardless, Bonnie had some resentment towards both parental figures.

Her dynamic with Kai was the most convoluted. They were arch-nemeses, their antagonism comparable to what Elena had with Jeremy, but worse. Bonnie used to do everything she could to get him kicked out, before she learned the timid truth. Over the years, they’ve had friendly moments, because he was Grams’ foster son and Bonnie was often at her Grams’ home when her dad wasn’t around. They’ve seen each other at their worst, in states no one else ever got to witness, not Elena or Caroline, or whoever Kai’s Elena-or-Caroline was.

But they were never friends. Bonnie can’t be friends with Kai, and he can’t be friends with her, and neither one can pinpoint exactly when the opportunity passed. No matter what weaknesses she sees and let’s him see, it was only ever between them. Bonnie had her friends and suitors who never stuck around. Kai had his little flings. None of their people were able to get in deep with them the way they got in with each other. So much of Kai occupied Bonnie, because so much of who she was hinged on negating him. It was the same for him, she could tell. There was no room between them for anyone else.

Bonnie cares deeply for very few people and she's not incredibly receptive to strangers. They tended to fuck things up.

💀🔫

Which is why, that Wednesday night when that bourbon-drinking, wearing-leather-in-the-summer freak shows up on Grams’ porch, she hates him immediately. Her mood is already at an all time low. Her Prius is getting a tune-up and because Grams’ works an hour outside of Mystic Falls, Kai is the one taking her home from Elena’s parents’ funeral.

Caroline had offered, but the blonde’s own absentee parent had showed up and Bonnie encouraged her to spend time with him. Between Bonnie’s AWOL mom and Elena’s orphan status, both girls wanted Caroline to soak up her parents’ presences.

Kai drives them from the funeral, says nothing to her and expects nothing from her. The air in the old Toyota is somber and Bonnie doesn't even look up from her phone until she hears him mutter “who the hell is that?”

He's squinting up at the porch, where a dark-haired man is sitting on the porch swing, elbows braced on his knees. Even in the dusky twilight air, his blue eyes are bright and piercing and focused on them. It unnerves her.

“Friend of yours?” Kai inquires. Bonnie wants to snap at him, but his tone is neutral and the question makes sense. She shakes her head in a negative.

“Let's go somewhere else,” she tells him. It's unlike her and Kai eyes her and turns off the car. She scowls.

Of all the times for him to be contradictory, it's when a potential murderer is gawking at them from her grandmother's porch. Typical.

She follows him out, sticking close. Bonnie hates Kai on a good day, but he's familiar to her. She trusts him to antagonize her, to annoy her, and hurt her feelings. She also trusts him to keep her safe. This guy? She doesn't trust him at all. He watches them watch him.

“Someone die?” he greets. Bonnie's opinion of him plummets more. Kai just hits him with the quirked brow. The Gilberts were a pretty beloved family - their funeral procession had been huge.

“Yeaaaah,” Kai stretches the word out. “Did you know the Gilberts?”

The guy's face does something weird. He appears mildly amused. “I knew some Gilberts, yes.”

His expression becomes serious and he stands. “Does Sheila Bennett still live here? I need to ask her something.”

Bonnie peeks from where she's been using Kai as a human shield and glares at the guy.

“What do you want with Grams?”

The guy assesses her, tilting his head and letting his eyes wander up and down her form. It’s predatory and makes Bonnie feel like meat before Kai rearranges himself between them. He's thumbing at his rings like he tends to do when he's agitated. The guy in leather smirks and answers her as though Kai wasn't there.

“Well, little bird, I'm in need of a Bennett witch.”

Bonnie almost laughs, but the way Kai's body stiffens in front of her chases off her amusement. She can see his default devious expression shift into something dark and angry. It sends Bonnie's belly to the floor.

With a grunt, the man follows Bonnie's stomach, crashing to his knees and clutching his head. Kai ushers Bonnie into the house, quickly following her.

“You need to leave,” Kai snaps at the stranger. “Your kind isn't welcome in this town, let alone at this residence. If you come back, I'll report you to the Council.”

With that he slams the door shut, leaving Bonnie with dozens of questions on her tongue.

💔🔫

About a week after Kai's banishment, his coven leader shows up on Miss Sheila's stoop. She lets him in with a smile, then leaves him and Kai alone with a pitcher of lavender lemonade and a round, blue tin of old lady cookies.

Kai picks at a thread hanging from his shorts. His uncle, feeling just as awkward, chugs two glasses of lemonade then plays with the cup. Man and boy peek at each other and are surprised to catch eyes. Jason makes a funny face and Kai chuckles. The tension eases.

“Kai,” the Supreme starts. “You know it's not your fault right? None of this,” he waves his hand around, indicates the general this. “Is your fault. Josh was sick and he heard something he didn't like and he snapped.”

Kai pulls at thread. “Dad said I was an abomination. He said if I'd been worth anything, the Regents would have let you name me and Jo as your heirs.”

Uncle Jason’s face gets dark. “That’s not really your fault Kai, no matter what anyone says.”

“If I was a normal witch and not a siphon, they would have said yes and dad wouldn't have done what he did.”

Uncle Jason grimaces. “Fuck Josh,” he growls lowly and runs his hand over his face. He looks so much like Kai’s dad (Like Jo and Joey. Like Kai.), it physically hurts Kai to look at him, some odd mixture of fear and longing hitting the child.

“Kai, I want you to listen to me carefully,” the Supreme reaches out and clutches his nephew's shoulders. The hold is firm and gentle and Kai basks in his uncle’s warmth.

“The Regents gave a conditional no. They wanted you to go through some intense training before naming you a prospective heir. Your dad was for it, but I vetoed the option.”

At Kai’s dismayed look, Jason wiggled his fingers under the boy's chin and smiles when Kai squirms.

“The training is very dangerous and an extremely outdated and prejudiced practice. The point is to overload a siphon with so much magic they absorb it permanently. It doesn't work. Most siphons die, slowly and painfully, because the spell leaves them open to all kinds of magical backlash, the constant influx of which causes deformities and madness. Do you understand? You would have been tortured to death by your own family.

“Trust me Kai, none of this is on you. Josh was sick. He was willing to let you go through torture and very likely die just for the prospect of being named heir.”

Jason ruffles Kai's dark hair. “You think I would’ve let that happen to my favorite nephew?”

Kai shakes his head. He feels happy and sad and angry and warm. He used to always wish to himself that Jason had been his dad. The thought used to fill him with guilt, but now Kai utters it without any thought.

Jason looks sad. “Me too,” he mutters. “But only if I just got you. No merge to lose you to.”

Kai feels...a lot. He launches himself at his uncle, who grunts, but hugs the kid. He pretends not to notice Kai’s sobs.

Jason strokes his back and stands, walking around and letting Kai cling to him. It's embarrassing. Kai’s eight, a smart and mature third-grader, not a baby. But he feels safe for the first time in months, so Kai lets the embarrassment go.

“No matter what, Kai, you've got me okay?” the Supreme rubs his back, where the intricate pattern adorns Kai’s skin. “This means you're safe. From the coven, the Regents, your dad. But you have me, whenever you need me, okay? Not just as your Supreme, but as your family. I love you, kid.”

Kai holds onto those last four words like a lifeline.

💀🔫

Bonnie screeches like a damn banshee when she's angry and Kai's tight-lipped disposition has her incensed. His ears are fucking ringing like bells by the time Sheila slips through the front door and takes control of the situation.

“Sit your behind down,” she calls after Kai when he tries to slip away.

Kai makes a face while his back is to her, careful not to let her see it. Sheila is a good mother, for all intents and purposes, but she's quick with discipline if she senses disrespect. It's mild to what Kai’s dealt with before, but she ran a tight ship that he’s careful not to rock.

“Now what happened?” she questions and holds up her hand for silence. when Bonnie starts up again about strange men, witches, and Kai being a freak.

“Speak up,” the Bennett matriarch commands him. Kai feels a headache coming on. He tells her everything about the visiting vampire anyway.

Bonnie’s obviously in a state of disbelief listening to him, except she had witnessed Kai drop the vampire with a thought. The mundane denial she'd been raised in wars against her nature and witch’s intuition. The inner conflict makes her waspish and snarky, to the point even Sheila loses her temper.

The fireplace blazes to life and the dining set levitates.

Bennett fire, Kai thinks watching Sheila watch Bonnie. Both generations of women are tense.

Instead of addressing her grandmother, Bonnie turns her attention to Kai. He's not even surprised. It's easier for her to spit vitriol at him than her beloved grandmother.

“Is this what you've been lying to me about all these years?”

There's a challenge in her eyes and a plea in her voice. Kai can't tell what she wants from him, but he gives her what he can. He ignores Sheila’s warning glare and tells Bonnie the truth.

💀🔫

Sentimentality and a sense of masochism made Damon stop at the bridge in the sleepy Virginian town again.

Mystic Falls was still a hole-in-the-wall, barely a blip on anyone's map. The grand return of The Comet was around the bend, bringing with it a slew of hatred and bitterness Damon had housed for the better half of a century. His grudge against Katherine Pierce had become a lifelong companion, his food, his bedmate, his liquor. Take away everything from Damon and he'd still have his hate.

His mood is dense. It settles on him like the fog he conjures and he thinks maybe killing someone would ease the hurt. It used to help. He'd find a pretty brunette and pretend she was Katherine and torture her to death. Soon enough the practice lost its appeal, but the indulgence of bloodlust was cathartic. Klaus had always encouraged it.

He sips bourbon a silver flask said Original has gifted him. Damon had been loyal to him for decades now - since the first Great War. World War. Whatever. It had been nice to meet another vampire on the front lines, to tell his story without any edits or omissions. To miss Stefan and have someone understand that depth of grief, how it had consumed him for centuries, how of course he could never forgive the conniving devil woman that led both brothers to their respective ends.

Imagine his surprise to learn that Klaus had also had it out for Miss Pierce. Petrova. Bitch wonder. Whatever.

So Damon agreed to work for him in pursuit of Katherine. The doppelganger had been his white whale, and he'd waited patiently for the advent of a new Petrova doppelganger. Imagine this surprise when that line guided him back to his hometown.

He almost didn't come. But he's already established that he's a sentimental masochist. Damon downs the last of his bourbon, stares out at the yellow DO NOT CROSS tape and orange roadblocks that wall off the broken bridge.

The night he ripped the human doppelganger out of the car...it had been his bad. He'd wanted to see her, wanted to frighten the family, have bit of a laugh before compelling them to forget the encounter. Instead he'd frightened them right off the bridge and into the water below.

Honest to god, he almost just walked off. He'd sped to the edge and spent almost two minutes just staring at them, wondering if anyone would come by and save them. When it became clear no one was around, he had dived in to save the girl.

Klaus would probably kill him if he found out Damon was the reason he had to wait another five hundred years to break his curse.

He pulled her out of the wreckage and breathed life back into the girl. Wet eyelashes fluttered and he compelled her to find help, that an animal ran out on the bridge and her dad instinctively tried to go around, driving off the bridge. He told her to stay safe because he was coming back for her.

And now he's stuck here, waiting for Katherine to show up like a mouse to a mousetrap. Waiting to give Klaus the green light to snatch her ugly heart out of her chest and for both men to get their revenge. Waiting until the Bennett witch (witches?) can be persuaded to lift Klaus’ curse. It's been so long and having the end in sight is a welcome thing. Soon it will be over and he can rest.

Damon is so tired after all.

💀🔫

He arrives after the kids leave for school. Sheila is tired and not in the mood for company, so she putters around inside before she finally decides to meet him. The vampire Kai described the night before is waiting on her porch swing when she steps out and Sheila pauses in her motions, facing him. He tips an imaginary hat to her.

“Morning ma'am,” he greets. “I'm Damon.”

The old antebellum accent he speaks with sounds completely natural on him, as at odds as it is to his appearance. Sheila studies him, her brow wrinkling in thought.

“You look like that Salvatore boy that runs the boarding house.”

He chuckles, seemingly surprised.

“Zach?” he questions, accent gone. “He's my great grandson.”

Sheila takes a seat in the rocking chair adjacent to him and indicates that he should continue. Damon licks his lips.

“You're not afraid of the big, bad bloodsucker?” he questions. His tone is something odd. Amused and apathetic. Bored and tempestuous. Even when he'd been hamming up the accent, he'd been both too distant and too emotional about it.

“I heard you were looking for me. Seems unlikely you'd attack if you need a Bennett witch to do your bidding.”

The vampire smirks, stretching his arms out along the back of the of the swing. His leather jacket sits in his lap, black like the rest of his attire. Boot-clad feet push the swing as he tips his head back, eyes closed. The gloom in his aura matches his look. Mighty handsome as he is, those angelic looks hid a soul blackened by the worst of human emotions.

“In 1864, I was doing quite well for myself. I'd done all a good first-born southern boy was supposed to do at the time. Married well, had a boy I adored, partnered with my father in the family business, funded and fought in war I didn't believe in, and came home due to injury,” here he pats his shoulder sardonically.

“The ideal Virginia gentleman, even though I hated myself for it. I never wanted to do or be any of that, but I loved my little brother more than life itself. I had few freedoms so Stefan could have them all. That's what older brothers are supposed to do, you understand.

“1864 was also a year when Mystic Falls was infested with vampires. It was quite unbeknownst to us Council members, but one of your mighty ancestors Emily had teamed up with a vamp named Katherine for one thing or another -”

“Safe harbor,” Sheila interrupts. “Suspicions about Emily being a witch were high, I'm sure you're aware. Especially after she turned down Jonathan Gilbert’s...employment offers. Katherine was to make sure Emily and her children made it safely to the Gemini coven in Oregon. She got the children there, by the way.”

The vampire stares at her and nods slowly.

“Noted. Anyway, Emily had made these nifty daylight rings for Katherine and her friends,” he waves his own through the air. “So they went undetected by the Council for a while. My own father housed Katherine as a refugee displaced by the war. It was during that time, she got her hooks in Stefan. When the Council discovered her true identity, she was captured with the other vampires with the intent of burning them all alive.

“Stefan attempted to rescue her. I attempted to stop him. But he was my brother and he fancied himself in love, and he pleaded with me to let them go. Said she was his heart…,” the vampire trails off, lost in thought. “I let them go, but my father was nearby and witnessed the whole thing. He shot us both to death rather than risk the family name being tarnished. Katherine ran off, saved her own skin - and your ancestors’ as well, I reckon - and I watched my brother die reaching out for a woman who didn't look back once as she left him there to die.”

Sheila is quiet. She can sense the anger brewing under his skin, but had Katherine not left the brothers, she and hers might not be here. She understands his pain, but it is what it is.

“Imagine my surprise,” Damon continues. “When I wake up in transition. Emily was there and explained that Katherine had been sneaking me her blood and compelling me to forget. I was to be a surprise for Stefan. Or leverage, depending on your perspective. To convince him to transition for her. She'd wanted him to choose to be like her, so he didn't have any vampire blood in his system when he died. But in doing that, she took my choice away. She left Emily behind to die as well - or whatever they had worked out - and your ancestor offered me a monster’s ring and told me what remaining options I had.”

“Why did you choose to be a vampire?” Sheila inquires, curious. “You seem to not be your kind’s biggest fan.”

Damon shrugs. “It is what it is,” he unknowingly echoes her sentiments. “I'd already lost everything - my father had spread word Stefan and I died trying to stop Katherine’s escape, so I couldn't go home. But I could have revenge.“

The silence that follows is heavy. Sheila absorbs his.story, filling in the gaps of his story with what she'd read in Emily’s grimoire. No matter how she turned it, Katherine’s role in moving Doris, Eileen, and Charles to Oregon had been fairly minimal. Emily had had back-up plans, which she wrote like Katherine had been aware of, so Sheila finds herself having a hard time condemning the man.

“And you need me for this revenge?”

Damon smiled coldly. “Why yes ma'am, I do,” he replies. The accent is back.

💀🔫

Bonnie ignoring him isn't anything new. Neither is her bullying him or encouraging her friends to bully him.

He doesn't know what he expected. This weird combination of making him miserable and pretending he doesn't exist wasn't it though. After he drops her off for summer cheer practice, she finally deigns to look up from furiously messaging on her phone to let him know Caroline would take her to pick up her car.

When she gets out, she greets Tyler who looks after her like a hungry puppy before turning a hard gaze on Kai.

Shit.

Kai tries to pull out but another car is blocking him. He's trapped. His car door is slammed open and he's yanked outside. No magic on mundanes, he tells himself right before throwing a punch at whoever had him gripped.

It's like six on one, but he refuses to be the only one leaving with bruises, so he doesn't bother holding back his temper. Kai is six feet, one-ninety pounds but the football players are all his size or bigger, so the fight back is difficult. He makes sure to nail Lockwood in the fucking face though. Jerk.

Tanner’s whistle blows and the players dissipate, leaving behind Kai and the asshole history coach. The two men eye each other before Tanner speaks.

“We have a wrestling team, you should consider trying out.”

Kai frowns at him. He can't tell if that was sarcasm or a legitimate pitch, but he doesn't care. He gets in his car and drives off, angry and biting it back.

Leave it to Bonnie to punish him for telling the truth. Nevermind his good intentions.

💔🔫

The next time he finally sees Bonnie, it's his first day at school. She's a grade below him, but she's one of the town’s three sweethearts, so everyone in nearby grades sat as close to her table as possible.

“Hi Bonnie,” he greets when he's able to push to the front. A blonde-haired boy eyes him suspiciously, but Kai ignores him. Bonnie, in turn, ignores Kai.

“I wanted to say sorry for the last time we saw each other. I was really rude to you and it doesn't matter what else happened, I shouldn't have been so mean to you,” Kai apologizes. Bonnie doesn't look away from her chattering friends. Kai's temper rises.

“Bonnie, listen to me!” he snaps, grabbing her wrist. Temper flaring, he forgets himself. He forgets that for all Bonnie's magic is latent, it’s still there, just beneath her skin, in her blood and part of her very soul. He forgets he's a soul eater. In his anger, Kai unintentionally siphons her.

Bonnie yowls, yanking her arm away, but Kai had thrown her away at the very first taste of Bennett magic on his skin. She looks at him with betrayal, clutching her arm to her chest. Everyone is staring at them in shock.

“I-I'm sorry. I didn't - I didn't mean to, Bonnie, I'm -,” Kai stammers. Bonnie interrupts.

“Go away! I hate you, just leave me alone! You freak!” At her outburst, the chatter picks up.

“Yeah, go away, freak.”

“Did you see what he did to Bonnie? What a jerk.”

“A monster.”

Someone grabs his lunch tray and dumps the contents on him. Someone else shoves Kai off the lunch bench.

“Go away.”

“We don't want you to sit here.”

“Disappear, freak.”

Food and wrappers are tossed at Kai, and he stumbles away, out of the cafeteria. Two lunch aids, talking to each other, stop him when they see him trying to leave. Kai says he slipped and dropped his lunch tray, and that he was going to the restroom to clean up. They let him pass.

Kai spends the rest of the lunch period quietly crying in the big stall.

💀🔫

She said no. Of course, she did, Damon had expected no less. Regardless, the comet is weeks away and Damon is on a mission. If Sheila won't do it, maybe her pretty little granddaughter might find incentive. He doesn't particularly care if Sheila gets the Council sniffing after his tail. He just needs the girls, the wolf boy, and Katherine, then finally, finally he can rest.

Through his ravens, Damon watches the Bennett girl and her blonde friend through cheer practice. The doppelganger isn't with them, probably still grief-stricken. They leave for the town garage and the blonde drops the little bird off. They make plans to meet at the Mystic Grill and when the blonde girl is sitting alone in her booth, Damon slides in opposite her.

“Mind if I sit here?” he croons, meeting her gaze. He watches as a familiar carnal hunger fills her face and her pupils dilate. Hook, line, and sinker.

It pays to be patient.

💀🔫

School starts. Kai is a senior, so his last science course is one of three electives and he chooses astronomy over psychology and forensic science. Kai’s had his fill of both over the years. Of course though, Bonnie is fast-tracked and an honors student. They're in the same class and Mrs. Galloway partners them for the course.

Kai’s still bruised up from two weeks ago, an ugly yellow settling under the bags if his eyes. Whatever. Prickwood’s nose is still splinted.

They get their syllabi and look over it as Mrs. Galloway explains the year long partner project. They're supposed to track the progression of a constellation over the course of the school year and make a presentation at the end of the year of what they tracked. And of course, because it's Mrs. Galloway’s class, she wants three written reports for the project, the first being a five-to-seven page partnered paper on their constellation’s history and the last two being individual reflective papers on the project that they'll turn in with their final presentation.

Kai sighs internally and considers dropping the class along with the other chattering seniors. He doesn't really want to do so much work in his last year, let alone have to partner with Bonnie. But Mrs. Galloway comes by with a cup of constellation names and a warm smile, and dammit she was Kai’s favorite science teacher. Physics with her had been bitchin’. Bonnie draws out their constellation and Mrs. Galloway writes down what they got.

Of course. They get Gemini.

💔🔫

A pretty little blonde thing opens the door when Klaus knocks. A frown mars her face.

“Who are you?” she questions, almost rudely. Niklaus is charmed.

Damon appears behind her, pulling a thin, black v-neck sweater over his damp hair. At least he seemed to be ditching his infernal jackets, Klaus muses as the younger vampire grips the girl's chin and makes her face him.

“Caroline, this is my friend, Klaus. Klaus, this is our host, Caroline. She was just about to invite you in,” he compels her.

“Please come in, Klaus,” Caroline says in that dreamy way compelled humans speak. Stepping inside, Klaus smiles at her and presses a kiss to the back of her hand.

“Please call me Nik,” he insists and gets taken in by her immediate flush. She'd be so lovely to paint. Damon rolls his eyes.

“The Bennett Matron said no, but she has a granddaughter on the cusp of an Awakening and a ward who also appears to be a witch. If she won't do it, I'm sure they can be persuaded,” Damon informs him, crossing his arms and leaning back against a wall. His eyes dart at Caroline, indicating to Klaus what he means by “persuaded”.

Klaus nods, then turns to Caroline, compelling her to forget anything she might hear them say and not to mention them to anyone at all. He tells her to occupy herself and she leaves them be.

Damon is staring at him.

“What?” Klaus asks.

“She'll probably die,” Damon states bluntly. “It's very likely I'll kill her at the end of all this.”

Klaus scowls at his friend. “I was just being friendly, since you seem to be your usual charming self.”

Damon shrugs. “She's a dead girl walking - what's the point in being pleasant? It's not like she'll remember.”

The Original is over the discussion and waves a hand, telling Damon to move on. The antebellum vampire reports everything, from his findings, to his confirmations, to his tentative plans, which they work through together. Klaus’ phone beeps and he answers without looking. Very few people have his number.

It's Elijah, informing him that Katherine has made contact about a Petrova doppelganger. The excitement in Damon’s face is immeasurable. Klaus soon ends the call and looks over his old friend and follower. He clasps his shoulder.

“Lay low and wait for my signal. Don't give away your presence,” he hands a stone beaded bracelet to Damon, who slips it in without question. “Let the witches think you left and wait for my signals. Soon, your hunt will be over.”

Damon nods, striking blue eyes practically glowing. He closes them off and sighs. “Just a few more weeks,” he mutters. “And it will all be over.”

Klaus heart breaks a little for Damon. But Damon Salvatore the man died over a century ago. In his place is little more than a vengeance seeking wraith. Death would better when it all ends.

💀🔫

It must be a year of bad luck, Bonnie muses. Maybe the town's chakras are misaligned. Maybe she should ask Grams and Kai, if they decide her worthy of any honesty.

She sighs, comforting Matt. She knows she's being harsh, but things are just so fucked up lately and she doesn't understand how two - maybe three, if her father knows - of the people she cared about more than anything else could lie to her face like that for so long. Maybe Kai, but it was unlike him. He preferred to hurt her with the truth than with lies. And he wasn't the type to use lies to protect anyone. He didn't care.

So that left her grandmother.

Bonnie almost wishes she didn't know shit. Ever since the night she learned about vampires, and witches, and werewolves (oh my!), shit in Mystic Falls had gotten so odd over the last few weeks and it seemed to center around her. First, Elena's parents. Then Tyler ends up hitting and killing a drunk and high Vicki Donovan when she wandered out of nowhere to end up in front of his speeding car. Matt is having a hard time looking at his best friend whom he both blames and doesn't blame for his sister’s death. Tyler's made himself scarce, wrestling with his grief and guilt in his own way.

On top of that Caroline has been acting weirder than usual, like all of this bad shit is just a pesky manicure that needs to be fixed and not, like, actual life and death.

And now, sitting in the police station holding a sobbing Matt, she overhears Sheriff Forbes talking to a distraught Jenna Sommers.

Elena’s been missing for 24 hours. No trace of her anywhere. Her phone, her car, and her keys left behind. Kidnapping is suspected.

Bonnie wants to rage. Apparently she has all this power, but she's never felt so helpless. Her people are falling apart and missing and lying to her and all she wants is to find a familiar place to feel safe. She thinks about calling Grams. Instead, she calls Kai.

💀🔫

Nervously, Katherine twists the napkin in her hand until it shreds. Her water, which she ordered for show, sweats for her in anticipation. She really can't stand Klaus. Waiting to bargain her freedom from him in a small booth isn't at all on her list of things she likes to do. But a small public diner is better than being alone with him.

A man slides into the booth seat opposite her.

“About time,” she mutters, looking up. Klaus smiles.

“I would apologize for keeping a lady waiting, but alas,” he indicates her. Katherine smiles tightly.

“Ha. Ha. I take it you found my information sufficient, then?”

“Indeed,” Klaus nods. “My people have apprehended the girl. Consider your debt to me paid.”

Debt, Katherine mentally scoffs. Choosing to live over letting herself be sacrificed for some stupid curse she had nothing to do with had put her in the Original’s debt. Only a Mikaelson.

“So if I leave, you won't pursue me? No revenge chase, no take backs, nothing? Our business is done?” the vampire doppelganger checks.

“Like I said, Miss Pierce - your score with me is settled.” His eyes flick over her shoulder. “With me, that is.”

A cool body flops down next to her. Katherine has time to take in black hair and clothes, pale skin, and flashing blue eyes before a butter knife is rammed through her wrist and into the table below. She cries out loudly, but no one turns.

A trap. Fuck, she should've known better.

“Hey, Kat,” Damon drawls. “Long time no see.” He slams her head into the table several times and the last thing Katherine sees before her world goes black is cold blue eyes shifting to a warm hazel. She almost calls his name, but then she remembers.

Stefan’s dead.

💔🔫

Bonnie can't stand her grandmother's foster son. Grams had gone out of her way to give Kai a nice birthday - taking them both to the amusement park in Whitmore, buying him a delicious mint chocolate chip ice cream cake - Kai's favorite, and gifting him with a plane ticket to Portland to visit family members who should've been taking care of him instead of Grams.

But he was ungrateful, and Bonnie can't stand him. He was turning unlucky thirteen, finally taller than her and about as sullen as can be.

His birthday is mid-April and it's warm as hell. Bonnie is sweltering in the eat, so she swallows down as much of the creamy Baskin Robbins cake as she can. Kai only picks at his. They're waiting for Kai’s case worker, and Bonnie has a mouthful ready to report about her “uncle's” living conditions. He's been extra snappish lately, escalating their usual bickering to all out brawls. He bruised her ribs, but she sprained his wrist - the same one he wore a cast on when he arrived almost five years ago. She'll lie through her teeth if it meant him finally being out of her life.

Kai's case worker finally arrives and she joins the for ice cream cake and pleasantries. She even brought a gift for Kai, a small collection of graphic novels that he must have told her he liked to read. Bonnie is itching for their interview. Anything, anything, if it meant he'll be gone and taking this uncomfortable feeling he elicits in her chest with him.

Her plan fails. His case worker is looking at her pityingly by the time Bonnie finishes her rant.

“Honey,” the case worker says softly. “He can't go home to Portland. His family want him as far away from his father as possible and the one they trust with him is your grandmother. He’s not going anywhere.”

Bonnie snaps. “But I hate him! He's weird and quiet and mean, and he creeps me out! Why can't one of his family members move here? Why does he have to take mine?”

The case worker softens. “Bonnie,” she soothes. “He's not taking away from your family, he's adding to it. Give him a chance, I'm sure you'll find that you enjoy his company more than you despise it.”

The Bennett girl is stubborn. She may have no choice but to accept Kai in her life, but she refuses to enjoy his presence. The next day she looks up abusive fathers in Portland in 1999. She finds a short newsclip about a man named Joshua Parker who killed his wife and two of his three children. None of the children's names are released so as not to reveal the survivor's identity, who was first in protective services, than the foster care system. The child's records were sealed.

Bonnie eases up on Kai. He's still a freak, but at least she has a better grasp on why. She'll let him stay. It's not like she has to like it.

💀🔫

Kai had picked her up from the station, drove Matt home, held her through her break down, then guided her to his room at Grams’ place. The older Bennett woman is out with the search party. The Sheriff had issued a curfew for everyone 17 and under to be home by 7 p.m., so Bonnie's sitting in Kai's room so that neither teen is alone.

He turns on his TV, leaves it on Chopped Jr, then goes downstairs to make dinner. Bonnie's hands shake. She feels cold, even bundled up in her warm PJ's under Kai's down comforter.

His room is cozy and masculine, shades of navy and light blues and soft greys and creams everywhere. Framed comic posters are lined up sharply on one wall, between two neat but overfilled bookshelves. His bed is in the corner opposite his nerd wall and his desk, the second largest furnishing in the room, is by the bed’s headboard, lined under his window. There's a clean desktop computer and game system set-up on it. The TV is on the dresser between his closet door and the entrance, which are both on the wall facing across the windowed wall. There's textured fabric everywhere, down comforters, knit pillows, microplush throws, a rough carpet rug on the wood flooring - it makes the room cozy. She's never really been in here before. It was an unspoken rule between them that bedrooms were off limits. His room is kind of like a nautical watercolor, themed and clean. Bonnie smiles to herself as she realizes just how domestic Kai is.

Think of the devil - her foster uncle opens the door. He has two bowls of mac’n’cheese casserole and he hands her one before sitting at the desk and wolfing his own down. He says nothing, watching the TV as though having a red-eyed Bonnie Bennett in his room were a regular occurrence and not weird at all. Bonnie picks at her bowl - it's good, Kai's a pretty decent chef - before she sets it on the desk next to him.

Her adoptive uncle looks at her from his periphery. It's a creepy little habit he's adopted, watching her while pretending he's not watching her while she pretends to not notice. Bonnie's done with pretending.

“Kai-,” she starts.

“Not hungry?” he interrupts. “I'll go wrap it for you.”

Bonnie purses her lips, but remains silent when he grabs their bowls and disappears again. She can hear downstairs, but then it's quiet. She lowers the volume on the TV and waits. Almost three minutes pass. Nothing from downstairs. Bonnie glowers.

Did he leave?

She gets up and throws open the door only to find Kai leaning against the frame. She starts, clutching her chest. Watches him peer up through his lashes at her.

Something in her belly flutters and her pulse speeds. Kai's hot. Distantly, she was always aware of this, but it's disconcerting to push away her feelings towards him - the vast majority of them negative - to acknowledge odd truths like that.

“You leaving?” he asks her. His voice is soft in the hush surrounding them. Bonnie shakes her head.

“I thought you left. I was going to look for you,” she answers just as quietly. Kai smiles sardonically. Holds up his clocked wrist.

“It's eight-thirty,” he replies. Right, she thinks. The curfew. Kai straightens up and walks into the room. Too close to her personal space and she steps back at an angle. He follows. Bonnie stops when her knees brush the bed. Kai stops when his chest brushes hers. He reaches out and Bonnie closes her eyes.

“I'll scream,” she whispers. Kai’s hands cup her face. They're warm and large and a port in the recent crazy. She's fes safe, with Kai of all people.

“As loud as you can,” he agrees. His thumbs rub at her erratic pulse. Bonnie's breaths come in ragged and a heavy, loud in the air.

“I'll hurt you,” she mutters, finally looking at him. His eyes are dark and focused. Whatever he sees on her face must encourage him because he brings them closer. His lips brush hers, teasing when he whispers back.

“I'll like it.”

💔🔫

Jason had buried his sister-in-law, his niece, and one nephew two days after he sent the other nephew to Virginia for safety. Kai's visiting for his thirteenth birthday and the Supreme had wanted to see the coven members he failed before picking up the one he won't from the airport.

Three pristine headstones look up at him, the two smaller ones with dates that break his heart. 1993-1999. 1991-1999.

Joey hadn't even made it to six yet, dying a few months short of that birthday. Josette barely made it to eight. And the boy who shared her birthday? Jason can only hope he has many birthdays to come.

Sheila's calls had alarmed him. Kai was acting up, skipping therapy, flushing his meds, contemplating suicide. He was fighting and being bullied, one of the perpetrators being Sheila's granddaughter no less, although Kai never ratted her out. Sheila intervened when she could, forced them to spend time together, but fixing that relationship was between the kids.

Kai had a particular fascination with death and death mythology lately. It might have been a phase of it might be serious suicidal ideation. Either way, Jason and Sheila split the cost of a roundtrip ticket for Kai, so that the Supreme could spend time with his favorite nephew.

Jason picks Kai up and they go shopping first, because none of the clothes Kai has really suits his personality. Then they hit up Voodoo Doughnut and a Trail Blazers game and Jason relaxes when he feels the gloom and doom in Kai’s aura lift.

“What about girls?” he asks when Kai finishes telling him about what he likes about Mystic Falls. His nephew’s face falls.

“Or boys!” Jason rushes to assure him. He didn't think Kai was gay, but it's better not to assume anything. “Or whomever you like! I don't care! I mean, I care, but you know in support, not because I think anything's wrong with you or-,” he's rambling, but it's okay. Kai's having an uproarious laugh at his expense.

“I like a girl,” Kai says, still chuckling. His face falls. “She doesn't like me though. Pretty sure she hates me, actually.”

Jason looks over Kai, feels out his aura. It clicks.

“Oh damn, kiddo,” he says. Kai grimaces. “Is that why you never try to get Bonnie in trouble?”

Kai frowns. “No, it's because I'm not a snitch.”

Jason stares. Kai shrugs. “At least when she hates me, I'm on her mind. And she's weirdly possessive about me. It's better than her not caring.”

That….that is fucked up. Love isn't supposed to be like that, let alone someone's first love. Jason says as much. Kai shrugs again.

“I have her,” he says. “It's better than being Tyler Lockwood, who does everything she says in hopes she'll finally do something about his boner only to be disappointed every time she doesn't even notice. I'm in her and she hates it, but I'm there. It's better than every other guy who likes her, but doesn't even ping on her radar. At least she sees me and thinks about me.”

Kai shoves another doughnut in his mouth and Jason sighs, letting the subject drop. It'll either change for the better or get worse until it dies. He just hopes it doesn't leave either child too scarred.

💀🔫

Bonnie's mouth is painful on his and their embrace goes from warm to hot, and she's wet under him, then wet surrounding him. He has to slow down, first for safety (That safe driving slogan, “better safe than sorry” plays in his head when he slides a condom on.), then for consideration, because he hadn't realized popular, beautiful Bonnie Bennett had made it to her junior year of high school without letting anyone have her like this. She clings to him and his kisses soften from bruising to comforting when her tears come. He’s not small, and he never wished he was, but maybe she wouldn't be in so much pain if he had been. He rubs her back and holds her and when she wraps her legs around his waist and encourages him, he feels like he's finally come home.

It's good. Not great, but Kai's nervous and Bonnie's never done it before. He makes sure she cums. Touches her and licks her until she screams, just like she told him she would. Just like he encouraged her to. When they finish, he discards the bloodied condom and offers to run her bath. She shakes her head and holds him instead. Kai traces shapes on her back and closes his eyes.

“What's going to happen?” she says into the dark.

“We'll be safe,” he replies. She shifts, sitting up. Naked flesh moves on naked flesh and Kai's cock stirs awake again.

“How do you know?” Her green eyes glow in the dark like a cat's and he strokes down her dark curls. The sight of her like this makes him ache. Kai’s hated and loved Bonnie in equal measure for most of his life. He has no idea if this is her using him for comfort or her finally giving in to their weird chemistry now that she fears she might lose the people she loves.

He almost doesn't want to know. He certainly doesn't want to think about it.

So he tells her about his coven in Portland instead.

💀🔫

When Elena comes to, she has no idea where she is or how she got there. The house is unfamiliar, but nicely furnished and clean, if not obviously abandoned. Her head throbs and she assumes that's the reason for absent memories. Slowly, the brunette sits up and looks around. She tells herself to stay calm even as horror stories about human sex trafficking and slave trades come to mind. Checking her limbs and body over, Elena is surprised to learn that she's relatively uninjured and unchained.

Another girl with dark hair is slumped over in the corner. She’s looks like a similar height and build to Elena, reinforcing the girl's thoughts of human trafficking. Even her hair shade is very close Elena's own chestnut locks, the only difference being that the girl’s is curly. Unlike Elena, she is chained up. Maybe she fought. If Elena can help her get out of her chains, maybe they can work together to get free.

Looking around, Elena quietly makes her way across the room to the other girl. She's a few feet away when a voice rings out.

“Ah, ah, ah! I wouldn't do that if I were you.”

Elena starts, whirling around. A tall, dark-haired man with piercing blue eyes is sitting on a chair Elena is one hundred and ten percent sure was empty, just seconds ago. He looks comfortable like, he's been there for a while.

He cocks a brow at her. “She bites,” he informs her nodding at the form behind her.

“Fuck you, Damon,” a woman's voice replies behind Elena.

It sends a shiver through her body. It's eerily similar to her own and Elena recalls the obvious similarities she noted earlier. She whirls around and is nearly floored.

The woman behind her...looks exactly like her. Doe-eyes meet doe-eyes, one set surprised and the other mocking. It's like looking at a mirror. Or an identical twin. Except Elena didn't have a twin.

The woman mirrors Elena’s dumbstruck face. “Oh, poor girl. Not only are you not as pretty as me, you're dumb and mute too.”

Elena shakes her head and steps back, looking between the two dark-haired strangers.

“What the hell is going on?” she demands. The face-stealer grimaces.

“Not so loud,” she rebukes. “And you're a human sacrifice. Welcome to the not so glamorous life of a Petrova doppelganger. My advice is to go vampire and not look back.”

“Because that worked out so well for you, right, Kitty Kat?” At he man speaks up and stands. He moves to where Elena is and grips her elbow. She tries to pull away, but he seems unmoved, merely tightening his grip and staring at her unnervingly. His grip becomes blistering painful and Elena cries out, falling to her knees as she tries to get away. She hears the chains rattle behind her.

“She's not me, asshole. I'm right here. If you want your revenge so bad, meet your maker like a man and stop picking on little girls.”

Damon lets Elena go, turning his icy gaze to her... doppelganger?

“Hush, Kitty Kat. No need to act like a jealous old crone,” he sneers. Katherine smirks.

“No need to act like a jilted lover. So what Stefan chose me over you? Your brother was a man grown, not your child or your wife. You already had one of each, but apparently they didn't occupy you like they should've.”

Damon's face grows hard, dark veins filtering onto his face. The chains rattle again as Kat stands.

“You should act like your doppelganger, Katherine, and keep your mouth shut.” He smiles and it's not friendly. “You'll both be dead soon anyway.”

With that, there's a rush of air, and he's gone. The doppelgangers stare at each other. Katherine tugs at the chains but they merely creak in protest. Steam rises from where they press her skin and the woman hisses.

“I don't suppose you can grab me stiff drink, can you?” she asks Elena. Elena just stares and with a shrug, looks for a kitchen.

💀🔫

“Oh my god, I'm a South Park Canadian,” Bonnie says, pulling her sweatshirt back on.

“What?” Kai questions, amused. Bonnie shrugs.

“I'm an uncle fucker,” Bonnie smirks at him. Kai lets out a shocked chuckle.

“What?! I'm not your uncle,” he laughs. He's beautiful, but she is stupidly, stupidly disgusted with herself. Why, she's not sure yet. She strokes his hair and kisses his cheek.

“I don't know...my grandmother adopted you. For all intents and purposes, you're my mom’s white little brother.”

Kai laughs again, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her between his legs where he's sitting on the edge of his bed. He smiles up at her.

“I'm fostered, not adopted,” he corrects. “Therefore, not your white uncle or anything. No incest here, Bonster.”

She starts at the nickname. He used to call her that when he would catch her crying over her dad choosing to work on holidays than spend time with her. He rarely calls her that, and it's always said in soft tones of comfort, never used in moments when she's dead certain he probably wants to kill her.

“Well damn,” she teases. “There goes that forbidden factor.” Kai laughs again, then pulls her back on the bed, spinning so that he's on top of her. His hands nestle beneath her shirt, playing with her belly button.

He kisses up the column of her neck. “Still very forbidden, lover.” He nibbled at her ear. “Sheila would probably kill me for defiling you.”

Bonnie snorts, but it's like Kai's words were a summoning. The front door slams open and Grams is shouting her name. Both Bonnie's and Kai's eyes widen comically and Kai practically launches himself into his desk chair and grapples for the remote to turn the TV on. They both hear Grams start up the stairs and Bonnie wraps herself up in one of Kai’s many blankets and pretends to be immersed in Tony Stark’s misadventures.

Kai's door bangs open and both teens sit up with a jump, not even faking their startle. Sheila’s hands go to her hips.

“You two deaf?” she demands. “And since when are you hanging out in each other's rooms? With the door closed?”

Kai stares at her, convincingly innocent. If Bonnie didn't know better, she'd believe his next words. “We're just watching a movie. Waiting to hear news.”

Sheila snorts. “Mhmmm. And I'm Barbra Streisand. Both of you get your tails downstairs. There's much to discuss.”

Grams turns sharply down the hall and Bonnie and Kai glance at each other before following.

In the kitchen, Grams is heating herself up some of Kai's casserole. Her back is tense and Bonnie can see the weariness that lines her body. A bad feeling settles in the girl's bowels.

“Grams?” She ventures. “What's going on?”

Sheila sighs and turns around. “You eat already?” she asks them. Kai nods and Bonnie shrugs, and Grams nods like this was about what she expected.

“Sit down,” she commands. When they're seated, she crosses her arm and states matter-of-factly. “We've found that along with Elena, Tyler Lockwood and Caroline Forbes are also missing. Since all of the appear to be friends, at first it's suspected they've run away together. But there was blood found in Tyler's house that matched his DNA, indicating a struggle. Caroline went missing on her way home from the mall in Talon Falls. Her car was found in the parking lot.”

She keeps talking, but her voice is drowned out by a loud ringing in her ears. Her breaths come in gasps. Her friends are missing. Her friends are missing. Her friends are missing. The room is too light, then too dark and Bonnie feels clammy and cold. She grips the table in front of her. A sharp slap to her face snaps her out of it.

Bonnie rubs her cheek as Grams lowers her hand.

“You okay, sugar pie? I wasn't trying to alarm you but I needed you to know the truth. Have you noticed anything strange going on lately?” Grams asks her.

Bonnie shakes her head. “No,” she states, her voice cracking. Her face crumples into tears.

This is too much. First, the uncovering of the supernatural, now her friends dying or disappearing left and right. She's never felt so powerless. The afterglow from her time with Kai fades. The self-disgust from earlier settles. She was letting Kai fuck her while her friends were going missing. How could she be so selfish like that, seeking out happiness from a guy she didn't even know how she felt about when her friends’ futures became uncertain? Her distress overwhelms her and she feels hot, like fire was boiling in her veins.

Strong arms wrap around her. “You need to calm down, Bonnie,” Kai's voice rumbles by her ear. “It's not your fault, okay? I understand, but you need to calm down before you burn the house down.”

His words don't make sense, but when Bonnie looks up with teary eyes, she sees her grandmother frantically waving her arms over flames that keep popping up.

“Hold it together, Bonnie!” she calls out.

Kai grabs her face and soothes down her hair. “I'm going to have to siphon you if you don't calm down, Bonster. Deep breaths okay? Don't let your emotions overwhelm you.”

Listening to his words, Bonnie let's herself be calmed. The flames die down. The young witch looks around the charred kitchen.

“I did that?” she whispers. Kai smiles softly and nods.

“Happy Awakening, Bonnie. Let's figure out how to save your friends.”

💀🔫

Greta arranges the casting circle in the field and spells the occupants asleep. Damon dumps Katherine - the vampire, the Lockwood boy - the werewolf, and Elena - the doppelganger in the cages where Greta indicates they should go.

“Bennett blood needs to be spilled from the eastern end, where the comet will enter the Gemini constellation,” she informs Damon. When he looks at her blankly, she sighs and a flaming ‘X’ chars the ground several feet from them.

“Over there,” she tells him. Damon grins and salutes, then takes a moment to look around. The three main ingredients for the “sun and moon curse”, all trussed up and ready to die. How beautiful.

He can hear Caroline crying as Klaus gently guides her back to the field. Damon frowns at that. It's weird, Klaus’s sudden fixation with baby Barbie, but to each his own. Damon doesn't know and doesn't want to know what the hell is up with that.

Movement catches his eye and Damon turns to look. The human doppelganger is stirring. She's been eerily calm about this whole ordeal, taking to the supernatural like a duck to water. It’s nothing at all like Katherine, reminding Damon of his brother's calm disposition and his widowed wife's faithful practicality. Her dark eyes meet his light ones. Warm earth to winter sky.

They study each other in silence, before she breaks it.

“Do you think this will make you happy?” Elena inquires. Damon shrugs.

“It doesn't have to. It just has to be over. I get revenge on Katherine by handing her over to die in away she never wanted to. Klaus gets to break his curse. Klaus compels me to forget and I get to rest.”

“To die.”

“Indeed,” Damon shrugs. “I wanted revenge and now it's here. What more after that? I never wanted to be a vampire.”

Elena’s somber face twists him with guilt and he glares at her.

“Maybe you should learn to live again,” she said. “Save yourself like you saved me that night on Wickery Bridge.”

Damon huffs a laugh. “You know I caused that accident, right? I didn't save you out of guilt or some hero complex. I did it because letting you die then would be an inconvenience.”

Elena's conviction seems to falter, but then Damon watches her literally arm herself with determination.

“You're not a bad person,” she insists. “And you can't convince me otherwise. I know what it looks like when grief kills who you are inside. To feel like the walking dead.”

Damon turns his back to her and closes his, but he's a vampire. He has super hearing.

“And I know that grief can be overcome. Maybe not now or tomorrow, but someday, you'll feel alive again and you can only do that if you keep trying.”

Damon opens his eyes. “What do you know?” he jeers lightly. “You're dying young.”

💀🔫

Shortly after her meltdown, Bonnie's phone rings and she hears Caroline's desperate voice pleading in her ear.

“Don't come Bonnie okay, they have Tyler and Elena and they want you to do something weird, please Bonnie don't come, they're gonna kill us, just call my mom.”

The phone gets taken away but she hears Caroline scream something about the woods and Bonnie writes that down for Grams to see. Kai grabs her hand when another voice, make and British, fills her ear.

“Nonsense, love. Caroline will live so long as you're willing to play your part, miss Bennett. All you need to do is prick your finger and recite some Latin. Very easy.”

“Who is this?” Bonnie asks. “You don't sound like that other guy.”

The man chuckles. “My apologies, darling. My name is Niklaus Mikaelson. That other guy was my associate Damon. He can be a little hard to like, I will admit. But he was only acting on my behalf. I need a Bennett witch for a favor, and I promise you handsome compensation.”

“Like my friends back home safe?”

“As many as possible, darling,” he replies. “But none at all if you or grandmother refuse compliance.”

Kai gets up and grabs his phone. He's texting someone furiously, listening as closely as he can to their conversation. He nods at Bonnie, backed by her Grams’ nod. Bonnie takes a breath.

“Okay,” she tells him. “I'll be there. You're in the woods?”

Klaus hums his agreement. “In a lovely little meadow near the falls. I'm sure you're aware.”

At Bonnie's quiet “yeah” he continues. “And I'm sure there's no need to tell you what will happen to any interlopers you bring along.”

He ends the call and Bonnie looks between the more experienced witches in her family.

“Who’s Niklaus Mikaelson?” she asks them.

Grams is eyeing the liquor cabinet. “Bad news,” she replies. “A very old vampire, one of the first.”

“An Original,” Kai said. He sounds excited. “I texted my uncle and asked him what an Original would need a doppelganger and a Bennett witch. He wants to break the hybrid curse!”

Both women look at him, unable to comprehend his excitement, or in Bonnie's case, what the hell he was even talking about. He smiles.

“It's enough for a powerful coven to run intervention. Like say, the Gemini Coven.”

“Let my coven stop the beasts. We're going to save your friends.”

💀🔫

The Original looks up when the Bennett girl and her grandmother step into the clearing. Damon comes to stand beside him and looks over the women.

“No Prince Charming tonight?” he presses.

“Your friend said no interlopers,” the younger one speaks up, glaring at Damon. He glares back.

“And you didn't even consider being non-compliant? Not to save your best friends?” The raven-haired vampire demands. This time the older Bennett woman smiles.

“Have you considered that we don't need them?”

Damon’s hackles, which had been raised all night, appear to settle.

“Touché,” he concedes and steps back.

Niklaus smirks at the exchange, amused. He nods to the Bennett witches.

“Ladies,” he greets. “This way if you will.”

Bonnie glares at him, but follows to where he leads them. It is Sheila who takes the spellbook from him, reading over the incantation. She looks at him sharply.

“You do know what you're asking, don't you?” she queries.

“Of course,” Klaus replies. “And I understand the risk you're undertaking. I promise to reward you well.”

Sheila scoffs, shaking her head but she turns to Bonnie and guides her through the beginnings of the incantation. Klaus watches them, puzzled, but goes to take his place where Damon is holding the human doppelganger.

“This is too easy,” Damon voices his thoughts. Klaus nods, agreeing. But magic is heavy in the air and it's affecting him like it should, do he decides to accept this lucky streak for the time being.

“We will watch,” he tells Damon. “And should they betray us, we will extract the price in their blood.”

Damon nods, still appearing tense and Elena stares after him pleadingly as he passes her along to Klaus.

“Please, don't do this,” she pleads, but Damon is stone tonight. His attention is focused on the older doppelganger.

He's barely focused on the younger one when he replies, “I have to.”

Klaus grins down reassuringly to Elena. “It's just a little bite, Elena. You’ll barely feel it.”

The magic is rough inside his body. The Bennett's reach the first crescendo and there's a cry from where Damon rips out Katherine’s heart. There had been a brief exchange between them, but Klaus was too preoccupied to take notice of the context.

The next crescendo comes and Greta raises her knife to sacrifice the world not. As it descends, Klaus's eyes close and he leans forward fangs extended for the last influx of magic. He can feel the chains on his inner beast being shredded and the world narrows to Elena's neck and the magic filtering his blood. The final crescendo hits and he bites into the doppelganger, who tries to flinch away.

But his body is breaking apart and coming back together all at once, so he doesn't notice Damon’s warning cry. Not until an ash-covered dagger is jammed in his back. Damon is rushing towards him, but as Klaus falls, he sees the other vampire fall to his knees, a magic whip putting bloody stripes down his back.

Klaus looks up to see Caroline, eyes teary as she grips Elena and pulls her away from him. Clutching her bloody neck, the brunette stumbles after her tall friend to the edge of the clearing. The desiccation takes hold and the last thing Klaus sees is a coven of witches apparating into the clear, glowing green Gemini mark overtaking the clearing.

No Prince Charming tonight? Damon had asked.

Therein lies their answer.

💔🔫

Joshua stares up at his little brother’s projection, the little crown stealer. The Supreme fiddles with his belt then sighs, stepping back to reveal the Ascendant. Hate surges through Joshua Parker

“This is Kai’s,” Jason informs him. “I modified the spell. Your little abomination will hold your life in his hands. This Ascendent will tie you to him, and when he chooses, your life will be sacrificed to fulfill whatever function he sees fit and not one moment sooner. This is your punishment.”

Jason’s projection begins to fade.

“Blessed be, big brother.”

💀🔫

Two weeks later:

Elena watches the weird new dynamic between Bonnie and Kai, before the witch (and that's weird as well, to think of her best friend in those terms) breaks away from his embrace to come sit with them. Caroline is still withdrawn. Her memories from her own kidnapping had returned slowly over the past two weeks. At first Damon had merely used her as a means of food and shelter, virtually ignoring her until he needed a human touch. With Klaus, her treatment had been upgraded, but it meant posing for hours on end for paintings. In their private moments, Caroline had said she can't really explain why the interactions with the Original left her so shaken, only that his attention both frightened and aroused her.

Oddly enough, both Elena and Bonnie could relate.

That night, Kai had murdered the witch working for Klaus and sacrificed his father to protect the Bennett's from the blowback of the spell. Elena didn't exactly understand it all, but she knows it meant a lot to Bonnie. Some tide had shifted between Elena's friend and her grandmother’s ward.

They have lunch. Elena's neck is still healing, but it no longer hurts to swallow or talk, which means she's ready for that spicy avocado ranch chicken wrap from the Grill. Which she's having now, because oh god, yeah. Caroline picks at her food, but she eats more than she has been. She's taking the supernatural reveal hardest, wanting nothing more than to go back to her normal life. But she can't forget and it's left her shaken to know how easily creatures that go bump in the night were willing and able to throw away her life.

She ends up leaving first, being picked up by her mom. Bonnie follows soon after, some kind of magical training she and Kai have to do now that Bonnie's magic is awakened. Elena waves after them, intending to enjoy a second wrap without judgement. It arrives quickly and as Elena takes the first huge bite she looks up to see blue eyes watching her with mild disgust.

She has to laugh at his expression.

“You came,” she greets. Damon nods, sitting opposite her.

“I did,” he said. “You don't think your little friends might see this as a betrayal? I'm pretty sure Blondie would be willing stab me like she did my oldest friend.”

Elena smiles. “Of course she would. You made her feel unsafe.”

Damon leans forward, bracing his cheek on his hand. He's almost devastatingly handsome.

“I'm not sorry,” he declares. Challenges. Elena meets it.

“Neither are we.” She takes a bite of her wrap. “How's living treating you?”

It doesn't sound right through her mouthful of chicken, but Damon seems to understand, making another face at her manners. He huffs and rolls his eyes.

“You shouldn't have interfered,” he chides. “You should have let the witches kill me.”

“What kind of punishment is that?” Elena teases. “Death isn't redeeming. You can't make things right with anyone from the grave.” She takes another bite. Damon watches her.

“I spent a century waiting to kill a woman who looked just like you,” he informs her. “When she died, she thanked me for giving back her heart right before I ripped it out of her chest.”

Elena stares at him and swallows her food. A lump stays in her throat. “Are you going to kill me too?”

He smiles. “Now, now. What kind of punishment is that?” He leans back.

“I think I'll stick around. Hang out with x-greats-grandson Zach. Uncle Zach?” he muses. “He looks older than me: I was only 25 when I turned. Uncle Zach.”

Elena smiles. “Well in that case: Welcome to Mystic Falls, Mr. Salvatore.” She holds out her hand. “I'm Elena.”

“Damon,” he replies after a brief hesitation, shaking her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

They share a smile. Neither really notices when he doesn't let her hand go.

💀🔫

Kai wakes with start when someone small and cold slips into his bed. He grumbles, but shifts so that Bonnie can make herself comfortable.

“Shut up, freak,” she mumbles and pulls his arm around her. Kai presses a kiss to her head. She's quiet, stilling long enough for Kai to start to drift off.

“Do you regret it?” she asks. Kai grunts, not opening his eyes.

“Killing your dad? Killing that witch?”

Kai shakes his head, burying his nose in her hair.

“Them or you, Bonnie. I pick you any day.”

“Even though I was awful to you for so long? Even though you hated me?”

Kai sighs. “I never really hated you. Hush before Sheila pops in to yell at us.”

She back-elbows him gently. “I mean it.”

“Me too,” he grunts. “It doesn't matter, Bonnie. I'd still pick you, any day. Over anyone. Even Grams. Even my uncle.”

Bonnie's quiet. “Why?” she chokes. He pulls her closer.

“You know why.”

With a sigh, she settles to sleep. “I never really hated you either,” she whispers. Kai hums, relaxing.

After a moment Bonnie sits up straight, wide-eyed and distraught.

“Oh shit,” she wheezes, scrambling out if the bed. Kai sits up slowly, somewhat cranky now.

“What now?” he croaks. Bonnie glares at him, then snaps:

“Our first constellation report is due in astronomy tomorrow!”

💀🔫

A/N for shayspencer: Hello shayspencer! I'm donutworry (fuckitimfangirling on Tumblr), your Secret Santa. Feel free to call me Allie. I hope you enjoyed your fic, it was pretty fun to write. It was a little tough to write, bc I think I tackled each of your topics at least once in other works and I didn't want to produce anything too repetitive. I'm also sorry for any typos, this is unbeta’ed and was written during bouts of free time - I work in healthcare and holiday season is the busiest. When I wrote it, I kind of focused on how Bonnie was the one to pursue the bad blood between them and Kai being the one to always offer the olive branch, even if it was after he hit back. I know the high school AU aspect was pretty loose, but I wanted to focus more on how their lives are supposed to revolve around school and how the supernatural disrupted that. Hopefully, I managed to do so. Hopefully, the Delena was enjoyable. I did my very best, even though I'm neutral towards most non-Bonnie TVD ships. I know KC and SK where probs not what you wanted, but I think it's important to show how push-pull ships like this don't always work out. I did get pretty into Steferine because of you though, lol. It seemed you would be okay with darker stuff, so I went pretty emo because I wanted to bring you the feels. Did it work? If my sadism here wasn't enough, I've got two other WIPs inspired by your prompts to bring the pain. 😝 Happy holidays, enjoy any breaks you might have and any holiday pay you might make! Happy BK Secret Santa! I'll post this on FFN, Tumblr, and AO3 in 2018 after you've had a chance to enjoy for yourself.

#bkss2017 #shayspencer #fuckitimfangirling #bonkai

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authenticparanoidghosts · 7 years

Text

okay, bc @dr-doc-phd asked, Diamond is Unbreakable but it’s BnHA, also titled “will I ever learn how to chill out”

(this is a LONG GODDAMN POST I’m sorry everyone)

first order of business: quirks vs stands

stands are essentially gonna be converted into quirks bc I Do Not want to take the time to come up with all new powers for everyone, they’re going to be called quirks, there are no punching ghosts (possible exception of Star Platinum, I haven’t decided on him yet)

Josuke: same as usual, he can fix anything he’s touching. he developed his quirk at a really early age and and it seems to be directly derived from Tomoko’s power (she can temporarily stick items together) but it’s way more powerful

bc quirks have a genetic component, the fact that his is so similar to his mom’s offers him no insight on who his father might be

Josuke is not really bothered by this

Koichi: essentially has the same power as Echoes ACT1-2, by writing manga sound effects on objects/people and activating them through touch, he causes either the sound to be heard or an effect related to the sound to take place (these effects get stronger as he trains more and more with his quirk). due to Keicho’s actions, he develops a second quirk (this is, for the record, totally unheard of) which allows him to increase gravity on an object within close range

his range on all things is v short and his gravity power is fairly weak but he’s actually v scary

Yukako: her ability is exactly the same, except she’s not able to plant her hair into anyone else’s scalp until she trains more

she’s one of the super special recommended students because I love her and she’s terrifying

Okuyasu: his quirk is exactly what The Hand does except he uses his own right hand for it. he’s even still got the little circle markings for it.

he develops his quirk at ~14 through unnatural means, previously he was quirkless

since he developed it artificially and at such a late age, his control over it isn’t fantastic and he has to be careful

Mikitaka: can change the shape and composition of his extremities but cannot detach them, seriously manipulate his own size, or alter his entire body at once

he’s also a recommended student at UA and he’s staying with the hero who sponsored him, his actual origins are shrouded in mystery (which he encourages)

(Mikitaka’s goal is essentially to become a cryptid and I love that about him)

Keicho: very specific version of telekinesis where he can only pick up objects under a certain weight (it’s literally, like, a gram or two), but if he can pick something up, he can move it at an incredibly high speed. he basically carries sand or bb pellets with him at all times and shoots them at people like very small bullets that cannot miss. he’s clever enough to use this to devastating effect.

like Okuyasu, he was also quirkless until he was roughly 14

Rohan: can control someone’s thoughts or actions by writing on their skin, but it only lasts as long as the ink does. so. essentially still Heaven’s Door, but he can’t read your mind.

Rohan and Koichi have to carry markers with them to use their quirks which is kind of silly but I secretly love

anyways, Rohan….might still be a manga artist?

he’s not a hero or a villain

villains probably try to recruit him bc, you know, his power is super useful

YOU KNOW WHAT he could just be pimping out his own quirk to anyone willing to pay for it as like a side job until he meets the squad (Koichi) and changes his ways (is charmed into acting like a decent person)

Jotaro: I was thinking Jotaro’s quirk could be just stopping time for five seconds? but also it could be “self preservation” where it’s automatically activated when he’s in danger and a ghostly shape (coughs Star Platinum) appears to shield him or catch bullets or whatever it is that he needs. either one is good. it’s not really relevant yet and could work either way.

other quirks described as they come up

IMPORTANT NOTE: being quirkless isn’t quite as uncommon in this AU as it is in BnHA canon, but a definite majority of people still have quirks

okay time for some AU bg

1988 - Joseph Joestar (a popular American hero) and his teenaged grandson Jotaro Kujo (just some kid) are credited with uncovering and stopping the crimes of international supervillain Dio Brando.

it’s totally fucking sick

Dio cannot be detained and questioned in further detail about his misdeeds due to his unfortunate but unavoidable death. although it is suspected that he has many more allies than they could actually find proof for, it’s impossible to figure out.

every associate of Dio’s who is captured is unable to give more information due to the use of some kind of memory-altering quirk, believed to be held by another ally of Dio’s and employed without prejudice on those who are in a position to betray him

Dio seems to have been amassing a global organization of villains, but they scatter after his defeat (death) and hide or destroy all evidence of their activities

the investigation is ongoing

1999 - Josuke Higashikata, secret illegitimate child of Joseph Joestar, signs up to take the UA entrance exam

during the test, he meets Koichi and they instantly hit it off

they collaborate to help each other score points during the practical exam

teamwork makes the dream work

when the list of students accepted to UA for that year gets posted, Joseph (who, as a pro hero, has to keep up with the industry which means paying attention to any up-and-coming heroes) notices Josuke’s name and does some investigating to find out if this is MAYBE just some kid who is coincidentally 16 years old and coincidentally has the same last name as a woman he romanced about 16 years ago

surprise! it’s totally not

so Joseph asks Jotaro (who has grown up to become a detective or whatever and is now one of the people still investigating Dio’s people and has recently been following a lead in Japan) if he’ll maybe keep an ear out for news at UA bc he has an uncle who goes to school there now

surprise! Joseph says. please don’t tell my wife! he says

yare yare, says Jotaro, and proceeds to cut through this miscommunication bullshit by announcing this new relative to the entire family and then leaving Joseph to deal with his own mess from across the pacific ocean while he gets to go hang out with his baby uncle and talk shit abt their relatives

so Josuke meets Jotaro just before the school year at UA starts

I’m sure it goes well

(actually, it goes really well right up until Josuke’s policeman grandfather is killed by a villain at work and Jotaro, as an international attaché for quirk and supervillain-related crime, is asked if he will maybe please take some time off of his 11-year long, seemingly dead-end case to investigate this)

((kind of puts a damper on the “meet the family” thing, but they solve the case and Josuke becomes even more resolved to become a hero))

the school year begins and Josuke and Koichi are delighted to find out that they’re in the same class

they’ve made it into the hero track bc they absolutely crushed it on the practical exam. they also tested well in other areas, but they did a nice job against the robots

boy howdy they sure are excited to learn how to be superheroes

class 1-A: Josuke, Koichi, Mikitaka

class 1-B: Okuyasu, Yukako

I have no idea how old Hazamada and Yuya are but they could potentially also be students

Hazamada is for sure a student so I’ll say he’s a year older and in the general education track

Yuya??? could be there????? but also maybe he’s busy doing his own thing. he seems like a busy man. he’s got things to do, nutrients to steal.

anyways, now we have to backtrack a bit again

1988 - Mr. Nijimura has a deceased wife, a failing company, and two quirkless sons

he himself has a minor physical quirk that gives him a decorative pattern of scales on his face, but that’s it. his wife was quirkless and by the time she passed away it was fairly apparent that their kids took after her

Mr. Nijimura has always resented the fact that he does not possess a useful quirk and is angry that his sons are also powerless in a world that increasingly seems to value those with quirks over those without

Mr. Nijimura is also someone who values power

he’s a total asshole about everything, but in 1988 he’s contacted by one of Dio’s allies. they know he has quirkless children and they want to know if he’s interested in potentially helping them develop powers of their own

spoiler: he is

one of the things that Dio’s group has been doing is research into artificial quirk enhancement and development

this is because Dio A) wants to make his own powers stronger, and B) has discovered that it’s really easy to attract followers when you promise to give them superpowers, or make their powers even cooler than they were before

Mr. Nijimura is given one dosage of a compound that Dio’s allies claim will awake the latent potential in someone who has failed to manifest a quirk

in order to get his hands on the drug, Mr. Nijimura has to agree to officially be in Dio’s debt, should the trial compound succeed in awakening a power in the son he uses it on

the organization needs quirkless test subjects, but they can be hard to find

if something goes wrong with the kid, the organization will admit no culpability bc Mr. Nijimura does this at his own risk, but also they will take the kid to figure out what exactly went wrong

HOWEVER, because he’s viciously jealous of powerful quirks, Mr. Nijimura does not administer the compound to either of his sons, instead he injects himself and causes his own quirk to go haywire, over-evolving until he becomes a weird, mutant lizard creature

Dio dies in the days just after his transformation, so the organization is too busy falling apart and destroying anything that could link them back to Dio to keep track of the Nijimura family

(if Dio hadn’t died, they likely would have taken the boys into their custody after their father’s mutation and raised them as Dio’s followers/soldiers)

(also used them as test subjects, albeit more valuable ones since they can also function as workers for this group of Dio’s allies)

(but he did die so that doesn’t happen and that’s an AU of an AU for a different day)

SOMEHOW they manage to live on their own with their mutated dad

I think the Nijimura family was not really as hard up for money as they are sometimes portrayed

(however it might make sense to put one of Dio’s grunts into the situation, like someone who pretends to be Mr. Nijimura for a little while to cover their own trail in the aftermath and ends up taking care of the kids for a while)

(but like, only for a little while, until they can ensure Mr. Nijimura can’t give anything away and the coast is clear for them to duck out and get a new identity)

((I just CAN’T accept that a 7 year-old keeps house for himself and an even younger child and his mutated father without any kind of help))

the point is that eventually they’re left mostly to fend for themselves

and it continues on like that, just the Nijimura’s by themselves, until Keicho, who was raised to believe that those who are powerful are better than those who are not, discovers some secret record of his father’s connections and what he did to himself and decides that he and Okuyasu need quirks to survive

I’m not going to say he’s right, but I’m also not going to claim that life wouldn’t be easier for the two of them if they had powers

1995 - Keicho falls in with a straggling faction of Dio’s group (technically now reformed independently to carry on the development of methods to artificially enhance quirks) by offering himself up for experimentation.

this splinter group doesn’t have the same resources Dio did for this sort of thing, so they’re kind of hard up for volunteers

at least initially

[ominous music]

this new group manages to successfully give Keichi a quirk (he’s about 14 at the time) and he works his ass off until he can get into UA

1996 - Keicho gets into UA

this is how he repays his debt to them

by being a spy

bc they’re still criminals, you see, so they would greatly benefit by having a guy on the inside to tell them shit abt heroes that they can later exploit

Okuyasu is allowed to know none of this (nothing about the organization and also about Keicho’s new double life) because Keicho doesn’t trust him to keep a secret and likes to cover all his bases

he does understand that their father is the way he is bc he took a drug to increase the power of his own quirk, but he hasn’t been told where/who he got it from. Keicho will not tell him where he acquired his own quirk.

later, Keicho gets his hands on more of the successful compound (through theft) in order to get his brother a quirk, so Okuyasu gets his powers when he’s ~13~14 and Keicho is already a UA student

he does it through theft bc Keicho does not want Okuyasu to be indebted to Dio’s (ex)people, which turns out to be really handy later

haha, ‘handy’

anyways

1999 - Keicho has an ambiguous birthday so I’m gonna say he’s just graduated when the squad is in their first year

he’s interning at a hero agency and acting as a mole for Dio’s slowly reviving criminal organization

since Dio is super dead, it’s really more of a new criminal organization full of people who have had their quirks enhanced or awakened through the improved versions of the tech developed by Dio’s original people

it’s led by a totally new person who wants to continue the research and expand their own criminal network for their own ends

SO Okuyasu takes (and passes!) the UA entrance exam

Keicho always planned for him to go to UA as well so he does it more out of a sense of duty than a desire to become a hero

the ongoing mantra of Okuyasu (and Keicho’s) life is that power is the most important thing a person could have

having a quirk equals power. learning to fight equals power. being a hero - a public figure who garners attention and respect - equals power.

people who are strong are worthwhile, people who are weak are worthless

AT THIS POINT Okuyasu is a little less in the dark, he knows his brother is getting paid to spy on UA and hero organizations, he also knows that this arrangement has something to do with how they ended up with the compound that gave them quirks, but he doesn’t know who Keicho’s contacts are and what he’s telling them

Keicho has paid back his “debt” at this point and is getting actual money from the organization to continue his spying

I don’t think I mentioned that there was a financial component to this deal earlier, just wanted to make that clear

ALSO AT THIS POINT the villains (initially) don’t know that Okuyasu has developed his own quirk because of their technology

I mean, they have their suspicions, but they can’t prove anything

Keicho let them believe Okuyasu was still quirkless up until the day he took the entrance exam for UA, and by then it’s too late for them to wipe down their lab for fingerprints

so there’s like, school stuff going on?

Josuke and Koichi meet their classmates and then class 1-A meets class 1-B and everyone is like “fuck, these guys are assholes”

surprise, losers, later on you’re all great friends

but to hurry this along a little

sometime early in the semester, Keicho gets caught doing Bad Stuff by Josuke and Koichi who are classic meddling kids

he panics bc these guys have some solid evidence of his misdeeds, so clearly he has to get rid of them somehow

he decides to attempt this by letting them tail him (very badly) back to his and Okuyasu’s home so he can fight them with backup

there’s a scuffle and Koichi gets hit/injected/whatever with a variant on the special quirk compound (Keicho has also stolen this), later causing him to develop a secondary quirk but initially causing him to lose major motor control and Josuke to believe he’s been fatally poisoned

Josuke does some shouting, Koichi flops around a bit, Josuke does some more shouting about the duties of a hero, Okuyasu as a minor moral crisis and taps out of the fight, Keicho does some impulsive shouting of his backstory and gets in major trouble

Keicho is being monitored by the organization by the time Josuke and Koichi stumble onto the scene like amateur detectives bc they think he’s double crossing them (evidence: they’re pretty sure he’s stolen from them before and his allegiance can clearly be bought), so when they catch him spilling info on them to two UA recruits they freak and need to eliminate him before he reveals anything else

Keicho’s cover is totally blown so Otoishi is immediately dispatched to kill him and also Josuke and Koichi if he can

the new head of the organization values privacy. like. a lot.

Otoishi can’t manage all of them bc he doesn’t have time and can’t outclass the pro heroes starting to show up on the scene, so he grabs (kills) Keicho and skedaddles

Josuke, Koichi, and Okuyasu are detained for questioning

well, Koichi is taken to the hospital, but Josuke and Okuyasu get detained

Jotaro shows up bc the stuff Keicho and then Okuyasu spilled about artificially gaining a quirk reeks of Dio’s people and it’s kind of his job to find Dio’s people

some stuff happens I guess and Okuyasu can’t be charged with anything bc Keicho was careful not to let him know or be involved in anything

like, he could be charged with property damaged, but it was his property

he complies with everything they ask him to do and tells them all that he can and they get someone in to look at his thoughts to see if he’s lying (he’s not)

they keep an eye on him for about a week to make sure he’s not REALLY a spy but once it becomes apparent that he really had nothing to do with it besides defending his brother and generally having a fucked-up life they don’t really have a reason to kick him out of UA so he just. goes back to school.

Koichi also goes back to school after about a week. people were spreading rumors that he died. he’s fine, but now he has two quirks, which you can imagine starts even MORE rumors

ofc UA still wants to keep an eye on Okuyasu - his brother spied on them for three years and he has ties to a villain organization, they can’t just let that go - so they ‘suggest’ that since he has no legal guardians or adults in his life he should move into the UA dorms

guess who also lives in the dorms

Josuke and Koichi and the squad, they all live in these AU optional dorms

except Mikitaka, who is being fostered by the hero who recommended his entry to UA

dorms foster bonding time and VOILA any and all grudges between him and Josuke and Koichi are easily settled

so Okuyasu joins up w/ Koichi and Josuke bc his classmates won’t really talk to him

they’ll warm up to him eventually, but by then he’s got his squad and he’s good with that

and like? other stuff happens? Kira is busy being Kira? but here’s the beginning and all that

this really is the post that wouldn’t end

I’m gonna stop here and put you all out of your misery

I’m p sure I know how Kira gets worked into everything but I’ll leave that for another day

#long post #I love this au but it's #so long #and I've never shut up once in my life so #my writing #KINDA #my headcanon #Jojo #BnHA #I realized exactly how Kira fit in halfway through editing this and I literally groaned ou loud #if I'd decided to add it this would have become a novel #Doc #for you buddy

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