#Beating each other up and becoming buddies in the next breath. men are just dumb like that i guess

[goldenlaquer]

Since Naoshi's love language is wrestling, Hiro has picked it up too and now initiates it towards anyone he respect and admires. That's just how the 301st squadron rolls 🤧

[dumdumsun]

And Dusk

A/N: Enjoy ❤️

Warnings: blood and violence

Word Count: 1975

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Chapter 4: Always Next Time

Who the hell were those men?

Shaken up from her encounter with the three gunmen, (Y/N) threw the front doors of her home open and hurried inside with Mr Pennycrumb skittering behind her. “Dad?” She called out as she hurried all around, her voice breaking and echoing throughout the house. “Dad?!”

“(Y/N), hun, what’s going on?” The southern accent sounding from behind her caused her tense posture to relax as she turned to Grace.

“Mom… W-Where’s Dad?”

“He’s at a meeting, sweetheart. I’m not sure where, he didn’t tell me much,” When her daughter nodded with a faraway look, Grace took a step closer. “What happened? Where’s Preston?”

Swallowing, (Y/N) tried her best to crawl out of the hole she dug for herself, but it seemed to just be getting deeper. “Uh… I was attacked by some crazy people a-and Preston decided to take me home.” She rushed out as her feet quickly took her to the staircase that led to the rooms. Grace was immediately on her heels.

“You were what?! Honey, are you okay?! Who was it, what’d they do?!”

“It’s fine, Mom-”

“No, it’s not! You need to be tellin’ us these things, (Y/N). W-What if somethin’ like last time happened?” Grace recalled the day the two met. The girl’s shoulders visibly tensed and her mother wondered if she should have said that.

“Mom… I-”

“It’s alright, darlin’. I’m sorry for saying that.”

“No, no!” (Y/N) quickly turned towards her and brought her into a tight hug. Grace chuckled and returned the affection. “I’m glad you worry… It lets me know I’m loved.”

Grace gently ran her hand through the girl’s hair. “You most definitely are…”

(Y/N) began to get choked up, so she pulled away before the waterworks could make their presence known. She pointed behind herself awkwardly. “I’m gonna… get some sleep. I’m a little exhausted…”

“Of course, sweetheart. How about I make you a snack when you wake up?”

The familiarity of this woman making her food simply because she loved her had the girl’s (e/c) orbs nearly overflowing with tears as she nodded. “I’d love that. Thank you, Mom… I love you.” She grinned before slipping into her bedroom and softly closing the door. As soon as she heard her mother’s footsteps echo down the hall, she quickly wiped her eyes and charged towards her bed, flopping onto her back and closing her eyes.

Inhale for one, two, three, four

One, two, three, four…

One moment, she’s in her bedroom, and in the next, she’s in the park where she left her date. She adjusted her blurry vision by blinking several times. The fogginess washed away to reveal Preston much closer to her than she was comfortable with. His brown eyes were glancing at her lips as his blonde waves, once slicked back, fell in his eyes as he leaned close to her, lips puckered. Before his lips could graze hers, she pressed her index and middle fingers to his mouth. The boy frowned and stopped his movement, eyes fluttering open. “Um… What are you doing?”

“I-I was, uh-”

“I have to go,” She stood to her feet. “I think Mr Pennycrumb ran away.”

“Oh,” Preston’s entire expression fell into a look of irritation that had her blood boiling every time she saw it. “Then, I’ll help you look.”

“No,” She shook her head. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I’m just…”

(Y/N) placed her hand over her eyes and feigned sadness. “I’m so torn up about it… I just wanna be alone…”

“Awe, honey,” Preston stood and moved to stand in front of her. “I told you that you didn’t need that dumb dog. How about I take you to get some ice cream-”

“I just said I wanted to be alone!” She quickly turned away and took long strides to get away from him faster. “We’ll reschedule!”

Groaning into her hands, (Y/N) made her way back to her home, running to the side where the roof cast its shadow, a perfect hiding spot. Sitting down in the grass, she hugged her knees to her chest as close as she could before humming her three-note tune to dismiss her clone. Her eyes rolling to the back of her head, she became dizzy and her vision faded to black. When she opened her eyes, she was in her bedroom again, laying on her back. Exhaling, she let her hand drop onto her chest. “God…”

-------------------------------------------------

“This is it.” Five announced as he and Diego exited the car stolen by the latter. The two approached their father’s company building with slow, hesitant steps as they surveyed the exterior.

“‘D.S. Umbrella’. This is it.” Diego muttered. The closer they neared the entrance, the slower Five’s pace grew until he stopped walking altogether. Diego turned to his brother in concern. “You okay?”

Five hesitated. “Yeah, fine. Just…” When he reached the front door, he let out a sigh. Diego swiftly took out his knife and began picking the lock on the door.

“How long has it been since you’ve seen the old man?”

“Forty-five years…”

“That’s a trip…”

“No kidding…” The boy sighed yet again. “You know, when I was stuck out there in the apocalypse, there wasn’t a day that went by where I didn��t hear his voice in my head.”

Diego didn’t look away from his task. “What was he saying?” He asked before muttering to himself when he couldn’t get the door to unlock.

“‘I told you so’.”

The quote itself made Diego scoff and shake his head. “Yeah, I’ve witnessed (Y/N) get an earful of that after you left… Dad used to lock her in that damn room all the time…”

“What room?” Five stood straighter, the mention of his love something he would never disregard.

“A small, dark room in a part of the house none of us were allowed to go… I don’t know how she did it, but he kept her in that room with no windows or light or human interaction until she was able to find you,” Diego looked up at his brother. “Almost a week.”

“A week? He kept her there for almost a week?!”

“Yep. And each day she couldn’t reach you, we could hear him shouting about her ‘not wanting to find her true potential’ or whatever bullshit he tried to beat into her mind to make her feel like shit. But something must’ve happened, because on the fifth day, Mom was bringing her to her room. God, she looked…”

Five wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

“She looked dead. Like she had just come from her own grave. She didn’t talk to anyone for a while.”

“Starlight…” The boy shut his eyes and shook his head. His mind immediately thought back on Luther’s words. Perhaps he had been dragging her into every mess he made, and he’d been doing it far longer than he thought.

Diego was silent for a few beats before breaking it with a huff. “But hey, if Dad’s here, he’s never met either of you before, so he can’t say ‘I told you so’.”

“I’m sure the bastard will find a way.” Five growled, the tiniest hint of a sarcastic smile on his face before it fell moments later. Without warning, he blinked inside the building and unlocked the door for his brother, who sat dumbly before him.

“Right… Gotta remember that.” Diego cleared his throat as he stood to his feet and walked inside. After searching around for a bit, the two decided to split up to cover more ground. Five tried several rooms, all with locked doors until he found one in particular.

The decor was disturbing, to say the least. Set up to be a family room, yet the only “people” inhabiting the room were three mannequin-esque figures. Brushing off the chill that ran down his spine, he made his way to another room with a desk on one side of it, going through several papers until he came across an invitation to a gala. Deeming this useful, Five pocketed the invitation just before the sound of something metallic clattering behind him could be heard. Slowly, the boy stalked closer to a part of the room where a child’s play area had been set up. There was a table with puzzles, crayons and paper. Five unknowingly passed a chalkboard with the names “Pogo” and “(Y/N)” written in yellow chalk. The boy’s eyes caught a drawing on the table and picked it up. It had to have been drawn by a child, the monkey on the paper poorly drawn. The character beside it, though, had the gears turning in Five’s head. It was a girl with (h/l) (h/c) hair and (s/c) skin. He was going to look around the area more when he heard another noise coming from in front of him. He dropped the paper and moved forward, his body going still at who stepped out of the shadows.

An ape wearing only pajama pants cautiously crawled out of his hiding spot and Five immediately knew who it was. His soft grunting and squeaking made the boy’s voice and actions become softer as he crouched down in front of the chimp. “Hi… Pogo,” He whispered as the two got closer. “Hey… It’s alright, little buddy.” He softly smiled as both he and Pogo stared at each other in wonder. With a gentleness only shown to his love, Five slowly reached forward. “Pogo… It’s good to see you-”

He was caught off guard when Pogo screeched and struck Five in the side of his neck, causing the boy to cry out and fall over. The chimp quickly moved away from Five and ran through the glass wall, leaving him a panting mess. The boy looked all around as his hand pressed onto his bleeding wound. “Diego! Diego!” He called out as he stumbled to his feet, dashing out of the room. Little did he know, Diego was nowhere near him, having his own share of bloodshed.

Just as Diego was about to have his ass handed to him, he spotted a rebar a little ways away from him. Turning slightly, he kicked the man who had a grip on his arm, setting himself free. The Kraken jumped onto the platform, grabbed the rebar in both his hands, and backflipped off the platform, landing right in front of his shadow-clad opponent. The man dodged nearly every swing Diego took at him, save for the one to the side, and then to the leg that sent him to his knees. Raising the rebar above his head, Diego was just ready to give this man hell. But when he raised his head and revealed himself to be Sir Reginald Hargreeves, Diego hesitated. “Dad…” He whispered before a small knife sunk itself into his abdomen. He wheezed out a breath, his father staring into his eyes as he muttered,

“Ametur.”

Diego could do nothing but fall to the ground as blood seeped out of his wound after the knife was ripped out of him, watching as Reginald continued down the foggy pathway. He clapped his gloved hands twice, alerting a screeching Pogo to drop down from where he had been waiting. Once the chimp was on the ground, he and Reginald joined hands, continuing away from the man bleeding out on the ground.

-------------------------------------------------

As Grace and (Y/N) painted together, the girl hummed her usual tune, being interrupted when her mother softly gasped. “Y’know what? Reggie wasn’t at a meeting. He was takin’ Pogo to run some tests. That’s why he’s out so late.”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” (Y/N) sighed. “I wanted to go this time…”

“There’s always next time, darlin’.”

“Yeah,” The girl returned to her painting. “Next time.”

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[happy-pencil]

Infirmos Caritate

Warning: Mentions of Violence, Non-Con and Mild Spice. You have been warned!

Darkness.

That seemed to be the first thing you’ve gained conscious of before you awoke to the sight of a cold, dim-lit room.  

The more you blinked, your eyes started to adjust to your surroundings. You were placed carefully on a soft white bed. To your side, you saw a desk with books and papers scattered on it. The walls, by the looks of it, were gritty and pale. One wall by the bedside had various of plants & trinkets inside mason jars that were placed on top of the shelf. The room itself smelled faintly aquatic, like you were visiting a beach.

You tried to sit up and observe the room you were in before you felt a sharp pain on the right side of your torso. Hissing, you lifted up your crinkled shirt to see large bandages covering over waist. By the looks of it, you also caught note of the bandages that were wrapped around your wrists and forehead. Whoever put you in this room, they made sure to treat you with the upmost care.

To add on, this wasn’t your bedroom was it?

Who put you in their bedroom?

Why were you in their bedroom?

Before you could begin to comprehend the situation, the door suddenly creaked open letting in yellow florescent light onto the floor and to the bed where you were laying at. A large shadow took up almost the entire door frame, barely making it possible to see any light that would’ve entered the room. It seemed to be the figure of a tall man. The one thing that struck out to you was the one shimmering gold light that was twinkling in the darkness where the shadow-man’s face, or eye, was.

The man then started to speak.

“Good Morning. I see you’ve started to wake up.”

You recognized that voice.

The ‘Shadow-Man’, to your horror, was none other than Jade Leech: The Vice President of Octavinelle & the infamous twin of Floyd Leech.

Jade’s a mastermind at both intimidation & manipulation; and he knew it too well. On the outside, he presents himself to be nothing but a gentleman of sorts; always using his charisma and witty thinking to help aid him in the Lounge or with Azul’s contracts.

However, once someone hasn’t fulfilled one of Azul’s deals, a switch seems to flip. That gentlemanly persona of his gets thrown out the window, showcasing a ruthless and feral sadist. Heaven forbid if you ever try and betray him. Jade would love nothing more than for you to go through hell and back just to torture you for his sick pleasure. Once he was done toying with you he would drown you in the ocean, never to resurface again.

It wasn’t like you and Jade were exactly ‘buddy-buddy’ with each other. The two of you barely ever talked face to face. When you did speak with him however, he made it very obvious that you were nothing but another anemone for his personal entertainment. He wasn’t like Floyd by any means. But they both always got a kick out of seeing you struggle with tasks Crowley would set up for you. Even if he was suppose to be the more “polite” twin.

With a man like Jade, you begin to wonder why on Earth you were in his room.

Maybe you just passed out and he was kind enough to lend his bed. You pondered.

Your eyes were then drawn to your wounds.

But you had bandages.

Bandages.

…

Did you get into a fight with him?

The thought of getting into a physical argument with the ‘timid’ Leech Twin filled you with horror. There would’ve been no way you could even beat his ass to the ground, especially with the major height difference between the two of you.

To tell you the truth, it would’ve been hilarious to have witness a tiny non-magical human try and fight a 6′3 merman.

You almost chuckled at the thought, but then another dreary thought popped into your mind.

What if you got in a fight with Jade and he wasn’t done-

His deep honeyed voice clears out into the dark room. The voice leaves you startled as you almost forgot the merman was standing at the door frame in that moment.

Jade turned on the lights & gently shuts the door behind him.

“How are you feeling? Your covered head to tail–head to foot in bruises and scratches. I hope you didn’t mind me patching you up while you were unconscious.”

Jade chuckles at his humorless joke as he puts away his fedora he was wearing from his shift at the Monstro Lounge. He pulls up a chair next to his bed and sits next to your weakened form. You then start to ask him where you were, which he responded to your answer that you were in the Octavinelle dormitory & were resting in his dorm room.

You almost asked him why you were in his room but the moment he sits down next to you, the heavy scent of ocean breeze and copper filled your nostrils. Confused, you tried sitting up to look for the source of the scent but Jade gently pushes you back down.

“Oya oya, Please don’t strain yourself. It would be best if you just laid down a bit. Whatever is the matter?”

You turn to fully look at Jade to ask him why you were in his room-

Until you saw his uniform.

His dormitory clothes, unlike his usual groomed-self, was ragged and crinkled like he was hard at work doing another one of his ‘tasks’. His bow tie was almost undone and his hair was frizzled and unkempt like his twin brother’s.

However, there was one detail that stuck out to you that made you paler than the ghosts that resided in your dormitory. Thick red blood stains, to your horror, drenched his black dormitory coat & some parts of his scarf & gloves. You wanted to believe that it was substance other than blood, but you knew better from how metallic it smelled.

Jade’s expression was calm and reassuring; as a tender smile was graced on his lips. But you knew from the way he stared you down something dangerous lied in those gold & olive heterochromic eyes. His presence at that moment made you sick to your very core.

You knew something wasn’t right and you assumed the worse:

He wasn’t done fighting you yet.

But you would like to ask if he was alright out of concern. Maybe if you play dumb you could get out of this. It would be a risk taker, but you could only see what happens.

Jade followed your sickened gaze to his clothes to which he pointed out the blood stains on his uniform.

“Ah, the blood?”

With a million thoughts and scenarios going through your head, you ask the merman if he was alright & if he needed any of his wounds treated.

He smiles stretches ever so slightly as he chuckles again, catching you off guard for the millionth time that evening.

“…I’m fine. I feel humbled to know that you show concern for me. But I’m afraid the blood isn’t mine.”

You gasp and you face becomes ghastly.

You started to ask if the both of you got into a fight and apologized for anything stupid that you started with him before you passed out. He lets out a laugh to add onto your horror.

It was starting to become harder to breath in that moment.

Before you could even get an answer to who’s blood was on his coat, Jade clasps his large hand over you mouth. He shushes you quietly and puts an index finger up to his lips.

“Quiet down now. Some of our dorm members are asleep at this time. It would be rude to wake them up at this hour.”

Calming down for a moment he releases his hand over your mouth. You apologize for spewing nonsense at Jade and asked him to tell you what happened while you were unconscious. There could be a million reasons why Jade has got blood on him. You hoped and prayed that it wasn’t for your stupidity or for any malicious intentions. You could only hope.

Maybe you were a free bird-!

You snap out of your thoughts and turn to Jade- to which he gives you a puzzled glance.

“…What happened? Don’t you remember, prefect-san?”

Shaking your head ‘no’, Jade sighs quietly as he begins to tell you his tale.

“Last night while you and your friends were at the Lounge, I happened to stumble upon a few certain anemones that just so happened to be visiting today. They were the ones giving you trouble a while back during the Scarabia incident, yes?”

You thought back to what happened yesterday as the memories slowly started to pop up in your mind.

You were visiting the Monstro Lounge that evening after Deuce’s Track & Field practice with himself, Grim, Ace & Jack. You remember seeing the Scarabia students you encountered before Jamil’s Overblotting incident during your stay. As it turns out, they were still pretty upset with what happened back in the past and they wanted a “rematch”, in their words.

With this in mind, you slowly nod at this information allowing Jade to continue further onto the story.

“Grim saw them and tried to insinuate a fight, which ended rather horribly. You tried to break up the fight, but you got knocked out along with Deuce-san.”

Your memory starts to become clearer and your eyes widen.

Grim.

Oh how you wanted to bite that little twerp’s head right off. If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t be here with Jade & Deuce wouldn’t have been hurt. You made a mental note that he was going to get his punishment as soon as you healed back up. No more tuna for him for a month.

You nodded in agreement once more & Jade continues.

“It was so terrible that Azul asked for me and Floyd to step in. I had to escort the men out of the Lounge and properly dispose of them. Needless to say they won’t be giving you anymore trouble from here on out.”

Jade smiles in content. You didn’t really want to question why he was smiling at that moment.

“I must say, they did put up quiet a fight. But they didn’t even land a scratch on me since Floyd was there to help.”  

He looked like he wanted to say more but he stopped himself. He continued when he had found the words he needed to say. He must’ve wanted to go more into depth about the corpses he mutilated- not that he wanted to tell you, but was in fear of your scared reaction. (He wouldn’t mind but he would like to keep you close Prefect-san (; ).

“Once we got back, I offered to let you rest in my room until you’ve awaken and were back to your well-being.”

Jade finishes telling you what happen as you get lost in your thoughts. With this newly found information, you just feel so…

Confused.

Why the hell would some merman that had no business butting into your fight get that physical with those students? For sure, Azul had told him and Floyd to take care of those same students as they were in the Monsto Lounge wanting to fight.

You briefly remember back when Jade and Floyd had to take care of the Scarabia students when you crashed into their dorm a few nights before Jamil’s incident. Other than the occasional bruises or marks he or Floyd left on the students, they never got physical to the point where they got bloody. Though maybe with the exception of Floyd because he’s insanely moody and unpredictable.

You weren’t positive for sure.

You decide to ask Jade why he would even bother to go into all of that trouble just for some silly fight. Jade seemed to tense up the moment you asked & repeated your question in conformation.

“…Why go through all of the trouble?”

You nodded. He remained silent before letting out another deep chuckle in amusement.

“Well, I thought it was obvious, prefect-san.”

…Huh?

Your eyes widen.

What was obvious?

“From the moment I laid eyes on you, I felt my chest being tugged towards you.”

You were starting to feel scared and it was becoming harder to breath in his room. From the sounds of it, he talked about you like you were an infection.   Jade carries on his one-sided conversation leaving you to process what he was all saying.

“At first, I ignored the feeling; believing that it was annoyance I was feeling towards you. But as the days progressed I suddenly became more and more invested in you to the point where you occupied my thoughts almost entirely. Truly irritating if I might add,”

He pauses and looks at you to see any response or reaction you might have. You, of course, looked somewhat confused and worried.

You didn’t know if you were going to get out of his bedroom alive or not.

Jade continues.

“-However, I must blame you for some of the effects you have on me. My heart speeds up whenever I hear the sound of your voice. It’s so soothing- so…refreshing,”

…

…oh…

…OH.

Your face heats up.

You knew where this was going & you were nervous.

His face, while calm, you could tell how delirious the eel merman was by just his smile alone. The more he seemed to talk about you, the more his grin grew to reveal those sharp shark-like teeth. He slowly started to become in a dream-like daze the more fixated he was about his feelings over you.

The fact that Jade could ever be daydreaming made you shake a bit.

Was he trying to confess his love for you?

…

…Pfft! No! Of course not! There’s no way~!

But he seemed to be serious about his current feelings for you.

Then again, you weren’t sure if this was another one of his tasks Azul had him do. With Jade, or Floyd, they were both unpredictable. But you knew damn well that this wasn’t the Jade you knew.

“-And you’re always so feisty. Who knew that the school’s only magic-less student could have such courage? You were always unpredictable when you were talking to fellow students or handling certain issues. You always left me wondering what you were going to do next.”

Jade paused again before discussing more in detail his enamored passion for you. His voice lowered ever so slightly as he mumbled. It would’ve been soothing to hear had he not said what he was going to say next.

“I’ve started to follow you around to see what your schedule is like on and off campus grounds,”

Your heart stopped and your blood turned cold.

…What was he doing?

“I would check your Magicam account every-so-often to see if you would post anything new. I got to say, you looked…irresistible in your last post. Why, I could just eat you up.”

Jade chuckled at his last sentence and you became much more alarmed. Being uncomfortable around Jade at this moment would’ve been the understatement of the year. You were so uncomfortable that you couldn’t help but give a nervous laugh yourself; whether or not Jade seemed to notice, you didn’t really care.  

He then sighed and brought himself back to reality after daydreaming.

“-But this school is filled to the brim with sharks just wanting to eat you alive after all. I was only trying to ensure you safety by getting rid of those perpetrators. You’re just so delicate and small, it was hard to not defend you right there and then. Not to mention cute~” He purred.

“I was barely lucky enough to have brought you to my dorm room with Azul’s & the Headmaster’s permission,”

He then stopped the conversation and turned to you, as your face revealed to be shocked and displeased. Concerned, he raised his bloody gloved hand to caress your cheek gently. It felt cold to the touch as it made you shiver.

You had no absolutely idea Jade felt this way towards you, and you weren’t sure if you should’ve accepted his “confession” or not. It would’ve been a wholesome moment between the two of you had he not brought up his stalking habit to you.

Maybe if he worded it differently, there would’ve been a different outcome. Or maybe even wait a little longer to confess? You weren’t sure, you were too shocked to even comprehend what you wanted to do.

You were in pain from the fight that had occurred earlier and now that Jade has brought his feelings about you into light, it just made you feel overstimulated. You knew in your heart, however, that Jade was in the wrong for hurting those students like he did and he needed to know that whether or not he was aware of it. Jade starts to question your feelings on the matter.

“…You look upset. Are you unsatisfied?”

After zoning out from his touch, you take his hand off your cheek and found the words you needed to say.

He didn’t need to hurt those students.

“…I didn’t need to hurt them?”

You nodded. He thought for a moment but quickly responded to your statement.

“Ah, but I’m afraid there was no other way around it.”

“Even if I tried to confront those idiotic fingerlings peacefully, they still would’ve gone out of their way to hurt you afterwards. So I made sure to put them in place. Permanently.”

Permanently.

He said that last word with venom and it made you churn anxiously. You weren’t positive is that meant the Scarabia students were dead or alive by how vague he sounded. By how Jade talks about them, he sounds like they were either dead or that he wanted them left for dead.

Either result frightened you to no end.

“It took everything in me to not tie them down and drown them in the darkest depths of the ocean.”

He’s only ever mentioned that once before when it was established that Jade was not to be tampered with.

He kept going on and on, and the more he talked, the more dreadful you felt.

So you decided you wanted to break free and get out of his room and back to your own. You needed to find Grim and your friends and get away from this…weirdo.

So you thought about trying to leave.

Not wanting to stay in Jade’s room anymore, you thanked him for patching you up and looking after you and tried getting up. Not remembering the pain you felt when you first tried to get up, you immediately collapsed back onto Jade’s bed.

Jade tilted his head in confusion.

“…Where do you think you are you going?”

You told Jade that you needed to know where Grim and the others where, as you would like to see them at that moment.

You needed someone there other than Jade.

“Oh? Your friends?”

You nodded.

“I’m afraid they’re not here right now,” Jade stated.

“Floyd and Azul are keeping them busy while you relax for a bit. It’s only for the best.”

That bit of info only made your anxiety worsen.

You knew that things would get out of hand if you left your friends with Floyd and Azul. You weren’t feeling too good and you needed to find them. Now.

As if he was a mind reader, Jade seemed to have caught on to what you were wanting to do.

“You weren’t thinking about leaving in this state, were you?”

You hesitated in that second and told him ‘no’ as you begun to sit up properly by fighting back the pain you were in. You told Jade that your worries would be at ease if you went to see how your friends were doing, especially with Deuce being knocked out.

You went to stand up once more but Jade quickly, and roughly pushed you back onto the bed; his arms and hands pushing down on you shoulders making the pain worsen.

“Ah Ah Ah, Angelfish, back to bed for now. I can’t have you leave while in this state. It would be inappropriate. Not that I would mind~”

Growing aggravated, you told Jade to knock it off as you tried to push him off of you, but he was keen on keeping you in place. You told Jade that there was something wrong and that you needed to see your friends immediately. Jade now started to get annoyed with your behavior and gave an irritated sigh .

“Must you be this stubborn? I told you they were with Floyd and Azul.”

You wouldn’t take that as an answer.

You would be damned if something bad where to happen to your friends.

You then started to wriggle out of Jade’s grasps, causing him to grow more frustrated. He started to raised his voice at you.  

“Angelfish. Back. To. Bed. I insist-!”

A harsh ‘SMACK’ echoed through the room. Jade stopped trying to fight you as he lifted his hand to feel the stinging sensation you have made across his face. He was in a state of shock and completely became silent; almost motionless.

As creepy as it was in that moment, it gave you the chance to escape from his grasps.

You pushed Jade out of your field of vision and started to make your way towards the bedroom door. As painful as it was to even get off the bed and make a run for it, you were determined to get the hell out of Octavinelle’s dormitory and back into your own. You would have Crowley look into this issue, regardless of whether or not he actually wanted to.

You made it to the door and were just about to put your hand on the door handle when Jade suddenly cooed out  ‘Angelfish~’; his honeyed voice sounding more eerie and cold like a harsh blizzard.

Not wanting to turn around, you felt Jade harshly clasp a hand over your mouth and pick your entire body up. You kicked and tried to scream- even trying to bite his hand, but Jade would not budge one bit. As determined as you were to get to the door, he was damn-near persistent that you were to stay in his room. For however long, you weren’t sure nor did you want to know.

If this was a dream, you’d wish you would wake up.

But you could’ve only beg for mercy in that moment as Jade tosses you back onto his mattress. This time, he decided to get on top of you and bound your hands onto his headboard with his tie. He then moved his hand over to his bandstand and pulled out yet another tie and ties it around your mouth, somewhat silencing your screams. Once finished, he stares down at you with satisfaction.

You both knew you couldn’t get out.

Chuckling once more, Jade leans down to give you a quick peck on the cheek as he caresses your face.  

“You know, I find it very inconsiderate to slap someone that happened to save you from such a dreadful incident.”

Jade says that to himself thoughtfully as he stared down at you with hungry eyes.

Even if he didn’t say it, but to him, you looked simply delicious. He wanted to savor his meal as much as he could in that moment without too much interruption or distractions. He just hoped that you would be just as eager to please him like he was about to do to you. In that moment it was made obvious that he was the predator and you were his prey.

In Jade’s eyes, you needed to be punished. You were being ungrateful to him for saving your life from those students. Without him there, you would’ve already been dead, would’ve you? He did all of this for you and you didn’t even thank him once!

Jade starts to speak up.

“They could’ve killed you the moment you lied on the floor unconscious without me there to get rid of those vile guppies, wouldn’t you agree?”

His powerful, icicle voice becomes a soft whisper as Jade then started to kiss your face and make his way down to your neck and collarbone; occasionally leaving a few playful nips with his jagged teeth. The feeling makes you moan and wreath in pain. Jade’s grin widens in victory.

This wasn’t happening.

This has to be a dream-!

“So at least give me some appraisal for my hard work, if you would be so kind.”

You could feel his breath against your pulse as he bites down rather harshly on your neck. You let out a whine and try to squirm away from Jade, but he keeps you in place. His hands were starting to wonder and roam all inches of your body and even in places no other man has touched. You could feel a bulge start to form in Jade’s crotch area as you teared up.

Jade caught wind of this and grinned wickedly.

“Unless, you have other means of showing appraisal?~”

You screamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[spyvstailor]

GRAVEYARD DIRT & SALT

CHAPTER FIVE: BENNY

“South Carolina abouts they have this critter called a 'Boo Hag', said to be a skinless sort of vampire and they like to ride you to death and steal your breath. If they like you, they keep you alive, sucking your air, sustaining themselves. But if they don't, if you struggle or make them angry, they skin you and wear your skin. Just walk around like they wear pants or such. But they can't stay riding you forever, they gotta be home and in their skin before sunrise or they become trapped forever without skin.”

Please support me, I’m still out of work because of COVID, so anything you can toss my way can really help. I’m going to need to feed my kitties soon! Reblog this if you can’t donate to please support a nearly starving author!

Read the newest chapter here below the cut if you want, since ko-fi can be unreliable!

Chapter Five: Benny

When everything went to hell, Benny had been at the top.

  Maybe he still was? He had no idea how Vegas handled the swarms of the dead.

  Probably no better than Atlanta.

 God, what a fucking hole in the ground to be caught undead in. Why had he even agreed to come here to the middle of Satan's nutsack to make a deal?

  By the time he waded through the packed streets, filled with fleeing idiots, days had passed and the wave of infection had spread.

  When he made it to the edge of the city, it was almost completely overrun.

 And his private helicopter, that last hope he had of leaving Georgia, was useless, no pilot. So, he was wading his way through the land of good ol' boys and peaches, heading home.

  Because what else did he do? Just stay stuck in Georgia with the undead on his ass? Forever? The idea seemed to tickle him. It was divine retribution for all his sins. This was hell. He was in hell. Well, thanks but no thanks. He'd take his chances back in Vegas with his well-stocked warehouse and his penthouse in The Golden Rose.

  God, he missed The Golden Rose. Melody's pretty little voice chirping 'Hello, welcome to The Golden Rose', every time he passed through the lobby, or the weird night gamblers bellying up at the bar around two in the morning, sipping on complimentary Flash-bang's, the signature drink created by Bruce behind the bar. Sure he had more employees than Melody and Bruce, the others, the late-night workers who always were just a little bit off, but friendly enough. The kids fresh out of school, old enough to work at the casino, who tried too hard to impress the boss. Sven in the kitchen, who never seemed to leave, always yelling at him for coming down and making those 'nasty little sandwiches' as he called them, the open-faced ones made with peanut butter and sliced bananas on plain white bread, the sandwiches Valerie had gotten him hooked on when they were first dating. They were her favourite midnight snack and they had fast become Benny's too.

  Valerie.

  Ten years. Holy fuck had it been ten years?

 Plucking at a stretchy beaded bracelet he wore, Benny snapped it hard and shook off his thoughts of Valerie. They didn't do him any good in this new society.

  From where he sat. Perched on the railing of the bell tower, looking down across a darkened Georgia, barely peeking over treetops that surrounded the convent, Benny exhaled.

  Annie had given him the stink-eye at their new spot, full of bird shit and leaves and any kind of crap that the winds blew into the little tower, but Benny had sat her down gently onto the bearskin rug and the sleeping bag on top of it and promised her they would clean it up in the morning.

  He didn't tell her what he was thinking, he didn't tell a lot of people what he thought, no one wanted to hear his bullshit. His old man used to say 'if I want your opinion, I'll beat it out of you' and he meant it.

  The truth was, the trouble on the wall, the nun dying, had reminded him how dangerous it was. He had become too soft and spoiled lately, the dead were thinning out and he had forgotten what it was like when the outbreak first happened when it was really bad.

  They were safer in the tower, should anything happen to the gate, there was a heavy church door to open and a narrow ladder to climb before anything could get at them.

  And, sitting on the trapdoor that led to the ladder, Benny knew Annie was safer here than anywhere else.

 It had been a long, long time since anyone had relied on Benny and he took his job seriously. Nothing would happen to Annie as long as he was alive and kicking.

  During his flight from Atlanta, he had somehow wound up arm in arm with Annie and her mother Laila. They had sort of run across each other and just kept running in the same direction.

  Benny had immediately liked Laila, she was tough as hell and he had to admire that about her. Not that he knew much about her or the kid, they weren't real big on talking and he also had to admit he liked it that way.

  But Laila had his back and he had hers and they made a good team, but when she went out one morning to scrounge for breakfast and never came back he didn't think for a second the dead had gotten her. He knew her, she was a survivor.

  Something else happened.

 So he stuck around the area, hoping he'd find something which would let him know where Laila had gotten off too. And somehow, sticking around the small town, he wound up running into that marine and that Grayson kid, and when the kid started talking about men taking his sister, Benny started thinking. He wasn't a gambler by nature, despite him living in a casino in Las Vegas, but he would bet everything he had that when they found these men, he would find Laila.

  And Jesus, if he didn't also kind of like that marine.

 Not that he'd ever admitted that out loud. Admitting you liked someone, admitting you wanted to be someone's – what? Drinking buddy? At his age? Embarrassing.

  But he liked him just fine. The Cajun was a tall puppy dog, but there was something about his optimism that balanced Benny's nihilism nicely.

  On the wall below, three nuns kept vigil over Sister Mary Patrick's body. They couldn't retrieve her until morning, so they kept a quiet, mindful watch.

  And just like those nuns, Benny would keep a silent watch over Annie all night long, he would sleep when she was old enough to take care of herself.

 Sitting by the nuns' water pump in their convent yard the next morning, he watched Annie as she brushed her teeth, brushing his own with the travel toothbrush he kept in his jacket pocket. He liked to travel as light as possible, gun, bullets, knife, toothbrush and tube of toothpaste, and while he'd never admitted it, reading glasses for emergency reading, because fuck if he wasn't getting old.

  He noticed the marine traveled with a goddamn apartment on his back and that was just fine for him. Marines were trained for distance and roughing it, they were pack mules. And just as dumb.

  He needed more bullets for his tidy little Springfield, come to think of it.

  “She's a good kid,” someone said from his left. It was a male voice and not Grayson's.

 Benny ignored the marine for a moment, not wanting to chat about the fucking weather or some bullshit, spitting his toothpaste foam into a bucket of water to be dumped over the wall with the rest of the handwashing and face washing water.

  There was a nun's body being buried out behind the church right now and he didn't feel like jibber-jabbing.

 “We did our best last night,” the Lieutenant said, easing down beside him on one of the folding chairs the nuns had set up around their water source. For what? Water pump gossip? Maybe.

  “Dead nun though,” Benny replied, sipping at some water to rinse his mouth.

  The marine was quiet beside him, gazing out across the dewy lawns.

  “I didn't mean to put the squeeze to you,” he began. “Yesterday in the church. I know you don't like talking about yourself.”

  “Sure you did,” Benny returned.

 Withdrawing for a moment to regroup, the marine went on, “fine. I did a little, but...it's hard trusting people nowadays, yeah?”

  “Hard to trust people before this bullshit,” Benny shot back.

  “Fair.”

 There was a tension to the marine that told Benny he was gearing up for something, angling to reach for something during the entire conversation.

  “You got something to say, don't pussyfoot,” he said calmly.

 “Not that I don't believe you, but I want a reassurance that you're not trying to fuck us on this deal with the copter,” the marine said.

  Benny nodded. “Yeah, I thought you'd think that. I wouldn't blame you. But it's real.”

  “Well, we go in smart then,” the man stated.

  “We go in smart,” Benny agreed, stretching out his legs and resting them on another chair across from him.

  Beside him the marine remained seated, quiet in the growing daylight.

  “We done?” Benny inquired.

  “You ever hear about the boo hags?”

  “The what?”

 “South Carolina abouts they have this critter called a 'Boo Hag', said to be a skinless sort of vampire and they like to ride you to death and steal your breath. If they like you, they keep you alive, sucking your air, sustaining themselves. But if they don't, if you struggle or make them angry, they skin you and wear your skin. Just walk around like they wear pants or such. But they can't stay riding you forever, they gotta be home and in their skin before sunrise or they become trapped forever without skin.”

  “And the moral of this story is...?” Benny prompted.

  The Lieutenant shrugged, folding his arms. “Nothing really, I just think about the Boo Hags sometimes.”

 “My granny used to tell me about this guy she knew from Corpus Christi, used to hate wearing pants. He wasn't crazy or anything, just said they were too hot and itchy, so he'd walk around in his boxer shorts everywhere.”

  Around them, the nuns went about their morning routine, chores, and preparing for their morning mass after burying their fellow nun.

  “Well,” Benny said. “Maybe he was a little crazy, I guess.”

 Annie came to him and climbed into his lap, watching the activity around them quietly. It was a strange sort of calm to the morning, despite the funeral. It felt like the soft morning's Benny had at his grandparents, warms sunlight, peace, and quiet before the hectic activity of the day. It brought him back home to a home he mourned every single day of his life, a home he had only fleetingly as a boy before it was replaced with the boozy smelling mornings of his parents home.

 “Mornings like this feel like my Mamere getting ready for church,” the Lieutenant said. “She used to sing when she was getting ready in the mornings, and she'd sing,

There's a land that is fairer than day,

and by faith we can see it afar;

for the Father waits over the way

to prepare us a dwelling place there.”

 In his lap Annie rest her head against Benny's chest, listening to the marine as he sang in a fine, deep baritone. Benny knew the song well, it was his grandmother's favourite. When she finally came and took him home, to his real home with her and his grandfather, away from the chaos of his mother and father's lives.

  They were the only people who ever really loved him.

 The hymn brought back memories of Sunday mornings dressing for church, of Sunday evenings with the smell of roast chicken and his granny's baked apples, sweetened with brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon, sticky and warm.

  He didn't live with them long. They were hit by a drunk driver and killed two years after he moved in with them. Benny went back to the chaos and Edna and Merle were buried in Oak Grove.

 At the sound of the gentle singing, a few nearby nuns gathered in closer, curious, and quiet. Raised Baptist by his grandparents at least, Benny joined in with the marine, singing only very, very faintly, as though he were doing it for his granny and no one else. He would sing in a voice only barely above a whisper.

  It was Annie who joined in the singing, almost eager and happy to do something that wasn't fighting and surviving.

In the sweet by and by,

we shall meet on that beautiful shore.

In the sweet by and by,

we shall meet on that beautiful shore.

We shall sing on that beautiful shore

the melodious songs of the blessed;

and our spirits shall sorrow no more,

not a sigh for the blessing of rest.

In the sweet by and by,

we shall meet on that beautiful shore.

In the sweet by and by,

we shall meet on that beautiful shore.

To our bountiful Father above

we will offer our tribute of praise

for the glorious gift of his love

and the blessings that hallow our days.

 “My granny used to sing that one too,” Benny finally admitted, in the stark silence at the end of the song. “Yours lived with you?” He asked.

  The Lieutenant nodded. “Yeah, my grandparents raised me.”

  “Where were your parents?” Benny asked.

 “Due to circumstances beyond my control, nowhere in sight,” the Lieutenant replied, a grin in his voice. “My ma was hospitalized most of my young life,” he added in a more serious tone. “The man who impregnated her was...not important.”

  “Pump and dump?”

  “Of sorts, not really given permission for it though,” the Cajun finished tentatively.

  Benny felt his blood chill a little. “I get you.” He said, not wanting the marine to have to open up old wounds.

  “You?”

  “I lived with my grandparents for a while, yeah. My parents were...selfish pricks, they lived in Galveston.”

 “I get you,” the marine repeated his own words. Easing back in his chair, the Cajun asked, “where you from? Where'd you grow up? You said you lived in Forth Worth?”

  “My grandparents lived in Fort Worth, so I guess I moved between there and Galveston mostly.”

  “What happened to the twang? You lose it or hate it?” The Lieutenant inquired.

  Benny chuckled. “I haven't lived there for years.”

  “Can never really shake the twang though, yeah?” The Lieutenant teased.

  “I guess not. You? I know Cajun when I hear it, but where you from in Louisiana?”

  “Eunice.”

 “Eunice? That's...down south, isn't it? Way down the bayou,” he mocked the Lieutenant's accent, prompting the marine to laugh.

  “Yeah, yeah it is.”

 “Annie,” he turned to the kid in his lap. “Why don't you head inside the infirmary, okay? I'll be right there to get you set up for the day.”

 The girl slipped down to the ground and nodded, heading obediently for the building where Grayson was already getting his shit together.

 Sullen, a little pissed that he was forced to face things he had buried long ago in Texas, Benny remained quiet for a good long time. Long enough that eventually the anger dispersed.

  Benny sat still and silent so long that eventually, it was just him and the Cajun, who remained, squatted down on his haunches, resting.

  “We're running on a very short timeline,” Benny finally said to the man.

  The marine nodded. “Yep.”

 “That girl, if she is still alive, won't be so young and vibrant if she's with these men, I can tell you that right now. Feel like with no law, men will become animals, women will become prey.”

  “What's going on in that tiny bird brain of yours?” The Cajun asked.

  “You need to stay here and train up some of these damned nuns, right?”

  “Yeah.”

 “Think you could trust me?” Benny asked suddenly, turning away from the middle nothing he was staring at and pining the Cajun with a look.

 For a good long while the marine eyed him back, blue-grey eyes hard and scrutinizing. At rest the man's face was regal, but villainous, betraying his genuine kindness, at rest his face was the face of a man you didn't want to fuck with.

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “You're going to have to know so,” Benny urged.

  “Alright, I know I can trust you.”

  “It might be riskier, but time is important, isn't it?”

  “What's your plan, fancy man?”

 “When I was poking around the church earlier, I spied some priest shit, a get up for a proper man of the Lord. Might give me a pretty good shield, might get me close enough to those men if I can find them, to get inside their group.”

  “Espionage?”

  “Whoa, slow down there Bayou-bred, that's a big word for you.”

  The two men hushed up as Grayson began to head over towards them.

  “Fuck off, Grayson!” Benny shouted.

  “Fuck you, assclown!” Grayson snarled back, veering off in anger towards the wall and the gate.

  “That kid is going to murder you in your sleep some night, paon.” The Lieutenant mused.

  “Ah well, he's a good kid, needs toughening up. Mouthy little fuck though.”

 The two men settled a little again, their ruffled feathers smoothing out in the tranquility that followed the exchange between Benny and Grayson.

  “You could get yourself killed ducking in on a group like a priest. If they find out you're not or if they happen to find out what you're up to.”

  “I know,” Benny replied. “But I'm good at it.”

  “Good at it?” The Lieutenant asked.

  Benny smiled. “Getting into places I shouldn't be as someone I'm not.”

  The Cajun was quiet, before sighing. “Okay. Cut the shit, what the fuck are you?”

 “I'm goddamned good at what I do. You just worry about these nuns. When I head out, you need to do one thing for me. You just need to trust that whatever happens once I leave this convent, I'm not going to fuck you over. Annie will stay here, she'll be my guarantee that I won't let anything happen.”

  “Okay.”

  “You tell anyone you need that I ran off in the night, just not Annie. You tell her I'll be back. You need to do this for me. Can you do this?”

  “I don't like handing the reins over, but...you're right. Time is important and these nuns can't be left alone. Splitting up might be the best bet for everyone. I'll play my part.”

  “Pact?” Benny offered, holding out his hand. He knew it was childish, but he wanted God (if there be any) to witness his honesty. For once in his goddamned life of other names, other faces, he wanted some higher power to see his bluffing ass telling a truth.

  The Lieutenant leaned back a little, before saying, “brothers. It makes you blood. You don't cross blood.”

  “Brothers,” Benny swore, the two men shaking hands firmly.

 Releasing hands, the two men sat back a little, trying to look like two men just sharing a conversation, as Mena poked her head out of the convent cloister and started their way.

  “We meet up tonight, dead of night when everyone is asleep, in the back room of the church,” Benny said softly, hurrying before Mena could join them.

  The Lieutenant nodded.

  “Gentlemen,” Mena greeted in the high toned, pretty magnolia blossom voice of hers. Pure sugar, pure south. “Good morning.”

  “Why Miss Mena, you're as pretty as a bluebell this morning,” Benny teased, mocking her southern accent.

 She offered him a stern, but sparkling warning look, the corners of her mouth lifted a little like a cat. She looked like she was grateful for the teasing distraction, grateful because otherwise, it was pure mourning and fear that remained should she not have anything to distract her from it. “You may mock me all you want, Mr. Malone, but I lost one of my flock last night and I'm not in the mood. Now, we've buried the poor woman, and we were promised training. The sooner the better, I think.”

  “Are you thinking of staying? You and Annie are very welcome to.”

 They had gotten the nuns started with whatever makeshift weapons they could find and while the Lieutenant gave them a rifle handling and maintenance crash course, Mena had once more sidled up beside Benny as he stood in the shadows of the eastern side of the church, watching the chaos, while idly thumbing through a small bible he had found in the church.

  “You're thinking of the wrong man,” he replied, motioning with his head at the marine. “He's probably yours for life though.”

 She smiled. “We love having you here, Mr. Malone. All of you.” She hesitated, before adding, “I sort of forgot how boring convent life can be until you all arrived to shake things up. Granted, we suffered a loss, but...I think we're stronger with you and the Lieutenant and even Annie and Grayson. We're no longer cloistered, we're a community center, a...a home.”

  He opened his mouth about to say something, before considering it, finally he relented. “I know a nun's faith is sacred to her, but...why did you become a nun? You seem...unhappy with your lot.”

  “I wouldn't say unhappy,” she replied. “I'm ungrateful in a small way. I became a nun to help people. Work missions and aid the poor and those most unfortunate. I suppose, I just...never felt like I was helping much here. Feel sort of immured behind these walls.”

  “Immured?”

  Before Mena could answer his question,  the Lieutenant joined them, easing against the church for a rest in the shade.

  “So?” Benny asked him.

 “Well, they don't like the idea of hitting anyone, seem hesitant, but I think when push comes to shove they know how to do it.”

  Scoffing, Benny turned to Mena. “What about you, debutante? Wanna fight with the others?”

  Mena laughed. “I'm afraid I don't care much for fighting.”

  “You need to learn how,” he went on.

  “I know how to throw a punch, Mr. Malone,” Mena argued gently.

 Inhaling calmly, Benny scooped the nun up easily in one move and had her stomach perched on his shoulder as she dangled over it in shock, her legs and knees digging into his chest in shock.

  “So you're telling me,” Benny began as Mena struggled to be put down, trying to maintain her dignity while being treated like a sack of flour, “you know how to prevent being carted off by someone like this?”

  “Mr. Malone, please?!” Mena shouted, panicked. Her ever calm facade breaking into a sort of girlish embarrassment. Shrill and just a little tremulous.

  “Don't break the nun,” the Lieutenant warned with a small grin.

 Sensing the rest of the nuns' attention and maybe wanting to cheer them up just a little with a distraction from the death of Sister Mary Patrick, Benny perked a little more, hefting the woman on his shoulder as she squirmed.

  “Are you kidding me?” He demanded loudly. “I'm two steps away from giving her a noogie. This is fun. I'm going to hold her down and snicker-snag on her if she can't break away.”

  “Don't you dare! Put me down!” Mena shouted as the rest of the nuns began to notice the noise and started wandering over towards them curiously.

  “Look at how small she is,” Benny laughed. “I could toss her over the wall into a pile of leaves like a little mouse. Hey, give me a hand, I want to try playing keep-away with this shrimp.”

 “Are you seriously bullying me right now, Mr. Malone?” Mena demanded, still draped over his shoulder, her veil fluttering to the ground, all dignity lost. “Lieutenant, please?”

  “I can't step into another man's training ring,” the Lieutenant lied. “It's not courteous.”

  “Courteous?!” The nun hollered.

  “Think if I put her down and follow her she'll lead me to her pot of gold?” Benny asked, spinning with the nun.

  A stray knee from the poor nun hit Benny in the mouth and he reeled back a little, blood drawn.

  “Alright, play time's over, kids,” the Lieutenant stepped in, moving to take Mena from Benny.

 As soon as the Cajun set Mena right again, kneeling to get her veil for her, she was puffing up like a little ruffed grouse and twirling around to poke at Benny in the chest.

  He was too distracted by the taste of blood on his lip to notice.

 Behind them the nuns that had gathered were all trying to conceal their amusement at the scene, a few of them giggling into their veils, some turning their soft laughter into mild coughs.

  “Serves you right,” Mena stated. “The indignity!”

  Benny, idly licking at his torn lip, grinned and held his hands up. “Hey, okay. Put the guns away, shrimp, you win.”

 “Blood has been drawn, no harm done,” the Lieutenant said. At Mena's sharp look, he amended that statement to a soft, “maybe?”

  “I am an Abbess,” Mena snarled, whirling on Benny again, her little finger pointed at him like a rifle. “I deserve a modicum of respect.”

  “A what?” Benny asked, pocketing his hands. “Hey, don't get mad, country mouse, you said you could handle yourself, and boy, did you sure prove me wrong.”

  “I,” Mena began, a little louder than her normal soft-spoken Southern belle coo. She stopped short and seemed to inhale, calming herself. “I...will not let you goad me into a fight, just to prove myself capable, Mr. Malone.”

  “One punch,” he pushed. “Just one solid punch and I'll leave you alone.”

  Mena was quiet, still trying to smooth her habit and veil back into place after her manhandling.

  “It might give you back a bit of that lost dignity,” Benny added in a whisper, leaning towards her.

  “Sock him, Mother!” One of the older nuns shouted.

  “And just like that the teachings of peace and forgiveness of Christ have been forgotten,” Mena murmured.

  “If you punch him then he'll stop being a bully,” another nun suggested.

  “I don't think Sister Mary Patrick would approve of this,” another nun pointed out.

  “Like it nothing, she'd love to see this cheeky man popped in his cheeky face,” yet another nun added.

  “I will not,” Mena declared. “We are not animals and I refuse to hit a man without due cause.”

 “He just picked you up like you were a duffle bag, just hit him in his pretty face and get it all over with,” Sister Mary Agnes, one of the few nuns Benny could tell apart suggested. “I would,” she added, before crossing herself quickly in a form of silent absolution.

  “Aw,” Benny gushed. “She thinks I'm pretty. Come on, Abbess, just give me one solid punch and prove yourself capable. Come on,” he went on, “I know there's an animal concealed under those robes of yours, let the lioness out.”

  “Lieutenant?” Mena asked.

  The tall man sort of took a thoughtful step back on one foot and considered it quietly, before he answered with a simple, “hit him.”

  Mena was quiet, sizing up Benny for a bit.

  He could see her small hands curling into fists at her side and tightened his jaw to take the hit.

  Instead, Mena's hands relaxed and she shook her head, turning to Annie who was watching.

  “We don't hit people who don't deserve it,” she explained to the child. “A lady must always take the high road.”

  “As short as she is, the high road would be the best option,” Benny murmured.

  Mena leveled her chin almost indignantly, still looking at Annie.

 “Good for you, Mother,” Mary Elizabeth said. “Remember Matthew 5:39. But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”

  “If he keeps taunting her I'll show him both cheeks,” one of the older nuns grumbled.

 Benny laughed to himself. He didn't know much about each individual nun yet, but he knew he liked the older nun with just that one sentence.

 “We are not a boxing club,” Mena went on. “Though we will train to defend ourselves, senseless violence is never the right path. Despite how much a man may want to be hit by a lady.”

  “It's always been my dream,” Benny added playfully.

  “I'm gonna hit him for you,” the Lieutenant broke in.

  Laughing, Benny backed away, hands up. “Okay, I wanted to get hit, not knocked out today.”

  This seemed to break up the gathering, nuns moving off, heading back to their training.

  Mena, still a little fired up, remained for a moment.

  “No hard feelings, Thumbelina,” Benny said. “I just wanted to see your form.”

 “I'm sure you felt enough of my form while I was riding high on your shoulder,” she returned a little bitterly, before walking off.

  Benny sidled up beside the Lieutenant, still grinning. “She was real mad.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Has kind of a temper.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I kind of liked it.”

  “Easy now.”

  “Don't tell me you've never thought of picking her up,” Benny went on. “She's so fucking small.”

  The Lieutenant smiled. “I mean, I could.”

 “Hell yeah, you could. You could pick me up, big guy.” As they walked off, heading for the infirmary, Annie following behind, the fancy man added, “but don't ever fucking try, because I will lay you out.”

  Chuckling, the Lieutenant opened the infirmary door for the shorter man and said, “you could never, little fancy man.”

 Inside the infirmary Grayson sat on his cot, reading a well-thumbed copy of some real crime book, looking bored and still angry.

  “Hey kid,” Benny greeted. “You need to learn some fighting too or do you think you'll pull some karate moves out of your ass when the time comes?”

  “Could kick your ass,” the kid grumbled.

  “Want to give it a try?” Benny offered sincerely. “See what you got?”

  “You have, like, thirty years on me, think I'd win, grandpa,” Grayson replied.

  “Only one way to find out.”

 “You think you'll be ready to head out tomorrow morning?” The Lieutenant asked the kid, playing his part perfectly to Benny's delight. At least the marine had a poker face. “We have to get to that airfield before noon if we want to find proper camp before dark.”

  “I was ready two days ago, what have you two been doing?”

  “Keeping these nuns safe first and foremost,” Benny said. “You know, about eleven lives versus one? Using our brains.”

  Grayson glowered at him.

  “Can the shitty attitude, we're trying,” Benny went on firmly.

 “Tomorrow,” the Lieutenant said firmly, breaking up the tension, “we will continue on the hunt for these men. Right now, I have to head out to get something for dinner for all of us.”

  “Not taking your life partner with you?” Grayson asked.

  “Surprisingly progressive, kid,” Benny mused, folding his arms. “I don't even think it's an insult.”

  “More observational than insulting,” the Lieutenant added.

  “You could do worse than me,” Benny teased.

 “Could do better too, paon.” The marine retorted dryly, offering Benny a small grin as he grabbed up his rifle. “Don't kill each other while I'm gone, yeah?”

  “Can I hang him from a flag pole again?” Benny asked. “Seems to be the best way to take the bite out of him.”

  “Fuck you, Benny,” Grayson growled.

  “That is no way to speak to your elders, son!” Benny replied.

  “Come on, kid. Let's head out for a hunt.” The Lieutenant said, stepping in calmly.

  Grayson jumped up, eager to finally help, but couldn't resist grumbling, “don't call me 'kid', old man.”

  “Don't call me old, son,” the Lieutenant murmured, ducking out of the infirmary after the boy.

  Alone in the infirmary now with Annie, Benny inhaled and turned to her.

  “You like those two?”

  She shrugged.

 Looking at the child in his care, Benny wanted to say something to her, to emote. But emotions were never his thing, once he opened that pandora's box they wouldn't stop. So he reached out and ruffled her hair, the two puffs on top, at least.

  He liked the kid, he really did. Hell, he could almost admit to himself that he loved her and if it wasn't for circumstances and his fucking weak need to be helpful, he wouldn't be leaving her at the convent.

  There were mornings, before they ran into the marine, that he would wake up from light, cautious sleep, to find her sitting up and watching him.

  She never said much, and he always wondered what was going on in her undeveloped little noodle, she didn't even really speak much even when Laila was with them. Horrors, he assumed, something that kept Laila on edge and wary of their surroundings, haunted the two of them and when Benny found the mother and child, or rather when they had found him, they were almost feral.

  He assumed it was something to do with the wedding ring on Laila's finger, of the way it took Annie months to finally take his hand without him telling her to.

  She kept close to him now, she had lost her father – as far as Benny knew, and now her mother and the child was wafting on the breeze, drifting around with no moorings. Nothing to tether her to safety and comfort, but for him.

  And Benny hated that it had to be him that poor girl relied on. He wasn't reliable, not to people who loved him – at least. He had cut his moorings a long time ago, or...maybe they had rotted with Valerie. Moldering in the grave with his beautiful wife, her cold hands clutching the last strands of the rope that had kept him from drifting.

 He didn't mind being tethered by Valerie, he liked it even. Whenever he'd go off and come home, he had a home to come to. She would be there, bright and smiling, her flower garden always in bloom, it seemed, even in the cold Rhode Island winters, when the wind came across the Atlantic frigid and cruel.

  She had died in the winter, or the early spring, rather. March. The witches tit of a month, the cold, brown spring.

  Valerie wanted to be buried, not cremated, so they had to wait another month before she could be buried.

  Benny was gone long before that. He had left the night she died, just walked away.

 He liked the poetic idea of their beautiful home and everything in it rotting with his wife, like the idea of her garden drying up and withering. No one deserved her things, or her garden or even dare come near anywhere she had walked.

  If he could, he would have built a stone wall, higher than the one that kept them safe at the convent, wider than it needed to be, all around Rhode Island. He would have kept everyone from that state. It would become a shrine to Valerie. His angel. Patient and sweet and everything he didn't fucking deserve.

 So with no option to do any of that, he burned Rhode Island from his mind, it didn't exist in his world. It was a crater, with his wife dead in the center.

  Everything he owned, everything that remained clinging to him when he walked away, was thrown into the ocean to fucking disappear. Except for his wedding band, wrapped like a napkin ring around a rolled-up photo of her, that he kept in his sock, secured by the knife strap he wore.

  When he began to feel too alive, he would torment himself, like a form of self-harm, only instead of cutting his body, he wounded his soul. He would unroll that photo and wear that ring and he would feel every moment of sorrow all over again.

  Was that healthy? Was grieving like that right? No. He knew it was sick.

 But life was fucking sick, because she was good and he was not, and she died, starving to death because the cancer that had started in her uterus had swept viciously through her body, into her stomach and everything she ate, would be thrown up, black and diseased. And she withered fast, like a rose when the frost touches it.

  But she didn't wither fast enough not to suffer.

 And even now, with the fucking infected, or the dead, whoever you asked, when they ravaged and tore people apart, he somehow lived. At first, he wanted to live, it was human nature to fight to survive.

  Valerie wanted to live too, and she died. So he would live for her if only to eat all the pain he couldn't eat of hers.

 And then he had Annie and Laila, and while they were never anything more than people surviving together, Benny had formed an attachment, the first kind of real attachment to the two of them. He had begun to re-weave that tether that had rotted away from Valerie and then one morning, Laila was just gone.

  She had left a note, she always did when she went out on her own to scavenge.

  But she never came back.

  And Benny felt another tether begin to rot.

  He was a man struggling to hold on to a handful of sand in a wind storm.

  So he held Annie's tether tight because he knew she held his just as tight.

  Yes. He did love the child.

 He wished the world was better for her, but he thanked the chaos and the randomness of numbers that he had her, and if these men had Laila, if she fell prey to them, he would get her back if she was alive and he would hand over the tether that Annie held that connected to him, back to her mother.

  But he was still stunted and fucked up emotionally, so all of this, loving the kid and wanting everything for her, came out in a hand rubbing the top of her head. Because Benny's parents didn't hug and Benny didn't know what to do with a child, he and Valerie had never had one and they never talked about having one. And then she died and he had never been around children except when he was one.

  So he tousled her hair and thought to himself that maybe someday he'd be able to express himself to someone else.

 Maybe someday Rhode Island would exist on his maps again. Maybe Valerie would finally rest in peace because he could move on and grow and learn to be a human being.

  Or maybe he would die trying to get Laila back to her mother and that girl back to her brother and maybe there would be no lesson for him to learn, no more room for him to grow.

  Maybe Georgia would become to Annie what Rhode Island was to Benny. Not because of him, he didn't assume the child held any love for him, she was only clinging to him because she was lost, no perhaps she would bury Georgia behind a wall, because of her mother, because of her father, because of the dead and because every day she woke up, she had to see a corpse.

  No child should ever have to live in a real nightmare.

  Or.

 Or maybe someday, Annie would stitch Georgia back together, maybe there could be hope for her future. The dead were thinning out and maybe her mother would return and maybe she'd find happiness, though he knew she would still have nightmares about the dead, he had nightmares about the dead, about Laila and Valerie and Annie, all roaming across the wastelands of his dreams, their eyes cloudy, milky with rot, because the cornea's had no blood flow, their fingertips turning black, their skin waxy and bloated.

  Since it had begun, Benny had seen too many children among the dead, small forms, corpses that hungered, but never seemed to eat, only tear and shred and maim.

  The thing was, the dead or the infected didn't make very loud sounds. They shuffled and they slogged, their feet dragging, but they didn't moan like the movie zombies, they would give off mewl-like moans. Something almost like the air just rising up from their bloated bellies. It was soft enough to miss if you weren't listening for it. And it wasn't often like they were sleeping and then would moan or when they mimicked and exhale of air. They were near silent forms moving like manifest destiny towards eternity.

  Beside him, Annie was very much alive and he would make sure she stayed that way. Benny was nothing if resourceful and he could use those resources to the best of his ability.

  If brute strength and survival were what the Lieutenant did best, Benny's abilities were subversive action and artful manipulation.

[lousimusician]

Distractions

Pairing: Boxer!Tom x Reader

Summary: Your friend makes you go to a boxing match where you unintentionally distracted one of the boxers.

Warnings: none

-------

You sighed, unlocking your dorm room, completely exhausted after finally finishing midterms. Your roommate was out which you were thankful for, she was never the quiet type. You fell on your bed, face first, getting comfortable you closed your eyes and nearly drifted off to sleep until three loud knocks made you jump.

You groaned, "Who is it!" You yelled.

"Your best friend, now open up!"

"Go away Chase, I'm trying to sleep!" But he continued to knock over and over again. 

"Fine!" You yelled, stomping over to your door and swinging it open, seeing him mid-knock.

"Great! We're going out now."

You deadpanned. "No." You said, closing the door but he stopped it and barged in. You sighed closing the door behind him.

"Yes we are." He said, jumping on your bed.

"And what exactly do you think we're doing tonight."

"Boxing match." He stated simply.

"Ha, you're funny. Besides the fact that underground boxing is illegal, I'm not too crazy with the idea of watching two grown men beat the shit out of each other either. Besides don't you usually go with Jack." You said laying down next to him.

"Yeah, but Jack has to work tonight and I'd ask Kayla but she's sick, so that leaves you."

You rolled your eyes, "Then go by yourself, or you could just not go."

"I mean I could, but it's more fun with a friend, and my friend Alex is competing tonight so I have to go."

You looked at the puppy dog eyes Chase was giving you and finally relented. "Fine! Fine! I'll go, but you're buying me dinner after."

"Yes! Thank you, I promise you won't regret it!" He yelled standing back up. "Now the match starts in an hour, I'll pick you up in like 45 minutes and wear something slutty so we can get a discount." 

You rolled your eyes again, "Yeah whatever, get out."

Once Chase left, you turned over letting a long dissatisfied groan out.

---

You sighed, pulling down the short skirt you were wearing. Chase had been right at least, you nearly got in for free. But now you sat uncomfortably in a sketchy building, in one of the many folding chairs that sat around the ring. 

"This was a mistake." You groaned.

"Oh quiet, you're gonna love it."

"Yeah because watching two people try to kill each other sounds like a lot of fun." You muttered.

"Trust me, it's a lot more fun than you think, now shut up it's about to start."

The announcer had just come out and introduced the two fighter's. Chase's friend was tall, and pretty big while the other fighter, who you learned was Tom Holland, was much leaner but still looked plenty strong. Your eyes seemed to be glued on Tom- that was until the fight started. After the first few punches were thrown you were finding it harder and harder to watch the match.

You winced and averted your eyes towards Chase as Tom punched his competitor again. "Jesus Christ, your friend is getting killed out there." 

You saw Chase wince as you assumed Tom hit him again. "What can I say, Tom's been doing this a while. I just hoped Alex would've been able to get a few more in." 

Your eyes flicked back to the fight and almost instantaneously your eyes surprisingly locked with Tom's. And as cliché as it sounds it felt like time had stopped. It was almost as if the two of you were in a trance and what was realistically 2 seconds felt like ten minutes before he broke eye contact with you by getting hit by a punch. You winced once again, and looked away, feeling the butterflies fly in your stomach and a warm blush covering your cheeks. 

You looked back noticing Tom's now split lip. 

As the match progressed even further, you noticed Tom's eyes straying more and more to you and each time that had happened he got hurt. You shrank in your seat, thinking about leaving the room so he could actually focus.

The match had finally finished causing you to sigh in relief. Tom had been declared the winner, making Chase a bit mopey.

"Okay are we done, cause I'm starving and I really want to leave right now."

"Not yet, I wanna say hi to Alex, then we can go." Chase said, standing up, pulling you with him and dragging you off towards the locker room.

You groaned, "Please make it quick."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now wait out here." He said walking into the locker room."Yo Alex!" Chase called out.

"Over here man!" 

Chase went to where he had heard his friend's voice. "Hey, you okay? You were killed out there."

Alex shrugged as he let someone clean the cut on his eyebrow from where he sat on the bench. "Don't worry about it. I didn't expect to win, I'm actually surprised by the number of hits I was able to get in. Holland must've been distracted tonight or something." 

As if on cue Tom started walking past the two friends before stopping as he recognized his opponents friend from the audience. 

"Hey, were you the guy sitting next to the pretty girl with the (y/h/c) hair?"

Chase cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, why?"

"She your girlfriend?"

"No, she's my friend." Chase said knowing where this conversation was going.

"Where is she?"

Chase hesitated before saying, "She's waiting outside."

"Thanks." Tom muttered, before heading towards the exit.

~~

You tapped your foot as you waited for Chase to finish talking to Alex so you could finally get some dinner. You looked down at your phone, reponding to a few texts until you heard a voice behind you.

"Looks like I've found my distraction." 

You turned around, being met by a very beat up Tom. You raised an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me?"

Tom smirked, "Don't play dumb princess, I know you're more than aware that you were the reason I kept getting distracted tonight, and for that I think you should go out on a date with me."

You scoffed but also blushed, "Well maybe if you didn't get distracted so easily..."

Tom smirked down, admiring your shyness. "I'm usually not easily distracted darling, but I just couldn't take my eyes off you tonight." Your blush darkened even further. "Come on princess, just one date."

You rubbed the back of your neck, you were flattered and probably would've said yes if it wasn't for his particular lifestyle  "I-I'm not sure-"

"Is it because I'm a boxer? I know you just saw me beat someone up, but I promise I'm only like that in the ring."

You bit your lip, 'Oh, what the hell' "Alright, one date."

Tom smiled, quickly wincing because of his busted lip. "Great." He said pulling out his phone and handing it to you so you could put in your phone number. "And hopefully next time you see me I won't look so rough."

You handed back his phone. "I hope you know this goes against my morals to go on a date with someone who beats others up for a living."

He laughed at that, "Well then I'm flattered you'd do that for me. I'll call you tonight, yeah?"

You nodded. "Okay, I'll talk to you later then."

You let out a breath after he had left, but suddenly jumped when you felt someone tap your shoulder. You turned around being met by Chase's smug face. 

You rolled your eyes. "Shut up."

"I haven't said anything."

"Yeah but you were gonna." You said, grabbing his arm so the two of you could finally leave.

"You're right I was. So does this mean you'll become my permanent buddy to these things. You know Jack is gonna lose it when he hears that Holland asked you out- you think you could get me in for free from now on."

You punched his arm "Don't push it, you still owe me dinner you asshole."

-------

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[thehelleniclunarwitch]

The Murder Academy 02

Here’s the first part of the series:  DFTR 01  DFTR 02  DFTR 03  DFTR 04  DFTR 05  DFTR 06  DFTR 07  DFTR 08

The Murder Academy 01

Warning: Homophobic slurs. Physical assault. Gun violence. Mention of blood. Please be advised when reading. 

                                         ---------------------------------------

*Seven Years Ago*

Klaus jumped off the bench and did a spin in the air. He landed in front of his boyfriend. Dave laughed, reached out to grab Klaus by his jacket and pull him in close. Klaus giggled as he leaned in to kiss Dave.

“You taste like whiskey,” Dave mumbled against his mouth.

“And you taste like happiness,” Klaus smiled.

The pair were too busy swept up in one another that they didn’t notice the three men walking towards them. Klaus finally spun away from Dave. They held hands as they continued to walk back down to the Academy where they would finish out their date night with a hot make-out session with some dumb moving playing in the background.

“Well look what we have here a bunch of fucking queers,” A man snarled.

Dave and Klaus slowed. They looked away from each other to the three men that stood in front of them.

“Listen, we don’t want any problems,” Dave started.

“Shut the fuck up,” The second man ordered.

“Hey, we haven’t done anything wrong,” Klaus said.

“The two of you gay boys were hanging all over each other. We don’t wanna watch the two of you suck face,” The third man snapped.

“Your right. We’ll go on home and out of your way,” Dave said slowly inching his way in front of Klaus.

The three men laughed.

“You think that’s going to make everything better?” The first one asked.

“Come on Drew let’s just beat the shit out of them and move on,” The second said.

“Now wait a minute Ryan, maybe they have something that we want,” Drew said.

Ryan raised his eyebrows.

“Kyle, what do you think?” Drew asked.

“Let’s see what these fags have,” Kyle said.

Before Dave and Klaus had the chance to react the three men descended upon them and attacked the couple. Dave and Klaus fought back as hard and as much as they could. The three men kicked, punched, spat, and did as much damage as they could.

Klaus lay there bleeding. One of his eyes was already starting to swell shut. It was growing harder to breathe. He was sure that he had a collapsed lung. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Dave struggling to get to his feet. Klaus tried calling out to his lover, but his words caught in the back of his throat.

“Oh look, the little fruit boy has balls,” Drew mocked.

Klaus forced himself to push through the pain and slowly get up to his knees.

“What do you think you’re gonna do?” Ryan asked.

Dave slowly raised his fists high. The other men began laughing.

“Cute. Real cute,” Kyle laughed.

“Give me your money then get back down you little piece of shit,” Drew demanded.

“No,” Dave said.

Klaus had to pause as a wave of blackness washed over him.

“What the fuck did you say to me?” Drew asked.

“No,” Dave repeated again.

“You’re an idiot,” Ryan said.

Drew looked at his buddies, to Klaus on the ground struggling to get up, and then back to Dave who was standing defiantly in front of him.

“You know what?” Drew said drawing everyone’s attention back to him. “Fuck this,”

Klaus screamed as the movement happened so quickly. Drew pulled out a gun and shot off two rounds. Klaus watched in horror as the bullets sunk into Dave’s chest. Klaus forgot all about the pain he was suffering and rushed to Dave’s side. He caught Dave before he could fall. Kyle and Ryan started swearing and pulling Drew away.

Klaus cradled Dave against his body.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m going to get help,” Klaus said.

“Stay,” Dave whispered.

“I have to get you help,” Klaus told him.

Dave shook his head. “Stay with me,” he pleaded.

“I can’t lose you,” Klaus began to cry.

Thunder cracked above them, opening the skies and rain fell around them. Dave lifted his hand up to Klaus’ face. His blood soaked fingers left a trail of blood on Klaus’ cheek.

“I love you,” Dave whispered.

“Just hang in there with me, Dave. Please Dave,” Klaus pleaded.

Dave gave Klaus a soft smile before his eyes drifted close. Klaus froze as he listened to his lover take his last breath. Tipping his head back, Klaus let out a loud piercing scream. He dropped his forehead down to Dave’s. He sat there for what felt like eternity crying over Dave’s lifeless body.

When Klaus heard sirens in the background he slowly placed Dave flat on the wet sidewalk. Pushing through the pain once again, Klaus grabbed the discarded gun on the ground and shoved it into the back of his jeans.

Klaus followed the trail of hooting and hollering. The three dumbasses lead Klaus right to the club where they had gone after attacking Klaus and Dave. Klaus knew this place. Had frequently visited this same place with Dave. He snuck in through the back to remain disguised.

Across the club, he could see the three men sitting huddled together. His body began to shake with anger as he slowly started to walk across the club. Friends of his tried stopping him to ask where Dave was. When they noticed that he was bleeding and hurt they tried tending to him, but he pushed past all of them.

Klaus stormed over to the three men who had just taken his whole world from him. With a shaking arm, Klaus pointed the gun at the three men. People began screaming and running. The three men broke apart and saw Klaus standing before them.

“Wait,” Ryan began.

Klaus gave them no time to beg for their lives. Instead, he fired three shots. One bullet to each of their heads. He watched as their heads snapped back and then they all fell over. Dead.

Quickly, he dropped his hand and then disappeared into the crowd and back out the way he came in. Klaus knew better than to throw away the murder weapon. He kept a deathlike grip on it as he ran and ran. Klaus continued to run until his legs gave out.

He crawled under one of the park benches. He curled up into a tight ball and let all of the emotions overtake him.

It was several hours later when Diego and Five finally found him. It took both of them to drag him out. Five had found the gun and shoved it into his coat pocket. Together, Diego and Five carried their brother to Diego’s car.

“How did you find me?” Klaus asked weakly.

“We’ve been looking for you ever since Dave’s body was discovered,” Diego explained.

“They killed him,” Klaus croaked.

Diego glanced at Five.

“I know,”

“He’s gone,” Klaus’ lip quivered.

“We know buddy,” Five said gently.

They got Klaus into the back of the car. Diego raced them back to the Academy. Klaus insisted on walking in by himself. Their butler, Pogo met them at the door.

“Take him down to the infirmary,” Pogo ordered.

“I’m not going anywhere. Leave me alone,” Klaus snapped.

“Klaus, you’re hurt,” Ben pointed out.

“I fucking know,” Klaus hissed.

“Let us help,” Allison urged.

“I want all of you to get the fuck away from me!” Klaus shouted.

He stumbled over to the stairs. He got up a few steps before falling to his knees. He let out a loud sob. Ben and Diego rushed to their brother’s side. Klaus tried pushing them away, but they continued on helping Klaus up to his room.

After they had gotten Klaus to settle down, Ben left the room to go and get medical supplies. Diego was trying his best to clean up the wounds with Kleenex.

“What happened, Klaus?” Diego asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Klaus muttered.

“I can’t help,” Diego began.

“Yeah, well I don’t need your murdering ways. I handled it on my own,” Klaus hissed.

Diego fell silent. He could tell his brother was hurting and it killed him that there was nothing he could do for him. But he stayed with Klaus until he cried himself to sleep and then swore to kill anyone whoever brought harm or pain to his siblings ever again.

                                       -----------------------------

*Present Time*

“No, no, put your thumb on the outside of your fist,” Klaus said walking over to Y/n and situating her fist.

“Like this?” Y/n asked as she showed him her new form.

“Perfect!” Klaus grinned.

“Okay, so what’s next?” Y/n asked.

“If you’re going to punch with your right-hand lead with your left foot. And vice versa,” Klaus explained.

Ben held the punching bag.

“Now give me two really good punches. Make sure you put your weight into it, but not all of it because you don’t want the momentum to knock you over,” Klaus said.

Y/n nodded. She concentrated on the bag, took in a deep breath, and let it out slowly as she went full force towards the bean bag. Ben and Klaus were both impressed with her first few punches.

“Good! Very good!” Ben beamed.

Y/n smiled as Klaus and Ben started to show her other things. The three of them stayed busy for quite some time. After a while, Ben left for a meeting leaving Klaus and Y/n alone. Y/n fell back against the mat and let out a long sigh. Klaus plopped down next to her and handed her a water bottle.

“You are a fast learner,” Klaus said.

“I had some great teachers,” Y/n beamed.

Klaus just gave her a soft smile in return.

“Klaus?” Y/n said.

“What is it, little bird?” Klaus asked.

“What made you become a serial killer? I mean what was that final push? The last straw?” Y/n asked.

She noted the way he froze and paled.

“That is a long story for another time,” Klaus finally broke the silence.

“Okay, I understand,” Y/n told him.

Klaus leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“You are too sweet,” Klaus whispered.

Y/n watched Klaus pop up to his feet. He ruffled her messy hair and walked out of the training room. Diego walked in. Y/n beamed up at him.

“What have you been up to?” Diego asked.

“Ben and Klaus were showing me some moves,” Y/n answered.

Diego bent over to kiss her.

“But I think I upset your brother,” Y/n told him.

“Which one?” Diego asked.

“Klaus. I asked him why he started killing people,” Y/n tattled on herself.

“Ah, yeah, all of these years later it’s still a touchy subject,” Diego sighed.

“Did I do something wrong?” Y/n asked.

“No, it’s just a really bad subject,” Diego said.

“Oh okay,” Y/n sighed.

“Don’t worry, Klaus will tell you in his own time,” Diego said.

Y/n only nodded. Diego pulled Y/n up to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He pressed a kiss to her temple.

“How about we get out of here and go get something to eat?” Diego asked.

“Yes,” Y/n grinned.

Diego and Y/n left the training room. They walked downstairs to the main level. Diego was telling her one of his wild stories as they headed for the front door.

“Hey, where are you two off to?” Five asked as he came out of the kitchen.

“To dinner,” Diego said.

Y/n noticed the way his eyes lit up.

“Do you want to join us?” Y/n asked.

Diego shot her a look, she glared at him and then pinched his side to keep him on his best behavior.

“You wouldn’t mind?” Five asked.

“If I minded I wouldn’t have asked,” Y/n said.

Five laughed and came to join the others. The three of them walked out of the Academy. Five and Diego both froze as they noticed two police cars slowly driving down the road. Diego was quick to turn towards his brother and pull him into a fake conversation. Y/n yawned and pretended to look at something in the sky.

Once the cars had passed by Diego brought his brother and girlfriend to his car quickly. The three of them climbed in and both boys let out a sigh of relief.

“I didn’t think the cops came on this side of the town,” Five snapped.

Y/n looked at them with worried eyes. “Do you think they are looking for me?”

“Nobody knows you’re here,” Diego said.

“If my brother put out a missing person report,” Y/n started.

“And they know nothing about me,” Diego growled.

“Unless Patch threw your ass under the bus,” Five said.

Five had never been a fan of Patch.

“She wouldn’t,” Diego hissed.

“Are you sure about that brother?” Five asked.

“Why would Patch turn on me?” Diego asked.

“She told the other Detective your true identity. How do we not know she shared other information?” Five asked him.

“Can you please get off my dick about Patch?” Diego shouted.

Y/n sat there in the backseat watching Five and Diego go at it.

“Boys,” Y/n said softly.

“I am only trying to look out for you, Y/n, and our family!” Five exclaimed.

“Five. Diego.” Y/n said in annoyance.

As Y/n tried to get the boys attention, they weren’t paying attention to what was happening in front of them. Y/n just happened to look up in time to see a black car zooming towards them.

“Diego!” Y/n screamed.

Diego and Five both looked up just as the car came barreling at them. Y/n gasped and braced herself as the impact tossed everyone around. The sound of crunching metal echoed. Somebody was screaming. Y/n smelt gas and could hear the ringing in her ears. As she lay crumpled in the back seat Y/n blinked a few times and as she lay there in agony she swore she saw a familiar face before blacking out.  

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[full-moon-writings]

Beyond the Midnight Killers: Chapter 4: The Melody Et argentum Rubrum

Posting a link to the song I pictured  It’s sung by a women with a gorgeous voice but I’m sure we can all imagine it with Ken. Sorry for the late post!

Italics- thoughts/ telepathy

Taekwoon’s fingers gracefully play along the piano keys. Centuries of practice evident as they expertly call upon each note. Jaehwan sits beside him summoning each breath to hold the perfect note. The pair mesmerized by their own ability lost in a world surrounded by the song they create. Each perfectly matching the other as they introduce new elements to each bar, a special color added to the century-old song.

A familiar tune wakes him from his slumber. The melody playing across his ears soothing his beating heart as he takes in his surroundings. Pulling himself from the bed his feet leave a pitter patter on the hardwood floor as he pads over to the door. Opening the door, the melody lures him down the grand staircase to the first floor. A mesmerizing voice now appears interlacing with the melody. He follows the tune to an intricately designed door stopping in front of it, Mommy used to hum this tune to me. She said it was something only her in a few others knew.

Hakyeon stands at the window gazing out, a tranquil look on his face. “Boys, our little visitor seems to be awake,” he says causing Taekwoon and Jaehwan to silence their previous endeavor. A sadness sweeps over their face for a split second, “Maybe, we should invite him in. He is probably scared to death,” Taekwoon whispers. Jaehwan jumps up from the piano bench walking toward the door, slowly opening it. The little boy jumps back, fear washing over his face. Jaehwan takes note of his trembling body and kneels in front of him trying to make himself as small as possible, “It’s ok kid. We aren’t going to hurt you. Did you hear the music? Did you like it?” Jaehwan asks the boy softly. The boy nods his head. He looks if he is about to burst into tears, guys. Let’s be gentle, Jaehwan sends to them. Waving his hands, he signals the boy to come into the room with them, sitting him down on a nearby couch.

“Hi, there little one. I’m guessing you know who we are considering you came to find us. Can you tell us why?” Hakyeon asks sitting down next to him. The boy nods his head but stays silent. Tears begin to well up in his eyes. Frantically, he looks around as tears start to stream down his face. Taekwoon sighs placing his hands back on the piano quietly. He begins to play the previous tune much softer than previously. The boy seemingly relaxes at the tune, scooting himself off the couch, he slowly waddles his way over to the piano. The boy looks at the piano bench and then at Taekwoon. Taek stops playing, looking toward the boy, “Do you wanna try?” Taekwoon reaches out to pick him up, but the boy shakes his head taking a step back looking intently at Taekwoon’s eyes. “You have silver eyes. Mommy said to be careful of people with silver eyes,” he whispers taking another step back, pointing his shaking finger at Taekwoon. “Your mommy seems like a smart person. But, I’m not gonna hurt you. We just want to help,” Taekwoon says softly. The boy begins to shake again causing Taekwoon to start playing softly again. The boy calm’s, slight tears still running down his face as sits down on the floor beside the piano bench. Looking down at the boy, a small smile appears on Taek’s face, “Can you tell us why you are here? Where is your mommy?” he asks the boy. “Mommy is gone. They took her,” the boy says bursting into tears, jumping up from the floor and throwing himself into Taekwoon’s chest. Taekwoon picks him up setting him in his lap and holding him close. Hakyeon signals Jaehwan, Got it. I’ll call them. A loud whistle sounds outside the door moments later.

5 minutes later

Taekwoon and the little boy sit at the piano playing with the keys. Hakyeon sits beside them watching the little boy play around smiling slightly at the boy’s amusement. The door opens as the group shuffles in moving to sit on the couch. Taekwoon looks at the boy, “Are you ready?” He nods at him as Taekwoon picks him up, sitting down with him across from the rest of the boys. “It seems like you have made a friend out of our little guest,” Hyuk says with a smile on his face. “What is your name little one?” Jaehwan asks holding back from scooping him up out of Taek’s arms. Cowering into Taekwoon’s chest, Taek gives him a slight pat on the back encouraging him. In the quietest voice, “Hwan”. “Oh, Hwanie. It’s nice to meet you,” Ravi happily says to him. Hwan looks at Ravi, staring into his eyes. “Mommy said not to trust those with red eyes,” Ravi sucks in a breath. His face falling in response. “Well, your mommy seems to have prepared you for the world,” Hakyeon says. “But, Wonshik here is the most loyal person you will ever meet, Hwanie. He can help us find your mommy. We all just want to help you” Hakyeon the boy.

“Can you tell us who took your mommy?” Hyuk asks getting up from the couch and sitting on the floor beside Taek’s chair. Hwan looks at Hyuk, eyes widening “I don’t know. Some bad men took her. She made me hide in a crawl space,” tears falling down his face. “It’s ok buddy. We are gonna find her. We just need to know everything we can,” Taek says to him, rubbing his back. “Can you tell us what the men looked like?” Hakyeon says gently. Shaking his head, “I don’t know. All I could see was the color of their eyes and there was a loud growl,” Hwan whispers looking at Ravi, fear taking over his face.  Ravi gets up scaring the boy, who buries himself into the chair and Taekwoon side. His crying becomes hysterical as Taekwoon and Hakyeon try to calm him down. Taking that as his cue to leave the room Ravi heads towards the door. Hakyeon picks Hwan up from Taekwoon “Come on buddy. It’s gonna be okay. Your mommy is gonna be fine. We are gonna find her,” Hakyeon says. “I think we should give him a break. I don’t think we will learn much from him in this state. I’m gonna take him back to the room.”

A long silence befalls the group of boys, “I’m guessing from Hwan’s reaction the eye color he saw was red,” Hongbin speaks. “I think they might have been red and silver,” Taekwoon says. Confusion crosses Hyuk and Hongbin faces. “He reacted almost the same way to me as well. Not as hysterical but, I think that was only because I played the piano for him. He seems to know the tune I was playing it calmed him down quite a bit.” “I think we need to check on Wonshik he probably isn’t taking this well,” Hongbin mention. “I’ll go find him,” Jaehwan states.

Closing the door behind him, Wonshik lets out a loud sigh. Even children can tell I’m a monster. Which isn’t far from the truth, I guess. I try so hard to protect them too. But it will never change anything will it? Dragging his feet up the stairs to his room he finds Butt laying in the corner asleep. Flopping down on his bed he stares at the ceiling. I didn’t want this but here I am making people’s lives miserable. Hwan was terrified. Looking over at the clock 12 am looks like a good time to take a walk. Wonshik walks out of his room, down the stairs, crossing the threshold from human to monster.

“I can’t find Wonshik,” Jaehwan states frantically bounding into the dining room. The others sit around the table startled at Jaehwan’s sudden appearance. “He is probably out taking a walk. He does that when he is stressed. He will be back in the next hour or so. Don’t panic,” Hakyeon says to Jaehwan motioning for him to sit down. “In the meantime, we need to talk about Hwan. We need to come up with a plan to get the information we need without completely scaring the poor boy,” Hakyeon announces to the group.

“DOGGY,” squeals Hwan running down the stairs to the just opened front door. “You’re the doggy from the village!” Hwan laughs as he clutches onto Wonshik’s neck hugging him tightly. Wonshik sits down in shock making it easier for the boy to cling to him. The rest of the boys now stand in the entryway watching the adorable reunion. “Hwanie what do you mean the dog from the village?” Jaehwan asks confused. “He comes and plays with me and some of the village kids. One day there was a bad man trying to hit one of my friends and he jumped and bit him. We call him Nocte cause we can always see him wondering around the village at night,” Hwan explains while still latched to Wonshik’s neck, a huge smile plastered on his face.

Taekwoon walks up to them and kneels, “Hwanie, do you know who this is?” “It’s Noctie,” Hwan says a bit confused. “Well, yes he is but do you remember the man from earlier with the red eyes?” Hwan nods his head, clutching closer to Wonshik. “Hwanie, Nocte and the man from earlier are the same.” Hwan’s confusion shows clearly on his face, “A man can’t be a doggy too. That doesn’t make sense. Leo, you’re dumb,” Hwan says through giggles. Hyuk laughs in the background earning a glare from Taekwoon. “Ok, Hwanie can you do me a favor and go stand by N? I promise you will get to see Nocte again.” Hwan nods, waddling over to stand by Hakyeon who kneels next to him. “Ok, I want you to keep your eyes on Nocte,” Taekwoon says nodding at Wonshik.

Hwan’s eyes shoot open, “but, Nocte is a dog, not a man. Men with red eyes are scary. Mommy said not to go near them,” Hwan says, tucking into Hakyeon’s side. “Some men with red eyes are dangerous, Hwannie. But you know Nocte you have played with him multiple times, right?” Hwan nods at Taekwoon’s words. “Nocte and Ravi here are the same. Ravi isn’t going to hurt you. He protected you and the other village kids,” he continues trying to keep him calm. “Come here Hwannie. His eyes and his hair are the same. Come on, it’s okay.” Hakyeon moves with Hwan over to Ravi. Ravi kneels for the boy staying as still as possible. Hwan hesitantly touches his hair recognizing the feel of it, “doggy?” Ravi looks up at him nervously, “Yah buddy, it’s me.”

***Et argentum Rebrum means Red and Silver

Hey guys, sorry for the late post had a early thanksgiving so I couldn't post it yesterday. Hope you enjoyed some of the fluffiness. There will be more with the boy in the future as well!

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~Admin Freckled Moon 🌙

[kelsvision-blog]

Boy on the Wall

  A short story By Kelsey Rosenblum         

             My father always reassured me that every titanic decision in life would be made evident to me through paralyzing moments of clarity. “You’ll just suddenly know it, okay, Carter?” He would yell at me while flipping through the paper, his impatience swatting me away like a fly. I remember a time when I really did believe him, too, as any young hopeful might. Those days, I sat under the kitchen table playing with my blocks and half listened to the pure ecstasy in his voice telling my mother about turning ten dollars into hundreds. I remember thinking, “I wonder how he just knows how to make money appear. ” I can see now he was full of shit, for a while at least, which only makes me a little bitter about being named after him. His advice to me was the easiest way to answer a tough question, not the result of some inner searching and wisdom. Short-selling promises was a habit of investors in the 1920s. A man couldn’t be distracted with the gratification of raising a son after snorting that sort of opiate. And buying stock on margin was just that—a hot euphoric rush flooding the veins followed by insatiable thirst for dough. But enough of that. I’m not here to tell you about how greed ruined my childhood. Greed ruins everyone’s life eventually. I’m here to tell you how my most colossal, scared-shitless, life defining moment was no consequence of fate, but pure, unadulterated, dumb luck. Not only did I prove that bastard’s advice wrong, I saved his company’s ass from being responsible for losing all of their money in biggest market crash in America’s short history.

            That particular day was similar to every other day of 7th grade, where I was exiled from the class room by my algebra teacher Mrs. Grimaldy. We had assigned seats in that class, and when Helen found out I had a crush on her two grades ago, it became her personal mission to find a way to get me ejected from the room if she heard me even so much as breath behind her. Her hand would shoot up. “Yes, Helen?” Grimaldy would ask, though she knew exactly what was coming.

“Carter won’t stop kicking my desk.” Ah, that was new. Clever girl. The day before, I wouldn’t stop snapping my gum. But I had these fancy braces on my teeth that my father could afford, working in the stock exchange and all, and her’s couldn’t. Her father was a factory worker in the Bronx. Ironically, I didn’t have the luxury of being able to chew gum with all that metal in my mouth. “Mr. Finnick, get out of my classroom. You know where to go.” She hissed over her shoulder, scribbling a bunch of crap I didn’t care about anyway on the chalkboard. I stood abruptly, my desk slamming into the back of Helen’s chair. She shot me a dirty look as she blew a big hideous pink bubble with her gum; her eyes burned into the back of my head as I left the classroom. The most mundane behaviors become hideous when you’ve made up your mind about hating someone. My buddy Frank slipped me his notes on the way out and I passed him my lunch money. Mrs. Grimaldy was too busy scribbling and squinting to ever notice our daily trade-offs. Frank was a quiet, brilliant kid. He hated everyone, but he liked cutting deals. He would use the money I gave him to help the neighborhood delinquents run a makeshift speakeasy in the lower field dugout. After each weekend of profiting off upperclassman inebriation, Frank would stuff the borrowed money back into my locker, knowing I’d need a bit more the longer it took him to pay up, or may parents would start to wonder what I was buying with my lunch money. Our schoolyard economics worked out pretty well for everyone. I got my notes, Frank and I accumulated more dough than we spent, the neighborhood drunks remain blissfully satiated, and Helen continued to sit comfortably on the stick up her ass in algebra.  

           As I took my normal detoured route to the detention room, a crumpled up paper fell from my bag and I began to kick it down the hallway while reading over the notes. As I passed the end of the hallway on the far end of school toward the detention room, a beam of light caught my eye through the window and I winced. I barely stopped to peek outside and saw a suited man get his teeth knocked in by two other suited men. The reflection of the sun off of the man’s gold watch caught my eyes again and I ducked just low enough to catch the fight. A siren sounded in the distance and the two men delivering the beating scurried back to their car before speeding off, and the stumbling victim walked into the side street with his hand out, and another car pulled up to him, yanked him in, and sped off as well. The sirens grew louder and the last I saw of the commotion was a few police cruisers speed past the main road in the direction of those men. I waited a moment for the dust to settle and saw a briefcase partially concealed under a shrub next to where the fight went down. It didn’t take long for me to decide that detention was no longer where I was headed. The hall was still empty so I bolted out the door toward the bushes before snatching up the briefcase and running under the bleachers. Inside the case was roughly $20,000 and a stack of letters dating from 1923 to 1927. I felt panic pulse through me as I slammed the case shut, tucked it into my backpack, and started walking back into the school. The bell rang before I could open the door to get back in, so I turned away and started for home in a full sprint through the backyards of Northport.

           My mother’s car was in the driveway when I made it home, so I took no chances with the front door. I pushed open the rusted basement window under the porch and slid down into my father’s underused wood shop. I stared at the case before opening it up again, slowly. As I pulled out the letters and started flipping through them. I pulled one out from the pile and began to read:

Gianni-

Well, I have to admit it. Your allegiance to these Colombia kids has served us well. Take 50% to the market and dish the rest out to your family. The predictions are incredible. When we met up last Thursday, these kids presented a complete timeline of market trends along with how our influence is fattening up the companies and pushing the ceiling higher. According to their calculations, which have been spot-on from as early as 1917, the first round of banks is due to get the rug pulled out from under them in September. The great panic will ensue and by the end of October, every investor in the country will be rushing to sell and the banks will have already run dry. As of Monday, we’ve begun our selling in fractions and will close our deals out before the start of the third quarter. The last chunk of cash to turn a profit is in an account in Brooklyn. The information is encrypted on the inside of the case. Make sure the case gets to Marco. South Street Sea Port. If you get stopped show them they chain. Everyone is still blind, let’s keep it that way shall we?

-Micky

           By the time I had finished reading, my jaw was hanging under my face and forehead was awash in sweat. I shoved it back into the case and scooted back on the cold cement floor until a support beam stopped me. I certainly wasn’t hard enough for this. I always knew the mafia existed. I always knew deep down it was no coincidence that my neighbors three doors away facing the sound had gold rimed banisters and a lock on their basement door bigger than my head. Sure, my father was well off from trading, but he was merely one guy who thought he’d hit the lottery. All of a sudden the possibility of those dreams of his were catching fire. He wasn’t a bad man. He was blind, just like the rest of them. And they all knew nothing.

           But now I did. And I was scared shitless.

I needed anther voice other than the one inside my head to give me some direction. I thought of Frank, who happened to live a few blocks away, and I began to throw my things back into my bag. Up and out the window I went, across the side streets on my bike this time. Frank had only just arrived home. 

“Hey, sweaty,” he said without actually looking at me. 

“What are you doing? I need to show you something. Now. Shed? Let’s go.” I pulled him into the shed next to his house. 

“What are you in trouble or something? Look if Tony put you up to this I swear-”

“No, no. Listen. On my way out of math today I saw a fight break out.” I went on to explain the story to Frank, who kept a sharp composure the entire time, nodding every few seconds. “Well, let’s see it then.” He pointed to the brief case. I opened it and showed him the letter I had read, and several others. 

“Whose dame you reckon this is?” He laughed smugly, pulling out a provocative picture I had missed in my first investigation. 

“Pipe down, that’s not the point. Look here, do you know these guys?” I pointed out Micky, Gianni, and so on. 

“We’re kids, Carter. Nobodies. How the hell would I know? Though, it sounds like the time at my last school when my buddies and I convinced those upperclassman saps to pay a cover charge for booze, and we gave them bottom shelf cognac mixed with rubbing alcohol.” He laughed and punched my arm. 

“Yeah, yeah but this ain’t screwing over some saps for a stiff drink, Frank. Your dad works in the market too, right?” I tried to reign him in. 

“Yeah, our fathers work in neighboring offices. I know, Carter. It’s serious business, but look around you. Our parents are working up a fortune for us and you think that’s all going to just disappear? You’re going to keep getting lunch money, I’m going to keep taking it every time Helen gets your ass kicked out of algebra, and so on and so forth. You know this! My system doesn’t fail, most certainly not when it’s working at it’s best. You see this?” Frank pulled a scarf and revealed a new radio below him. “The system gets us nice things. Trust it.” He smacked the back of my head and walked out of the shed. I followed quickly, “But Frank, what do I do with this case? What if they’re right?” “Then you’d better hope our dads are stuffing their mattresses and stock piling canned food.” Frank yelled back to me with a hand waving as he walked into his house. I stood there with the case to my side and wondered if brilliant people could be pretty damn stupid sometimes also.

           Maybe I was blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Maybe it was just some junkie’s messed up plans that wouldn’t ever see the light of day. From the corner of my eye I saw a familiar car driving slowly down the road behind the fence separating Frank’s yard from the next. I shoved the case into my bag again and dove back into his shed. I watched as the car drove past his house and flinched as the same gold watch reflected the light of the June sun into my eyes again, briefly blinding me. This time gravity pulled on my heart and I stopped breathing. Were these the guys looking for the case? I thought. I’ll just leave the case where I found it. No, no. Idiot. Keep the case! And hide it? I’ll just turn it into the Feds. No, then the mafia will pay them to find and kill me and my dog. Shit. I was dissolving into a panic again when I heard a car door slam shut. My inner monologue vanished and I listened with my eyes closed as footsteps and voice grew louder, followed by the smell of cigar smoke.

“What do you think, we meet at South Street anyway and tell him we got mugged?”

“No, Gianni. They’ll have fifteen hits out if we do that. We’ll find the case and if we can’t, we’ll pull strings for the twenty grand.”

“Well, we’re close unless someone else has a signed picture of Louise Brooks laying around the backyard.”

I opened my eyes and looked down at my bag, laying open under me. I heard the steps retreating away from me and stuck my head out of the shed. Once again, I took off on my bike toward my house where I knew my dad would be arriving shortly. I must’ve been going so fast that I didn’t hear my younger neighbors yell “Heads!” before everything was black and I was out cold on the cement. 

I woke up to my father’s face over me, holding a bloody dish rag on my head. “You got knocked pretty good, Carter. Here, hold this,” my father said, half smiling as he handed me the towel. We were in my driveway at this point as I saw him reach for my bag. Before I could stand up to stop him, the old bag broke open and every last item in that case fell out. Part of me wished I could trade with those men so that the half naked picture of Louise Brooke was the only thing he saw. I’d have an easier time explaining teenage boy paraphernalia to him. He looked up at me with that, “You’re fuckin’ dead,” look that every father has perfected. 

“What the hell is this, Carter?” 

“I can explain, just hear me out—” 

“Get inside, now.” We walked into the house with his fist wrapped around my collar dragging me along and my hand trying to keep the bloody rag on my face.

“You see…there was a fight! Yeah, two guys were beating on one guy. It was crazy. Then, they all drove away. So I ran outside and took this case they left behind. Look! Twenty grand, Pops!” I’m not sure which of us I was trying to calm down, but it didn’t work on either of us. He took the money from my hands and got real close to my face. 

“Did you steal this, Carter? I swear, if you stole this money.” 

“No! I swear! Look at this.” I said shoving the crinkled letter to him. He sat back against the sofa and I slowly saw the tension leave his body. He wasn’t relaxing, though. He was believing what he was reading. 

“Go to bed, Carter.” He said without looking up. “What, Dad? What do you think?” My mother was standing in the doorway to the kitchen the entire time. My parents exchanged looks and she took my hand and led me to my room. “Goodnight, love. Forget about this, okay? Your father will handle it.” She gave me a genuine half-smile of reassurance before turning the light off.

I laid in the dark as the events cycled through my mind. My body surrendered soon after and I fell asleep with my clothes on before any revelatory comprehension arouse. I dreamt of magicians that night.

           The next few days went by with no reminder of what happened to me. The brief case disappeared, and my family spoke nothing of it. I tried to take my mothers advice and forget. Curiosity got the best of me. I over heard my parents talking through the vents one night about how everyone in my Father’s office was coming up with a plan to start selling before the end of the summer. They didn’t sound happy. I needed to know why.

           “You’re welcome,” I said during a lull in discussion at dinner the next night. “Excuse me?” My father looked up from his food. 

“The brief case I found saved the day, right Dad? Now we won’t be poor?” 

“No, we won’t be poor, Carter.” My mother said looking worried. 

“Then, hell, I’m a hero!” I smiled with food sticking out of my mouth. 

“Enough.” My father’s fist slammed down and shook the table. “A hero is supposed to save everyone, Carter. Not just those who get lucky.” He stood up and left the table, pacing with his hands at his hips.

           One of the letters in the brief case predicted that the market would tank on October 29, 1929. It wasn’t until November 3rd when the crash actually occurred and the panic truly began. My dumb luck bought the companies that took my father’s warning seriously about four extra days to collect their wealth and stow it away. Some people got out in time, and others lost absolutely everything. Overnight, the glamour and shine of the ‘20s rusted over completely. The money didn’t just stop growing, it disappeared like dust. The winter months fell upon the city burrows of cold empty hands and I no longer felt like a hero. Heroes were supposed to feel victory. I guess it’s not a victory when a few win and almost everyone looses.

Walking to school one day that December, the wind picked up and I gripped my jacket close. I stomped out the ice in each puddle I crossed, breaking through to bottom. Before crossing the snowy lawn to enter the school, I crunched through one last puddle and a paper stuck to my boot as I pulled it out. I held it up and watched the value bleed off of the picture of Louise Brooks as the ink from her signature dripped into the slush. I tossed it into the trash and proceeded into the school. Helen wouldn’t be there, because she got pulled out of school after the crash. Frank didn’t ask for money and the upperclassman didn’t ask for booze.

I reckon the way that most Americans who made a fortune out of next to nothing in the ‘20s were just like us kids. Frank didn’t give half a damn where my money was coming from, and neither did the fools buying overpriced liquor from a 7th grader. People were happy. The system was working and it’s servants saw only the reflection of value they longed for the most. It was only a matter of time before the gold shackles fell loose from their wrists.

@kelsvision