blue ice | chapter five: kill my mind
❝cause you're a force of nature look at what you've done I can taste the danger but I don't wanna run so pull me to the ground and I won't put up a fight i'm a caution taker, but baby you're a force of nature❞
❃゜・。. ・°゜✼ ゜°・ . 。・゜❃
CHAPTER FIVE: KILL MY MIND
❃゜・。. ・°゜✼ ゜°・ . 。・゜❃
Harry
Through his lips electricity surged through my soul.
The kiss was eccentric as we collided against each other in the most perfect way I couldn’t explain. It made my brain melt into mush and my body crave it constantly as the seconds went on and our bodies moved against each other. And it felt endlessly wrong to extends higher than the skies above, but we just couldn’t seem to tear away.
Our lips moved like running water against rocks in a rushing stream, desperate to reach the end, the fall. The serenity and the peace within our heated kiss made my head spin and my body react strangely as I quickly became addicted.
His lips made me intoxicated and dizzy as my body fought for air between our lips colliding over and over and over. My mind was running wild with a million thoughts a minute, why and how was this happening I thought?
I didn’t know what could have happened next, only in this moment my mind erupted with want and a prying essence of new feelings pouring out of my heart and searing their way onto his cherry red lips. His breath fanned over me as I felt him shake his head, denying what had already been done and fated as a spark erupted in the both of us.
I pulled him closer to me as I whispered sweet nothings, a tender moment after a clandestine kiss.
The look in Louis’ eyes screamed a version of a terror dream I could never comprehend, or perhaps it was a nightmare. Perhaps I would never know I repeated to myself as I tried to make sense of it all.
Louis stumbled backwards, creating space between us as our eyebrows furrowed. After such a heated kiss space was usually not needed, yet he couldn’t feel more far away than now.
He ran his hands through his hair as his eyes rushed red as a vein popped out from the skin of his forehead, almost seeming angry but at himself and the world as I observed it all from a close distance. Not knowing what to do at all in this strange moment where everything felt as if was all a dream. Floating in a reality that was artificial, but potent and raw like the feeling of the sun encasing your body with bright joy and erupting fireworks of fantastically fascinating fantasies.
“Fuck- Harry that shouldn’t have happened.” He said as his voice was strained with worry as he looked around frantically searching for an answer as none seemed to be known to him or I or the space around us.
After an eternity the elevator opens, and Juniper greets us at the door as she stands in shock as if she saw through the entire scene of Louis and I locking lips as my cheeks flush in embarrassment.
“Did you see that?” I asked whisper quiet, barely audible only for Juniper, Louis, and I to hear in the empty hallway as our voices echoed in the empty hallway like a ghost town.
“Oh, only all of it.” She spoke casually with sarcasm laced in her words like an addictive drug. My eyes widened as my mind raced to an invisible deadline that was nowhere in sight, and the thought was terrifying.
Overwhelming feelings cascade over me like a waterfall of bright colors, mixed together and creating new emotions that can’t find their way to untangle with each other. As if they’re meant to be forever intertwined, but in the mix of dark and light in my mind, there is no clear answer, there is no clear ending and beginning, only existing, only forward on.
“Harry?” Louis asks quietly, only audible to my ears as if he was a heartbeat away, my eyes focused on him as he dwindled his fingers as his eyes twinkled with crystal light.
And as clear as his ocean was, it was rocky with thunderous storms coating the entire sea.
And I was trapped directly in the middle of it all.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Louis
As I come to the sense of reality is real and all of this isn’t some distinct cruel dream that I’ve been forced to believe is law; I come to realize my feelings for Harry are more than I thought they ever were before.
And forevermore they give me a light feeling as if I was flying, but I have no clue if they are here to stay, but the flutter in my heart begins to say otherwise.
My heart beats wildly as Juniper Harry and I all sit on the couch cushions of our overgrown hotel room that’s a mix between a deluxe suite and an apartment.
Rain beats down on the land below of Lythorn as thunder booms and crackles mercilessly on every living person in this town, and even the dead.
Only the glow of the TV creates a background noise in the back of my head as I look to Harry in the silence, unsure of what to say.
Juniper looked to us as she left the room cautiously as I pondered to where she was going. But alas only time could tell the tales long forgotten.
Suddenly, a new though plots its way into my brain as I’m trapped in a never-ending reality of scattered thoughts and the only calm in the storm seems to be the emerald in Harry’s green eyes.
“Yeah?” Harry finally answers as I look to him with a raging storm in my eyes. Unable to control the next moment, swept up in the strong current that kept me fighting for air in the headspace that I was in.
“When we kissed, did you feel anything?” I asked quaintly as Harry looked to the floor for a moment as the small flame in my heart began to fizzle out as I felt shame after the words I was dying to say went clumsily past my lips. In only a whisper.
“I felt something Louis, I did. Once I kissed you, I couldn’t stop.” Harry admitted truthfully as I blushed wildly at his confession.
But alas, all of this felt so wrong, with Milo being none the wiser that I had gotten myself into a strange English love affair that seemed to weave its way between my heartstrings.
But, with Harry everything felt oddly strange, of course, forbidden but, as if it was meant to be. Something in me compelled it to be truth, to be law, tangible and palpable.
“Harry, there’s something between us, and I don’t know what, but whatever it is, it’s dangerous. The second I threw my thoughts out the window when I kissed you is when I knew I couldn’t avoid it anymore.” I confessed as I looked into his eyes as we sat in the quiet pale dim light of the lamp next to the hotel living room couch.
Harry swallowed heavily before he said another word, inching closer but still worlds away from the final ending. My lips almost itched to be on his again, his warm body against mine is what I craved.
Then, it struck me like lightning in a sea storm.
My feelings for Milo didn’t even compare to what a relevance, an enchantment Harry’s aura had swarmed me in. It all felt so surreal, but I knew there was no going back from this.
And I wouldn’t ever want to.
“Well that dangerous, is addictive Louis, and I think that I like you.” Harry spoke quietly as he leaned his face closer to mine with a hushed whisper tucking in between his strawberry red lips as his breath fanned in my face.
His innocent smile paired with the flirty aura dancing around us like sugar canes in a children’s Christmas daydream had my head beginning to spin. Though I’d soon be coming down to earth as I looked into Harry’s eyes without saying a single word.
Not a single breath left my body as I discovered what I already knew.
That was then, I knew.
“I think I like you too, Harry.” I said as I tasted his name on my lips as I’d quickly rather the taste of his on mine.
As my body inched closer to his innocent sparks flew around us as they lit up a fire deep inside us that raged and demanded to be set free from its cages.
And as soon as the fire could be set, it came alive with the touch of his hands against mine. Our fingers intertwined as they spread and planted deep roots in our souls like trees in a dark forest. His anchor tattoo intertwined with my ropes as our souls tied together in this dangerous dance amongst the fires of forbidden things never to touch the surface of the pure and iridescent.
“Louis?” Harry questioned, his deep voice echoing the hotel room as my ears perked up at the sound of his gravely tone.
“Yes?” I reply mischievously with a hint of something indescribable in my eyes as I looked towards him. Dark swirls of emotion cascade into my bloodstream and present themselves through my senses as everything seems to have a hazy rose-colored hue over it.
“Kiss me.” He whispers in one breath quickly as he does a onceover of me and the remainder of the room.
“This feels so horribly wrong, but I couldn’t care.” I replied back to him as my self conscious was already weighing the options, but the grief and guilt I would carry for this was already worlds heavier.
I looked into his eyes as the amber-colored light set everything alive as the skies turned a stormy blue as thunder roared and shook the building and my soul to its core.
His lips met mine with a fury light brighter than the lights when you met heaven, and darker than the blood curdling red that is described as hells unwelcoming home.
Our lips glided against each other like a skier on a slippery winter’s slope. My body melted against his as I found myself on top of him, hands intertwined and so were our souls.
A rainbow of emotion busted from the deep depths of my stomach as it kept my body aflutter and floating around this heavenly feeling that had covered me in an ivy like substance, spreading deep and searing into our kiss.
And the ivy was Harry, it was Harry.
I grabbed his face gingerly as his mouth opened gradually to meet my awaiting tongue as it slipped dangerously and slowly into his mouth as I explored it, claiming every territory as if it was my own.
His strong fame incased my smaller body as if his heart was destined to fit in mine.
“L-Lou, fuck that was good. Really good.” Harry said gasping for air as I looked to where his body and mine connected as I was straddling him on top of his lap.
He sat up leaning against his palms on the couch as I ran a hand through my hair as we sat quietly. Blushing and simply wondering what this whole ordeal would turn into. A flame incased my heart, not daring to burn or to spread, just to fuel the fire that Harry had set inside of me.
Harry smirked at me infamously as he looked to me happily as if I was the sun, incasing the whole sky as the biggest star.
And maybe, I was, maybe... I could be.
This was the very first page of something unknown, and Harry had written it, deep in the depths of oceans of romance and clandestine forbidden love. And maybe I could discover the unknow, with Harry.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
I sat on my bed quietly after the confusing aura around the universe had left. As usual I watched the news as they continued to update the public about the case.
I watched as my eyes flickered around the room for something to fill the time. Eventually I laid down on the bed fully from my supine position and ran a hand through my hair as I found myself here, in the silence alone.
I pondered to how Juniper and I would continue the case as new evidence seemed to present itself in my brain as I was sitting in silence.
I hoped that we would find a lead suspect by now, but unfortunately it almost feels like we’re running in circles with each lead we get. Though hopefully with my lead about the brambleberry bush and Erika’s killer knowing of her identity before she was murdered would eventually lead to something.
I furrowed my eyebrows as I continued to chase my wild thought as I had nothing better to do except think of how we would eventually solve this case.
But it didn’t make any sense, how would her killer even though she was in the forest that afternoon, unless she was lead, or.. someone was with her.
A new possibility opened as I continued my thought as my mind and heart raced as I could be on to something! At least, I hoped that I was.
I grabbed my investigator notepad that I carried around to jot down important things about suspects or leads in cases. I looked to the pen and paper as my mind roared to life like a car in dormant rest in a Nasar race. Ready to race to the finish line, to the conclusion of the murder.
It would make sense that someone could have been with Erika that day, there had to be, and where there’s someone else, there’s witnesses.. and there’s a lead.
I pondered to whom, and what they could have done with that information that Erika was no longer alive. Or they could have killed her themselves, if they were the person responsible for her death, this could be a major lead in the case!
Suddenly my ears perked up at the sound of a breaking news story. I wondered what it could be as I sat up slowly to look to the TV as the newsman spoke carefully at the new information.
“Breaking news, boyfriend of slain Erika Blokes is admitted to the Lythorn Police Office, insiders say that he could be involved with Erika’s murder. Police Chief Liam Payne says top detective and investigator on the case are to meet with the suspect in question at the department headquarters later today, back to you.” The newsman concluded as I shut off the tv as my phone rang not a moment later, in no doubt it was the chief calling us in.
I picked up the phone with no haste as Liam’s voice echoed on the other end of the phone as Juniper knocked on my door quietly as she stepped in to hear the important phone call.
She smiled to me as Chief Payne disclosed the important information that we would need before heading over to the station.
“Tomlinson, we’ve got Erika’s ex-boyfriend Jake Collins, he claims he was at the crime scene when she was killed. I’m gonna need you and Young to get over here quickly. By the looks of it, kids’ a mess, I think you may be able to milk a confession outta him.” Liam spoke in a serious tone as I nodded as another officer at the police department was on the phone with Juniper as well as we both ended our calls. We looked to each other for a quick moment as we both know what we had to accomplish. Though I couldn’t believe I was spot on! I shrugged my shoulders excitedly as I was already hyped up to know more information on this lead we had. Though now I could be confident the case would go more smoothly than I thought.
Though Anna’s case still had to be considered, because it was linked with her sisters whatever information we would get from this would most likely carry over to her ‘mysterious’ disappearance. Though I still believe that there was more to what happened to Anna that day. And hopefully, she truly hadn’t suffered the same fate as her sister, after all.
Their mother had mentioned that Erika had went on about looking for Anna, and she still had hope that she could still be alive, even after all of these years. Anna most likely had been lured, and unfortunately by my beliefs, so was her sister.
Though setting up the case for a major turn new information would most definitely have an impact on the final verdict. Though it’s far from over.
We’re just getting started
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Juniper
The car ride to the station was quick, the sun setting swiftly in the sky as it almost looked as if we were chasing it as we were chasing the traffic to the department. Desperate to get the reigns on this new lead in the case that had already run rapid out of control thanks to the news coverage.
I looked to Louis as my words were caught in my throat as he kept his hands firm on the steering wheel, though wearing a small smile on his face from his ‘earlier’ endeavors. I rolled my eyes at that thought but smiled just the same.
I couldn’t be the one to bring it up to him, but whether he likes it or not I couldn’t pretend I didn’t hear what I heard back at the hotel between Harry and him. Though nonetheless Milo always seemed eerie towards Louis ever since I had known him. Always so far but never close enough. As if he never had a grasp on what he truly wanted. All those years Louis pondered, and wondered what the relationship was to blossom into with the days, weeks, months and years to become. But I wasn’t sure if they ever amounted to anything, and neither did Louis.
Though the seemingly blooming feelings that were blown around in the airs of caution almost seemed to be a seedling of something to be, and what could be. I couldn’t deny that Louis’ feelings for Milo were always so strong, but now it seems like Luis would reflect on all that wasted time, and decided to start anew.
Time could not tell this curious tale, only heart, truth and an aura of something simpler, something wiser, something purer would come to pass.
Louis pulled into the station quickly as news anchors were already swarming the building as it made it difficult to actually get into the police station without running into unknown people at the Lythorn news department.
One thing I had noticed about the people of Lythorn, was that they were always attentive to what mattered, always searching for more information as it came to them. They were always lusting for more, and more had come... with the new light of the case.
“What is going on?!” A newscaster asked as many more began barking inaudible questions at us as we began to get out of the car and attempt to go into the police station. Despite the madness, the chief of police and officer Horan walked out of the station and escorted us into the building amid all of the newspeople’s allegations and looming questions.
“At this time the case is still pending, we think we may have the suspect in question, but we won’t releasing any names since he is a minor.” I concluded as the newspeople began shoving more microphones towards us as Louis waved them off and refused to answer any of their many questions casually.
“Louis why aren’t you telling them anything?!” I questioned confusingly as Louis stopped in his tracks and turned around to face the looming questions that were yet to be answered.
The cloudy grey skies that surely loomed a storm could not match the look in Louis’ eyes at this moment. He looked to me in indescribable way as he went out of his way to answer the questions quickly before going inside.
“Just wanna be sure before we tell the public anything June-bug, I feel like we’ve got it, and I don’t want to mess it up.” Louis nodded solemnly as I shook my head with understanding.
“We’ll get this Louis, don’t worry.” I said comfortingly as he smiled to me and embraced me in a quick hug as we both went inside.
“So, what’s it looking like Officer.” Louis nodded to Niall as he began to speak on the outlook on the situation with the kid.
“Kid’s a wreck; said he’s ready to confess to whatever you tell ‘em. Don’t know what the hell’s going on in that kid’s brain but he’s properly petrified.” Niall nodded as he sipped his coffee as he picked it up off his desk with the label ‘HORAN’ on it as I took note of it.
“Well Niall how would you fell if you’re girlfriend got murdered and you spoke up about it and police want to haul you into the station?” I questioned playfully as Niall shrugged and lead us further into the station we saw when we first got into Lythorn.
I thought back to that very first day we passed the ‘welcome to Lythorn’ sign, it felt like forever ago in retrospect. But I couldn’t decide whether whatever was going to happen next would have a major impact on our lives moving forward. But however it turned out I knew that we would definitely remember this for a long time going forward. But there’s much more road to cover in this case, but there’s only so much you can go from without running into a dead end.
All this time we’ve been searching for an answer, but I knew that the answer would come in riddles we’d have to decipher. And right now, the road to hope was running short.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
As time went on, we patiently awaited the arrival of the conclusion to the final question of the day. Whether or not Jake Collins killed Erika Blokes. Or what does Anna’s disappearance have to do with it all.
Or possibly, I pondered, could she never be dead at all? What if she was alive all this time and we had it all wrong? After all that has happened so far, I wasn’t ruling anything out until we had a sure answer and every possibility of a doubt was buried and set in stone to make no return to the case.
Though one thing still left my heart aflutter, and my brain ablaze, if Jake had truly killed Erika, what reason could he possibly have to do that? It made no sense, though the theory I had was merely circumstantial, something told me that he hadn’t done it, but I couldn’t be sure until we had questioned him.
Erika’s killer knew of her before she was killed, or else she wouldn’t have been in the brambleberry thicket that afternoon. Perhaps she was chased? I wondered, or led, my brain continued on to make a multitude of conclusions inside of my head that could eventually come to pass.. but I would never know if they would after all.
“Louis, Juniper, Mr. Collins is in room 2B, I’ll be accompanying you into the room. He isn’t being held on any charges, this is just a meeting between us and him to get some information, go easy on him.” A unknown but seemingly familiar voice said wearyingly, I turned to the direction of the voice, desperate to the answers buzzing around my head in nonstop motion. I looked at the features across her face, Aurora. I had known her well as a smile etched upon my face at her presence, she smiled to us as Louis ran over and gave her a hug before she led us to the room Jake was no doubt to be in.
“Rory, how are you love?” Louis said excitedly as she giggled quietly as she was embraced in his warm hold. They broke apart quickly as they both realized there was more work to be done. But that couldn’t stop a small smile from creeping on my face slowly seeing the both of them so filled with joy.
The story of Louis and Aurora is sweet with a bittersweet twist of an ending, as far as I remember Aurora had moved in with Louis’ family early in their relationship, after a mysterious fire committed by an arsonist that was driving the city of Doncaster rampant. Then not soon after the two became quickly bonded like siblings but as they drifted into their college years, moreover when Louis and Milo began their premature romance the spark between Aurora and Louis faded out into a darkness of unexplainable proportions.
Suddenly, one night Aurora had mysteriously flown out of the city of Doncaster in search of bigger things that were unknown to all of us. To this day I still wonder where she went or what she could have been up too during that time, though the tale has told itself now that she is present and back again in our hearts and minds.
“I’m wonderful Lou! Now, we can talk all about this later, there’s a possible murderer waiting in room 2B!” Aurora rushed in all seriousness with a mix of playful tone in her voice as we both descended down the dark hallway.
I looked to the fading sun as it dipped down in the sky over the horizon while warm colors left a temptation for warmer weather as it left many of us to wonder when the sun would rise up again, would we rise to the challenge to complete the deep depths of this case.
Or would we sink to the bottom, cold, forgotten and completely out of options.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Author
The cold interlude of the examining room stands to reason why Jake Collins was absolutely terrified of the people facing him on the opposite side of the room.
He almost felt as if he was bait for sharks, the case of his late girlfriends sister hadn’t gone on for years, as soon as they found a single piece of evidence that could stand to reason for the crime. He knew they would act fast to solve it.
And he was their bait, he was their target.
At least, it illuded to be as such, but all would be revealed as he began to give more information to the rather short investigator and detective duo sitting across from him.
“We’re just here to ask you a few questions lad, tell me what did you see that day?” Louis asked Jake quietly as he looked around the room, avoiding the handsome investigator’s eyes and glance, afraid of what might be lying under his ocean eyes. Could it be evil, or magic? Jake whispered to himself as his mind created delusions that he couldn’t tell apart from reality.
And with his body spinning out of control, Jake tried to gain sense of it all. After all, he wouldn’t want Erika to die in vain, so he did what anyone else would do.
He looked him in the eye and sold his soul.
To whatever forces were above, he hoped his information would help catch the killer who took Erika from Jake.
Who took Erika from everyone?
“Erika had said she seen a shadow as we were walking. And I shook off the eerie feeling because it was still daylight, though walking in the historian’s brambleberry thicket wasn’t such a good idea. But we were hopeful, until they appeared out of nowhere.” Jake spoke quietly as Aurora entered all the information he was revealing to them into the filing system for the Lythorn police department.
“They? Did you see their face?” Louis questioned as Jake nodded his head with a no, he continued on the story he had memorized ever since that day, hoping he wouldn’t lose the reigns on the memory just yet.
He couldn’t let it fade, not ever.
“No, but Erika was searching for her sister Anna. She was still hopeful that she was alive, that was why we were there that day, investigator.” Jake gulped quietly as he felt a heavyweight upon his shoulders for something he thought would be easy. But as it came to pass, nothing was ever easy in the sights of a cold case turned reopened murder investigation.
“We were planning to run away together to find her, because there’s this rumored old village linked to the town off shore of the river. But you can’t ever see it because its deep on some sort of island off shore. And it’s always raining so… the fog covers it.” Jake continued as Juniper and Louis nodded as they continued to intake the information.
“She was really deadest on finding her sister?” Juniper asked as Jake nodded with certainty.
“She was, she had almost driven herself mad about it. She created all these theories and ideas of how the police went wrong. She really had hope when she discovered you two were being added to the investigation of her sisters case. She wanted to help, that’s why we had went to search for her. Because Erika, Anna and I had always played in those woods when we were little kids. But never this deep into it, as we were.” Jake continued as Louis looked to Juniper suspiciously at his choice of words.
“Driven mad, you say? So... she was driven mad about her sister being gone and you two were driven mad about running away together, why were you ever going to do that?” Louis questioned as he furrowed his eyebrows at the teen sitting across from him.
As the light shone on his eyes, he looked as if he was a deer caught in headlights. Jake’s mouth went slack, as if he was at a loss for words.
“Because I didn’t want her to go alone. And there’s too many memories of this old town and bad things happening to good people. Neither of us could take it any longer, and now look what’s happened.” Jake spoke defeatedly as he held his head in his hands.
Louis and Juniper both looked to each other. As the sun set on this conundrum of a day, there was only one thing for certain in this world.
They now knew who the killer was.
And it couldn’t have been Jake.
But mysteries loom where madness and curiosity begin to fill in the blanks, so as more information is revealed. The more the both of them begin to suspect the true answer was in front of them all along.
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
After the examination with Jake, Louis drove Juniper and himself back to the hotel. The city lights at night created a perfect scenery for a picturesque dream. Though the events of today only added up to nothing short of an absolute nightmare.
But it was real, and there was no escaping it.
“So... Louis?” Juniper questioned quietly with a hint of something mischievous in her voice, but it was hidden between bookends of something more. Something pure, something iridescent was in the air, was it love? Was it trust?
It wasn’t to be known what was in the air, but to who was spreading the toxin, the antidote, and the sickness to all of this confusion that loomed in the streets of Lythorn. All of the chaos, all of the history and all of the new blood incased in a messy murder cased seemingly turned bad.
“Yes June-bug?” Louis questioned carefully as he kept his eyes on the road, seeing the blue moon hotel in plain sight as the traffic began to ease up and become lighter as Louis’ car raced down the streets towards home.
A temporary home, at least.
“Do you like Harry?” Juniper finally revealed as Louis looked to her with an offended look on his face.
“Why would you ask that, June we’re in the middle of a murder case and you’re asking me if I like fucking Harry love! Jesus!” Louis said defensively as he simply refused to answer the question at this time.
Why were his feelings for Harry important anyway? He questioned quietly to himself. Though he couldn’t deny the way his heart seemed to fit perfectly in his hands was all he ever searched for, and all he ever wanted.
But he couldn’t be drawn to him, could he?
“Tommo answer the question you wank!” Juniper said immaturely as she hit his shoulder lightly and playfully as he continued to drive through the traffic.
Louis rolled his eyes and let out a string of curse words before finally answering with a small yes, that could barely be heard audibly over the traffic.
“I knew it,” Juniper said accomplishedly “you thought I didn’t hear you guys making out in there, you practically forgot we’re in the same hotel room Louis! Walls are thin you know.” Juniper said with a smirk as Louis licked his lips at looked to her for a split second before stroking his chin and looking back to the traffic.
“But, in all seriousness darling it feels so wrong. But I can’t help but want him, it’s impossible!” Louis admitted as silence fell over the both of them.
“But you and Milo Louis, I mean you know how he is, you two just..” Juniper started as her sentence fizzled out into a little over nothing as Louis nodded in understanding.
“I know, we’ve been on and off for years and I just feel like he doesn’t want what I want. Relationships are all about love and trust and it all just feels so artificial, why can’t it feel the same as Harry an I do? Am I the problem?” Louis voiced sincerely as Juniper shook her head and dismissed him.
“No... it’s just, you and Milo are just strange together you know? And for years you’ve been trying to make it work but he just keeps tearing it down, I know how hard you’ve worked Louis, I just don’t think it’s built to last.” Juniper voiced solemnly as Louis nodded finally, in defeat.
“I feel like a dirty cheater, well that’s because I am. I’ve always felt safe with Milo, I’ve just never wanted anything else, and now Harry is here and he’s making me feel shit! Dammit!” Louis said as he held his head in his hands at the stop light as I hugged him sincerely as we shared a moment together.
“Don’t you remember when Milo allegedly had that fling with that girl when you guys were on a ‘trial’ breakup senior year of high school? Isn’t that how you feel right now?” Juniper asked in all seriousness as Louis’ eyes widened in understanding.
Now he finally knew.
“I still don’t believe that, it’s bullshit, just some stunt to bring his football career down, you know she was spying with our rival back then.” Louis mentioned playfully as Juniper hit him on the shoulder again as Louis let out a laugh at their silliness on the drive back to the hotel.
Suddenly, Louis’ phone rang in the silence as he fumbled to get it out of his pocket as traffic picked back up. Juniper watched as Louis attempted to reach it as it bounced off the dash and onto the floor mats as she let out a horrendously loud laugh at his attempt.
“Oh shuddup, you couldn’t have done better, will you get it for me, hurry before it stops ringing!” Louis voiced quickly as Juniper bent down to pick it up before the ringing stopped and the call went to voicemail.
“It’s the chief of the Doncaster PD.” Juniper voiced confusingly as she picked up the call nonetheless as she pressed the button as she held it up to her ear as Louis continued to drive, being mindful of her facial expressions giving clues to the details of the call.
“Okay, bye.” Juniper said quickly before she hung up the call, all color drained from her face as she looked to Louis, all words seeming meaningless as she discovered there was no more hope, no longer, not a drop in her spirit.
“Louis, Milo’s dead.” She said finally, before Louis pumped the breaks in the hotel parking lot.
It felt almost as if the world stopped spinning.
A/N: ABSOLUETLY GUTWRENCHING ENDING, cliff hanger as well also, Hehe.
#queen of cliff hangers
Besides that, VERY long chapter, how does everyone like Blue ice so far? Let me know what you think in the comments!
What do you think of Louis’ and Juniper’s friendship? I absolutely love it, and Larry’s newfound relationship suddenly blooming into something more.
Not to mention the new details of what REALLY happened to Erika Blokes that day.
But overall, how was the chapter?
Gentle reminder, there are FIVE chapters left to this epic conclusion of a short story.
What could there be in store more for the Lythorn police department? Or the history of Lythorn?
Could it finally go up in shambles? Or will the investigator and detective duo rise it out of the ashes?
as always comment your theories and predictions!
All the love, Louiscarrotsxoxo
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About Powder Blue
This is going to be long. There are going to be discussions of suicide and trauma. This is going to be a bit of a jumbled mess because I can't tell a linear story to save my life. Don't feel like you need to read this, now or ever.
If you're wondering what the issues with PB were, and looking for what's next, read the indented text and skip the rest if you want!
I've had a bit of a...tumultuous relationship with the OFMD fandom. I've made close friends and lost them, made even closer friends who've very patiently reminded me of my worth when I needed that. I'm at a point where I'm still struggling, but I'm getting better. I'm still working on not being afraid. It's a bit of an uphill battle, but I'm still pushing my little boulder. I'm not alone this time, which is nice.
I entered the fandom as a nobody. I had almost 50 fics on AO3 and two had mildly popped off while I wasn't looking, but I wasn't really known for anything. I was a fandom ghost, posting my little fanfics and sharing them with the world because I just enjoyed the characters so much. Like a lot of people, I dreamed of being known for something. I thought that'd be neat.
I'm still in a state of shock and confusion that I've written anything in the past 2 years that people remember and even love. It's weird to be in a place where I never imagined myself to be. I can't stress enough how much I did not write explicit fic before this fandom; in high school, I would've welcomed a porn ban. I was afraid of my own sexuality, convinced it was some sort of monster I had to control. Convinced I was dirty. To other people my age, I was a prude, naive and childish for not being comfortable with it. So I feel for people who lash out now, who insist that attraction is actually fetishization, that if we set enough rules, maybe if we resist temptation, we'll be saved. I see you, and I feel for you. I personally don't think that's a healthy way to live, but if you'd told me that 2 years ago, I would've cussed you out. It's really a realization you have to come to (or not) on your own terms.
Anyway.
I know it's tacky to talk about your own success but it doesn't feel real. I go back and forth, reading other people's work -- and my god, there's some unbelievable talent in this fandom -- and thinking "shit, why would anyone read anything I've written? My stories are kindergarten finger paintings next to museum masterpieces". I am learning, slowly -- very slowly -- that I can't bully myself into a shape I like better. I'll never abuse myself into the kind of writer I think I want to be.
The first chapter of Powder Blue was written on a random day of the week after work. I was in a server -- the first fandom server I'd properly joined and talked in, watching a convo about how funnyt it would be for Ed to be a middle aged sugar baby -- when I pulled out my laptop and wrote for an hour and then posted that chapter to the server. I hadn't written for five years before OFMD. I had never finished a multi chapter fic. I posted that chapter and went to make dinner, and assumed the Google Docs link would get lost in that channel after a few likes.
That's not what happened.
The next few months were...a lot. My 7 year old Twitter account blew up from about 200 followers to 1000 in a matter of months. I was misinterpreted half a dozen times. Suddenly, people knew who I was and had Opinions. Some of those Opinions were Not Nice. I was told to grow a thick skin and get over it. So I figured my extreme reactions -- physical shaking, intense fear, a spiking heart rate, like I was being chased -- were just me being weak. I thought if I just sucked it up and laughed it off, it'd stop affecting me.
Turns out RSD is real and not an excuse I was using to be a baby, and it literally didn't get better until I was medicated! Wild
(This -- "I'm just overreacting and everyone else is secretly handling it better" -- has been a pretty consistent pattern my entire life, so figuring out I'm actually AuDHD has been mindblowing. If you've been wondering why you're so weak your whole life, I've got some screening tests you might be interested in).
Anyway my point is, a few things happened over the course of 2023 that brought me to a level of emotional pain I've never experienced.
At the start of the year, I was taking a self imposed internet break, after being forced to apologize for a tweet thread about Izzy, where I'd made the mistake of suggesting that fans of his should consider thinking about why they enjoy his character, but to only do this if they wanted to and ignore me if they didn't. This was taken as me being a hypocrite, and accusing Izzy fans of being terrible people. I apologized, vowed to never mention him again, and left Twitter for a month. Around the same time, a few things in a very close friend group went very wrong. I assumed it was entirely my fault for misbehaving, picked myself up, and tried to punish myself into a shape that would be acceptable for other people.
It didn't work.
Since I was now marked as an anti-Izzy bully, I couldn't say anything -- either on Twitter or in private -- that wouldn't be interpreted as me trying to start fights, as me being passive aggressive, as me trying to send covert messages for others to decipher so they could come and grovel for my forgiveness. Some of this is my fault -- it took a long time to learn than my private locked Twitter account isn't a diary. it took even longer for me to learn that maybe the people I was hanging out with weren't my people.
During all of this, I was posting Powder Blue after months of tears, pain, heartbreak, frustration and stress. I still don't understand why people write books for work or FUN. It was the most horrific experience of my life. It was valuable and so rewarding but jesus christ did writing PB take a lot out of me.
So as I felt less connected to my friends, as I was trying to hide how I felt because I thought I didn't deserve to be upset about anything (everything is always my fault, you see, and if I just behaved better, these things wouldn't happen to me), someone came to me and said they'd noticed some issues with Powder Blue. I'll refer to this person as the reader.
I was more than happy to hear them out. And it's true that I made some mistakes. The environment that I published PB in was not the one that I wrote it in. I didn't read any other sugar daddy/sex work fics as I was working on PB. PB was never a reaction to those fics. But because of those stories, which had handled things is harmful ways, there was suddenly a responsibility I'd never expected to have. I've never done sex work, I've just spent a lot of time listening to sex workers and trying to understand the legislation and environment as much as I can as a lay person. And since I don't have a personal experience with sex work, I shared my finished but rough draft with the reader, who did.
The problem, ultimately, is not something I could ever have fixed to their satisfaction. The fic doesn't involve dubious consent on a level that I think warrants an archive warning tag -- I tried to make it explicitly clear that Ed never does anything he doesn't want to, and that he's never coerced. The issue is that the nature of Ed and Stede's relationship is inherently uneven -- Stede is rich, and although he gives Ed money that's his to keep, Ed still isn't as obscenely wealthy as Stede is. Ed is poor and has been for a while. He's good at whatever he chooses to do, but he's struggling. That's a very uncomfortable spot to put Ed in.
I also put Ed through some things that I've personally been through, as a way to work through my feelings and to try and better understand myself. If I was acting like Ed in real life, the reader is right that it would be concerning. But, importantly, Ed's not real. Nothing in this story is happening to a real person. Nothing in this story is an endorsement of any of his behaviours or unhealthy coping mechanisms.
I still believe the reader had good intentions -- the amount of effort they put into coming to me would be utterly bizarre for someone who was just looking to be cruel for no reason. But that also doesn't change the fact that being told I was having a trauma response and needed to stop working on the fic immediately, pushed me into the most suicidal period I've ever experienced.
That's not their fault. I'm sure that wasn't their intention. I've chosen to not try and find out who they are, or try to contact them again to respect their privacy. Some of the things people said to me, publicly dismissing the reader's pain, were so harrowing to read that it made me feel worse for ever writing PB in the first place. They were right to stay anonymous.
I'm sure the reader never meant for me to have such a massive breakdown that I took down the entire fic and left Twitter (and a few friend groups). It's been difficult to understand that just because someone didn't mean to hurt me, doesn't change the fact that I was hurt.
One silver lining is that I did go and find a new therapist. She's great! And she also thinks that how the reader tried to bring things up to me was wrong. As the reader obviously saw, I have a lot of Trauma, so I'm still not entirely convinced that I didn't deserve what happened to me. I'm not angry at them. I appreciate their concern. I just can't do what they asked of me. In the end, Powder Blue was not a story that was right for them. And that's okay.
My point in detailing all of this, is that I stayed quiet for a long time because I didn't think I deserved to tell my part of the story. I was scared that when people said they respected my choice to take down the fic, that they agreed I'd some something impossibly harmful. People trusted my judgement but I didn't trust myself. But people didn't know that I didn't trust myself.
Additionally, reader can't speak on this without revealing themself in some way. I'm terrified that they might read this and say something anyway. My biggest fear is becoming the kind of writer who sees negative criticism and pushes on anyway, or even blocks people who disagree with me. I don't want to hurt anyone the way I've been hurt.
BUT I've been holding onto this for months. I cannot write a perfect fic that will never trigger anyone. I will never write a meaningful story that won't hurt someone, no matter my intentions. There IS a way to admit you fucked up, or a way to listen and disagree, without turning into a raging asshole. I'm struggling to find that line. I'm hoping I'm making the right choice here.
And honestly, I'm just soft. I am so fucking soft. I talk a big game but I am so soft that a single person poking at my trauma caused me to break down so severely that my partner was legitimately afraid for me. I am learning that this softness doesn't mean I should become a crueler person to cope. But it's hard. There are going to be people who see this post and think I'm being a whiny crybaby looking for attention and pity. And I just have to deal with that.
Anyway. All previous chapters of PB will be up soon. Read them or don't. I will do my best to add more detailed trigger warnings. And I would personally suggest that if you're worried about any of the content in the fic, to run these worries past a friend who's read the fic, because they'll know you better than I ever will. Please don't read Powder Blue if you think it'll harm you. I would rather have fewer readers than triggered ones.
If there's anything I've missed that you think I need to address, know that my inbox is open, that anon is on, and that I'm not in the business of retaliating against people who come to me with an issue, even if they're a dick to me while they're doing it. I'm not going to dismiss someone because they weren't nice to me while they were upset. I'm a bitch but I'm not that kind of bitch.
So. Thank you for waiting for this fic. Thank you for waiting for me. We've got something like 16 chapters to go, and I can't tell you when they'll be up, or if they'll be up soon. But thank you for loving this story. I can't tell you how much that means to me, especially now.
Love,
Scarr
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