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whereisten · 4 years

Text

Porcelain

A Yangyang fic that’s part of our Halloween Series!

Summary: After a falling out with your friends, you wander into a forest and find a mysterious mansion with an even more mysterious inhabitant, Yangyang.

Pairing: rich boy!Yangyang x female reader

Genre: romance, fluff, fantasy, mystery, suspense, drama

Word Count: 7k

Warnings: Violence

(A/N): hey y’all! So the timing for posting this story worked out so well because it’s Yangyang’s birthday (in America!) :D Anyway, this is our second story for our Halloween Series for NCT 2020 and we hope you enjoy! I’m so excited to be writing for one of my biases. I know my writing needs a lot of work but I hope you guys enjoy it. Yangyang is precious. Stan Yangyang, y’all. Shoutout to Krys for inspiring me everyday and for proofreading my story! You are my rock!

_______

It was October 10, the day in which your small town came together for a big bonfire to celebrate the fall season. Your town of Celestial was known for celebrating something every week but the atmosphere was always special at this time of the year. Classes ended for the week and your friends were excited to go to a party in the woods.

Unfortunately for you, you were abandoned off the side of the road after having a falling out with your friends Dowoon and Sana for blowing off the mayor’s son’s party. You’d recently been rebuffed by him in the senior hallway. Your rejection was followed by your classmates mocking you all day long. You wouldn’t be caught dead at Peter’s party. And you were especially in no mood to put up with your friends’ preference for a good party over their recently spurned friend’s feelings.

You said screw them but they would probably end up screwing each other anyway. They were platonic but their drunken hookups always said otherwise. So sometimes you felt like a third wheel. Which was also why you didn’t want to go. You wanted a new experience this spooky season. And you were probably getting one now that you were 2 miles outside of town. Damn your pride. Dowoon and Sana insisted you get back in the car but the driver, the school quarterback, quickly drove them off. What a sense of community, you thought.

It was freezing in Celestial at this time of year so you were layered up, saving your pair of ruby red mittens for last. The overcast sky appeared to promise snowfall. If not for tonight, the snow would surely fall tomorrow

You knew this area well enough to walk back into town but as you took a few steps forward, you noticed smoke in the distance. Like it was coming from a chimney.

That was odd, you thought. Who lived on this side of town?

As you walked in the direction of the smoke, you moved past the dense evergreen trees and before you knew it, you stumbled upon a mansion out of an old-time movie. Dating back to at most the 1800s. The mansion was a Renaissance chateau, big and domineering. Something that could’ve made Celestial a tourist destination like Asheville had with the Biltmore Estate.

How was it possible that anyone could live here, you thought. Surely, this would be the talk of the town if anyone knew. And if it was off-limits, it would’ve certainly kept the town on their toes.

The mansion was quiet and there was no trace of movement or inhabitants. Then again, it was large so you could be incorrect. The chateau’s main entrance was big and made of the most pristine marble. The only thing missing was a moat. There were several fountains in the entrance. The water froze due to the colder weather. You didn’t understand how you could keep moving forward. You didn’t know this place. You didn’t know who could be inside. But you found yourself taking steps up to the massive double doors. Your hand moved to the doorknob and turned it over. The door creaked open and without a second thought, you walked in.

The door slammed shut behind you but you weren’t afraid. In fact, you were mesmerized by the atmosphere of the mansion. From the outside the mansion looked preserved like a fine piece of art in a high-surveillance museum: cold and unwelcoming and way out of your price range. But on the inside, it felt...warm and bright. It felt like home. It smelled of cinnamon and freshly baked bread.

You walked through the entryway and found everything illuminated by candle light. There was no indication of light from the outside. It was almost as if the real goings-on were hidden from the outside world.

There were shoes at the entrance. You took your boots off to not track dirt into the residence. Winter coats were hung up on the coat rack. You hang your coat up as well. There was a half-full cup of tea that was beside the sofa of the sitting room. You admired the interior: the expansive first floor library, the dining room table that sat seven, the pristine kitchen area, the music room...

As you stood in the doorway of the music room, you heard the sounds of a violin playing a somber but sweet melody. Rather than grow alarmed, you longed to find the source, thinking that whatever it was could only bring you joy.

The music room was massive, with a skylight in the shape of a spade on the ceiling. The sunset colors of the sky never looked more stunning than they did at that moment. A grand piano lay at the center. You longed to touch it but something inside you warned you against it. Instruments of all kinds were splayed across the area. But there was no violin in sight.

When you turned around to continue exploring the mansion, that was when you found the source of the music.

A boy about your age stood before you with his violin rested against his collarbone. He continued to play as he smiled knowingly at you. He had straight brown hair that nearly fell into his warm brown eyes. He donned a black tuxedo that was more regal than modern. His eyes crinkled as he watched you, delighted to meet such a beautiful stranger.

You nearly jumped at his presence. “Who…are you?”

Quirking an eyebrow, he replied as he continued playing, “I should be asking you that. You’ve broken into our home.”

“Our?” You asked.

He shook his head. “What brings you here, miss?”

You knew you’d been caught doing something you weren’t supposed to but you couldn’t help it. This place called out to you and you’d hoped you could stay longer. But it looked like your time was up. You lamely said, “I…need to borrow your phone.”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to. What’s this ‘phone’ you speak of?” His refined voice was not like that of the locals. He sounded well-traveled, worldly. But definitely from a long time ago.

The more you spoke to this young man, the more you realized that he didn’t sound like he lived in the same century as you.

You frowned. “You don’t know what a phone is? Come on, you’re kidding, aren’t you?”

He halted from playing and gave you a look. “Tell me. What is a phone?”

“…It’s a device that lets you speak to someone who isn’t with you…” You attempted an explanation that was as eloquent as possible, thinking that if you spoke in a more refined tone, he would get what you were saying. Where on earth could this boy have been from to not know what a phone is? He really sounded like someone from a century past.

“Like a medium?” He asked as he set his violin down in its case. He put his hands in his pockets as he walked slowly back to you. Your breathing stalled as his face was mere inches from yours. He was indeed very handsome. His high cheekbones. His glorious tan skin. A pearly white set of teeth. His legs were dangerously long as he faced you.

Your face warmed up and you hoped he couldn’t tell. You backed away as you locked your eyes on the piano instead. “No…It’s like if I were two miles away from here and you needed to get a hold of me, you could use a phone to contact me on another phone. It’s an electronic device.”

He nodded. “Oh, I’ve heard of those…My family and I could not acquire them, unfortunately.” His expression became sad, longing.

Hearing his defeated voice, you turned to him. “Oh, I’m sorry. Why is that?”

He looked at you, defeated. “I’d rather not say, miss…”

“Y/n,” you answered.

“Y/n,” he replied, liking the sound of your name.

“It’s okay,” you replied, “I should probably go…I’ve overstayed my welcome, sir….Your name?”

“Yangyang,” he answered, anticipating the sound of his name off of your lips.

“Yangyang…Would it be possible to get a ride back into town? I can pay you for your trouble.”

He smiled apologetically. “My sincerest apologies but I’ve no means to take you.”

“Oh…” It was all you could say.

You felt a small pang of worry at the pit of your stomach, especially now that night had fallen. Perhaps, you could make your way back into town if Yangyang offered you a torch. He would have that much, at the very least.

“It’s dangerous to go out on your own at this time of night, y/n…” He said, quietly. It was a little eerie that he read your mind at that moment.

“I know. I’m such a fool…I couldn’t borrow my father’s phone for the night so I have no way of calling anyone…I…just couldn’t help myself when I walked in here…” You said as you looked around the music room. “It was like…”

“Something pulled you in,” he finished.

“Yes, exactly.”

Yangyang began, “I know it’s out of turn for me to say this but I can offer you a room to stay in for the night…Then, you can make your way back into town in the morning.”

You were beyond lucky your parents weren’t home for the weekend. Otherwise, they’d be worried sick. But even so…How could you say yes to a total stranger? Even if you were only a few miles out of town, you didn’t know Yangyang. You didn’t know what his intentions could be.

Another part of you told you to trust him. Because what would you do in the woods at night? You couldn’t account for the wolves or the other creatures of the night. You didn’t know who else could linger in the woods.

As far as you could tell, Yangyang was an odd but attractive guy. And if he was offering a separate space for you to sleep in, then you should take it.

_______

There was a snowstorm in a matter of minutes when Yangyang escorted you upstairs. How odd for it to be snowing in early October, you thought. You rejoiced over how your jerk of a crush's party was a bust. You wondered if Sana and Dowoon made it home safely. You wondered if they worried about you now. After they left you in the middle of the road.

Maybe you should stop being friends with them. You felt like you were more disappointed in them with each passing week. You wondered when they would do something for you. It always seemed to fall on you to pick them up from parties and cover for them when their parents called your house when they went to a 21+ club. You just wanted a simple night in to watch a movie and share ghost stories. Maybe they didn’t want to do those things anymore.

You wouldn’t say they grew up but maybe...the three of you just grew apart.

You pushed thoughts of them to the back of your mind as Yangyang stood in front of an ornate door, decorated with flower engravings, painted in several colors. The initials at the bottom were “W.T.”.

Yangyang pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door for you. He handed the set of golden keys to you. “These are yours for the duration of your stay. You can trust no one will come in...Unless it be your wish, y/n.”

He dropped the keys into your hands. “Thank you,” you whispered.

Yangyang smiled. “You are welcome. Supper will be ready in an hour. I’ll come for you when it is time.”

You couldn’t look at him for too long without your eyes burning. He was too radiant. Too beautiful. Almost otherworldly. You looked down at your socks as you entered the room. You shut it gently behind you.

You locked the door from the inside, trusting that Yangyang gave you the only set. You took a sigh of relief as you took in the bedroom.

This had to be a mistake, you thought.

This had to be the master room. It felt like you were in a 19th century penthouse suite, if such a thing had existed. Your room for the night started with a fireplace and a sitting area. When you walked past it, you entered the study area that was bigger than the first floor of your house. You had a massive walk-in closet filled with gowns and shoes of every color. You even had a room full of fine jewelry on display, including tiaras studded with diamonds. Your mouth remained open as you walked through the “bedroom”.

You shouldn’t have access to any of these things. For they must have belonged to someone. Why would Yangyang let you sleep in here?

Lastly, as your heart couldn’t take anymore, the bedroom was plush and luxurious. The carpet embraced the soles of your feet. After resisting the urge to touch everything else in the bedroom, you allowed yourself to sit on the king-sized bed.

Sleeping in this bed would’ve compensated for all of the all-nighters you’ve pulled in your life. It was a shame you wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, though.

You were many things. Naive, innocent, studious, and quite impulsive at times. But you weren’t about to fall asleep in a stranger’s home.

Half an hour passed as you washed up and warmed up by the fireplace.

Yangyang knocked at your door. You thought it odd that he would be escorting you down himself. Shouldn’t he have servants, living in a place like this?

You opened the door and Yangyang stared at you in shock.

“What?” You frowned. You looked exactly the same as you did when you first met him, he realized.

“Were none of the gowns to your liking?” Yangyang asked, genuinely confused.

You did a double take. “What? Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly...Those aren’t mine. I don’t want to take advantage of your hospitality. No more than I already have.”

Yangyang was stunned at your decision. He thought you would have tried on all of the dresses in the past half hour and don the diamond tiara with golden accents...But no...The suite he’d given you was relatively untouched. You were certainly a woman of your word. You would’ve looked stunning in the red sleeveless dress, he thought. He snapped out of it and said, “No matter. You had the option...That’s why I gave you this room. Everything within these mansion walls is at your disposal.”

You laughed. “You’ve done more than enough for me so don’t worry. Now...can we go eat? I really can’t turn down a meal.” You hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

Yangyang laughed at your candor. “Of course.”

As you walked down the grand wooden staircase, you could hear more people in the house. You heard chairs being pulled, laughter, clinking of glasses, and the piano being played.

You turned to Yangyang. “Who...”

Yangyang replied, “My brothers will be joining us for supper.”

“Oh,” you said, surprised. When you entered, you were shocked enough that Yangyang was there. Who knew more people resided here? Up until now, it was so quiet that you could probably hear a pin drop.

That, and Yangyang’s violin. Which you longed to hear again.

You felt quite underdressed upon meeting Yangyang’s brothers in the dining room, which boasted a lot of paintings and miniature statues to the men who stood before you. There was another grand piano in the dining area, where one of Yangyang’s brothers sat and played a lively piece. Three of the brothers were laughing about an anecdote that the tallest of the group told. The final two men sat as...to your surprise, servants finished setting the dining table, lighting the flames of the candles in the center. The servants’ dresses had turned up collars with plain neckties. Yangyang’s brothers all donned suits of dark reds, blues, and grays. They looked like members of a royal family.

At the sight of you, the music stopped and all of the men started moving towards you and Yangyang.

“Yangyang, an introduction is in order,” the pianist asked as he got up from his seat.

“Brothers, this is y/n. She is staying with us before she returns to town in the morning,” Yangyang said, the humor in his voice when he spoke with you vanished. He moved closer to you, you noticed.

The pianist asked for your hand and kissed it. “Enchanted to meet you, y/n. I am Wei Kun, the oldest of the Wei children.”

You coughed, a little shocked at how forward Kun was. It was a culture shock to you. Most boys thought they were too damn special to ever make eye contact with you.

You shook hands with the other brothers. They were all very happy to see you. But you couldn’t quite place what kind of joy it was so you remained on your toes.

“Please, sit,” Winwin said as he led you to the seat right next to the head of the table. Kun sat down at the head of the table and smiled at you. The rest of the brothers joined you.

The servants began to bring out the drinks and the first course. Ten was about to sit next to you when Yangyang immediately claimed the seat.

“Calm down, brother,” Ten said, “It won’t do you harm to let her sit beside someone other than you.”

Yangyang remained in his seat. “She is my guest.”

Ten chuckled as he sat across from you. “So y/n, what brings you to this neck of the woods?”

A servant poured a glass of water for you. “Thank you,” you replied and tried to meet her eyes.

The servant quickly turned away and headed to the kitchen, you assumed. That was odd.

“Well,” you continued, “My friends and I were going to a party in the woods. We got into a fight and I got out of the car that was on the road not too far from here…”

“A car?” Xiaojun frowned, his bold eyebrows furrowed. He took a bite of his salad.

So these men didn’t know phones or cars... “Oh...Well, they’re these machines that can transport people from place to place…”

“Like a carriage?” Yangyang offered.

“Ah.” The rest of the boys said in realization.

You nodded as you drank your water, “Yes, but it runs on gasoline.”

The boys were amazed at your tales about modern technology. You went into as much detail as you could about phones and cars. The boys were an odd bunch. It was almost as if they never left this house.

Although it seemed like that, they told you tales of their travels to Asia, South America, and Europe. They told you about their cultural expeditions and their visits to the natural wonders of the world. Ten, the painter of the family, motioned to the paintings you’d seen earlier. They were paintings of places like Machu Picchu, the Colosseum, and the Parthenon. They were paintings of the places they visited. They were so vivid and lifelike. Ten was an incredible painter. Talent ran in the family, that was a sure thing. You were as much in awe of their tales. You were thankful the spotlight wasn’t on you like you’d expected, being the sole stranger of this household.

You enjoyed the salad, the tomato soup, the roasted duck, and the dessert, which happened to be your favorite: strawberry shortcake.

“Would you care for another slice?” Yangyang asked in a whisper as the other boys talked. He noticed your face come alive at the first bite of the cake.

You nearly choked on the last bite of your slice. You must have looked gluttonous to him. You should’ve eaten slower, you thought. You must have not been very ladylike at that moment. You shook your head. “That’s alright. Thank you. Everything was delicious.”

Yangyang looked at you once again in confusion. You clearly wanted another slice so why weren’t you asking for it, he asked himself. “Very well…” He murmured.

Lucas got up from the table. “Well, Yangyang, the boys and I will retire early...Although we wish you would let us be in y/n’s company…”

Yangyang quickly replied, “Good evening, brothers.”

They all pouted but wished you a good evening.

You laughed. “Your brothers are a lot of fun.”

Yangyang scoffed. “That’s one word for them. The minute they caught wind that I had a visitor, they insisted on joining us for dinner. I am so sorry, y/n. You must have been overwhelmed.”

You shook your head. “It’s nice to know that it isn’t just you in this house.”

Yangyang was stunned at your words. You were so...kind. Thinking of others, always. Thinking of him, basically a total stranger. You were as kind as you were trusting. It made his heart ache.

He pulled your seat back for you. He offered his arm. “Are you tired?”

Exhausted, actually. But once again, you were in a stranger’s house. And now that you knew he wasn’t alone, you wanted to be more on guard.

“Nope...I am wide awake.” You smiled as you took his arm. He was warm to the touch. The electricity ran between both of you.

Yangyang laughed. “What would you like to do, y/n?”

“I’d like to hear you play,” you said.

He was shocked at your honesty. He liked when you expressed yourself honestly most of all.

It was the truth, you thought. Frankly, it was part of your ruse to stay up as late as possible but if Yangyang could keep you entertained, it would certainly help a lot.

And truly, you could listen to his violin for hours.

_______

Back in the music room, you sat on the couch, serving as Yangyang’s audience. He loosened his tie and took off his jacket, setting it aside on a chair. He rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt.

He warmed up his hands and fingers for a few minutes before he tuned the strings of his violin. His fingers were so elegant and slender. The veins of his arms protruded as he flexed his hands. He looked so focused and determined and just unbelievably beautiful. The violin was an extension of his heavenly hands. This was the most attractive he’d ever been. You bit your lip.

You told yourself to calm down, for he was a complete stranger.

Sure, up until this point, he gave you the bedroom of your dreams. A dinner that nearly brought you to tears from the flavor and comfort it gave you. And he was playing his beloved instrument for you...But you couldn’t get attached so quickly.

He couldn’t meet your gaze because the look in your eyes made him feel something he wasn’t prepared to acknowledge. Time had slipped quickly and his heart was deceiving him when it shouldn’t have.

“So...what will you be playing first?” You asked. How many songs could you get out of him before you both retired to your rooms?

Yangyang grinned excitedly. “An original I’ve been working on...I finished composing it today.”

“Really? Today?” You asked.

He gave you the knowing smile he had the moment you met him. “You helped me finish it.”

“Is that so? Well, I’m ready when you are.” You smiled, about to kick your legs up like an overly excited schoolgirl.

“The piece is called ‘Found’,” Yangyang said as he positioned his bow against the strings and began.

Yangyang was truly an otherworldly being, especially under the skylight. The snowstorm was long gone and only the moonlight shone down on him. His skin illuminated like porcelain. His sculpted face tilted as he immersed himself in his song.

You realized the song was the piece he played when you entered the music room the first time. The song was somber at first. The notes were low and left you feeling down. Yangyang’s face was so melancholic at the start of the song. However, as he continued, the notes became lighter and freer, picking up towards the end, signifying hope. Your heart swayed with each three-note chord he played.

You weren’t entirely sure of the story behind the song but meeting you must not have been a low point of his day.

You clapped for Yangyang. “I loved it! It’s...too beautiful to be called merely beautiful...You are so talented.”

Yangyang’s cheeks were now a rosy pink. He bowed for you. “Thank you.”

You laughed giddily. You wished you could’ve recorded this performance, you longed to keep it with you for the rest of your life.

Yangyang continued playing his original pieces. He was truly gifted in his craft. His compositions were nothing to sneeze at. He should be a world-famous musician with all of the work he’d done.

As he played, he would meet your eyes and give you a little smile. You could watch him for hours. He could play for you for hours.

You two were in this perfect little bubble, then. Reality didn’t take effect. It was divine.

Yangyang’s hands grew tired and after his last song, he sat beside you.

“You look sleepy, y/n,” he noted, “Did my performance actually bore you?” He mocked taking offense.

You fought a yawn but couldn’t let it escape you so turned away from him. You lifted a finger and told him to wait.

You let out a yawn, trying not to be noisy. Yes, you were tired. A long day at school, a falling out with your friends, and an evening at the Wei Mansion did its number on you.

You faced Yangyang again. “I’m wide awake.”

Yangyang lifted an eyebrow in skepticism. “Perhaps you would like something to drink?”

You nodded. “Something warm...Would hot cocoa be possible?”

“Absolutely. It’s a staple at this household this time of year,” he said.

He offered his hand to you and you took it. Both of you were taken aback by how immediate you were to hold hands but neither of you let go as Yangyang led you into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, he tended to you. The servants were nowhere in sight. The mansion felt like it had when you first came in: empty.

It felt like you two were the only people in this house, a world in itself.

He poured you a cup of cocoa he made and you were in love. The cocoa tasted amazing. You drank it slowly, savoring every sip.

You shivered a little from the cold that creeped into the mansion. Yangyang left for a moment and returned with a blanket. He wrapped it around you.

It was plush and made of the softest material you could ever imagine. If you snuggled too much against it, you would fall asleep right then and there.

But your energy started picking up again...It must have been the cocoa.

“We can go into the library...I’ll start up the fire.” Yangyang offered as he drank his cup of cocoa.

It seemed Yangyang was eager to stay awake with you, you thought.

“Aren’t you tired?” You asked.

He looked up from his cup. “What?”

“You don’t have to force yourself to stay up with me. I’m the one who can’t sleep.”

Yangyang knew you were keeping yourself awake on purpose. He knew you didn’t completely trust him or this house. Slowly, however, you opened yourself up to him and he was quite fond of you. He wanted to be by your side for the night. He didn’t know why exactly but he just did.

He met your gaze. “I hope it is not too forward of me to say this...But I want to remain at your side.”

You looked down, flattered at his words. Then, you mustered your courage and met his unwavering stare. “Okay.”

The truth was, you felt safer with Yangyang. And you couldn’t lie to yourself: you liked him. He was kind, attentive, charming, and a wonderful musician. The moment you met him made you forget all of your troubles...if only for a moment.

You two walked into the dome-shaped library. It was bigger than any commercial bookstore. You wondered how old the family’s collection was.

Yangyang started the fire at the fireplace by the reading couches. He motioned for you to take a seat.

You sat down and nearly sank into the couch. It was so comfortable. You were living in the lap of luxury.

“Y/n, are you alright?” Yangyang asked.

You laughed. “Yeah...why?”

“Your eyes rolled to the back of your head,” he said, smiling confusedly.

You laughed again. “It’s because this couch is the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat on.”

Yangyang smiled and shook his head. “The simplest things please you.”

“Nothing about this house is simple,” you said.

He shook his head, smiling at you and picked up a book off of the shelf. He scanned the title and the summary. “What do you like to read, y/n?”

You answered, “Horror.”

Yangyang’s eyes widened. “Really?”

You nodded. “Yes. I like the suspense and the kinds of creatures the writers come up with.”

Yangyang was wrong to assume you were a romance kind of girl. He’d hoped to woo you with some Shakespeare. He took it in stride and put the book he had back on the shelf. He took a rolling step ladder and positioned it farther away from you. He got up on the steps and picked up another book off the shelf.

“It’s called ‘The Mysterious Mansion’,” he said, biting back a laugh.

“How fitting,” you said, laughing.

You and Yangyang shared a couch as you took turns reading to each other. The story was dark and twisted but got your heart racing.

Well, maybe Yangyang’s being so close to you may have had something to do with it.

The hours pass and you finish off the last page. Yangyang leaned against the other end of the couch and simply watched you. He loved the sound of your voice and the way it cracked.

He gave you a glass of water to relax your voice. He loved how your eyes scanned word for word. The crease between your eyes as you interpreted the author’s words. But you kept on reading aloud. He’d read “The Mysterious Mansion’ several times but this time was his favorite reread.

You could hear Yangyang talk forever when you heard him read the passages. His voice was soothing and full of wonder. The grin on his face right before he read a twist to the story. The crinkle of his nose when he laughed at your reactions. He’d become a friend.

A friend you wanted to kiss.

This was the most fun you’d ever had. This cold October night with this enchanting young man. You kinda wished it would never end but you were still resolved to...Stay...awake…

Your eyes grew heavy and you curled yourself against the couch. You pulled the blanket tighter around you.

Yangyang realized you were drifting. He quickly moved over to you and shook you awake.

You two had stayed up all night and it was nearing daybreak. And he had to move fast.

“Y/n!” He yelled to wake you up.

You grumbled. “What?”

“Please wake up. You need to leave right now,” Yangyang demanded.

You rubbed your eyes and snapped out of it. How the hell did you almost fall asleep, you fool, you thought to yourself. The alarm in Yangyang’s voice also was a cause for concern. “What’s wrong?” You asked.

He shook his head rampantly. “There’s no time to explain. Do you have everything?”

You nodded. “I have to get my coat and boots at the entrance.”

Yangyang grabbed your hand and you both ran towards the entrance. You put your coat and boots on. Yangyang did the same and he nearly dragged you out the door. You quickly moved down the staircase and set foot on the dewy grass. Yangyang kept his foot on the last step of the staircase.

The sky overhead was mostly black but shades of oranges, pinks, and red were breathing through. Dawn was imminent.

That was when you realized you had no mittens. You’d left them in the bedroom.

Yangyang noticed your bare hands. He pulled off his royal blue mittens and slipped them onto your hands.

“You don’t have to-“ You started.

“I want you to have them. A fair trade. Yours for mine?” He smiled.

He squeezed your hands before he let them go.

“Thank you...for tonight, Yangyang,” you said. Even though it was through the weather and the night that you had no other choice, you had a magical night with a boy who was so wonderful, he must’ve been out of a classic novel. He’d treated you like a friend and listened to you: about what you wanted to do and what you liked. You’d wished you could’ve gotten to know him more but you appreciated that he listened to you attentively.

You were sad the night had ended but you’d succeeded in staying up nearly the whole night at least. You were meant to leave now. You’d overstayed your welcome and you needed to get home. That was the most important thing.

Yangyang moved closer to you and moved some hair away from your face. He touched your cheek with the back of his hand. Once again, you both did something with no thought.

You got up on the staircase and kissed him. He pulled you in to deepen the kiss. He picked you up off the ground as he continuously took your breath away.

But as quickly as this piece of utter bliss started, it quickly ended.

He let you go and set you down on the grass. “Goodbye, y/n.”

“Goodbye, Yangyang.” As you walked into the forest, you turned back once more and watched as Yangyang stood there, his face unreadable.

You waved at him and his expression softened as he waved back.

You laughed as you turned back now and kept on moving. The path to the main road took a little longer than expected because it was still dark. However, the sun rose before you knew it and you were able to see the main road again.

And you were shocked to find several people on the main road. Cop cars were parked off the side of the road. A news reporter for Channel 23 News could be heard saying.

“It is Day 8 into the search for y/n y/l/n. She was last seen on this road, Road 116 by her friends and has not returned home. If you have seen y/n or have any information that can help our police force find her, please call the number on the screen: 1-800-RES-CUES. Again, that’s 1-800-RES-CUES.”

Dowoon and Sana were being interviewed by another news station.

Dowoon was on the brink of tears, his eyes stained red. “This is all our fault.”

Choking on her tear, Sana continued, “We shouldn’t have left her on the road...We thought she went home...We were so stupid…”

What the hell was going on?

You walked into the road and several people turn to you in shock. They gasped and screamed your name.

Your parents broke out of the crowd of people that has accumulated. “Y/n!” They both yell.

They run up to you and wrap their arms around you, weeping hysterically.

Your mom yelled, “Y/n, where have you been? My baby!”

Your dad held your face in his hands, “What happened to you? Are you alright?”

You were shocked at their reaction. “What are you guys doing here? I thought you guys were in New York until tomorrow.”

Your parents, not letting you go, gave each other a meaningful look.

Your mom’s eyebrows furrowed. “Tomorrow? Y/n, we came back a week ago.”

You laughed in disbelief. “No, you guys left Friday morning, yesterday morning.”

Your dad shook his head. “Y/n, you’ve been missing for a week now.”

You laughed again. “No...You guys are messing with me.”

But then you looked around at all of the worried looks on the people’s faces. The police officers came right over. You even saw Dowoon and Sana sobbing not too far from Sana’s car.

“You guys...I stayed in a mansion not too far from here for the night because of the snow…”

“What mansion? What snow?” Your parents asked in unison.

You darted your eyes to everyone else and whispered to them. “Come with me.”

“Y/n, we need to get you home…” Your mom pleaded.

You shook your head. “I need to show you where I was and that I wasn’t in danger.”

“Y/n, we should tell the police-” Your father offered.

“No!” You snapped. “Please trust me. He didn’t do anything to me. He’s my friend.”

At the mention of “he”, your parents were up in arms and motioned for the police to come over.

“We will go with you, y/n…” Your mom said.

She meant that they’ll go with you if you have a police escort.

You shook your head and led the party to the mansion. You couldn’t believe this. Missing for seven days? That was impossible. You’d only been gone for the night. How could anyone have known you’d been gone? Your parents were away.

Once you got out of the forest to the Wei mansion, you saw that there was no mansion. Only an abandoned cabin.

What?

“Is this where you were detained, y/n?” Police Officer A asked.

“I was not detained. This isn’t the mansion I-”

“A mansion?” Everyone looked at you skeptically.

You entered the cabin, knowing that everything you believed in was slipping through your fingers. Tears quickly ran down your cheeks. The cabin was shabby, the furniture inside covered in dust. It had been unlived in for quite some time.

“Y/n!” Your parents yelled.

The police rushed in after you and Police Officer B held you back. “Let me go!” You demanded.

“It’s dangerous.”

The police officers searched the entire cabin three times over and came up with nothing. “There is no trace of anyone having been here for years,” Police Officer A said.

Well, of course not, this wasn’t the mansion that you stayed at.

Clearly, the more time passed, the more concerned everyone looked. It was possible you heard the words “rehab” and “therapy” and “mental break” thrown around.

You had to calm down. You knew you weren’t crazy. You knew it because you wore Yangyang’s gloves.

Yangyang.

Where is he? Where were his brothers? Where was the Wei mansion?

Police Officer B released you and you browsed the area. Your parents trailed behind you. You entered one of the bedrooms, encased in dust. You sneezed and found a chest with a lock on it. The chest was engraved with the letter “W” at the center.

You recognized the engraving. It was the same handwriting from the bedroom door in the Wei Mansion. Your bedroom door...The keys.

You remembered you still had them in your pocket. It was a long shot but you pulled them out. You placed the key inside of the lock and opened the chest.

You found seven porcelain dolls. The dolls were more sophisticated than any doll sold at the local stores. They were almost lifelike. The way their eyes and lips were drawn. Each doll bared a striking resemblance to the Wei brothers. You could see them all: Kun, Ten, Winwin, Lucas, Xiaojun, Hendery, and…

Yangyang.

The last doll was definitely Yangyang. The doll held a toy violin and wore…

Your ruby red mittens.

Fin.

_______

Epilogue.

Yangyang sat in the music room alone, holding on tightly to your red mittens.

Hendery charged into the room. His brothers trailed behind. “You fool! Why did you let her go?”

Yangyang shrugged. “I’ve had it.”

“What are you talking about?” Xiaojun demanded. “You were smitten with her. She was clearly enamored with you.”

Kun laughed. “It’s because he’s in love with her.”

All of the boys looked at their oldest brother, confused. Yangyang avoided their stares.

“You changed your mind,” Kun murmured.

Yangyang sighed, “She was not like-”

Winwin rolled his eyes. “Please do not give us the story of ‘she was not like other girls’. She seduced you and you let her go. You fell for her game. She outsmarted you.”

Yangyang snapped. “Do not test me, brother.”

Ten interjected. “Okay, okay, everyone needs to calm down...We are just curious...Why? She could have stayed here with us forever...With you forever.”

Yangyang didn’t want to speak to them. Every moment that passed, he missed you more. “She did not wear the jewels or the dresses...She left everything untouched. She did not come to us because she sought material possessions. She wanted a friend…”

Lucas laughed. “How pathetic.”

Yangyang groaned. “You lot would not understand…”

“Do not act like you are better than us, little brother,” Kun began condescendingly.

“I am not-”

“You think you’re better than us because you let a prisoner go this time, do you not? Well, let me bring you back to reality. Our spirits are confined into those tacky porcelain dolls...So what do we do to ease ourselves? We bring people into this realm to reside with us. Materialistic, selfish, and vain people. Y/n is no different from the rest of them.”

“Shut up,” Yangyang muttered.

The rest of the boys were stunned to silence but Kun heard him clearly. “Repeat that, Yangyang. You know the consequences.”

Yangyang got up and shoved your mittens in his pockets. “Shut up, Kun.”

Kun smiled and laughed. The other boys faked laughter so as not to upset Kun even more. His smile quickly faded as he punched Yangyang to the ground.

Kun gave Yangyang a harsh beating and the rest of the brothers watched. No one dared to step in and upset Kun even further. Yangyang couldn’t blame his brothers. Besides, he wanted this. He wanted to feel a pain other than the pain of missing you.

He may have been damned for the rest of eternity but he was thankful to have met you. You proved to him that not everyone could be consumed by the deadly sins, as he and his brothers had. You were an angel that gave you a moment of compassion, of affection. And for that he would always be thankful.

_______

Come back tomorrow the third installment in our Halloween Series! :)

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n0wornever · 3 years

Text

Christmas Tree Farm - Julie Molina x Reader

Festive tings with my favorite girl. (was totally inspired by @calamitykaty‘s most recent Christmas piece for this one!

“Julie, you’re going to want to bundle up more than that!” Y/N said as she wrapped her plush white scarf around her neck again.

She looked over at her girlfriend, standing in the doorway with her lightweight jacket laying open over her dark green turtleneck. Julie fidgeted with the coat sleeves as she scrunched her face in confusion. Y/N simply rolled her eyes at the girl, leaning back and opening the wicker picnic basket beneath their shoe rack.

Julie watched carefully as the girl dug through the colorful fabrics. Finally, she pulled out a set of white gloves and a matching hat, holding them up in the air. Her girlfriend hesitated before stepping forward and grabbing them from her hands. As Y/N rose to meet her gaze, she frowned. Julie was still holding the garments in her hand.

“Baby, you’re in the midwest in the middle of December,” She said, scooping up a green scarf from the coat hanger to her right.

She stepped toward the girl, circling the soft material around Julie’s neck a few times before letting her hands rest on her shoulders. Her girlfriend’s cheeks began to blossom, and Y/N couldn’t help but smirk at the quick reaction she received. She let her hands slide down to the scarf again, pulling the curly-haired girl closer to her. She leaned in and pressed her lips to Julie’s with a smile. As they pulled back, she was sure the temperature had risen for her too.

As she stepped back, Julie held up the gloves to her girlfriend’s face, waving them back and forth.

“Babe, do you really think I’ll need all of this?” She whined, lip pouting on command.

Y/N shook her head as she laughed at her persistence. When she checked the weather this morning, she noted the high of 32 and the possibility of snow on the horizon in the evening. It was due almost to the exact minute that they were supposed to arrive at the Christmas Palace. She simply nodded, mimicking her full lips back to her as she placed her own onto her hands.

“Yes, you are going to thank me for it in like an hour,” Y/N checked her watch to make sure they were still on schedule to meet her grandfather.

Her pop’s Christmas tree farm was right outside of the city limits. The place had been in her family’s life for decades and although she’d been there hundreds of times, their visits never bored Y/N. That was because there was a secret after event that he put on just for those closest to him.

If you squinted in between the trees and around the log cabin in the daylight, you’d see rows and rows of string lights. There were also several animated characters in wrapped around wires that sat in different areas of the snow going almost entirely unnoticed. However, every night after he had closed to the general public for the evening, these items would come alive in a light show that he held for friends and family who came to visit.

Y/N remembered the first time he’d let her help flip the switch. She had to have been no older than 6, and had to be hoisted up into his arms to reach the cover plate, pushing it forward. He always told her that he’d never forget what happened next. She had gazed upon the yards and yards of perfectly powdered trees and her eyes widened in excitement. Grandpa always said he kept that smile in the locket he wore around his neck.

Y/N played with the gold chain resting at the nape of her neck for a moment as Julie finished getting ready. Her eyes were fixed on the stairs, tearing at her lower lip as she drifted back to the flashes of green and red lining Forester Road. She sweet smell of pine leaves lining her jacket for afternoons after her visit. The warm cocoa she practically spilled all over herself in the car as her mom drove down that rugged gravel road.

She was only pulled back by a grip on her waist. She turned to the right and found her smiling girl staring straight at her with a toothy grin.

“Are you ready baby?” Julie asked, gripping at the girl’s red peacoat.

Y/N nodded, bringing her lips back down to meet hers. As they pulled away, Julie’s thumb rose to brush against her lips, her wide grin still splashed across her cheeks.

“I left a little red on your lips,” She muttered as she brushed against the skin.

After she’d erased the stain of her lips, Julie pulled back with her hand outstretched. Y/N clasped onto it as she followed her out the door. As they reached her mother’s car, Y/N released her hand from Julie’s, sending it up to Julie’s hat as she pulled it below the girl’s ears. She could hear her girlfriend’s giggles as she tugged it left to right until it pleased her.

Finally satisfied, Y/N ran over to the drivers side. Her hand met a pile of snow pooling at the handle. She dusted the majority off with her hand before she pulled it toward her and crawled inside. She put the key in the ignition, alerting the Christmas station she’d preselected the night before. As she turned to back up, her eyes fell on Julie. The small girl held her hands up against the heater, eyes narrowed at her pink fingertips.

“I told you,” Y/N said with a giggle.

Julie met her eyes with a frown before turning back to her hands. Y/N placed her hand behind the girl’s seat and pulled out of the driveway. As sleigh bells rang softly in the background, Y/N hummed along to the carol. She could feel Julie’s eyes on her, and she knew she should be talking. However Y/N was doing her best to ignore her sweating palms underneath her steering wheel.

She had no idea why she was so nervous for Julie to meet pops. He literally loved everyone he ever met. he was the first person to ask her when he’d meet a significant other after she came out, asking her to bring her out to the farm as soon as she could. However, now that her beautiful girlfriend sat next to her, ready to fulfill that promise, she wasn’t so sure. Her grip on the steering wheel sent a throbbing sensation to her palms, it brought her attention to something.

“So,” Julie said, finally breaking the silence.

Her hand moved to the radio volume dial, turning Oh Holy Night down to an inaudible level. Y/N straightened her neck, letting it fall side to side as she waited for her to continue.

“What should I expect? You’ve barely told me anything about this place.”

Julie was right, she hadn’t said anything about her Pop’s farm because that was the best way for her to experience it. She wanted her to have that authentic first reaction that she and many others have over the years. More importantly, Y/N wanted to capture the way her eyes lit up as she asked her grandpa to let the girl flip the switch.

“Jules, honey, I told you that I can’t spoil it.”

She her her groan, rotating the dial back up and letting the choral voices take over the conversation. She tried not to laugh as her eyes darted toward the girl’s for a second, taking in her snarl as she looked at the snowy trees surrounding them.

Y/N’s eyes fell on the small green sign at the end of the road. It had a small, very worn, picture of Santa on it with the words “Kindling Tree Farm” etched across it in red cursive writing. Y/n flipped on her turn signal at the light, turning onto the gravel road. A smirk rose onto her face again as she watched Julie clutch onto the car handle as she car shifted back and forth.

They finally came to a smoother pasture as they entered the park. She looked out the window and saw her a familiar smile on the front porch of the cabin. Her grandfather waved at her and she returned the greeting, then pulling into a parking space. As she shifted into park and unbuckled her seatbelt, she turned to her girlfriend one more time.

“He’s a little stoic, but I promise he means well.” Y/N warned her.

Julie bit down on her bottom lip. Y/N noted the quickness of her chest as it rose and fell and reached out for her hand. Julie met her eyes again, a soft smile laid on her right cheek.

“He’s going to love you, I. swear.”

Julie nodded at the girl, squeezing onto her hand before letting go. The two girls hopped out of the car, and Julie walked through the light snow over to Y/N’s side. The girl’s hand tingled as she let herself grip her girlfriend’s hand, pulling her toward the wooden porch. Y/N locked eyes with her grandfather, the older man’s hand on his locket, fidgeting with it as he watched them walk toward him.

As they reached the landing, Y/N took a deep breath. She plastered a smile across her face as she let go of Julie’s hand and reached to wrap her arms around the tall man in front of her. His beard hit her in the face, causing her to giggle into the embrace. As they pulled back, Julie intertwined their hands again quickly.

“Pops, this is Julie,” Y/N said, shaking their entangled hands a bit to catch Julie’s attention.

The man was quiet for a moment, studying Julie with narrow eyes. After a breath of quiet, Julie reached forward first with her hand outstretched. Y/N couldn’t help but melt as she listened to the shakiness in her girlfriend’s voice.

“So nice to finally meet you sir,” She said with as much confidence as she could muster.

Y/N’s eyes fell to her grandfather, who inched toward the girl slowly. His stern expression melted into a soft smile as her shook her hand. Y/N finally let out the breath that waited for her as the exchange ended. Her grandfather pointed back toward the door, meeting his granddaughter’s eyes.

“Are you all thirsty? I just made some cocoa.”

The girl nodded, not even checking with her partner to her right. The two followed him into cabin. Warmth hit them from the moment they entered the candlelit home, the smell of milk chocolate hanging in the air of the kitchen. Y/N led Julie to the table in front of them, letting go of her to pull out her chair. Once the two were sitting, Y/N finally met her girlfriend’s eyes.

“Are you okay?” She asked as she took off her gloves, placing them next to her on the corner of the table.

“Yeah,” Julie said with a small smile.

Y/N reached over to clasp both of her hands around Julie’s. The two looked at each other for a moment, only interrupted by the whistle of the kettle on the stove. Their eyes migrated toward the sound, finding her grandfather the the burner, pouring the steaming liquid into horribly themed mugs. Y/N’s smile grew as she watched him put one, two, three marshmallows on top of the drink...like he always did.

The man turned to her with two finished products in his hands. Y/N reached forward and grabbed them both from him, nodding before she turned back to the table. She looked back and forth from the Grinch shaped glass to the Santa shaped glass, debating between the two. She heard Julie chuckle and met her eyes for a moment.

“For that, you get the Grinch cup,” She said, sticking out her tongue at the girl.

Julie rolled her eyes, gripping the mug with both hands. Y/N watched as the girl closed her eyes, taking a whiff of the silky chocolate smell before letting them flutter open. Y/N did the same before letting her lips touch the warm surface, tipping the drink back to her throat. It tasted slightly like peppermint and her eyes fell back behind her.

“Did you sneak the candy canes in here again?” She asked the man as he finished creating his own drink.

He looked over his shoulder at her, pressing one finger to his lips to quiet her questioning. She shook her head before leaning back over the table. She rolled her eyes at Julie.

“He totally did.”

The man finally joined them at the table and the three sipped on their cups quietly. Y/N’s gaze wandered back to Julie’s to find her eyes fixated on her grandfather’s neck. He noticed the curly-haired girl staring as well and cupped the locket in his hand.

“Did Y/N tell you about this?”

Julie shook her head as she brought her cup back to her lips. Y/N watched as her grandfather’s smile widened as he slipped it off his neck. He let the gold-plated item sit on the table, unclasping the lock. As it opened, he pushed it toward Julie.

Y/N watched as her girlfriend reached out, only touching the outside with her fingertips lightly as she brought it closer to her. She leaned over to look at the contents too. In front of both of them sat a photo of a beaming young girl pointing in front of her and an older man smiling as he held her in his arms. Julie looked back up to him as she pointed at it.

“Is this Y/N?”

He nodded, taking a quick sip before responding.

“Yes, it is,” He said, tipping his glass toward Julie. “That was the biggest smile I’ve ever seen from this one. I knew the moment I saw her eyes meet the lights, that I had to have that picture of her in another place outside of my mind. Luckily, her mom thought so too and snapped the photo just in time.”

Julie smiled softly as she brushed the yellowing photo with her fingertip. That smile was replaced by furrowed brows as she looked up and tilted her head as she held the man’s gaze. Y/N watched the interaction in anticipation, eyes darting from one of them to the other.

“Lights?”

Her grandfather’s gaze fell to hers with raised eyebrows. Y/N tried to hid her rosy cheeks as she shrugged at him.

“I wanted it to be a surprise.”

His shoulders shook in a short giggle before he turned to the window. The sun had finally fully set, and the night sky had taken over the park. He turned back to Y/N with a grin, nodding toward the door with his head.

“Want to show her now? I think it’s dark enough.”

Y/N looked over to her girlfriend who sat waiting with parted lips and an eyebrow cocked up at her. She turned back to the man at the head of the table and nodded, setting down her glass.

“Come on baby,” She whispered, taking the girl’s hand as they both stood to their feet.

Julie trailed behind Y/N as her grandfather led them back to the porch. Y/N swung Julie around to the other side of her, placing the girl between her and her grandfather. Her girlfriend gave her a questioning look, but she averted the pressing gaze as she moved right over to her grandfather’s. Y/N nodded toward Julie and he shot her a wink. He cleared his throat before addressing her.

“Julie, there’s a switch behind you. Could you flip it on for me?”

The girl nodded slowly, turning around. Her hand fell against the switch, lifting it up with her ring finger.

Y/N felt a smile already spreading across her face as Julie glanced at the lights from the corner of her eye. As the girl fully turned around, her eyes widened at the scene in front of her. Strings and strings of festive lights hung throughout the rows of trees. A small toy train made its way around the front of the porch, Julie’s eyes following its movements as it sang to the snow around it. Y/N watched as her eyes wandered to the sea of waving elves and smiling Santa figurines that were spread around the freshly fallen snow.

Y/N squeezed lightly onto her hand as she watched Julie’ eyes crinkle with her widening smile. She used her free hand to grab her phone out of her pocket, flipping on the camera. She held the screen up to Julie’s side profile, angling it a bit to get a few of the lights in frame too. She snapped a few photos before the girl caught on and smiled directly at her.

As she slid her device back into her jeans, she looked over at her grandfather. He made his way over to her other side, walking across the porch. Both of their eyes fell to the girl holding Y/N’s hand, who watched the scene in front of her with glossy eyes and rosy cheeks. As Y/N felt a smile pull at her cheeks once again, he leaned in to whisper in her ear.

“Do you have a locket ready?”

Tag list: @marinettepotterandplagg @lukeys-giggle @xplrreylo @kiss-themoongoodbye @bathtimejish @bookfrog247 @dasexydevitt13 @musicconversedance @txrii @bestdressedandstressed @daisiesforlacey @epikskool @themaddies-obx @jukeobsessedgirl @writerinlearning @dani27297 @whatever-happens-imma-stand-tall @sovereignparker @kinda-really-lost

#julie and the phantoms #julie molina imagine #julie x reader #julie jatp #luke patterson x reader #jatp #julie and the phantoms fanfiction #julie molina #juke

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daisydaisybilly · 4 years

Text

Hard to love - part 2

title- hard to love - 1,

paring- Sam x reader (female)

word count- 2.7k

warnings- swearing, mention of death, mention of blood, fluff and longing

a/n- i have mixed feelings about this part but i like the ending a lot. probably has some mistakes so watch out but anyway please enjoy and tell me what you think. i change to writing in second person in part 3, and will edit this to that when i’m free

MAIN MASTERLIST | REQUEST OPEN | series masterlist

We spent the day in the motel room, I still wore his shirt from the night before, happy he hadn't said anything about it.

Wearing it made me feel safe in it, it hung down to my under tight, it went well with some plain jeans. During the afternoon we both read our books, sharing our thoughts out loud now and then.

It felt nice after a hunt just to relax and not be on the move right away. It was around 8 when we began to get ready.

"I hope you're ready for girl talk?" I say from the bathroom, I choice to go with a long dress with a deep v neck. You could just about see the anti possession sigil I had belong my breast.

Sam was sat on his waiting for me. He took all for me in with one look, he was dressed in jeans and his usual flannel shirt.

"is it too much?" I say looking down at my dress and then back to Sam who smiled.

He shook his head and walked up to me, "You look great, I'm just worried someone will steal you tonight".

I playfully hit his shoulder and tried to hide the blush that spread across my face. "I'm all yours tonight, I promise".

//////////

We decide to use my car this time, Sam gave it a look of approval, "nice car" he said, I had always loved this car. It held so many memories.

"Thanks, I got it from my Danny. He loved this car" I patted the car gently and climbed in.

Sam blinked in confused, "Who's Danny?".

"No one you know" I tried to push it off but Sam wouldn't let it go.

"You can tell me, like you said we've all lost people" his voice was sweet. Too sweet.

" You need to share you own demons before I share mine." I pulled out of the motel and went to a different bar from last night.

The car was filled with a thick layer of awkwardness. I knew I was the reason, I wish I hadn't been so hard and shut off with him.

"I'm sorry" I said still watching the road, "I'll talk about almost anything, like anything. But I can't talk about him" my grip on the wheel was tight enough to make my figures numb.

"I'm sorry I pushed you, I just want to know you" he said with too much guilt in his voice.

"trust me you don’t" I said, seeking a look at him, his head was bent down, his eyes fixed on his hands in his lap. "Sam, this is just me, I act like I don’t care but it's just a wall and I can't let it down" I tried to explain to lessen his guilt along with mine.

We sat in a uncomfortable silent until we reached the bar. A knot had formed in my throat. "Sam. I don't speak about what I went through because I can't trust myself" he looked at me with his eyes shining. "I ruin things, sometimes I mean to and somethings it just falls apart. "

With one last deep breathe I left the car and let the summer night air hit my skin. "I can do this" I whispered to myself. I just needed to get through tonight and I could go back to being alone, go back to not having to look at him and his eyes, that made me want to tell him everything.

"Did you say something?" Sam was stood next to me now, his hand was on my back.

I looked from his hand to his face, "Just I'm so ready to get drunk" I put on a fake smile and walked ahead. Sighing in relief when he couldn't see my face.

The place was pretty empty for a bar near the town, a few people were dancing together and more few sat at tables and the bar drinking away.

We settled in a booth near the back. I left Sam to get the beers, I could feel eyes on me my hands covered my chest as I walked forwards. I saw Danny face everywhere, just mentioning him had brought back so much.

The walk back to the table pass without me knowing. "When did I get here?" I asked sitting down. "I was just at the bar" I pointed to the bar.

"how many shots did you take? Maybe you should slow down" Sam laughed sipping on his beer. I tried to laugh along but it out flat. "I was thinking about what you said about our demons"

"Sam"

"let me finish. You don't have to tell me anything but tell me something and I'll tell you something" Sam reached across to touch my hand.

"Sam, I do trust you more than I feel I should but I don't know if I can relive it all" I moved to hand his hand with it being so close. I worried he'd pull away but he held on tighter.

"I would leave you. You can tell me anything and I'll stay right here or if you want me to go then I'll do that too" he moved around he table so we were sat up close.

"I'll just start with the bad stuff, that way I can get it over with." I said with a weak smile.

2006 Flashback I was living in a forgettable town in the Midwest. Both my parents were long dead, working in a dine along with night classes for a PHD in mythology. And that's when I met Danny, he went to the same high school as me but we didn't really click until we were 22. He would always come into the diner and always get the same thing.

Then one afternoon we were talking about this or that and he suddenly said, "The only reason I come here is to see you smile". I remember blushing like a 5 year old but god did I love the way he made me feel. We move so fast in our relationship, but it felt right. After a year of dating we had moved in together and were already planning a wedding. We lived in this small 5 floor walk up, cost everything we had we didn’t earn much with the diner and the his job at a factory.

The walls were painted this color that reminded me of lemonade. Nothing match because we just used whatever we had and put it all together. All our friends thought we were mad for doing everything so fast but I didn't care, I had him and that was enough.

Studying mythology, I always loved lore and stories. I guess that’s was my down fall. There was this local legend about a women who lived in the woods, in all the stories she said to be beautiful, she used her beauty to lure men and women, sometimes children to their deaths.

I was planning on writing my final paper about her and how the whole town were still scared for her, even though no one had seen her. I guess I pocked around to much, I always wondered why no one else had. I was leaving my class early one morning and it was snowing, everything was white and clean. The whole thing seems like a joke now, that night was pure and light until I reached our flat.

The front door was ripped open, stuff throw all over the floor. Blood was covering the walls. All my books hit the floor when I saw him. He was just sat on the sofa with his guts hanging from him, his throat ripped out. As I got close, my lungs closed up. I was so scared to breathe. Then something ran at me, tried to stab me but I fell hitting my head and they hit my tight, I guess. Next think I knew I woke up the police were there looking down at me. The people living under me, had already called the police because of the noise and then again when they heard me scream.

Turns out living in a small town with a local monster isn't as unlikely as I thought. The mayor of the town has always been from the same family, no one fought to be mayor because everything ran fine as it was. Turns out the monster was a witch who kept everyone happy, all the mayor did was pay her in bodies. Whenever someone die, she got the body and did whatever she did.

I was closer to it all than I thought. The police clean everything up pretty fast, told me it was probably a wild animal which I didn't buy for a second. What kind of wild animal would get into a 5 floor walk up without anyone knowing. Something inside told me I had to look more into it, then the FBI came and started asking questions. I told them what I told the police, it wasn't a animal, it was the witch in the woods. It didn't matter how mad I sounded I needed them to believe me.

I had all the research and stories to back myself up and I thought it was a miracle that they believed me, but turns out they were actually hunters. They found the witch and killed her. Told me everything because it was the kindest thing they could of done. After that I left everything behind and lived on the road.

2014

When I had finished talking Sam looked lost for words. My chest hurt from the effort of holding in my tears. In my dream I still dreamt of those yellow walls and how they suddenly turned red.

"Now you get why I'm such a mess" I say bitty finishing the rest of my drink off.

"I don't think you're a mess" Sam said, relief flooded my scents. "You thought you were safe and then your world ended".

"I think it's your turn to tell me about your demons" I said dirtily, wishing I had another drink.

Over the course of an hour Sam told me his whole life story, from the multiple deaths and all the heartbreak at came with the life. And most recently the fact that he was prosed by an angel, Dean had tricked him into it to save his life.

"So when I met you, you had an angel inside you? So why didn't it stop the witch?" I ask confused.

"It stepped in before when I was in danger but I guess you came before it had too" Sam explained.

"I know you want to stay mad at Dean for what he did but he did it to save you and from what you told me, you have done or would do the same" I rubbed his back as I spoke. "you can still be mad at him, hell you can hate him but you shouldn't leave him behind. He's family and you don't leave family".

"I was ready to die though. I was ready, I had had enough of everything" Sam sighed lending back on the chair.

I hugged him without thinking, "I know, I know", my head was against his shoulder. His arms were wrapped around my waist. "Why don't we go back to the motel?" my hand lightly ran through his hair as he nodded.

////

The drive back so quite and still, Sam offered to drive this time. I laid my head against the window, small rain drops were falling down the other side.

It felt both bad and good that I told someone the truth about my past. I had never met anyone who I trusted enough to tell. Sam had broke down the walls I had built so high.

It was that time of night where everything felt unreal. Even the carefree day we spent had worn down on my energy, all I wanted was to sleep.

The motel was almost empty, only a few cars were left. Neither of said anything as we made our way into the motel room. Lights were off, the only light coming from a street light.

Nothing needed to said, we had bared our souls to each other. While I changed in the bathroom Sam had the room to changes.

Sam POV Hearing Y/N story had opened his eyes to why she acted so strong but still held herself back. The wild girl he had met that first day had melted away but she still held the same fire that was winning his heart.

While Y/N was still in the bathroom, he checked his phone. Just like he thought a few missed calls from Cas and some from Dean. Y/N words replayed in his mind. "He's family and you don't leave family". She was right, he hated to say it but she was.

"Everything okay?" Y/N voice cutting his thought processes short, she stood in the bathroom door way, wearing the shirt he had given her the night before. Noticing him looking, she blushed. "I hope you don’t mind me wearing it again, I just don't have anything this comfortable.

"No, it's fine" his watched her smile as she walked to her bed. He spotted a long scar at ran a cost her tight, it looked out of place . She barely had any scars, even the one she did have none of the others were as deep. She mentioned something about be cut but never said it was that bad.

"So what's next for you?" She asked laying on her side. "Gonna call your brother?".

"I don't know if I'm ready to work with him again, it's hard working with my brother sometime, to tell the difference between what's best for everyone and what you do for family" he explained, laying down too so they were facing.

"Love makes us blind. I know I would pay anything to get my old life back. I liked what I do, don’t get me wrong. I help people so they won't feel the pain I felt but I wish I had happiness in my life. You have your brother, someone who will always look out for you." she said.

"Do you every get lonely?" he asked.

"yes and no. Like I said, I don't trust myself with other people. Im better alone" she rolled over to her back, so he couldn't see her face.

"You could join me and Dean if you wanted?" he said, as he turned the light off. "We could also use the help"

She laugh which he didn’t expect, "Maybe you should fix what's happening between the two of you before you invited me to tag along ".

He laugh too, "I guess you're right but the offer still stands".

"Thank you, goodnight Sam"

"goodnight Y/N"

////

Reader pov

Sam and I facing each other in the parking lot. The past few had threw by. Sam was unlike anyone I had every knew, I had told him thing that I could hardly say out loud.

"So this is goodbye then" I said quietly. I didn't want to say goodbye.

"I guess it is" Sam said in the same tone.

"You have my number, you can call me whenever you need. " I told him trying to make my tone happier but it fell flat.

"same goes for me, but I don't think you'll need my help much" he joked, which made me smile.

I took a step away from him and to my car but before I made it, I turn around to Sam again. He looked confused at first. Before I could stop and think about it, I kissed him.

Our nose brushed as our lips met. He was hesitate to began with which made me pull away, thinking he didn't want this. But he hooked his hands on my waist and pulled me in closer.

I took my chance and ran my fingers through his hair, my chest burnt from not breathing. When we pulled apart, I was the first the open my eyes. Sam still had his closed, his chest was moving in the same way as mine was.

"That was…" Sam breathed

"Yeah, something to remember me by" I smiled and took a step away. "Leave it like this. If you don’t call or if I don't call then this will be our last memory". I held up my hand and opened my door. "Goodbye Sammy Winchester".

I couldn't but smile at the look on Sam's face through my wing mirror

part three

#supernatural imagine #supernatural fic #supernatural #snp fic #snp imagine #snp #reader x sam winchester #sam winchester imagine #sam winchester x y/n #sam winchester #reader x sam #sam x reader #sam imagine #sw

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treatian · 4 years

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The Chronicles of the Dark One: The Dark Curse

Chapter 144: What the Dove Saw

Pirithous was not exactly happy when he summoned him into the tower that night. But then, when had he ever been happy to be summoned? In a perfect world, he'd have gone on using Theseus as his spy, as it was now Pirithous was all he had, happy or not.

"I have need of you," he commented as the bird-man stood before him.

"Obviously…what will your bidding be this time, O Mighty Dark One…"

He glanced up at him, very unimpressed with his sarcasm. "A little less cheek, perhaps…"

The boy didn't respond, just rolled his eyes and awaited his orders.

"I'm sending you to King George's kingdom. There's a deal I'm overseeing, and I'd like to oversee it…closer."

Pirithous rolled his eyes and shook his head. "With all your magic…why don't you just do it yourself? Wouldn't it be easier to just take my shapeshifting ability and go yourself?"

He laughed at such a suggestion. "Would you like me to?" he threatened. Pirithous remained silent because they both knew that he didn't want such a thing. Sure, it would free him from being useful, but it would also ground him for the rest of his life. He could take the power, but to never perch in the trees again, to never soar high above the clouds, feel the wind beneath his wings, they both knew he'd be unhappy with such an arrangement.

"Sometimes I prefer 'boots on the ground'…or should I say claws," he finally explained to him. "Besides…I'm a busy man."

"And I'm not?!" Pirithous argued. "My father is unwell, the crown will soon be mine, I need to take a wife, have a child, and prepare to take his place."

"Yes, and you can add serving me to that list." Whine, whine, whine, whine! It was never-ending with him! He wanted to take a wife, but he couldn't imagine one that would like a husband that whined as he did about everything. Pirithous had a kingdom to run someday, but he had the Curse of a lifetime to cast and break. A curse, he might add, that would make his rule a hell of a lot shorter than he would ever imagine. Therefore, his tasks were the ones that would take priority.

"Now listen…in King George's Kingdom, I want you to pay close attention to Prince James, stick closely to him."

"As if I have a choice," he sighed like a bored teenager.

"You don't," he remarked. "Oh! And there's this one other little thing that you might need to know. The Prince recently hit his head…if he or any of his fellow soldiers should call him 'David' a time or two…I'd think nothing of it."

"What's that supposed to-"

"Good-bye!" he shouted, sending him off to a faraway land before he could ask any more questions.

He was busy. He intended to watch David himself, of course, but out in the world, on the way to King Midas territory, he knew that it was unlikely there would be any mirrors to watch, or better yet, hear, from. Aside from that, it wasn't only David he was interested in. Now that he was positive the right twin had the crown, and his future, within his grasp, there was another person he needed to keep his eyes on.

He located Snow White in Sherwood Forest. In order to get to the Dragon, David would have to travel through Sherwood Forest, and he half expected he'd meet the Princess there. But he didn't. He shouldn't have been surprised. He wasn't quite sure how their love story would play out, but he knew that Abigail was going to be part of it. Anything that happened, he figured, wouldn't happen until after the dragon was dead and Midas' offered his daughter to David.

He kept an eye on Snow just as he did David. Sherwood Forest, Midas' Wood, King George's Kingdom, and the outskirts of her own former Kingdom…those were her frequent haunts, and now would be David's as well. If he pulled this off, then they'd be on the road for the next several days giving the pair ample opportunity to meet face to face.

David made it to Midas's Kingdom, and so the hoax began. He watched the pair's interaction, but Midas seemed none the wiser that the man before him was not Prince James. Though it helped, he assumed, that David was always surrounded by George's troops, all of whom were in on the trick, and chosen specifically to make David look good just as he'd instructed. But David…he was an impressive man; well raised. He was good. The kind of person that he could see Snow White falling for easily as opposed to James who was haughty, devious, and spoiled. It was odd how one little detail could allow the future to fall into place so clearly!

David slayed the dragon. To his own shock, he did it on his own. Not George's troops or soldiers, not the special team he'd assembled to keep David alive. David himself was the one who did the deed.

With a bit of luck and bravery and another fallen soldier's sword, he beheaded the creature with a single blow. Afterward, as was custom, the head of the beast was taken back to King George's castle. Royals and their foolish traditions…

Because David had killed the beast, that meant that it was considered his kill, his property. At the castle of King George, where the challenge was issued, that was where the deal between them had to be sealed, the official place that he had to surrender the head to King Midas, in the sight of King George. From his tower he watched as Midas and George did the talking, David stood there pretending, convincingly, that he understood the ins and outs of their movements and negotiations, though he looked a little too mesmerized the moment that Midas touched the head and turned it to gold. And then it happened. Just as he was told it would, but still surprising all the same. When the ritual called for the King to spoil the victor with riches, the daughter, Abigail, entered the room.

Words were exchanged, she looked unimpressed at the boy but eventually shrugged.

David moved forward and began to explain something with a small shake of his head before the King swallowed him up in a hug that lasted too long and yet not long enough! Something important was happening! He was telling him something, obviously enough. But by the time he'd examined the room and found a shiny surface he might peer through to hear what he was saying, it was over; the moment, the words, all of it. And that was why he always preferred to have someone close to the action. When the ritual was concluded, he wasted no time summoning Pirithous back to tell him what happened.

"It was a threat!" the bird burst out the moment he was back. "The King threatened the Prince! He took him aside under Midas' eye and told him that the would kill him, kill his mother, and burn down the Prince's farm if he said anything but 'yes' to the union with Midas' daughter! The Queen has been dead for years! Just what are you playing at?! Who is that in the Prince's clothes?!" he demanded angrily.

He ignored his outburst and kept his hands gathered together in front of him, maintaining his calm demeanor. Whatever Pirithous was feeling wasn't his concern, and he certainly hadn't sent him out there to put it all together on his own.

"Did he say yes?"

"Of course he said yes!" he shouted. "What else would there be to say?! King George is ruthless. My parents want nothing to do with his Kingdom and for good reason. I want nothing to do with it! But I need to know who I'm dealing with before I ascend the throne."

He smirked, but smiling was far from the emotion that he was feeling. He'd put it together and now knew there was a state secret going around. Soon being King would begin to color his thinking and since he'd inherited this job he didn't expect him to be as devoted to it as his dear father had. Indeed, Pirithous made dealing with Theseus look like a pleasure. Perhaps the bird was coming to the end of his usefulness as his rule drew closer. He had a brother, and several cousins that shared family blood, the loyalty he'd demanded from Theseus would work for all of them.

"Worry not, little prince. This is one change that will be of use to you. For if Prince James takes the throne with his bride, I've no doubt that the Kingdom will be a better place under his rule."

He'd hoped that words of prophecy might have had the same effect on Pirithous that they had on Clopin, but instead, the man's eyes narrowed. "Prince James, the real Prince James," he stressed, "is cut from the same cloth as his father. That…man is not Prince James."

"All will be revealed in good time."

But the dove wouldn't let it go. He could see that plain as day written all over his face. The wheels in his head were turning; pieces were coming together. But the full story was still just beyond his reach, and he felt confident that unless he talked to David himself, it always would be. Most of the soldiers who knew who he was had been killed. Midas had no idea. George wouldn't tell for that reason alone. And he was certain that David would keep his secret for his mother's sake, and his mother would keep it for David's sake. Unless David chose to tell Snow White, the secret would die with him. But he could see easily enough in Pirithous eyes that it wasn't good enough for him.

Damn.

"Send me back."

"What?!" he shrieked. "Before you were begging me to leave you be, why would you want to go back?"

"In a few days, the Prince, whoever he may be, and Abigail are moving from King Midas' current palace into his new home. But tomorrow morning the Prince is going somewhere. Before I left, he asked one of the stable hands to prepare a horse for the journey in the morning. He begged the King to excuse him from breakfast and he agreed, reminding him again not to make a choice he'd regret. What is going on? I want to know! If that means I have to go back to find out, then so be it!"

Useful information, Pirithous had always provided useful information and done good work for him, but only so long as he wasn't attached to his work. With emotions that strong, as much as he wanted to see where he would go, he couldn't allow it. Not anymore.

"Too bad!" he laughed, with a snap of his fingers the bird was back in his own bed Kingdoms away from here. With any luck he would know to keep his mouth shut. He'd hate for the family to lose their King and their Prince all at once.

#Rumbelle #Rumple #Rumpelstiltskin #Dark One #Dove #David #Prince Charming #Prince James #King George #King Midas #Princess Abigail #ouat #ouat fanfiction #fanfic

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jnlnyaface · 4 years

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Those Magic Changes

This is the first of 4 connected fics. They are in the same universe and here are the rules: Macy, Mel and Maggie all have the same father and they grew up together They don't find out about their powers until after the first part Pretty much, it's an AU that follows closer to the original series as far as timeline is concerned *** This is for @charmedsecretsanta My person was: @xoheatherkw This is for the Hacy AU Meet Cute

You can also find it here *** Merry Christmas! I hope you like it!

Summery: All Macy Vera-Vaughn wanted for Christmas was to not think about how this was she and her sisters first one without their mother and father. Ice skating should take their minds off that. Right? If that doesn't, meeting a cute new guy just might.

Winter was always Macy Vera-Vaughn’s favorite time of year. She loved the cold and the snow and the fact that it got dark earlier in the day. She knew she was weird but, at 29 years old, it was too late to fix now. What she loved most, though, was the time she got to spend with her family. As corny as she knew it sounded, it was the truth. When her father died 3 years ago she and her sisters, Maggie and Mel drifted apart for a while. It took some time but they’re mother brought them together by reminding them that their sisterhood was their strength. She showed them that, the best way to get through the hurt was by leaning on each other. Now, 10 months after their mother died, they are trying to remember that lesson so they don’t lose each other again.

At this point, as they approached their first Christmas without her, it mostly meant everyone taking turns coming up with activities for them to do together to keep them distracted from the reality of their situation. Maggie had them decorate the whole house. Inside and out. Mel had them make hot chocolate and watch classic Christmas movies all night. Today it was Macy’s turn. Her main goal was to get everyone out of the house. But she didn’t know what to do.

She tried to think back to Christmases of years past. She tried to think about the things that brought her the most joy. Most of her Christmas memories included her parents doing everything they could to make sure everything was perfect. She wanted to do that for her sisters but she was at a loss. It wasn’t until she was walking up the path towards the house after work and she almost slipped on a patch of ice that she got an idea.

Their local ice rink was the scene for so many of her favorite childhood memories. Macy remembered all the times they would go as a family and all the fun they would have together. That’s how she and her sisters found their way there this afternoon.

“It’s been way too long since I’ve been on any type of skates,” Mel said as the three sisters sat on one of the benches that lined the rink lacing up their rental skates. Macy forgot how hopeless Mel was on skates but there was no turning back now. “I’m not even sure I know how to anymore.”

“It’s just like riding a bike Mel,” Maggie chirped standing up ready to go.

“Yeah if a bike had one inch wide metal wheels and you only rode it on cold hard ice.” Mel wobbled as she stood and began to limp toward Maggie.

“You can always get one of those walker things,” Macy attempted kindly. “I’m sure they have adult ones too.” Macy knew Mel’s pride wouldn’t let her get the ice walker but she wouldn’t be her if she didn’t at least try.

“No thank you. I refuse to look like an idiot out there with a walker like I’m some toddler on the ice for the first time or worse an old lady.” Mel stubbornly made her way to the rink’s opening. Knowing her insistence would do no good against her hard-headed sister; Macy shook her head and followed behind her. If she couldn’t get Mel to get the walker, she could at least stay by her to make sure she didn’t hurt herself.

***

Being back on the ice was like being a kid again. Macy forgot how much she loved the feeling of gliding. The cold breeze against her face. The slightly numb feeling in the tips of her fingers. When she was younger she wanted to be a figure skater. In the basement she would watch the Olympics and pretend like the floor was competition ice. She would mimic the skaters’ routines down to the hand movements and facial expressions. No one could’ve told her she wasn’t going to be a gold medalist. Her dad paid for lessons when she was 6. But after a year she realized skating wasn’t something she was ready to commit to full time. In other words, she turned 7 and found something new to be obsessed with.

As she and her sisters started on their first lap around the rink silence settled heavily around them. There was an unspoken agreement among them that they wouldn’t speak about their mother or their father or what this holiday season meant for them. That they were orphans all alone in the world, but for each other. The problem was: they running out of things to do and say. In tiptoeing around the subject they were drifting dangerously close to an epic emotional breakdown. Macy wasn’t sure she was quite ready for that yet.

“Remember, that one year we came here, and dad broke his arm trying to impress mom?” This may have not been the best way to break the tension but it was her idea to come here so she had to try something. “He tried to do that backflip?” “We were in the ER for 6 hours on Christmas Eve!” Mel laughed.

“She made him take us to iHop for pancakes once they finally let him out,” Maggie cackled. Macy was surprised Maggie remembered that, she was only 5 at the time. “She let us get whatever we wanted and when we got home she took a nap and made him take care of us by himself.”

“…with one arm!” Mel finished, laughing so hard she almost loses her balance.

“It was a little cruel of her to hop us up on sugar and leave him alone with us,” Macy lamented.

“He deserved it,” Mel proclaimed. “He knew he shouldn’t have been doing flips, let alone on ice.”

“At least she kept us out of the house the rest of the day to let him rest. She was always so considerate. Even when she was mad.” Maggie’s face fell as she added the thought. It was the exact face Macy was trying to avoid. The three sisters slipped back into silence. More melancholy than the one before. Macy took a breath, something upbeat to shift the mood back to lightheartedness dies on her tongue as Maggie speaks again, “I think I’m going to get a hot chocolate.” Maggie was halfway across the ice before either of her sisters could say anything.

Macy and Mel looked at one another then after their sister shaking their heads in tandem. They started their path around the rink again enjoying the ice in silence. Well, Macy enjoyed the ice, Mel focused on not falling.

“I have a meeting with the new women’s studies chair on Friday.” Macy welcomed Mel’s effort to make conversation. “I already registered for next semester. Now I just have to prove to him that I’m ready to teach again,” Mel groused. “Have I mentioned how much I hate the idea of a cis white male taking over mom’s position?”

“Yes, Mel, you have,” about a billion times Macy kept the last part to herself. After their mother died, Mel had what can only be classified as a slight mental breakdown. She became a woman obsessed. She was convinced someone killed her. After 2 months in a downward spiral she decided to take the rest of the semester off, the summer and fall semester too. Now she was going back for spring semester. Macy wasn’t sure Mel was actually ready or if she knew the right things to say. She figured though maybe if her sister faked being happy long enough she would accidently become happy. Macy would continue to keep a close eye on her regardless.

“Well it’s insane and I am not here for it!” Mel exclaimed. “I’m going to meet with this guy and as soon as he clears me to teach again I’m going to give him a peace of my mind.”

“Please don’t.” Mel was always quick to jump headfirst into a conflict. Macy was always the voice of reason trying to hold her back. It was not an easy job.

***

“Can we take a break? I’m starting to get tired.” They made it to the opposite end on the rink and Mel started to slow down and grabbed hold of the wall to keep herself upright. “You can keep going. I’m just going to hang out here for a minute.”

“N…no I…I can’t leave you,” Macy stammered. “I would never forgive myself if I left you behind and you got hurt.”

“You can be more dramatic than Maggie sometimes, I swear.” Mel rolled her eyes and attempted to push Macy away from the wall while simultaneously gripping it for dear life. “I will stay right here.”

“No, I’ll wait. I don’t want to leave you here by yourself.” Macy was trying to be more assertive. She was the eldest sister but Mel was always the one who took the lead. She was fearless and headstrong and defiant. Macy envied that about her. Macy had always been told that as the oldest she was supposed to protect her sisters. But that directly conflicted with her shy and reserved nature. In fact, if it wasn’t for Mel protecting her, people would walk all over her. It had been that way for as long as Macy could remember. Now that their mother was gone Macy was technically the matriarch of the family. Hers were big shoes to fill. Mel was the natural choice for leader. Her overconfidence would often get her and Macy into and out of all kinds of trouble as children. But Macy wanted to take care and help ease some of the burden. Especially considering recent circumstances. Maybe they could do it together. Maybe there didn’t have to be one leader. Maybe the three of them could just take care of each other.

“Macy I know how much you love ice skating,” Mel started knowingly. “I insist you take a lap or two or three. I’ll just stand here and chill. Get it chill?”

Macy stared straight faced at Mel not cracking even the slightest hint of a smile at her joke. Mel always tried to make them laugh with puns and it never worked. Well it kind of worked but Macy didn’t want Mel to get a big head so she never gave anything away.

Just as Macy went to reply a young girl zipped past them. She had a look of peace on her face as she enjoyed the ice. Macy couldn’t hide the look of longing that passed across her features. She wished she could skate faster. But she couldn’t leave Mel when she was one stiff wind away from cracking her tailbone on the smooth ice below. Macy tried to quickly school her features but her ever perceptive sister saw before she could.

“I’m serious Mace, Go,” Mel insisted.

“You know what? I think I will.” It wouldn’t hurt. She figured a lap would help clear her head. She hoped it would make her numb to the feelings that were trying to break free from her heart. “I’ll do one lap and be right back.”

“Take you time and enjoy yourself,” Mel gave a faux serious look.

“No wonder why people think you’re the oldest. You’re so bossy.” Macy took off with one last backwards glance in Mel’s direction, just to make sure she was steady.

***

Gliding around the rink was just as wonderful and freeing as Macy remembered. While on the ice it was like all the world’s problems didn’t exist. Only her and the blistering cold. Which, wasn’t all that blistering despite what the weather reports and thermometer would have you believe.

As she made it to the far end of the rink she looked up to see Mel waving at her from her spot on the wall. Maybe one more lap wouldn’t hurt. Mel will be fine. She was the one to suggest Macy take a couple of laps in the first place. Maybe she’ll even do a couple spins in the middle of the rink while she’s at it. Then she’ll be right back at Mel’s side, helping her struggle back to the exit.

Once in the middle of the rink she looked over to quickly check on Mel. What she expected to see was her sister holding the wall for dear life. What she saw was a man in a red coat with his arms wrapped around her. What she also saw was a furious Mel swatting at the arm around her waist.

Macy took off like a shot towards her sister and the stranger who may or may not have been manhandling her. As she got closer she could hear more and more of the lecture she knew Mel was in the process of giving.

“…didn’t ask for your help, first of all!” Macy could hear the righteous fury in Mel’s voice. “You shouldn’t be touching women you don’t know. Second of all…”

“Get away from her!” Macy screamed as she slid to a stop behind the pair. “Get your hands off of her right now!”

“I got this Macy,” Mel assured she blindly waved her hand over her shoulder in Macy’s general direction to reinforce her point. “Get your hands off of me.”

“I am so sorry!” The red coated stranger, with a surprising British accent, started as he turned to face Macy, Mel still in his arms. “I was just skating by and I saw her losing her balance and…” the stranger’s voice trailed off as he and Macy locked eyes. She’s instantly struck by how beautiful his are.

Macy was frozen in her spot and it wasn’t because of the cold. This man was handsome and Macy would be the first to admit that she was not the best when it came to speaking to handsome men. Maggie still won’t let her live down the ‘Galvin Incident’ from 2 years ago. That was when Macy first move back home, she just finished her doctoral program at Oxford and got a sweet position at Hilltowne University’s lab. Galvin worked in the lab with her; she met him on her first day. She was so awkward and uncomfortable around him she scared him off. He ran right into the arms of Summer and never left. Macy, Galvin and Summer were actually the best of friends now. She was even set to be a bridesmaid in their wedding next Spring, but that was beside the point. The point was she wasn’t good with hot guys so in this moment she wasn’t sure what to say. Words might be a good place to start.

“Uh…hi…hey…hello…hi…” Macy stammered her cheeks heating up with a flush. “Hi.”

“Hi,” the stranger responded a smile growing on his awestruck face. They stayed gazing at each other for way longer than appropriate. The stranger extended his hand toward Macy letting go of Mel while he did. “Hi…”

As Macy’s hand met his and she mentally prepared herself to stumble through another unintelligible sentence the trance is broken by a thump, a loud groan and Mel’s voice coming from the ground, “Uh…some help here guys…?” She must’ve lost her balance again when the stranger let her go to shake Macy’s hand.

“Oh my God Mel!” Macy and the stranger dived to help her sister back to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“I am so sorry once again,” He said wiping the ice off her coat. Mel once again swatted his hands away but clung to Macy to stay upright. “Maybe you should get one of those walker things.” The glare Mel threw his way could melt steel. He made the wise choice and raised his hands in defeat before the fight even started. It was like he knew he would never be able to win. “Or maybe I’ll just go…”

“No!” Macy startled herself with how loud she was. She and the hazel eyed stranger locked eyes once again. And once again she fell into their beauty. Scanning his face she landed on the small smile on his lips and moved to the light stubble on his chin. His whole face was beautiful. Faintly she could hear Mel getting revved up for another lecture. Macy cut her off. “What I mean is, you don’t have to go, we will.” She gestured to herself and Mel. “I should probably get her back on solid ground anyway.”

“No way!” Maggie seemed to materialize at Mel’s other side. “I will take Senorita Stubborn Ass to get a walker while you two take a couple laps around the rink.”

Before Macy could even process Maggie’s words she had Mel’s arm around her shoulder and they were halfway to the entrance leaving her alone with the stranger.

“Well…that wasn’t awkward at all.” Of all the things to say. Seriously? Macy was more than a little mortified.

“We don’t have to if you don’t want…” His voice trailed off obviously meaning the give her an out. After some more intense staring Macy’s brain finally came back to life with an answer.

“I would like to…would you?” She figured skating with a handsome stranger was the best distraction she could ask for.

“Yes!” He enthusiastically replied before he cleared his throat and more calmly stated, “Yes I would love to.” He extended his elbow toward her and Macy took it locking their arms together. She didn’t have to wonder if she imagined the spark she felt. She could see in his eyes that he felt it too.

“I’m Macy, by the way…” She realized that while they had been speaking for the last 20 minutes she didn’t know his name.

“Nice to meet you Macy,” He smiled softly at her. “I’m Harry.”

***

I hope you guys enjoyed it. Like I said this is the first part of 4 connected fics. I haven't finished parts 2-4 yet but I plan to have them finished soon. I wanted to get this out during the posting period. If there are any errors I apologize in advance. Thank you so much for reading Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

@charmedsecretsanta @xoheatherkw

#charmedsecretsanta #charmed secret santa #cw charmed #charmed cw #charmed 2018 #macy vaughn #harry greenwood #hacy #hacy au #mel vera #maggie vera

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sissytobitch10seconds · 4 years

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hello I saw your ao3 story and was wondering if you were taking requests. If so can we please have an angsty abo one where remus dates severus but is only using him to make sirius jealous, sirius finds out and sends him to wolf remus. Severus is rescued, but is upset with boyfriend and hurt. Sirius and Remus get together and Severus is upset because Remus and him haven't broken up yet and also Severus is pregnant.

Sorry, it took me so long to get this out! I had a little bit of writer’s block and then it turned out to be way longer than I originally thought it would be. Hope you like it! Also, this is up on Archive!

Anger rolled in my gut as he tried to focus down on the book in my hands. I had been on the same page for more than five minutes, which was longer than it would take me to read and process at least a chapter of this particular novel. It didn’t bother me too much since I knew that the book was just there so that I could try and block out the obnoxious giggling coming from the other side of the common room. The Gryffindor common room was normally filled with people talking and laughing, but this particular giggle was driving me up the wall.

Sirius had some omega perched on his lap. Her skirt was pulled up high around her waist and folded over enough times that it barely covered her thighs, nothing even remotely in the dress-code of the school. She had her arm around his shoulders and was leaning back against the window while putting her legs out as she pretended to fall back. He had his nose in her scent gland, which wasn’t covered by the required scent blocker so that things like this wouldn’t happen.

Just the thought of it in more depth than before made me grit my teeth while trying not to shout at them. This wasn’t the first omega or beta that Sirius had brought back to the dormitory this week, and she wouldn’t be the last no matter what she thought. I hated seeing the man that I desired moving from bitch to bitch just to get some quick fix.

If I didn’t have the self-control I would give in to every stereotype that was branded onto werewolves and make sure that they weren’t able to put their arms around anyone like that ever again.

Finally, I decided that I had had enough of watching Sirius flirt with some bimbo. I slammed my book shut and stood up. I made sure that he saw the sharp glare that I shot his way before I stalked out of the dormitory altogether

The hallways were relatively empty since it was a fair way into the afternoon already. A lot of the students that would normally be crowding around as they drifted from place to place had settled down before dinner time came around.

I turned down endless halls and walked quickly past dozens and dozens of rooms before I finally got to my desired location. I pressed my hand against the door and opened it so that I could escape out of the castle and more importantly, get further away from Sirius and his most recent affair.

The frigid air made the red hot anger inside of me subside just a bit, though it still boiled in the pit of my stomach. I walked through the courtyard and then under one of the arches so that I could get to the wider grounds. I headed toward my favorite tree to sit and read under, thinking that I may be able to get some alone time to mull over my emotions.

When I arrived, I found that I would not be alone underneath the willow tree on this current evening. Two students sat underneath the swaying branches of the old growth tree, chattering to each other in light voices that implied that the conversation wasn’t too serious. I walked closer to them and was able to spot Lily’s bright red hair among the startling white of the hoar frost clinging to the trees and mountains of snow piled on the ground. The other omega was a mystery to me until I drew a bit closer and was able to hear his voice.

“Remus!” Lily beamed, bright, and beautiful as always. Despite not being drawn to omegas like alphas were, I was able to appreciate how stunning she was.

“I was hoping that I would get a quieter place to read, but it appears that I’m out of luck,” he chuckled as my eyes strayed over to Severus.

The dark-haired omega was staring down at his hands, which were picking at the loose strands of string that had come up from the blanket they were seated on. For as much as the other three members of my group teased him for his appearance, he wasn’t actually too bad looking. His hair hid his alabaster face, hanging in sheets over his high cheekbones and gaunt eyes. The dark orbs seemed to hide a knowledge that none of them could even dream of beholding.

“We can-” Severus began but his friend quickly cut him off.

“Why don’t you join us? James is always telling me about how you don’t have many friends outside of the Marauders, perhaps you can start with us,” she chirped brightly.

“I do have friends outside of the Marauders, James just doesn’t consider people from other houses to be ‘proper friends,’ whatever that means,” I snorted. I took her offer and sat down closer to the Gryffindor omega than the Slytherin. I folded my legs underneath me and fiddled with the edges of the book in my hands. The anger that had been whirling through me earlier had turned to a dangerous resentment.

“He’s not the brightest,” Severus quipped before he realized what he had said and in the presence of whom and turned a bright shade of red. Luckily for him, I had had a run-in with James the other day and wasn’t too pleased with that alpha either. I let out a small chuckle, a smile crossing my features for a moment.

“Come on, Sev,” Lily whined, pouting at her friend. “You’re so mean to him. At least we’ve been dating longer than you and that weirdo did,” she snorted.

“You’ve dated someone?” I asked, trying as hard as possible to make sure that my voice is level so it doesn’t sound too surprised.

“Don’t act like I’m so repulsive no one would ever look at me,” he grumbled. He wrapped a string around his fingers and pulled it from the rest of the fibers with nimble and graceful fingers

“I didn’t mean to. You just don’t seem to be the type of person who would… date,” I said slowly.

“Well, I am. Not that it lasted long,” his dark eyes darted away from his two companions, staring out at the rolling hills that led down to the tossing grey water of the lake.

“He was an ass, Sev,” Lily said softly as she reached one of her hands out to the omega.

I took in the situation with an uncharacteristically cold calculation. Of course, I had been known to be the smarter one in my direct friend group, but I still had more compassion than the common werewolf. Now, however, wheels whirled in my head and cogs turned quickly as I devised a truly wicked and cruel plan. The normal compassion that I held for all people and animals fled out of my mind as thoughts of revenge and jealousy took their place.

“Who was it that you were dating?” I asked the omega, hoping to get the answer that I wanted so that my plan would advance further.

“Oh, just some Slytherin upperclassman. You wouldn’t know who it is if I said a name,” he said quickly. His pale cheeks flushed once more and he avoided looking up at me or Lily.

“I know more people than James does, I think I would know who it was,” I laughed. To my delight, the heavy amounts of charm that I was laying on seemed to be working and he smiled and laughed.

The three of us sat and chatted for a bit longer, moving from dating when Lily got a little too excited and flustered about James. We discussed what the teachers had been assigning and the best way to go about finishing the assignments. When the conversation petered out for a moment, Lily decided that she had to go see her boyfriend and left me alone with Severus.

“I guess I should be going as well,” the omega mumbled as he wrapped his robes a bit closer around him and began to get up.

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, you don’t want to talk to me, you wanted to talk to Lily,” he said simply.

“I never said that,” I replied quickly. Annoyance sparked in the back of my mind and solidified my ideas that I had to get back at Sirius.

“I-I guess I just assumed…” he trailed off as he sunk down into himself like expecting to get hurt in some way.

“I would like to get to know you, Severus,” I said as I offered him a small smile. “If Lily and James are really going to do whatever they’re doing, then I think that you and I will be seeing a lot more of each other.”

“I suppose so,” he replied with a shrug.

“Plus, when you and I were talking with Lily here you seemed like a good conversationalist,” I smiled a little wider. I continued to talk with him like I had when Lily was there, and after a bit of time he finally relaxed and opened back up to me. We spent the rest of the afternoon together, just chatting about school and how things differed in our lives.

When we reached the end of the time we could spend outside, I finally decided that it was time to enact the next part of my plan. It could have been too soon and it was possible that he would turn me down, but from what I could pick up from the short conversation about his ex, he was desperate for love and still vulnerable from the breakup. Everyone had a rebound, so he wouldn’t expect the relationship I would start up with him to go anywhere, would he? I turned to him and asked, “Severus, would you like to go out with me the next Hogsmead weekend we get?”

“I-what?” he stuttered as he picked up the blanket and shook the snow off of it.

“As a date. I realized that I liked you more than I originally thought, so I would like to spend some more time with you. Romantically,” I said, giving him a polite smile.

“I, yeah, okay,” he replied, his cheeks a near-violent shade of red as he nodded. The black sheets of his hair hung down against his face once more before he darted away and back toward the castle.

I smirked to myself as I followed slowly after him. My plan was already underway and soon would be enough into action that I could move it to phase two.

---

“You’re a dog,” James snorted as we walked through the halls to get back to the dormitory. Classes had just ended, which separated us from the other two members of our immediate friend group since they had been assigned a different teacher during the last period of the day.

“I mean, yeah,” I snorted slightly and knocked my shoulder against his.

“Not like that, you git,” he snorted, batting a hand at my shoulder. I laughed back. “I meant that you’ve probably banged every age-acceptable omega and beta in this place other than Lily and Remus.”

“Ah yes,” I sighed. I had been joyous and laughing moments before but the comment made my heart sink down into my stomach.

“What? Did you want to bang Lily?” James asked, his voice had a bit of a feral bite to it.

“No, I didn’t want your courting partner,” I sighed with a slight roll of my eyes. James was just the kind of protective alpha that I seemed to be the opposite of. He defended Lily at all costs and would growl at anyone that made any kind of glancing look or snide remark about her. I tended to go the other way when it came to my partners. While Lily was the first omega or beta that James had ever courted, I had slept with more than I could count. I also didn’t really care what my past partners did once our time together was over. They were just a way to get rid of the thundering instincts pounding in the back of my mind.

“Then what do you want?” he asked curiously.

“Something that I can never have,” I frowned heavily.

“Why are you being so vague? We’ve been friends for as long as we’ve been going to Hogwarts. Just tell me what’s on your mind,” James replied simply as if anything could ever be that easy.

“I can’t tell you because I know you would try and intervene,” I replied. “And I know that the person that I really want would never love me back.”

“That can’t be true. Everyone in this school loves you and lots of people from elsewhere do too,” he grinned wickedly.

“Everyone except my parents,” I snorted, trying to make light of the situation with a joke that we had made a multitude of times beforehand. It worked and the other alpha laughed, snickering when he got a couple glares for the loud chuckles he had let out in the beginning.

He rounded the corner to get closer to the dorms, an area that had basically no one since most of the other Gryffindors had planned a meet up in the library to study things. The entire house had done so or decided that they would use the time to sneak away with their partners and do things that would make the teachers faint.

I stopped dead in my tracks, as did James as we looked down the hall. Remus had someone else pinned up against the wall, his hands roaming up and down omegan thighs and groping an ass. Their hands were threaded into his brown locks and holding his shoulders as small moans were released from the partner that my best mate was snogging.

“Is that Snivilus?” James finally blurted after we had been standing there for at least a couple of minutes.

“Fuck,” Remus swore from down the hall. He dropped the omega that he had been kissing and whirled around to see both of his alpha friends. “I thought you two would be… out.”

“Well, we’re not,” I replied through clenched teeth. Anger, jealousy, and concoction of other emotions I couldn’t place stirred together inside of me. I had the urge to go up and tear the omega’s throat out for daring to touch someone that was so clearly mine. I walked past them quickly, growling the password at the Fat Lady before I slammed the painting behind me in my hurry to get into the common room.

I threw my book bag down onto the table like it had been the one to offend me instead of the greasy Slytherin that my beta was apparently dating. I growled, running a hand through my wild brown locks before I began to pace around the red-colored room.

“I think that that was a bit of an overreaction,” James said as he walked into the common room and stood back to watch me.

“An overreaction?” I snapped as I turned to him. “He had his tongue down that whore’s throat and he didn’t even tell us that he was courting anyone.”

“Would you just shut up and listen for a minute?” James asked as he rolled his eyes in annoyance at me.

“Fine,” he growled darkly. I crossed my arms over my chest as stalked over to a seat, sitting down so that I could look at the alpha as he explained himself and the situation.

“If you hadn’t stormed in here in a fit of alpha rage that would rival my own, then you would have been around for Remus to explain what’s going on,” the other alpha said as he sat down in another chair so that they were at equal levels. “He and Sni-Severus have been dating for a while. Apparently, they got together some time in November. Remus didn’t want to tell us that he was courting or dating anyone because he thought that we would react badly when we found that it was Severus.”

“He’s been dating him for three months? If he had told us I would have been able to explain how stupid it is to be dating that Slytherin grease ball when there are perfectly good alphas that have been waiting for him for years,” I rambled.

“Wait…” James said, narrowing his dark eyes at me behind his thick spectacles. I could almost hear the turning on the cogs in his head as he riddled out my situation. “Are you jealous that Remus started dating before you grew the balls to ask him out?”

“No,” I replied stubbornly. The other alpha tilted his head so that he was looking at me over the top of the round rims. “Fine, I am.”

“Then you should wait until you’ve calmed down, and go talk to him,” he replied with a shrug.

“Lily is a bad influence on you. I miss the days when you would suggest pranking him instead,” I grumbled, though at this point I was just trying to prove a point.

“We can always prank him later. And there is the shovel talk,” James replied with a bright grin.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I replied with a definitive nod.

“Woah,” Peter groaned as he walked into the common room. He placed a hand over his nose to try and drown out the angry alpha scent that had leaked through my scent blocker when I had been pacing around. “What happened here? I thought that sex was banned in the common room.”

“Is this what you think sex smells like?” James asked as he turned to face the other member of our friend group.

“Yes?” he replied, though there was more question than statement to his tone.

“Wouldn’t there also have to be an omega or beta involved?” I snorted as I rubbed a hand over my face.

“I-I guess,” the dirty-blond beta sighed as he walked over to them and placed his bag on the floor. He tucked his feet underneath him as he sat down and pulled a bag of sweets from his pocket.

“Anyways,” I sighed, turning back to the other alpha. “We need to go give him the shovel talk right now. Especially if he and Remus have been dating for longer than we thought.”

“Remus is dating someone?” Peter asked, flabbergasted at the new revelation.

“This is a new thing. Apparently, he didn’t want us to know so that we wouldn’t bully his boyfriend,” James laughed.

“Oops. Now we all know,” I replied, though there was more snark and bite to my voice than there really should have been for the situation.

“Whatever. We should talk to Remus and get more of the story at dinner and then we can discuss the shovel talk,” James said. He reached down for his bag and pulled out a couple rolls of parchment and his textbook. He began to work on the homework that we had been assigned that day. Lily really had been rubbing off on him too much.

Dinner came quickly and the three of us hurriedly finished up the work that we had either been doing or were pretending to do. I hurried down to the dining hall, but because I was hungry and because I was eager to interrogate Remus and move along so that I could threaten Snivellus as well.

“Dude,” James complained as he finally caught up with me and sat down across the table. Peter sat next to me and moments later Remus walked over after saying goodbye to the Slytherin omega he had been sucking faces with earlier.

“You’re all here early,” he commented as he began to serve himself some of the food that was closest to our group.

“Well, we have something important to talk to you about,” I replied, trying to keep my voice light and non-accusatory. I didn’t do a very good job of it judging by the expression on his face.

He looked up from the basket of bread in his hands and narrowed his dark eyes at me dangerously. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh boy,” James sighed, picking at some of the vegetables on his plate. He leaned on his hand where it was perched with his elbow planted next to his plate on the table.

“You were dating someone for three months without telling us? We’re supposed to be friends, Remus,” I bit out, leaving out the possessive jealousy I was feeling.

“I don’t think that it’s that big of a deal,” Peter mumbled.

“Peter’s right. It’s not that big of a deal. I technically don’t have to tell you who I’m spending my time with or what kind of relationship we have friends or not. I don’t comment on all the time you spend with those omegas and betas you bring to the common room,” he replied as he stabbed his fork viciously into some of the food on his plate.

I swallowed a bit too quickly in my hurry to snap back at him and hurt my throat. This just turned to make my voice all the lower and gravely. “It’s not like I’m hiding them. Everyone knows that we’re together for however long we’re together for. I’m pretty sure no one knew about you and that grease ball of an omega.”

“Don’t start calling my boyfriend names just because you don’t like the fact that I’m dating him. If you spent more than five minutes using the stupid brain of your you might realize that bigger things are happening in the world than me finally dating someone,” Remus growled back.

“Do not start with that, Lupin,” I shot back quickly. “I know that we have the war to worry about and all of the people here that are already Death Eaters, but that should be all the more reason for us to tell each other the truth!”

“I didn’t want to tell you because you would act like this,” he gestured at me with both of his hands.

“Then how do you want me to act?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” he rolled his amber eyes. “Maybe ‘Good jobs Remus. Despite being an undesirable beta you managed to get someone to date you.’ Would that be too hard?”

“Fine, good job. You started dating our enemy,” I snarked back. I knew that the words hurt him and I immediately regretted saying them as they fell from my lips.

“He hasn’t been the enemy since James and Lily started dating six months ago,” Remus sighed.

I didn’t say anything I knew that the moment I opened my mouth again I would just be spitting more fire at him. I rose from the table and stalked out of the great hall, leaving the other three members of the Marauders alone. I quickly made my way out of the castle and had gone all the way down to the lake before I finally let myself breathe.

I raised my arms over my head, threading my fingers together as I pressed my palms to the back of my skull. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, just letting the crisp March air into my lungs in a desperate attempt to try and calm down. I growled low as I saw the image of Remus with Sni-Severus in his arms like the omega belonged there. Remus belonged in my arms like that.

“Excuse me?” asked a voice from behind me.

I whirled around, already reaching for my wand as I thought that it was someone that meant harm to me.

“Woah,” Severus said, placing his arms in front of him with his palms towards me. “I just came out here to try and make the situation a little bit better.”

“How?” I asked, dropping my hand back down to my side and leaving my wand in the pocket of my robes.

“I don’t know,” he nervously shrugged. “Maybe apologize for all of the things that I’ve said about you?”

“Well, that would be a start. You did steal my best friend from me and convince him to hide a relationship from our entire friend group,” I sassed back. The omega flinched heavily and rubbed his arm nervously. I felt a bit bad for making him self-conscious, but I was boiling mad and there was no controlling my mouth now.

“I know…” Severus whispered. “He was the one that asked me out. And if it makes you feel any better he talks about you all the time,” he offered.”

“I guess so,” I grumbled. We both stood there in awkward silence for a few more moments before I felt the beginnings of a plan click their way into my mind. “So, how much do you think you know about Remus?”

“I- a lot, I guess,” he replied, brows furrowed together in confusion. “He’s told me about his mom and that his dad treats him pretty badly.”

“I see,” he nodded. “Well, he told me that he’s going to be at the Shrieking Shack tomorrow night around midnight and I think that if you really want to get to know him you should go there and meet him,” he smirked.

“That’s a really weird way of putting it,” Severus mumbled. “But thank you for accepting his and my relationship.”

I made an affirmative noise and pushed past him to go back to the dormitory in the Gryffindor tower. I gave him and Remus the same treatment for the next day, barely acknowledging them in the slightest and being hostile when I had to. I smiled as I leaned out of the tower window and watched the small figure of a student wrapped in a cloak quickly fleeing across the field and toward the Shrieking Shack.

“I still hate the days where Remus has to leave,” Peter pouted. We had taken to leaving after everyone had gone to bed, and if the full moon happened on a weekend it tended to take forever.

“Who’s that heading out already? We’re all here,” James said as he peaked over my shoulder.

“Oh, that’s Snivilus,” I replied with a wicked grin.

“What the Hell did you do?” he asked, growling darkly as the smell of angry alpha leaked out from the scent blocker on his neck.

“I just thought that if he was going to be dating one of our friends then he needed to know who he really was,” I replied with a shrug.

“He’s going to get himself killed you fucking idiot!” James swore as he rushed away from me and up the stairs to our dorm room. Peter was staring at me in horror and slowly the realization of what I had done began to sink in. Guilt ate at my stomach, making me regret how much I’d inhaled at dinner. Soon my best friend returned back with the invisibility cloak. He ushered both out of the common room and then flung it over us. Peter quickly focused and turned into a rat so that the cloak would cover us all fully.

“You’re so stupid,” James hissed. “I liked it better when you just had sex with some random omega or beta and didn’t care what they did in their spare time. This is so dangerous,” he lectured as he made our way through the halls until we had gotten outside. Peter pulled on my curly locks with his tiny claws, just adding to the pain that was already flowing through my body due to that part of me.

When we reached the Shrieking Shack, we used the invisibility cloak right up until the door. James then threw it off and shifted into his stag form, prompting me to turn into the giant black dog. We rushed through the house to find where Severus had gone. Peter was still clinging to my fur tightly as we rushed to Remus’s favorite room.

Severus was on the ground, scrambling to get back to a corner as Remus, in his wolf form, slowly stalked closer and closer. “Please, I don’t-” the omega panicked, holding his arm close to himself as his wrist was bent at an odd angle.

I barked and made sure that the noise was loud enough that I could draw the attention of my out-of-control friend. It worked, quickly bringing the wolf to look at me. James rushed into the room and bowed his head at Severus before ushering him toward the door with his horns. I growled at Remus, barking once more as I walked closer and closer to him to get him to back up into the corner and away from the door.

When I was sure that James had gotten Severus out of the house I let Remus out of his confinement and laid down next to the wall with my head on my paws. I closed my eyes and ignored everything for the rest of the night.

I only got up from my spot when I felt the sunlight drop down onto my snout, awakening me from the fitful slumber that I had fallen into. I shifted back into my human form as Remus would no longer be in his wolf form if the sun was out. I glanced around and saw the other teen huddled in the corner with a pair of damaged pants on with nothing else. I stood up and removed my cloak, placing it on the beta before I touched his shoulder.

“Go away,” he growled darkly.

“What?” I asked, momentarily forgetting that he could see flashes of what happened in his wolf form.

“You made him come here, I know you did,” he hissed as he jutted a finger at my chest. “He was terrified!”

“He needed to see all of you if he was going to date you,” I replied, catching the finger and holding it in my clenched fist.

“I was going to tell him in my own time!” Remus shouted.

“You’ve never told anyone about it before. We had to find out the same way,” I retorted quickly.

“Why do you even care what he thinks of me?” he snarled.

“Because I’m in love with you!” I roared, anger and frustration soaring through me in a quick flash.

Remus shut down and removed his finger from my hands. He turned the full way and stared at me with confusion written all over his features. He blinked twice at me. “What?”

“I love you. The only reason that I slept with so many of the people around the school was so that I could fill the hole that you were leaving. You never showed any desire to date anyone so I assumed that you’d be one of the people to go work with dragons…” I rambled.

“I-I loved you too,” he stuttered, looking up at me with those caramel eyes. “I mean, I still do.”

“Then why go and date someone else when I’m right here?” I asked quietly.

“Because you were never right here. You were always with someone else and I knew that I wanted something from you that you hadn’t given anyone else. If something is going to happen between us then I need all of you to be here for me. I don’t want some fuck and abandon. I want you,” he rambled nervously.

“Then have me. I’m willing to dedicate that much of myself to you,” I promised as I reached out for his hand. He complied and placed his hand into mine. I gripped it tightly and brought him close to me, pressing our lips together in a wonderful kiss.

---

I peaked my eyes open as the nightmare stuck heavily to my eyelids. The sunlight was pouring through the uncovered glass in the windows, casting sunbeams down to the floor in a magnificent spectacle. I sat up on the bed and turned over so that I was leaning against the pillows behind me. I wasn’t used to waking up to the sun since the Slytherin common room and dorms didn’t get light and my room at home had windowless, drab walls. The hospital wing was covered in them however, most likely for the commonly held belief that sunlight could be beneficial for those suffering from illness and injury.

My wrist throbbed as a reminder of my own wounds. I had spent the night regrowing the bone chips that had shattered and been removed when I landed on it wrong. I winced and let out a truly omegan whine, something that I hated that I had no control over.

“You’re awake, well done,” Madame Pomfrey said in her normal sarcastic-saturated voice as she walked over to my bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” I replied, blinking slowly at the beta as she placed her hand on my cheek and my forehead. “And nauseous.”

“You shouldn’t be feeling nauseous from the Skelligrow, the tiredness is normal,” she tutted.

“I’ve been feeling nauseous for a week,” I mumbled.

“Suspicious. Have you had any other symptoms? Or vomiting?” she asked as she sat on the edge of the bed.

“I puked once a couple days ago but I figured that I had just gotten some potion in my system from my homework,” I said simply. The fixating stare she locked onto me made my skin crawl like a million spiders had taken up residence on my muscles.

“Anything else?”

“I suppose that I’ve been clingier to my partner?” I offered. The thought of Remus sent a shudder through my body as I remembered the terrifying creature that I had watched him turn into and then the way he had attacked me as if he didn’t know who I was.

“Now these questions may feel a little intrusive, but I do need to ask them,” she sighed. She got up from the bed and drew the curtains around the bed before casting a couple charms to make sure that no one would be able to hear the conversation.

I was suddenly more awake than I had been moments before as panic rushed from my stomach all throughout my body. I could feel the blood drain from my face and into my rapidly beating heart.

The healer took her place on the side of my bed and placed her cold hand on my leg through the thin hospital blanket that I had been given. “Are there any other peculiarities that you’ve noticed since the nausea began?” she asked.

“I guess so,” I replied with a shrug.

“I need you to tell me what they are,” she pried.

“I’ve been eating more than normal even though I’ve felt sick,” I shrugged. I wrapped my arms self-consciously around my middle as something deep inside of me told me to.

“Have you and this partner been sexually active?”

“I-uh, what?” I asked blood flooding to my face as quickly as it could to give me a dark blush.

“I assume that your partner is an alpha or a beta, and I need to know if you’ve been sexually active,” she continued.

“We’ve only slept together once. I know that it’s against the rules but we just got so caught up with each other that we didn’t really know what was happening and then we had already done it. Please don’t get him and me in trouble,” I pleaded desperately.

“Did you do it with protection?” she asked instead.

“I-no. We forgot to do any of the spells before or after because we nearly got caught,” I replied, letting shame replace the embarrassment from earlier as I bowed my head at her.

“You’re aware that you could be pregnant, correct?” she asked as she stood up and tugged the curtains closer together.

“I never thought about that. My mother and father had a hard time conceiving so I assumed that I wouldn’t be able to,” I replied. My heart began to hammer even harder in my chest, banging against my ribcage like it was trying to burst forth.

“I legally have to perform a test on you,” Madame Pomfrey winced as she grabbed her wand out of the overly full pockets on her apron.

“O-okay,” I replied shakily with a small nod.

She pressed me back against the pillows with one of her calloused hands. “Pull up your shirt for me, please,” she requested as she adjusted the hold of her wand in her hand. I did as I was told and pulled the fabric of my shirt over my stomach, revealing the pale skin there. She placed her wand over my stomach, holding it so that it was about an inch over the skin and the tip reached my hip while the hilt rested over the other. She murmured a couple of words under her breath, still speaking clearly while moving the wand down and then back up.

Slowly, a yellow glow emanated from my abdomen and up to the wand like a reverse spotlight.

“What does that mean?” I asked, my hands going down next to my sides to grasp at the sheets underneath me. Fear ebbed its way through my veins, filling up my entire person and consuming me.

“This means that you’re pregnant, Snape,” she whispered.

“I-I,” I stuttered out as tears welled up in my eyes. They sat on my lashes for a mere moment before they tipped over and rushed down my pale cheeks and then onto my neck. I quickly pushed my shirt down and sat up, ignoring the pain in my only slightly-healed wrist as I brought my hands up to my eyes to try and wipe away the tears. I felt a hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles as I sobbed while thoughts rushed through my head.

The last time that I had seen my boyfriend, and apparently the father of my unborn baby, he had tried to kill me. The cool determination in the wolf’s eyes made ice crawl through my veins. How could I tell Remus that I was carrying his pup when he had tried to kill me just the night before? I was aware that he had been hiding something from me but I had never expected it to be something like that or for me to find out through someone other than him. This was far too overwhelming for me to deal with at once.

“When was the time that you and this partner slept together?” the nurse asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, sometime around December or January,” I replied, rubbing my arm nervously.

“Then you should be around two or three months pregnant. You won’t start showing beyond the ability to hide it until your sixth month. Seeing as school ends in May, you should be able to hide the bump for the duration of the pregnancy until you graduate,” she rambled. I nodded as my way of conveying that I was listening to her.

“You will have the option to tell your parents until I inform the headmaster,” Madame Pomfrey said in her soothing tone as I finally stopped crying and calmed down. “I have to tell him in a week, so I suggest that you tell your parents and the father of the pup before then. Come and speak to me when you’ve decided what you want to do with him,” she gestured to my stomach before she got up and left.

I sat there in silence, trying to process everything that had happened that morning and the night before. I didn’t know how long I had been still when I finally came out of my stupor long enough to know that I should get going. I stood up from the bed and grabbed my robe from the chair next to the bed I had been set up in. I quickly covered myself and wrapped my arms around my stomach for a moment before I dropped my hands and then hurried out of the hospital wing and down to the Slytherin common room.

I darted into my dorm, which was thankfully empty, and changed out of my day-old clothes and into a pair of pajamas before ducking into the spare shower attached to the dorm room. When I was clean and dressed I picked up my school bag and left to go to my next class. I knew that the teachers probably wouldn’t be expecting me to come to any of my classes today since they were notified of my injury last night, but I was hoping that getting back on my routine would help me temporarily forget about the problem growing in my stomach.

The day flew by, with almost no one talking to me. Lily and James normally at least said hello but apparently, I seemed to be putting off some sort of scent that repelled everyone from me. I skipped lunch as it would be too much to go into the Great Hall and see Remus with his friends when I knew that I was pregnant with his child.

Someone finally talked to me for the first time since Madame Pomfrey that morning when I was outside, trying to complete the homework that had been assigned that day. I broke the wrist on the arm that I normally write with so the entire process was taking an annoyingly long time.

“Hey, Sev,” Lily’s calm voice cooed as she walked over to our normal hangout spot. “How are you doing?”

“My wrist hurts,” I replied with a small shrug. I wanted more than anything to tell her since I knew that she would make the situation either a thousand times better or worse.

“James told me what happened,” she said as she gracefully sat down next to me and rubbed my shoulder.

“Everything? Even the part about Remus?” I asked, glancing over at her with one eye as I let my hair fall down in front of my face.

“Yeah,” she nodded. She wrapped an arm around my shoulder and brought me into a half hug as she placed her head against mine softly. “I’m so sorry that that had to happen to you. That wasn’t something that Sirius should have done, jealousy or not.”

“He was jealous of me?” I asked, my heart sinking. I knew that Remus had feelings for Sirius, but I figured that they would fade the longer that we were together.

“Full-on alpha rage,” Lily nodded sadly.

I stayed silent for a moment before I took a deep breath and got ready to admit the truth. “When I was in the hospital wing for my wrist Madame Pomfrey got suspicious and had to do another test on me. It turns out…” I trailed off as my courage faltered.

“Please tell me that you’re not dying,” she pleaded as she took my hand and grasped it in hers.

“No, not dying. At least not yet,” I muttered sarcastically.

“Sev, please don’t joke about things like that right now,” she whined as she brushed a couple strands of hair out of my face.

“Madame Pomfrey performed a pregnancy test on me and it came back positive,” I rushed the words out as quickly as I could. A frigid feeling of dread settled over me as I waited to lose my best friend and be truly alone in the world once more. My parents wouldn’t care much about the pregnancy and would just use it as the perfect excuse to disown me.

“That’s…” Lily trailed off, her eyes wide with an emotion I didn’t know how to read. She just pulled me into a hug, wrapping her arms around me as she released her lovely apple scent that wasn’t contained by the scent blocker. I buried my face in her neck and took the scent in as it was the only thing that could stabilize my chaotic life. Slowly, I let myself cry for the second time that day.

When I finished I pulled my head back and wiped my face off on the sleeves of my robe.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, placing her hand once again on my shoulder.

“What do you mean?”

“Are you going to keep the baby? Are you going to give him up for adoption? Are you going to go through with the pregnancy at all?” she prompted.

I opened my mouth to answer her but found that I didn’t know what I was going to do. “I don’t know,” I finally breathed. Admitting it seemed to help, but the unsettled feeling still rested in every crevice of my mind.

“I think you should start by telling the father. Please tell me that it’s Remus and not him,” Lily murmured as she reached out and grabbed both of my hands in hers.

“It is Remus. I wasn’t together with him for long enough to sleep with him,” I shook my head.

“Then you should go tell Remus about the baby,” Lily said. She dropped my hands and stood up, gathering up my things before she offered one of her delicate hands to me. I took it and stood up, swaying for a minute like I had for the past two weeks. Together, we walked back to the school and up through the winding corridors to get to the Gryffindor common room.

“Wait, I’m scared,” I whispered, stopping just short of the door where she would say the password and let us inside. She hadn’t yet let go of my hand, so when I stopped she was tugged back with me.

“Remus won’t just up and abandon you,” she promised with a reassuring smile. “And if he does James and I will be here to help take care of you whatever you choose to do.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” she grinned, her eyes sparkling adoringly at me before she turned back to the painting. Everything had been going too fast up to this point, but now the world seemed to slow to a crawl as we walked through the small hallway leading to the common room and then entered in the rest of the way. It was a lovely day outside so most people were lounging around in one of the areas outdoors which left only two people in the common room.

“Remus?” I asked, my eyes nearly bulging out of my skull. Seconds ticked one by one as I processed what I was seeing. My boyfriend was perfectly placed on top of his best friend’s lap as their lips stuck together. Sirius had his hand-woven into the dusty brown locks just like I had two weeks ago and again just the day before. Tears blurred my vision as their kiss slowed and they looked up to me.

“What the fuck?” I cussed, my hands balling into fists beside my as rage seethed through my pores and infiltrated my very being.

“Severus?” Remus asked as he sprang out of Sirius’ lap as quickly as humanly possible. “It’s not what it looks like!”

“It’s not? Then what is it?” I snapped bitterly.

“We were just... I mean, I-” he stuttered as he hurried around the edge of the couch and tried to grab my hands.

“Don’t touch me,” I growled, backing away from him slightly. Lily placed a hand on my back and was letting a cool, yet angry scent out.

“What? Are you afraid of him now that you know?” Sirius asked as he walked behind the beta, my supposed boyfriend.

“No! And I wouldn’t have been scared of him in the first place if you hadn’t sent me into the middle of a dangerous situation where neither of us had any idea what was going on,” I sassed back.

The alpha growled darkly at me and wrapped his arm around Remus’ waist as if just to show how much closer they were. “That doesn’t change the fact that you were still scared of him. I was never scared of him.”

“I’m not some piece of meat that you two get to fight over like animals!” Remus scolded as he stepped away from the alpha.

“This shouldn’t have to be a fight. You’re my boyfriend! You and I have been dating for months and-and,” I faltered, unable to get the words past my life.

“And what?” Sirius snapped viciously.

“And I’m pregnant you fucking asshole!” I cussed as I stormed out of the room. I had made my way down a couple of hallways before Lily was able to catch up with me.

“Sev, please wait up,” she pleaded as she jogged after me. The skirt that some people could opt to wear was a bit constricting when it came to running. I did as she asked and stopped, letting her catch up to my side. She instantly flung her arms around me and rubbed our necks together to scent me. “I’m so sorry that that had to happen to you.”

“I hate him so much,” I whispered into her shoulder as my arms came up to hold her as close to me as I could.

“I know. You have the right to hate him that much,” she replied with a small shake of her head. “It makes sense why they would. That was a horrid thing that they did.”

“I just want someone to love me,” I murmured as tears slipped down my face and onto my neck.

“I know. I know,” she whispered as she rubbed the back of my head and rocked us back and forth. “You deserve someone that is going to love you after all you’ve been through.”

“Do I? The forces above don’t seem to think that I do,” I seethed as I wiped the tears from my face and sniffled a small bit.

“You do. You’ve just been looking in the wrong places,” she smiled cryptically. “Now do you want to go down to the Great Hall for dinner with me? James and I were planning on sitting away from Remus and Sirius today anyway. Maybe Peter will join us too.”

“Okay,” I replied, giving her a small smile. She beamed back at me, which caused my heart to flutter eagerly in my chest. She slipped her hand into mine as we walked down to the Great Hall below us. James and Peter were already sitting further down the table than they normally did. Peter’s plate was already full of food, and just the sight of dinner made my stomach growl loudly as if reminding me that I hadn’t yet eaten anything.

“Hey,” James smiled as he motioned for me to sit at one of the empty spots while making grabby hands at his girlfriend. Lily let my hand go only to circle around the end of the table and sit next to her courting partner. I sat down and began to load up my plate with food.

“How is your wrist feeling?” Peter asked as he nibbled on a piece of bread.

“Better than it was this morning,” I replied with a small shrug before my eyes darted back up to James. “I should thank you since you were the one that came to help me. If you didn’t I would have been a lot more injured,” one of my hands drifted down to my stomach.

“It was the right thing to do. I know that we’ve had our differences, but I’ve grown up a little bit since I started dating Lils,” James smiled back at me.

“More than a little bit. You’re making great progress,” the redhead praised as she kissed her cheek before resuming her meal.

“I’m really sorry that Sirius did that to you. Normally when he pulls pranks it’s just to make somebody laugh or be really confused. He’s never tried to hurt someone like that before,” Peter said. I could tell that he was earnest in his apology to me, which certainly helped with the messy turmoil of emotions that were whirling in my heart.

“Seeing as I’ve been at the backend of most of your pranks up until this year, they were never very funny,” I replied.

I was still a little bitter, but as time passed it slowly faded from me. I held resentment for Remus as he had taken advantage of me in more ways than one. I spent more time with my best friend and her boyfriend, slowly getting used to spending my time around the obnoxiously charismatic Gryffindors and less time around the back-stabbing slyness of my Slytherin housemates. I had never had many friends in the first place, and even less when my omegan secret finally came to light so I didn’t miss them much. My parents disowned me just as I had expected them to, but there was no howler to announce my secret to the entire school.

The next time that I spoke to Remus was when he cornered me outside of the library with Lily when I was getting closer to my third month. “Sev,” he pleaded as he reached out and caught my arm.

“You don’t get to call me that anymore,” I replied as I wrenched my arm out of his hold and narrowed my eyes at the beta. “You can call me Snape.”

“Fine, but we really do need to talk,” he said, shoulders sagging as he stared down at the ground.

“We can talk in the library, my ankles hurt,” I grumbled as I glanced at Lily.

“Are you sure? You don’t have to even give him the time of day after what he did to you,” she murmured as we continued on our way with the dejected beta following slowly behind us.

“I need to talk to him anyway. There’s the whole matter of… you know what,” I mumbled as my hand pressed to my still flat stomach for a moment. I would be five or six months along when we graduated and I wasn’t planning on coming back for the eighth year since I would have a baby to take care of. I was already good in potions so I figured I’d be able to find a job somewhere in desperate need of someone like me.

We walked back to one of the more secluded parts of the library and sat down at the table. “What do you want to talk about?” I asked. Something inside of me wanted to forgive him immediately and have everything go back to the way that it had been before, but I knew that it was my pregnancy hormones.

“The baby,” he replied, his eyes glued to my expertly hidden stomach.

“What about him?” I growled back defensively. Lily reached out and rubbed my shoulder as her way of showing what little support she could.

“Are you going to keep it?” he asked.

“Of course I am. I know I act like some pre-feral omega but I actually care about the pup I’m carrying,” I hissed quietly. I wanted to correct the objectifying of our-my child, but I had bigger battles to fight at the moment.

“You know that there’s a possibility that it could be a werewolf, right?” he asked, narrowing caramel eyes at me.

“That doesn’t bother me. I’m better at potions than you are so I’d be able to make a draft to help with the uncontrollable rage and painful transformations,” I replied quickly.

“So you’re just going to let yourself give birth to another monster that will be tortured and unloved?” Remus growled.

“My child will not be a monster. I have been one of the people that this world has shown no love to and I will make sure that I love my pup more than anything else,” I narrowed my eyes and released my scent for the first time since he had swept me into the conception of my baby.

“Fine,” he spat back in reply. “If you’re going to keep it then I should get custody too.”

“No,” Lily and I both said at the same time.

I glanced over at her and felt another surge of confidence as she gave me a determined look. “You just called the pup a monster and said that he would be discriminated against. There’s no way in Hell I would let you have any rights to my baby or let you see him if you’re going to act like that when you’re around him.”

“I wish I had never had sex with a whore like you,” Remus muttered darkly as he stood up and stalked quickly away from our little corner of the library.

I sat in my seat numbly, both of my hands laid limply in my lap while I processed what my ex-boyfriend had said to me. I had been so in love with him just weeks beforehand, it was insane how quickly he had changed from the adoring beta I’d fallen for into the abusive, rude man that had been before me seconds ago.

“You did the right thing, Sev,” Lily said softly as she placed her hand on my shoulder and then wrapped me in an adoring hug. I placed my hands over her arms as a way of hugging her back and leaned into the embrace. “You don’t even have to give him the time of day now.”

“He called me a whore… where did the beta I fell in love with go?” I asked.

“I don’t know. He’s not acting much like the Remus I knew either,” she sighed as she placed her chin on my shoulder. We fell silent for a bit, both of us stewing in our emotions.

“I thought I’d find you two in here,” James grinned at us as he rounded the corner and entered into our little alcove. “Why are you so glum?”

“Remus followed us in here because he wanted to talk,” Lily began.

“So? Sirius was the one that basically jumped you when this went down,” James said as he pulled over a chair and sat down next to us.

“Remus called me a whore and called the baby a monster,” I replied bitterly.

“Oh.”

“It took almost all of my willpower to not knock his teeth out,” Lily grumbled with a scowl.

“I think I might have to have words with him,” James nodded as he rubbed his face. “I was coming to talk about something a little more chipper but it feels like the wrong time now.”

“No, I need something happy. My life has sucked for the past couple of months,” I replied with a small shake of my head.

“Well, Lily and I did some talking last night and I finally made up my mind. When we all graduate, I want us to move in together. I have a trust fund from my parents and if I pass all of my exams I can become an Auror and start getting my own funding as well. We can buy a house in a nice little muggle village and live out our lives until we’re old and grey.”

“Is this your way of asking us to be a pack?” I asked with a small smile. The idea made my heart flutter happily in my chest in a way that being with Remus hadn’t. Lily had been the object of my affections for so long, and James didn’t look bad nor was he as much of a prick as I originally thought that he was. I enjoyed being around them both and even if I didn’t become mates with them, being in their pack would be lovely.

“Cute,” Lily cooed as she left her place around my shoulders and attacked her boyfriend with happy little kisses all over his face.

“What about the baby?” I asked after a moment as I placed my arms protectively around my unnoticeable bump.

“We’ll get a house with two extra bedrooms. One for you, one for the pup!” James grinned with a shrug. “It’ll work.”

“That would be… amazing,” he murmured as he grinned.

“Great!” he announced before a ghost poked his head through a bookcase just to shush us.

I avoided Sirius and Remus like they had the plague for the next month of school. We were placed away from each other during the exams however, which was the best part of them. I got morning sickness and scent replacer drafts from Madame Pomfrey after I explained my situation to her. I began to keep the heavy drapes around my bed drawn and locked with spells as I had created a nest out of blankets from wherever I could find. Lily and James became fiercely protective over me, but we all decided that we shouldn’t actually form a pack until we were living with each other and had a firm grasp on what our lives would be.

Lily and I kept getting closer now that James had realized that I wasn’t as awful as he initially thought. She began to get clingier, giving me more hugs and kisses on the cheek. It wasn’t unwelcome, in fact, I adored it more than anything else. James also began to show physical affection towards me as well as spend more time around me without Lily. I cursed myself when my heart began to flutter eagerly at just the thought of being around them and spending time with them. I had fallen for them and I had no way of getting out of it.

I had expected them to withdraw their offer to have me in their pack when we had actually graduated. However, they found me on the day that we were all packing up to leave the school for good and sat with me the entire train ride back.

“Here,” James said, grabbing my bag before I had the chance to. He placed it on the trolley and then did the same to Lily’s. Her cat made an unappreciative yowl as she was jostled around in her carrier.

“James left last week for a night and settled on a house in a place where his parents approve. Isn’t this exciting?” Lily giggled as she grabbed my hand and wove her fingers together.

“I can’t believe that you two are actually letting me be a part of your pack, especially with the baby on the way,” I mumbled, placing a hand under my rounded stomach.

“Speaking of which, I told my mom about your situation and she said that there would be a surprise for you when we got to the house,” James grinned as he turned back to look at me. We exited through the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ and out in the wider muggle train station. Lily opens the trunk to the car that her parents had bought her after her sixteenth birthday and loads our trunks into it. She then got into the driver seat and James got into the front passenger seat. I got into the middle of the backseat and let out a small chuckle as her cat lets out a yowl of protest once more. We would have apparated if not for the risks that came with apparating when pregnant.

When we arrived at the house, I had to be shaken awake since the long drive through the countryside had put my right to sleep. I yawned and rubbed away the blurriness that my eyes always collected when I napped.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” James teased with one of his winning smiles.

“You try to stay awake when you’re growing a human inside of you,” I bit back playfully in reply. He chuckled and offered me a hand to help me up, something that was getting slightly more difficult the larger that the pup got.

“You really picked a good one, James,” a beta woman told my friend as she walked over to where we were now talking by the car. She had shaggy brown hair and the same lovely blue eyes that James had but her face looked nothing like his. “And you must be Severus!” she beamed as she turned to me.

“Ah, yes I am,” I nodded as I placed a hand on the bottom of my stomach protectively.

“James and Lily have both told me so much about you. I’m glad that they took you in and decided to start a pack with you. Trust me, it will be good for the pup,” the woman, who must have been Mrs. Potter promised with a pretty smile.

“I hope so. Things have been pretty bad so far,” I winced in remembrance of how badly my hips had been hurting just yesterday.

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through this so young and that the father bailed on you,” Mrs. Potter tutted. The sun disappeared behind a cloud and she began to usher us into our new home, where Lily and James had already brought our bags in and released Crookshanks from his carrier.

“Now, I don’t know if James told you this or not, but I have been preparing the house since we bought it for him. And as soon as he told me that you were expecting I knew that I had to do something for you,” she grinned wickedly.

“He did tell me about that,” I nodded as I glanced over at the aforementioned alpha. He grinned back to me and gave me a thumbs-up before he was dragged into the kitchen by Lily.

Mrs. Potter began to walk through the house, leading me through the living room and into a hallway. From what I had seen, it was a lovely home that would be amazing to live in and even better to raise a child in. The front door opened into a small mudroom with tastefully tiled floors. It had a closet to the side for coats and a storage container for shoes as well as a key hanger. There was another door with lots of ornate glass in the upper half. When opened, it revealed the living room and had a hallway down the right and a kitchen to the left. The entire house was done in the most gorgeous hardwood that I had ever seen. The living room had a fireplace with a large mantle and several built-in bookshelves to either side. The bookcases were already half-way filled with Lily’s collection and a couple that I’m sure Mrs. Potter had left in her hopes that her son would one day read them.

As I walked down the hall, I looked at some of the photos already hanging on the walls. There were a couple of Lily and me in our beginning years of friendship, taken with Muggle cameras. The one near the first room was James and the rest of his friends, which had been taken before Sirius and Remus had turned to dreadfully tainted. I peeked into the first room and found that it was a bathroom.

The tile was the same as it had been in the mudroom and the countertops matched with it tastefully. It was decently sized with a tub and shower tucked into a divet in the wall. Behind the door, I assumed that there would be some type of linen or storage closet.

I turned back and followed after Mrs. Potter as we kept walking down the hallway. We went up a staircase that I was dreading descending when my belly got so big that I couldn’t see my toes. There was another hallway up the stairs, though this one went the other way. It had four rooms, two on each side. The one closest to the stairs was another bathroom and then on the other side, Mrs. Potter stopped and opened the door to reveal a bedroom.

“This is your room,” she said. “I know it’s bare, but you’ll have plenty of time to change it to your liking,” the beta chuckled.

I smiled back at her and took a step in to look at what they had placed in it so far. My trunk was placed against the wall, leaning against a gorgeous oak desk. It had a comfortable chair tucked between the drawers on one side and the legs on the other. It had a lamp on one corner, the corner closest to the wall. There was a bookshelf on the northernmost wall, containing a couple books that I assumed they had somehow obtained from my mother and father’s house. The bed was underneath the window and decorated with warm and heavy quilts. I was going to have to change those out before I went to sleep tonight since the pregnancy had made it unbearable to sleep under anything less than a top sheet. There was a closet on the last and final wall, just large enough to fit the limited clothing items that I owned. The room was much larger than my one with my parents had been and much brighter than that one had been as well.

“It’s lovely,” I smiled happily as I turned and walked back to the last room on the right side of the wall. I walked in after Mrs. Potter and gasped.

The room had been decorated as a nursery. The walls were a delicate baby blue with animal trim at the top and bottom. The window was large and framed with lilac curtains that were blowing in the breeze. Underneath the window was a little bookshelf with more children’s stories that I could hope to read to the pup in a year. The crib was white with a pastel yellow mattress lining the bottom. A matching rocking chair was in the corner right next to it, covered with a blanket that had the same color scheme as the rest of the room. The crib had a mobile with little broomsticks hung from the circlet. There was a changing table stocked with wipes, nappies, and a couple other miscellaneous baby things that would undoubtedly come in handy later. The closet was shut and had a rug spread out on the ground in front of it. It had several toys and more than enough stuffed animals piled on top of each other.

“This is wonderful,” I breathed, pressing a hand to my stomach as I thought about the tiny baby growing inside of me. In just four or five short months he would be here, growing up in this very nursery. The thought brought tears to my eyes and soon had me crying. Mrs. Potter wrapped her arms around me and rubbed my back as I sobbed into her shoulder.

“Shh, it’s alright love,” she cooed as she brought me over to the rocking chair and had me sit down.

“Sev? Is everything okay?” Lily asked as she rushed into the room from where she had been exploring the house herself. She grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles.

James followed after her, worrying his lip in between his teeth. “Is the nursery okay? I know the broomstick mobile is a little cheesy but I thought it was cute. We can change it if you don’t like it,” he mumbled.

“No, this is wonderful,” he whispered as he wiped at his face. “I love it so much.”

“Why are you crying, then?” James asked as he placed a hand on my shoulder and rubbed gently.

“It’s just something that happens during pregnancy, love,” Mrs. Potter replied.

“I can’t wait to raise my pup here,” I grinned widely as I looked over to the two people I loved most in the world.

“We can’t wait to raise him here either,” Lily giggled as she kissed my cheek. “Love you.”

Mrs. Potter slipped quickly out of the room, leaving us to spend some time together.

“Wh-what?” I asked, eyes wide as excitement and apprehension filled me.

“Sorry,” she mumbled as she looked down at her knees and the floor underneath her. “I wasn’t going to say anything since I know that you haven’t had any luck with relationships in the past. I didn’t want to coerce you into anything or pressure you in any way.”

“Lily, I’ve been in love with you since our fourth year,” I laughed bitterly.

“I told you, Lils,” James snickered.

“You’re okay with her loving someone other than you?” I asked him.

“I mean, yeah. If I’m being honest my ideal situation would be the three of us together but I understand that that can’t happen…” James mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Says who?” I asked as I stood up from the rocking chair and turned around. I stood up on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his, finally giving in to the desires that I had been having for a good month now. He wrapped his arms around my hips and tipped my backward slightly as he returned the kiss.

When we pulled back Lily began to pepper my face with kisses just like I had seen her do with James so many times before. I giggled and nuzzled against her scent gland once I had the opportunity to. She purred eagerly and scented me with her decidedly mate scent, claiming me in the only way that she could. I released a scent like that as well and claimed her before rubbing against James as well. We would have to wait until my next heat after the baby was born or else there was a chance I could feral and reject the pup. James scented me back, making us all effectively mates until the pup was born.

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The hot July air seeped through the cracks in the windows and hung heavy in our rooms. The breeze helped a small bit, blowing the curtains that hung around the windows up before they drifted back down to their proper locations.

James was away at work again and had to stay late tonight. I don’t know why he insisted on becoming an Auror when we were already part of the Order of the Phoenix and we were in the midst of the most dangerous time of our lives.

Crookshanks was lounging in the shade underneath one of the footstools littered around the living area to try and cool himself off.

“It’s so hot,” I complained, throwing my head back against the throw blanket on the back of our couch.

“If you think you’re hot imagine what it’s like being pregnant in this heat,” Severus complained from where he was sitting on the kitchen tile. In the mornings and evenings, he spent a lot of his time reading in his nest on the master bed, but during the day, especially in the overwhelming heat of the afternoon he would sit on the tile floor of the mudroom or the kitchen and read there. He hadn’t been able to find work yet due to the quickly advancing arrival of our pup.

“I know you’re uncomfortable Sev,” I sighed. I got up and walked around the couch to come and join him in the kitchen. My legs stuck to the chilled tile floor as I made sure not to touch him in fear of adding to his uncomfortableness.

“Being pregnant sucks,” he whispered as he placed his hands underneath his huge rounded bump.

“So you wouldn’t be willing to do this again? Even if James or I were the one to father the pup?” I asked.

“Maybe then. Just because of how much I love you,” he replied with a small smile. I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his lips. We had been scent-mated for about three months now and James and I couldn’t be happier.

“Ow,” Severus whispered, tensing up all of his muscles.

“Is this a false contraction?” I asked as I reached over and grabbed his hand.

“I’ve been having them all morning,” he mumbled in reply. “I was so uncomfortable last night that I just assumed I was more uncomfortable right now.”

“Sev, this isn’t good. You’re only seven months along,” I whimpered as I pressed a hand to the side of his face and then to his forehead. I didn’t know what I was looking for but it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

“I didn’t think that I could go into labor this early,” he whispered timidly. “I hope that this is just false contractions and not actual labor.

“Me too. I guess all we can do now is wait,” I mumbled with a small shrug. We sat on the kitchen floor together all afternoon. I got up and made us lunch and then a snack when the time for them came. I read to him at one point and got him pillows when he became uncomfortable.

“Severus? Lily?” James called as he walked into the house.

“In here, love!” I called back in reply as I ran my nimble fingers through Severus’s long locks. The pain hadn’t gone away as the day ebbed on and it was beginning to get worse. There was also a new smell flowing off of him that I couldn’t quite place.

“What’s going on?” James asked as he sat down next to me and reached out to place a hand on the baby bump.

“Sev has been in pain since last night and it’s just not going away,” I replied with a sigh.

“Do you think that we need to take him to the muggle hospital down the way?” James asked as he reached up and pet our omega’s face.

“I think that if it doesn’t go away by tonight then we need to,” I nodded.

“Ow,” he whispered again, tensing and griping at anything that he could. This pain had happened only two minutes after the last one did. “Can one of you help me up? I really want to go to my nest.”

“I can,” James replied, helping our omega stand up and slowly waddle his way through our home to get to the nest. He stopped just as he got to the stairs and whimpered as water-soaked his legs.

“Please tell me that’s not what I think it is,” I panicked.

“Did you just wet yourself?” James asked.

“No, you git!” he swore. “My fucking water just broke,” he whispered.

“We need to get him to the hospital. James, get him out to the car and I’ll grab some of the things that we need,” I said as I rushed past them and up the stairs. I could hear Severus swearing and growling in pain as James tried desperately to calm him down. I grabbed a change of clothes for me, Severus, and James. I then darted into the baby’s room and grabbed diapers, bottles, pacifiers, and a baby blanket that we were planning on bringing the pup home in. I stopped just before leaving the room and grabbed two onesies before I went down to the car. I stuck the bag in the trunk and then got into the front seat and started driving.

“I feel pressure,” Severus whispered as he clung tightly to James’s hand and his maternity dress over his belly. “I need to push.”

“Please try to hold on for just ten minutes,” I pleaded desperately as we sped down the road as fast as the speed limit and my rickety old car would allow.

“I don’t know if I can,” the omega replied, his voice strained as he forced himself to go against the instincts that his body was telling him to follow. “I can’t! Pull over, now!” he shouted.

We had just reached the outskirts of the town and we lived in a small enough village that there wouldn’t be anyone along this road for some time to help us. “James, apparate to get your mum,” I commanded as I unbuckled myself and rushed to the backseat of the car.

“Okay,” the alpha said. His eyes were wide and uncertain with fear as he focused for a moment and apparated away to get help. I opened the back door of the car and got in next to my omega mate. I grabbed his pants and underwear and pulled with one fluid motion like I had seen some people do on TV shows when I was younger. Severus whimpered and pressed his chin to his chest as he began to push.

There was a popping sound just outside of the car, alerting me to the presence of my alpha and his mother.

“Isn’t it a little early for labor to be starting?” Mrs. Potter asked as she walked behind me and peeked over my shoulder. She grimaced and then said, “Well, baby’s come when they choose, I suppose.”

“We can’t get him to the muggle hospital or Saint Mungos in the state that he’s in. What do we do?” I asked as I continued to hold Severus’s hand tightly in mine. He had relaxed against the back of the seat as red liquids dribbled down his leg and onto the fabric of the seat.

“We deliver the baby here and then transport them to Mungos,” she replied with a shrug. “Go around to the other side and I can get a blanket to catch the pup when he comes.”

I did as I was told and left my best friend for just a moment to go around to the other side of the car and grab that hand. James put the front passenger seat down and allowed his mother some more room to get in between Severus’s legs. He handed her the emergency wool blanket that we always kept in the back of the car and then held our omega’s other hand

“Good, I can see the head crowning,” Mrs. Potter praised after about ten minutes of Severus pushing his hardest.

“You’ve said that about five times now and the progress has just gone back,” he snapped moodily as he kept pushing. This time, the head didn’t duck back inside of his entrance like it had the past couple times and emerged further. He let out a stream of curses as he pushed once more and managed to get the head out.

“You’re doing so well, we’re so proud of you,” I praised, kissing his hand as I made sure that my worried scent didn’t leak out of my gland.

“You can do this, Sev. You’ve wanted to meet him so long and now you finally can,” James rambled almost incoherently as his way of working through the stress and anxiety coursing through us both. Severus pushed for another five minutes to get both of the shoulders out until the baby slipped out of him and into the blanket that Mrs. Potter was holding.

She caught the pup and wrapped him weakly in the wool cloth before placing him on Severus’s chest and then apparating to Mungos like had been discussed during the process of Severus birthing our pup.

“Wow, hi there,” the omega whispered as he stared down at his son with wide eyes. “You’re so small,” he whispered reverently. The pup coughed and began to scream and cry, much to the relief of my entire pack. I let out a wet laugh and wiped the tears off of my face as I looked down at the tiny pup.

I had heard stories of new parents praising their children for being the most beautiful beings in the world. I didn’t think that the newborn was particularly pretty, in fact, he looked a bit like a squashed meatloaf, but he was gorgeous in another way. I was a mother, even if I hadn’t been the one to carry or father the pup, and there was nothing better than that feeling.

“This is…” James couldn’t finish his sentence as he kissed Severus once more. The omega pulled back and let out a tense breath as his body forced him to deliver the afterbirth. Just then, Mrs. Potter returned with a couple of medics from Saint Mungos. James and I had to move away from Severus so that they could get him and the pup loaded up on the stretcher. One of them magicked away the afterbirth and cleaned up the pup. They began to cast more spells over our lover and the baby as the other two opened a portal and pushed the omega and pup through it and into the hospital.

I collapsed down to the ground when I saw my mate disappear through it fully, tears rushing down my face at a rapid rate. Mrs. Potter apparated away before I did so, leaving just James and me on the empty road.

“Woah, hey, Lils,” James whispered as he sat down next to me and rubbed my shoulder.

“I was so worried that we were going to lose one of them, James,” I whispered as I flung my arms around his neck and buried my face into his scent gland.

“I know, I was too,” he replied as he rubbed my back soothingly. “But we didn’t and now we can pack a proper bag and go to the hospital to see them.”

“I guess so,” I nodded as I wiped my eyes on my sleeve after pulling away from him. I pulled out my wand as I stood up and cast a couple spells over the backseat to get rid of the stains and wetness that had come during the birthing process. I put the passenger seat back up into its proper position and then got into the driver’s seat. We drove back home as quickly as we could, my hands shaking on the steering wheel the entire time. I parked in the driveway and then took out the bags, removing some of the things that I had grabbed in my panic and replacing them. I packed it better so that we only had to bring one instead of one for each of us. It would also be easier for us now that we could apparate home for new clothes.

“Are you ready?” James asked me from where he was standing against the doorframe to our bedroom.

“Yeah. I want to go see Sev and properly meet our baby,” I grinned wickedly. I shouldered the bag and then held his hand as we both apparated to the waiting room and then rushed up to the receptionist.

“Our mate just had a baby, we need to go see him,” James blurted out as he was just barely able to contain his excitement and anticipation.

“Longbottom?” the receptionist asked.

“No, he should be here under Snape,” I shook my head. She flipped through her little book aimlessly for a moment before she told us where he had been set up. We rushed through the halls as quickly as we could while still being respectful to the patients and staff.

“Sev?” I asked as I knocked on the door to the room we had been told our mate was in.

“Lily?” he echoed back with hopeful anticipation that made my heart sing. I walked into the room with James following close behind me. He shut the door behind us and then put a chair next to Severus so that he could sit close to the omega.

“For a little bit I didn’t think that you would come,” he laughed dryly.

“We were coming, we just wanted to repack the bag so that we would have all the things we needed,” I explained quickly as I sat down on another chair near the bed. I sat up on one leg to try and make myself taller so that I could get a better view of the baby.

“Do either of you want to hold him?” Severus asked as he moved the pup around a small bit.

“I’d love to,” I piped up before James even got the chance to open his mouth. Our omega smiled and giggled a small bit as he passed the pup over to my waiting arms. Pride and adoration filled my chest as I looked down at the tiny, red, and very squished face that the pup held.

“Have you decided on a name?” James asked as he looked over my shoulder at the tiny infant in my arms.

“Harry,” Severus nodded. “Harry Potter.”

“You want him to have my last name?” James asked with wide eyes. “Not Harry Snape?”

“I was planning on becoming your mate as soon as I could, and often omegas take their alphas last names without being married,” he nodded. “If that’s okay with both of you.”

“That’s a wonderful and very fitting name,” I grinned widely.

“They had to cast a bunch of spells on him since he was born so early. Apparently, the biological father not being around me made my body go into labor as soon as possible despite all of the potions I was taking,” Severus mumbled as he tried his hardest to stay awake.

“Well, he’s happy and healthy now. Go ahead and go to sleep, love,” James reasoned as he rubbed our omega’s leg with one hand. Severus rested back against the pillows and slowly drifted to sleep with his eyes glued on our newborn pup.

Harry looked up at me with big green eyes and blinked twice before he yawned widely and fell asleep. “I can’t believe that we’re parents,” I whispered as I leaned into James.

“Me too,” he whispered against the skin of my shoulder and neck.

We were able to bring both the baby and our scent mate home after only two days. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were already at the house when we arrived back, eager to meet their eldest grandbaby. Severus was still protective over the infant but allowed them to hold and dote over the newborn for a reasonable amount of time. We settled into a good rhythm with each other once more. We would take shifts getting up with Harry when he cried during the night, most of which was just fussing since he wanted attention.

Our little one was about six months old, Severus was home alone with him a lot. I had gotten a job and had to start doing more work for the Order. We kept Harry a secret from everyone else, only speaking about him in vague terms so that no one knew about our pup nor did they know about our scent-mate.

“Sev! Harry! I’m home,” I called as I placed my keys on their hook and then walked further into the house. Severus was seated on the couch facing the fireplace with our little one napping in his legs.

“Welcome home, love,” he smiled as he turned to look back at me. “I do have something to tell you and James when he gets home as well.”

“Something good or bad?” I asked as I leaned over the back of the couch and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“That depends,” he replied as he shifted around anxiously. Harry woke up on his lap and blinked his bright green orbs at me twice before giggling and reaching up with his chubby hands.

“Hi there sweet love,” I cooed as I reached over and tickled his tummy. “Have you been good for Mommy today?”

“He was, actually. He went down for his nap really well,” Severus smiled proudly down at his pup.

“I wonder if Remus regrets what he did to you,” I blurted before I thought better of it.

“I hope not. If he regrets it then he could try and take Harry away from us,” my omega scent-mate frowned deeply.

“Home!” James shouted as the tell-tale pop of apparition echoed through the house from the mudroom. He walked over to us and kissed Severus before wrapping his arms around my hips and kissing me passionately.

“Now that you’re both here I can tell you,” Severus said as he picked Harry up and cradled him expertly while walking around the couch to talk to us more formally.

“Is something wrong, Sev?” James asked worriedly as he grabbed Harry’s little hand as the beta reached out for him.

“You know that I’ve been wanting work for some time, right?” I asked.

“Yes,” I nodded as I glanced over to James and then turned my attention back to the omega.

“Professor Dumbledore came by today and offered me a job that I couldn’t refuse,” he replied, looking away from us.

“What was the job?” James asked, worry leaking out of his dark licorice scent.

“It was something that will really help with the war effort. It could mean that the Order and the Ministry would be able to take down he-who-must-not-be-named,” he rambled, avoiding actually answering.

“Sev, we love you and we will support you. We supported James when he chose to become an Auror. So whatever this job is we’re here to support you,” I said as I reached out and touched his shoulder lightly.

“He asked me to go undercover as a Death Eater. I would be posing as a double agent for them while I’m actually a triple agent for the Order,” he quickly rushed out.

“And you’ve already accepted?” James asked. He looked worried and concerned, but there was no flare of anger or resentment for our mate.

“I have. It does mean that I’ll have to get the Dark Mark. I think it’d be better if I moved out as well. Just so that I had a permanent residence where people could think that I lived even if I spent some time with you two and the baby,” he said.

“Speaking of which,” James sighed, rubbing the stubble on his chin. “Apparently Trawlany got a prophecy and You Know Who got wind of it. He’s looking for babies born in July from Wizards.”

“And Harry was born early in July,” I finished as my heart sunk down into my stomach. “I was thinking that we should go into hiding. No one really knows about Harry, or that he came from Severus and not from you, Lils.”

“Maybe this will work out. We can keep Harry here with us and go into hiding and then Sev can come and visit us whenever he can,” I replied as I looked over to Severus.

“It doesn’t make me happy but I think it will work,” he nodded firmly. “I talked to Peter earlier and he said that he already had an apartment that I could start renting since Dumbledore wants me to start working as quickly as possible,” the omega said. He paused and sniffled heavily, trying to resist crying.

“Oh Severus,” James whispered, wrapping the omega into a hug as he broke into tears. I wiggled Harry around so that he wouldn’t be uncomfortable before I hugged the other side of him.

“I don’t want to have to leave any of you. I love you all so much,” he whispered when he had finally stopped crying.

“We don’t want you to leave either, but if it means that we can raise our son in a better world that much quicker than I’m willing to do anything,” James replied with a shaky smile.

“You’re such a Gryffindor,” Severus laughed as he kissed the alpha’s lips. We spent the rest of the time that we could together until Severus had to pack and move away from us. The Order came and cloaked our house so that no one would be able to find us.

The days and nights blurred together as time continued to pass. Harry grew up faster than I thought was possible, and soon we were celebrating his first birthday with our omega mate. Severus had to leave in the middle of our little party and then came back injured the next night. I spent most of my time reading to our pup and worrying about both of my mates.

The night was getting nippier as October settled over us. I had Harry on my hip as he babbled almost-words into my ear. James was down in the living room, checking on a disturbance in the wards around the house. I heard running and darted into the nursery as quickly as I could. I set Harry down on the changing table and winced as I heard steps coming up the stairs that certainly didn’t sound like my mates’.

“Mummy loves you, sweetheart,” I cooed at the pup to try and keep his quiet despite my frightful scent. “You’re so loved,” I whispered as I kissed the top of his head. I felt something inside of me, my magic perhaps, reaching out and enveloping the pup as I whirled around to see who was opening the door.

I wasn’t able to get a good look at the stranger before I saw a flash of green cross my vision before I fell down to the floor. My will to live fought against the spell for a moment before the spell took over and everything went black.

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7deadlycinderellas · 5 years

Text

Come the Summer

(Sequel to the First of Spring)

AO3 link

Arya had just finished scraping the pan free of egg bits when Shireen comes to her and tells her she’s being summoned.

“What for?” Arya asks, confused. Renly has only on rare occasion summoned them, and he was not an early riser.

Shireen shakes her head. She has grown up lovely, though none of the young men of the court seem to have noticed, even though she carries with her name Dragonstone.

“I’m not supposed to say. I’m supposed to bring Gendry too.”

“He’s already on his way to the forge, I was going to join him.”

They were finishing up a helm for one of the new guard recruits. It was nearly done, but they really should get on it, and Arya doesn’t appreciate having to delay it.

“I’ll go get him too,” Shireen says before taking off, knowing that Arya can make it to the castle on her own.

Arya slips on her boots, slides Needle into its sheath, throws on her cloak (it’s raining lightly), and makes her trek up to the castle with no idea what could possibly be waiting for her.

She pulls her hood back down under the cover of the castle entrance. She tells one the guards who she is, and he makes to lead her into the keep.

Arya had no idea what to expect, but the last thing in the world she thought she would see were Father and Mother.

Suddenly, running to embrace them both, Arya feels like a child again, as if she hasn’t been married and on her own for five years. She has written them of course, extensively, as she has to her siblings, but being here and feeling them hold her tight, is different.

“Why are you here? And how come you didn’t send a message?”

“Oh, we were about to send a proper letter,” Mother starts, fussing with the straps of Arya’s tunic.

“But we had business to attend to in King’s Landing anyway, so we thought we’d surprise you.”

Business? Arya wonders. It must have something to do with the King’s recent marriage to that Tyrell girl. She hadn’t paid the news much attention, wouldn’t have felt it her concern at all, but the girl’s brother was a frequent visitor to Storm’s End.

“Is this about…” Arya starts to ask when another guard leads in a confused looking Gendry. His expression slips suddenly seeing Arya’s parents. His demeanor among highborns other than her had always ran the gamut, from his head ducked low in deference, to his eyes steeled and penetrating. She steps back and grabs his hand, hoping to steady him.

“Officially, we’re here to invite the both of you to Bran’s wedding. It’s a bit short notice, but he really wants you there.”

Suddenly Arya feels a weight lift from her stomach.

“They finally decided to take the jump?”

Shortly after him and Robb had returned to Winterfell, Meera and her father had come as well, under the guise of renewing House Reed’s oath of fealty. Unofficially, it had allowed the possibility of Bran’s betrothal to Meera to be laid out. Secretly, Arya had wondered if Meera even had a part in the discussion, but it would have been easy enough for her to just forget about Bran and keep deep in the Neck. Sansa had wrote her that by the last day the two were in Winterfell, that Bran had led Meera up the outside of the library tower and onto the roof, and the other girl had seemed more than happy to follow.

That had been nearly five years ago.

Bran’s letters had confessed to Arya, that while he had been besotted by Meera immediately, neither of them were truly in a rush to wed. Arya had nearly been jealous, Gendry and her having had to be so careful for so long.

“Your brother has finished training with Ser Rodrick,” Father explains, “And we’ve discussed arrangements with regards to inheritance. They both agreed it was time.”

“When are you leaving?” Gendry interrupts to ask.

Ned tells them, “We’re leaving Storm’s End in three days time, just long enough for everyone to rest up.”

Arya and Gendry turn to meet each other’s gaze.

“Do we have anything that will take longer?”

“That stupid helm should be done as soon as I can get that damned faceplate to fit.”

“Still?” Arya rolls her eyes.

“Dot?”

“On the road. Will that jackass who got ten pounds of nails at once be back?”

“I can dodge him or pass him off Kyn, he owes me anyway.”

“No mason appointments right?”

Gendry shakes his head, and suddenly Arya realizes they’re being watched as though they aren’t speak Common. She clears her throat.

“Go and try to fix that godsforsaken faceplate. I’ll bring us lunch and try to help.’

After he leaves, Arya returns her eyes again to her parents. It’s so strange having them near again.

“I should be getting back.”

Her mother steps forward, her expression borderline unreadable, as it had been through much of Arya’s childhood.

“I’ll walk back with you.”

Arya takes her mother’s arm as they walk out of the palace and up the small hill. The rain seems to have stopped, she really should do the wash later if it sticks. She realizes that Mother is glancing around at the ground, suddenly feeling self-conscious of the broken wheels and other debris.

“It’s like looking at your childhood bedchambers,” Lady Catelyn comments idly. Arya smothers a comeback. She had not been a neat child, and had been the subject of frequent admonitions that it was not the servants’ jobs to keep her cloak and books off the floor and her boots free of mud and snow. Arya feels her ears grow pink.

“It may not be much, but it is home.”

When they reach the house, Lady Catelyn stands in the doorway looking around as Arya steps into the cellar. Soft white cheese, bread and blackberry preserves, enough for the two of them. She pauses, then splits off a piece of the bread and offers it to her mother.

She takes it and eats it cautiously.

“Why does everyone seem to think I might accidentally poison them? Even Sansa didn’t know the secret of baking bread.”

That does makes Catelyn laugh.

There’s a long moment where Arya is considering.

“I...I don’t really, either of us, have anything really appropriate to wear to a wedding.”

“Sansa’s offered to take care of it.” Catelyn assures her, “She remembered that you only brought a single dress with you when you left.”

Arya’s ears burn at the reminder of how she’d left her home. Seeking a diversion, she remembers a book Shireen had lent her a fortnite before. She reaches and takes the book from its place on the table and hands it to her mother.

“Can you return this to Shireen? I meant to give it to her earlier, we’re done with it.”

Catelyn takes the book.

“It’s good to know your father’s efforts in educating Gendry were not wasted.”

Arya feels her stomach pinch in Gendry’s defense. Father had gone to great efforts to ensure Gendry and all his siblings could read and do their sums. Gendry often brushed it off, and Arya ended up reading to him from Shireen’s books more often than not, but he wasn’t dumb.

Her desire to defend him is cut short when they step outside, and Arya realizes that the mason who had come a few days before had finished the first layers in the circle completely and the rain had filled it.

“Hell, give me a minute,” Arya says, climbing the side.

“Can you hand me the bucket?”

It’s not too much, but if she doesn’t do this it will start attracting insects.

When the two walk down the hill as a pair, Catelyn asks her about the roof.

“We’re in the process of adding another room above us, but we can’t afford to do it all at once. And if the ring is complete, rain gets trapped. I should find something to cover it in the time being.”

She doesn’t ask about why they wanted to add on. The little cottage had been plenty enough for the two of them. Then several months ago, Arya had missed her moon tea for several days, and they’d been forced to consider.

And they’d decided it wouldn’t be the worst time.

Gendry, however, had immediately jumped onto the logistics. They might be able to squeeze an infant in a cradle in with them, but once it began to grow it just wouldn’t do. And Gendry had insisted that they would not want to deal with the masons and the plans and the scraping and moving when she was with child or caring for a very young infant, so they should get it done as soon as they could.

Arya was still grappling with the idea of being responsible for a tiny person, and Gendry was stuck on his own avenue. No wonder the others in Flea Bottom had called him the Bull.

Arya and her mother part ways at the crossroads outside the palace, and she goes forth to bring Gendry his lunch.

Later that night, they’re in bed going over what they need to do before leaving.

“What are we going to bring for a gift? I understand that sort of thing is traditional.”

Arya purses her lips in thought.

“We could give them that half barrel of blackberry wine down below.”

Gendry groans. They hadn’t known what to do with the massive oversupply of berries that the vine produced, until one of the fishwives gave Arya instructions of how to mash and ferment them.

They’d both been looking forward to it too.

“There was something I wanted to make Meera too, I’ll do that tomorrow at the forge.”

She sighs deeply. She’s happy to be getting to see everyone again, but…

“I wish being around your parents didn’t make me feel so small.”

Gendry’s rolled over with his back facing her when she says this.

Arya snorts.

“It’s not just you. Even just walking back here with my mother today made me feel like I was going to be scolded for getting muddy.”

Gendry rolls back to face the ceiling and Arya reaches over and pats him on the shoulder.

“The things we do for family.”

Leaving in three days is actually easy, the two of them have shockingly little to pack. The only reason Arya even chooses to take Needle is it’s pretty much the only thing they own that might be worth stealing.

Arya retrieves Sandy from the stables. The pale brown mule had been a belated wedding gift from Mya, but they had no place to keep her, and ultimately she had ended up just another of Mya’s pod. She fits both her and Gendry with only minor discomfort though, and brays in impatience when the horses need to be rested more often than her.

“We’re just going to pass through King’s Landing right?” Arya asks her father when they get close to the city. They’ve stopped to water the animals, and Gendry is adjusting Sandy’s saddle to make sure she isn’t too exhausted.

Ned nods back to her,

“We did our duty on the way down.”

“What was that business anyway?”

It is strange too, Arya thinks, no longer finding out the most of official business through gossip. She hasn’t missed it in Storm’s End, the alliances and feuds and machinations. But it wouldn’t be true to say she wasn’t curious.

“Queen Margaery has given birth to a healthy baby boy, and we went to give our congratulations.”

Ah, Arya had heard rumblings of that fact. Not as loud as they had been when King Robert remarried, but enough.

She cocks her head at her father.

“Was that really it?”

Ned pauses, as if debating whether he should tell the next part.

“Robert has chosen to disavow Tommen and Myrcella. He believes the assessment both me and Jon Arryn came to.”

That shocks Arya flat.

“What will become of them now?” Unlike their brother, Tommen and Myrcella had both been nothing but kind to Arya, and though neither of them were gifted with great wit or talent, they did not deserve the fates that most likely would be coming to them. Being labelled a bastard would be bad enough, much less labelled a bastard born of incest.

“Thankfully, he’s chosen to do it quietly, and leave out the more scandalous parts of the equation,” Ned replies. Arya lets out a sigh of relief. “Myrcella was promised years ago to a prince in Dorne. The two are fond enough of each other that the marriage will still stand. Tommen’s the one left up in the air.”

Ned stops and eyes both her and Gendry.

“King Robert also asked if I could try and convince you two to let him lay eyes on you.”

“That depends,” Gendry interjects, “Is he still a drunken whoring lout?”

Arya nods in agreement. The residents of Storm’s End had told them both the stories of Robert and Arya’s aunt Lyanna as soon as the two were recognized for who they were. Neither had been moved by it. Gendry resented any comparison to his father, long disdaining of his attitude towards women and lacking in his fondness for drunkenness. Arya too, had no fondness for her own apparent resemblance to her dead aunt. It was the kind of tragic love story that Sansa might have gone starry eyed over, not thinking of the needless death.

Ned nods, understanding. “Though as his health continues to decline, he seems less and less himself. “

“What of his queen then?”

“Margaery seems more interested in her own position than any of sort of connection between her and the King. She will remain, no matter what becomes of him.”

Her father’s words sit bitterly in Arya’s mind. Ambition, they would call it, Arya herself had no taste for it.

When they get closer to the Neck, the summer heat has truly shown itself, pressing down upon all of them. Arya had absolutely no need for the cloak she had packed, so it became a pillow.

When they reach the stopping point, Arya quietly asks her mother what’s been on her mind since the trip began.

“How much have I missed while I’ve been gone?”

“Somehow both so much and nothing at all.” Is Cat’s response.

“Did Bran ever end up taller than me?”

Her mother laughs at that. It had been a joke during Arya’s younger years, that the two of them were going to reach adulthood neck in neck.

“An inch or two. He’s barely even taller than Meera, and none of the peoples from the Neck are very large. He claims Robb and Sansa must have stolen all the family height and left you two and Rickon with the scraps.”

Cat gets a wistful look in her eye.

“What of Robb and Sansa?” Arya asks. She has written Sansa extensively over the last few years, but her sister seems to have more interest in how Arya was, and often dodges inquiries into her own life.

“Your brother seems so far away now. He’s been like this ever since Balon Greyjoy died and we sent Theon back to Asha. He’s had numerous offers of marriage, but hasn’t accepted any of them. He seems preoccupied, but can’t seem to say with what. Sansa is much the same.”

Arya feels her mother’s sadness deep within her. Of the few communications they had exchanged sense, Cat had told her that she did feel sad that she hadn’t gotten to see her wed, and Arya did feel guilt at having denied her that.

“Though, you will see them both for yourself soon. “

There is a bit of confusion,

“Both are coming? Then who remains at Winterfell?”

Cat shakes her head softly.

“Maester Luwin agreed with us, that he and Vayon Poole were confident in their ability to keep things running on their own, and that it would be good to try and give Rickon some responsibility.”

Rickon, Arya thought. Her youngest brother, who even as he entered young manhood, still seemed a wild boy.

“Rickon…” she starts.

Catelyn carries on, “Is much the same as when you left. He still wanders outside into the woods whenever allowed, sometimes for the entire day. I would almost believe that he was somehow a wildling changeling if I didn’t know better.”

Arya stares off into the forest thinking, deep in her mind, of her youngest brother.

Gendry comes up beside her, asking.

“Your father says they’ve spotted the guide.”

Greywater Watch moves, it being built upon one of the floating islands that fill the Neck. Which also means it cannot be found by raven or map, and they must wait to be guided in.

The man who eventually appears is rather small, with sandy brown hair. Ned steps forward to shake his hand, and then embrace him.

“Lord Reed, it is an honor to see you again.”

“Lord Stark, it is an honor to host you, especially in this situation.”

Reed turns, and the party begins to follow his lead, stepping their steeds carefully around the deep water and quicksand,

By the time their trek into the marshes and bogs reaches its end, Arya is soaked head to foot in sweat, and though only parts of him are pressed into her back, Gendry feels like he’s much the same. The air feels thicker here, heavy with moisture.Just when she feels like she’s had enough, Lord Reed announces they’ve arrived.

Greywater Watch may not be large as far as castles go, but it still looms before the party, rising suddenly out of the bog and drifting ever so slightly atop the water. The only guards Arya sees are a pair of boys of about ten with three-pointed spears. One of them ducks his head in deference when he rows out in a canoe to bring them aboard, and the other runs to the keep to announce their arrival, coming back out fairly quickly with the rest of the party come to greet them.

What her mother had told Arya was right, Bran looked much the same as she remembered, slightly taller than herself, his dark hair just a bit long. Sansa, who had resembled a woman grown even before she was one, was somehow even more immaculate, even in the swamp air. Robb stands beside her, confident and proud, even if he looks a bit out of place.

Arya suddenly feels herself taken over by a childish giddiness, and rushes forward to embrace all of them. She’s not sure who she manages to grab first, but everyone gets a turn.

Sansa reaches and touches the top of Arya’s right arm.

“Gods, you do have a smith’s arm,” she says, half disdainful, half admiring.

Robb pats her on the head.

“Still so small,” Arya sticks her tongue out at him.

Bran claps Gendry on the shoulder. Arya sometimes forgets that Bran hung around the forge as often as she did.

“Honestly, part of me thought Arya actually pushed you off into the sea as soon as we left and just never told anyone.”

The reunion is broken by Meera finishing greeting the rest of the party and stepping to do the same to Arya and Gendry.

From Bran’s description, Arya hadn’t been sure what to expect from Meera Reed. She’s about as tall as Arya, and lean. Her short, curly hair is tied back at her neck. And dressed in a linen tunic and leathers, she isn’t exactly the image of a fine lady who men fell in love with at first sight.

She’s wearing a huge smile though, and she adds,

“You’ll have to excuse my informal attire, there’s still quite a bit of work to be done.”

Arya hears Bran snort beside her.

“I can count the number of times I’ve seen her wear a dress on the fingers of one hand. Sansa didn’t know what to do with her. ”

Arya feels Gendry stiffen up.

“Milady,” slips from his mouth,

Meera’s smile crinkles,

“None of that, not here. We’ll all be family tomorrow.”

Gendry relaxes against her, and Arya feels Meera jump much higher in her esteem.

There is much to do, to prepare for the ceremony tomorrow. A few servants offer to carry their things inside, though Arya and Gendry choose to stay in one of the tents set up in the courtyard (it’s just been so hot, most of the people here are sleeping on porches as it is, or else just straight up outside”). Bran’s been in one since he’s been here, and he assures Arya they’re find, but reminds her to roll down the netting on the outside (“or the chiggers will feast upon you”). Mother and Father are discussing the seating with Lord Reed, Robb is helping Lady Jyana with preparation for the feast, and Sansa is sitting up with Meera’s brother Jojen while she finishes up some of the embroidery on Meera’s gown.

Bran has spoken a bit of Jojen, that the young man is quite sickly and prone to strange visions. He has told her that the Reeds call it “greenseeing”, and it’s always sounded like something out of Old Nan’s stories. But when he’s lucid, Jojen is perfectly welcoming, and Bran seems to enjoy talking to him.

Just when Arya is trying to figure out where she can fit herself in, Meera taps her on the shoulder.

“Arya, I dropped a fishing net this morning in a nearby pond. Would you like to come and help me pull it in?”

Arya perks up, then spares a glance back at Gendry.

“The canoes will fit three if Gendry wants to come too.”

Gendry shakes his head violently,

“No, no thank you.”

“Really? You’d rather stay here by yourself with Father and all my brothers?”

When he nods in agreement, Arya cocks an eyebrow in confusion, but turns back to Meera.

“Guess it’s just us then.”

The canoes are docked back in a corner of the crannog where the horses are also hitched. Horses, she’d been told, were not always useful in the Neck, and there were only two kept at Greywater Watch. Arya feels an urge to suggest that a mule or two might suit the terrain.

Arya gets in first and Meera hands her an oar, before getting in and push them off. The only other things in the boat with them are two empty buckets. Meera offers her a tub of thick, foul smelling green paste, saying the bugs would eat her alive otherwise.

“Do you have a knife on you?”

Arya nods before marveling that she was being asked that question by a lady.

“Bran mentioned you and Gendry eloped? How many years has it been?”

“Near on five, “ Arya admits, She hopes Meera’s not about to ask for marital advice, because she’s not comfortable discussing such matters when they involve her brother.

“I tried to tell him we should do the same, just run off one night and avoid all this fuss.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Well it would be rather awkward once we came home. Besides, people love a wedding.”

That is true enough, Arya must admit.

“It’s not like we had much of a choice. Gendry’s a bastard with no name, my parents would have never approved the marriage.”

Meera laughs at that.

“Sometimes I forget that things are so different outside the Neck. My mother’s a commoner too, and no one here said a word.”

Arya’s shocked silent. Oh. It seemed her and Meera were going to get along famously.

She gazes out over the water. None of the plants here look like ones she’s seen anywhere else, though she does recognize a bright purple flower from when they had passed through once before. Not touching that one again, she thinks.

It is rather nice out here, Arya notes. Despite the oppressive heat and humidity, the waters are calm, and the trees give plenty of shade. And everywhere her head turns, it seems there’s something new to look at.

“Does Bran like it here?” She asks idly.

“More than I could have hoped,” Meera admits, “I...I know what people from outside say about us, about this place. But he really seems to have taken to it. The first day, the keep was moored near one of the highest trees in the swamp. He disappeared after dinner, turned out he’d gone out to climb it.”

“That’s Bran for sure, Mother was always convinced he was going to plunge off something and break his neck.”

Meera points ahead of the canoe, “The turns up here.”

After they make it, she continues.

“He says he wants to try and organize the fighters here better. First night he was here, a settlement was raided by Freys.’

“He did always want to be a knight,” Arya says, “Though there are none here in the North. Mother called his training with our master-of-arms a squirehood, but he knew.”

Meera finds the net’s floater with ease, and the two of them haul the net onto the boat.

“Do you know how to gut a fish?”

Arya pulls out her knife. She’d forged it herself, her first big project, figuring no one’s standards were higher than her own.

“Knife goes in, guts come out.”

Though, she had only really gutted a few in Storm’s End, the one’s Dot had taught her to fish for off one of the piers. The fishermen usually did it on the boat. And Arya will admit, it is rather disgusting work.

After tearing off a rather stubborn bit of entrail, Arya fights to distract herself.

“I hope Bran’s not asking Gendry too many questions, he’s standoffish enough around my family without having to involve himself in matters that might involve being interrogated about what happened on our wedding night.”

Meera very quietly says, “He probably won’t ask.” When Arya stares at her, and slowly raises an eyebrow, she admits, “We didn’t quite make it.” Her cheeks have suddenly gone very red.

Well, it seems Arya has accidentally stumbled onto the exact subject she’d so wanted to avoid.

After being silent for a time, Meera continues.

“Bran’s been having strange dreams since he came here. A couple of nights ago, I woke and he was pacing the courtyard by where all the tents are. I climbed out my window to ask him what was wrong.

He told me he’d had a terribly vivid dream about being trapped in a cave and being unable to move his legs. He said there were monsters outside, but he couldn’t do anything to get away.

I tried to reassure him that it was probably just from being away from home- I mean, when Father and I went to Winterfell the first time I dreamed multiple times about being surrounded by blinding snow on all sides and somehow still be pursued by something- but he was really shaken up. So, I pulled down one of the canoes, and we went night boating.”

“That’s a thing?” Arya asks. It even sounds euphemistic.

“There was a full moon out, and the fireflies are thick in the summer. There’s the swamp gas too- pockets of air that sometimes catch fire. People have occasionally mistaken them for ghosts or spirits.”

“And did either of you see any of these spirits that night?” Arya asks wryly.

“Not a single one.”

They’ve finished up the fish, and Arya is happy for the rowing to escape her from this conversation.

Meera whistles on the way back.

“What is that song, it sounds familiar.”

“It’s just an old lullaby, though mothers don’t usually sing all the words. It’s just been back in my head lately.”

The sun is low and golden by the time they return, and Meera’s song perfectly suits the day.

When they disembark and Meera makes to take the bucket of fish to the kitchen, Arya is seized upon by Sansa and forced to spend the rest of her day being fitted.

The dress Sansa has brought to put on her is a soft blue silk, with yellow embroidery, and a blessedly loose skirt and short sleeves. It is rather lovely, even if wearing it makes her feel like some sort of fancy confection.

And even if she still flinched when Sansa pushed a pin too close.

Once she’s finished, Sansa brushes her hair. Arya generally can keep it free of snarls, even if she doesn’t do anything with it, so the action is almost soothing. She remembers having her hair brushed by her mother as a child, and for once does not remember the scolding.

“What about you, Sansa?” Arya asks after a long time. “No marriage prospects for you? No great romance I missed out on teasing you for?”

Sansa smiles, but her smile is a little sad.

“None. I’ve been given offers...but I feel nothing for them.”

“Nothing?” Sansa has always spoken of her own marriage, and Arya had been certain she would return to her sister having immediately latched onto the nearest handsome knight, and she’d simply been left in the dark for some unknown reason.

Sansa shakes her head, “They are young and old, handsome and not, gallant and greedy, and yet I feel nothing for any of them.”

“I used to think you could fall in love with a stick if it stood still long enough.”

“A stick Arya, really?”

Sansa pauses a long time on a rough section in Arya’s hair.

“Do you ever feel Arya, as if you’re waiting for something, and you can feel it coming, but it’s just out of reach? I have odd dreams sometimes…”

“Don’t talk to me about dreams.”

Bran has interrupted his sisters, sticking his head through the door.

“Have either of you seen Jojen?”

“He left earlier,” Sansa tells him.

Dreams...

“Yes, Meera did mention to me that you’ve had some rather...intense dreams being away from home.”

Her gaze is hard, and mocking. She hadn’t intended to bring what her and Meera had discussed on the boat up, but she could rarely resist the urge to tease a sibling. And even though Bran’s eyes dart towards her, Sansa doesn’t seem any the wiser.

Once Bran sees certain she’s not going to spill his secret in front of their more proper sister, he continues.

“Intense is putting it mildly. They feel as real as life when I’m having them. They- they feel like the way Jojen describes his visions.”

Visions.

“Do you think being here has somehow made you into a greenseer too?” Arya isn’t sure whether something like that is ridiculous or not, but the swamps here do feel like a whole different world.

“Even if that were possible, it’s wrong. Jojen sees visions of what has happened in the past, or will soon come to pass, or sometimes things that are happening right now. The dreams I have...they’re impossible. Sometimes I’m much younger than I am, and places I’ve never been. The worst one I woke up not being sure that my life was even real.“

Sansa stands and puts the brush down.

“I could go and ask where he went if you wish to speak to him so badly.”

She’s as confused as Arya feels, it seems. She wants to avoid the discussion, even if from her own admission, it seems she might understand.

Arya also feels the pull to push away the discussion of the impossible dreams. And so, once Sansa has left, she returns to her earlier needling.

“I’ll keep quiet if you can do the same. Though Meera couldn’t, so you two might be in trouble.”

Bran has gone very red. His cheeks have the barest hints of a beard upon them, though it looks like he shears it off. Its strange, even though he’d been as tall she was even years before, Arya still had a hard time thinking of him as a man.

“I could barely look her in the eye over breakfast without breaking into laughter, and she didn’t stop smiling all day, I’d be surprised if the whole castle didn’t already know.”

“So you couldn’t hold out a few more days, I never would have taken you for someone to be a stickler for tradition.”

Bran’s sat beside her, where Sansa had been. Arya had begun to regret that the two of them were never closer, they really were much more alike than her and Sansa were.

“If we were sticklers for tradition, Meera would be the one leaving home tomorrow. She would be coming to Winterfell and learning about our bannermen and how to prepare for being snowed in. Instead, I get to come and learn about how to hunt frogs, and how to grow vegetables in bales of straw.”

“Straw?” Arya asks looking at him funny.

“Oh, it keeps them out of the water so they don’t rot. You have to spread them with fish guts first…”

Arya cuts him off. Enough of her day has already involved fish guts.

“Her family’s known for years that Jojen wouldn’t be fit to inherit on his own. Meera tells me he’s always needed help, and she’s always been happy to give it. Though she did seem convinced I wouldn’t marry her knowing that.”

Arya’s feeling so much better about everything over this day,

“So you think you’ll be happy here? Even with the weird dreams?”

“That’s a joke. All these dreams have been making me do is be grateful for everything I have here.”

Sansa sticks her head back in and asks if Bran still wants to talk to Jojen, so their conversation ends on that note.

The fireflies are out heavy that night. They didn’t have them in Wintefell, or in Storm’s End. They look just like the stories describe though, though they don’t stay lit. The seconds of light as they hover over the water make the view from the tents on the ground borderline magical.

Gendry’s stretched out beside her. The other men apparently just made him carry and haul things all day, so he’s rather tired out and not inclined to talk much, or to appreciate the sights. Eventually, Arya pulls down the netting, stretches out and tries to sleep too.

Maybe it was the influence of hearing Bran’s stories, but Arya’s night is filled with strange dreams.

In one, she’s staring off a boat into the ocean, but she doesn’t know where she’s going. In another she’s back in King’s Landing, surrounded by screaming. That one ends blissfully quickly.

In the last, there’s a fire, and men she can’t get a good look at. She’s crying, and yelling, and Gendry is holding onto her, and it just won’t stop.

Gendry shakes her awake from that one, and it takes all her strength not to fight him, before her mind comes back to her, comes back to the day.

“Bad dream?”

She nods silently.

“I’ll blame the swamp.”

Getting ready in the morning is blissfully quick. Sansa frets about her own hair, she hadn’t planned to put it up apparently, but the heat is getting to her.

“Wait,” Arya suddenly remembers, fishing in her own bags for the hair pin she made her.

“It’s a wolfs-head, like the one Gendry made me.” She’d made one of a lizard-lion for Meera, but she’d already given it to her when she saw her heading off after breakfast.

“Did you make this?” Sansa asks, touching it with one finger.

Arya nods excitedly.

“The shapes are hard because the metal is so thin, but it’s one time that my small hands is an advantage. I can do the best chain around now too.”

Sansa twists her hair up, and Arya helps her slide the pin in the middle and close it. It holds nicely.

The godswood at Greywater Watch is tiny, everyone is pressed close together in front. The heart tree here is an enormous willow, with branches that shade nearly the entire ground from the blazing sun. For once, Arya pities the men having to wear their long sleeves and long pants. Bran’s in gray wool and leathers and looks like he might faint, though that might be from nerves.

Father and Mother stand behind Bran under the tree, and Arya is a few down, pressed between Sansa and Gendry, when Howland walks Meera in.

Her gown is white linen, flowing and short sleeved, with the neckline loosely laced. The skirt is embroidered with flowers of every color- Sansa had done that. She’s also wearing the pin Arya gave her, she notes with pride. She’s still smiling, and looks radiant. When he sees her, Bran can’t stop smiling either.

They say their words (without anyone forgetting their names, Arya notes), and Bran removes his cloak, and it’s at this point that Sansa starts crying (“again?” Arya says in mild disbelief), and when Bran leans in Meera tilts her head at the wrong moment and his lips meet her nose by mistake, and everyone still applauds, and Arya notes that her mother’s face has that same smiling-but-a-little-sad look that seems to be Sansa’s default now.

Half of the tents in the courtyard have been pushed aside to make room for the three long tables. It’s not a large crowd really. The castle itself has maybe only a dozen staff, and even though there’s a number of other houses in the Neck, it was not nearly as crowded even as the Great Hall could be in Winterfell.

The feast is modest, but delicious. The fish they brought in yesterday are fried, the extras made into a stew thick with roots and rice. The salad is nearly all wild greens, dotted with nuts. There’s cakes of bright orange yam fried in fat, and a pie of apples and blackberries, all washed down with a jug of strawberry wine.

There’s talk that Arya only half listens to, Hunters discuss sightings, rice farmers the rain. Gendry has managed to find a bronzesmith and is flooding him with questions. Lady Jyana, apparently, grew up a duck hunter, and tells Arya of the flock she’s kept and raised here for it’s eggs. A couple of archers mention the raids from the Crossing again, and are quickly shushed.

The food isn’t even all cleared before the music begins. Wooden stringed instruments Arya doesn’t know the names of, and pipes and homemade drums. There are no musicians it seems, everything having been brought by the people attending. Even Sansa whips out a reed flute, Arya didn’t even know she could play one.

Arya doesn’t know the tune, but after one song ends, she turns to Gendry’s, who’s finishing up his piece of pie.

“Want to dance?”

He looks uncertain.

“I don’t know any steps.”

She stares at him.

“What makes you think I do? I don’t even know most of these songs.”

And it Gendry steps on her feet more than a few times, she pays him back in kind. Robb manages to dance with nearly every unattached girl in the place. Sansa accepts a single dance from Jojen, who dances just a bit stiffly.

Gendry spins her at one point, and Arya catches her father’s eye. Ned meets her gaze long and steady, and Arya merely grins at him in return.

At one point, Lady Jyana touches her elbow.

“Can you call your parents over here? The bride and groom wish to make a silent getaway.”

Arya gestures Cat and Ned over and the group stand in front of the exit, allowing Bran and Meera to escape with ease.

“Barbaric practice I’d say, the bedding ceremony,” Arya comments once her parents have returned to the dance floor.

“We don’t really do that here,” Jyana agrees, “But someone got it in their heads, and neither yours or mine wished to risk it.”

And for not the last time, Arya is deeply happy that the only witness to her own wedding had been her sister.

Soon, though the night has already begun to fall, the music begins to wind down, and the guests begin to retire, and the few servants come and move the tables. The last song they stay for, Arya recognizes as the one Meera had been whistling the day before. It is odd for a lullaby, being about being left by someone who is the light of one’s life.

In the tent later, Gendry asks.

“So you have three more siblings right? So at most, we’ll only have to deal with three more of these things.”

“Fou, though Jon’s not supposed to be able to now that he’s taken the black. I can’t really see Rickon marrying anyone either. Perhaps we’ll luck out, and only have two more.”

Gendry’s on his back, hands behind his head.

“That’s still two too many.”

Arya rolls her eyes and settles back.

She’s woken a bit later by Gendry grabbing her arm rather tightly.

“What is it?”

But he remains silent, his eyes fixed upon her as if he thinks she might disappear. She reaches her other hand out to shake him. “Bad dream? Is it the swamp?”

His hand slackens around her arm, and he slides his hand down to intertwine with her own.

She remembers her own dreams previous night, and suddenly stands, tugging him by his hand.

“Come one, if you can’t sleep, we’ll go out in one of the boats. I hear there are lights we might get to see out here.”

Gendry follows her reluctantly, and looks at her like she’s grown a second head when she hands him an oar.

They see no lights that night, and the moon is only half full, but Gendry has no more bad dreams. The next morning comes soon enough. And if they end up flipping the canoe and walking back soaking wet, no one says a word to them about it.

#game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #gendrya #arya x gendry #breera #bran x meera

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dreamsicledream · 5 years

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Monsters in the frost pt 1 and 2

Heres my recent writing piece Monsters in the frost. I worked very hard on it. I’m posting both parts please enjoy and if you can reblog or send me a message with your opinion

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Pt 1 - Monsters in the frost

Ice began to spread across the mirror like surface of the lake and a blanket of pristine white snow. Yukon frowned his nose wrinkling. Winter was here too soon. It was unusual. How could it reach this cold in mid sepetember? Yukon leaned forward letting the water lap at his fingers in a part where the lake hadn't frozen. His mind was already whirring and turning over every possibility of what might be happening. The Increase in monsters... the cold was it related? He felt a sick dread knott at his gut as he removed his hand from the water. Strands of hair as white as the pristine snow fell in his face and he began to twist them around his nimble fingers tightly. His nose wrinkled as he ran over more thoughts. Were the monsters affecting the temperture? Or did the temperture signal that were monsters were coming? They were already struggling with the number they had. Vern could only handle so many even with the small blessing of foresight he had. Should they call in help? Should they have gotten someone to investigate the phenomenon?

Spiralling more and more as he tried to figure out what to do in his head, Yukon barely noticed his tail thrash breaking up the ice with each slap. He didn't even hear the footsteps approaching the cold snow until he heard a voice.

"Hey fish breath you going to continue to splash everything?" the snarling voice called from behind him. He whipped around to see.... Vira. Vira stood at the lake's edge hands on her rather large plump hips glowering at him with the constant look of mild annoyance she always wore. Her long pink toned hair had fallen out of the bun she always wore it in, now laying past her shoulders with various leaves in it. Her foot tapped with the same sort of foul attitude he was used to.Despite Vira's well unpleasantness, Yukon sometimes had to admit she was pretty useful for one of their resident monsters. Well monster was a harsh term except he had seen her change. When Vern was absent or busy they could bribe her to help out.

"Vira. Its the same pleasure as always to see you here" he retorted letting go of the hair he had been twisting to look at her and making his way over to the lake edge across the icey currents.

"Oh cut it. We both know no one looks forward to my presence. Shut it with the false flattery fish sticks" she huffed rolling her eyes. The pattern of her skin which resembled a whirling storm over the sea changed, flicks of lightning flashing across it. Oh he knew something had her in a worse mood now. He'd be lucky if he didn't see the claws forming if e didn't aggravate her more.

"Okay Okay Vira. What brings you here?" he sighed placing his hands up defensively.

"The magic in the area feels gross. So mister I know everything, fix it. also another monster interrupted my enjoyment of my snacks so I'm definitely going to filet you if it happens again! Ugh do you know how long I waited for my fresh donuts?" she snapped her fangs flashing. He sighed his shoulders dropping. Vira's ability to sense the feel of magic, had brought useful information. Yukon considered prying but he glanced at her scowl and impatient tapping . Best not to annoy her more. However he did know his own way to get information out of her. Vira was rather easy to please after all.

"Okay Vir I'll get to investigating it. So far I don't know anything. I'm the town mage not the the town detective. Why don't we go down to the bakery and I'll buy you a new box and you give me information about the sensations you're experiencing in the local magic" he said hoisting himself out from the water and on to the snow. His voice oozed charm and he flashed her his best smile knowing bribery would get him everywhere with her. Her eyes glittered and the patterns on her skin shifted. The usual stormy pattern changed to a more clear sky and she gave off a soft glow with her pointed ears twitching.

"... Its a deal" she mumbled and before he could ask immediately got his wheelchair which had been fitted with little bits to ensure he didn't dry out when he had to traverse the land. In one movement she picked him up and sat him down. He blinked a bit surprised at her speed. He chuckled after a moment.

"I'm so getting you the limited edition ones" he hummed.

"So why don't you ask the catpaw corp or whatever to help out with figuring out whats going on?" Vira asked waving her hand as she wheeled him to the village rolling her eyes. He leaned back looking up at her with a frown.

"Why don't you ask your father, mister developer of curses and researcher of immortality?" he asked but then regretted the words the instant he said them. He had forgotten in one split second about... her family issues. He could see the pain in her expression the minute he said it. He could feel her grip tightening on the chair almost enough to crack the handles. She looked away to hide her face.

"Shut up" she snapped a small quiver in her tone. He felt low. He didn't get along with Vira... no one did but that was too far. He regretted reacting so defensively. He tugged at his sweater as silence settled between the two... a heavy silence that felt like a large divide. He didn't have any answer of what to say to make things better. an apology didn't feel like enough.

"I ... wasn't thinking. Im sorry. We can do this on our own I just feel" he mumbled sinking down in his seat after what felt like minutes stretched into one long eternity of unease. She didn't reply. He had expected some sharp snap or just something. Maybe an insult... but instead he got nothing.

The rest of the time on the way to the bakery was seeped in that silence that made him feel disgusted. He wanted to hide in the lake again. She didn't even say anything as she opened the door to the warmly lit bakery. He twisted his fingers in his scarf.

"Can I get one of all of vira's favorites?" he called to the baker who just raised a brow and nodded. The baker scampered off in a second and Vira wheeled him to one of the tables.

"Vira. I'm sorry" he sighed. She glanced at him as she took the seat across from him.

"You say it again im leaving you in the snow" she retorted "I'm adding a milk boba tea to your tab". He felt immediate relief when she responded finally. Yukon paused a moment though thinking of how to ask her the questions he had about the local magic. He needed to know what felt strange to her but it was hard to understand something he never quite had an experience with.

"Vir? Okay try to explain it to me whats wrong with the magic" he mumbled.

"It feels like its falling apart... unstable. You know what I mean? Like something is causing it to fall apart and just spike and wane uncontrollably" she tried to explain as she got up to get the sweet baked goods from the counter and brought them over to the table. He began twisting his hair around his fingers again. Could magic instability effect the weather this badly? What did it have to do with the increase of monsters. He thought the creatures weren't the same as vira's species or at least he was pretty sure so they weren't made of raw magic.

"Does the magic feel similar when you encounter monstes?" Yukon asked plucking a sweet from the plate. Vira nodded as she stuffed a glistening donut frosted with a pink glaze in her mouth. The gears in Yukon's mind began to turn. He felt like he was on to something but he didn't have the full grasp on it yet.

=====================================

Pt 2 - Monsters in the frost

Yukon's fingers tapped along the side of his cup. He felt his brow wrinkle as he stared into the depths of the coffee thinking. It felt like he was turning over a puzzle box in his mind without all the pieces. The magic around the creatures was off but what did it mean? Was it decayed magic? Or merely some sort of more dark magic twisted in some manner? Could the creatures be beings made of magic or maybe were they synthetic? Every question turned in his mind as he tried to piece together what his next course was. They could capture the creature maybe... vern wouldn't agree with that as the town protector but... if it led to answers maybe he needed to do that. He stared down into the depths of the cup thinking it over more.

"Vira... Could you track one?" he asked quietly as he leaned forward in his wheelchair, his icey toned eyes met her sea blue ones "I want to catch one... to figure things out".

Vira leaned back scrunching her brows together in a more thoughtful look than her usual glares. She stirred her coffee crumbling a little cookie into it.

"Yeah of course i can fishfilet but your idea sounds pretty peak dumbass. Youre not exactly combat skilled in a wheelchair. Im guessing you know lovesick fool vern isn't going to agree either especially considering hes kind of getting a family started" Vira noted rolling her eyes as she mentioned vern "... I'll do it. Guess I'll have to be your big guns too? We'll have to get one out of Vern's radar though. Hes quick when it comes to sensing them and getting there to take care of it"

She was right. They'd need to find one far enough from the village, Vern wouldn't get it. He took a swig of the coffee in his hands wondering if his closest friend would see this as a betrayal. He set the cup down and raked his fingers his hair. His eyes glanced out the window watching snow drift down in glistening crystals covering more of the town. if the monsters and weather were linked... it was more important to fix things than worry about hurting his friend's feelings. The shifting of the weather could leave their town lower on resources.. he dreaded the idea of the village running out of food.

He didn't realize his expression had scrunched up so much until Vira flicked a tiny folded paper napkin at him breaking his focus. His gaze flitted to her. Her pink hair fell in wavey strands in her face and deep blue eyes gazed at him from behind large owl rim glasses. Her round features made her glare a bit less frightening than she probably intended and her rounded nose wrinkled as she stuck her tongue out at him before getting up.

"We better get wheeling. I've got business this evening" Vira said before he could even ask her to come with him like she knew he would. His tail flicked with a slight amusement before resting in its usual spot on the wheelchair once again.

“Thank you Vira. So where are we headed?” he chuckled with a grin at up at her as she made her way to behind the chair.

“Theres a little art studio well outside the village. Its way out of Vern’s range and I can sense there might be a monster on the way there. We could take advantage of the fact its a repurposed store room and use it to box in the creature possibly. Worst case, you could probably enchant some rope to hold the creature. Still the large space gives us an edge.” she mumbled flicking a few strands of pink hair back. He nodded as she wheeled him out of the warm golden glow of the bakery into the glistening white. The cold air stung a bit. Yukon could see the warm whisps of his breath dance in the icy air before disappearing. His fingers tugged at the fabric of his gloves as the snow crunched beneath the wheels and trails of snow formed in their wake as they made their way through the winding streets like a maze of snowy cottages. He could see families in their homes lighting the fires, and preparing the thick winter blankets all around him. The hints of oranges from the windows the only thing breaking up the white that seemed to stetch over everything. The further they got to the edge of town the quieter things got. He no longer heard people humming as they got carried their firewood or talking as they walked through the cold. Oranges stopped laying across the pure white leaving only an empty expanse before them instead of the usual fields. It felt like it went on forever.

Vira who had been quiet began a soft tune in a language he hadn’t heard as they walked. He felt his jaw drop agape. She never sung. Or at least he hadn’t ever heard her sing. Her voice was soft, high pitched in a sort of gentle way as she sung. The wind whistled an accompaniment to her song. He didn’t want to say anything to break the moment. He just wanted to listen.Yukon couldn’t help wondering if this was her native language she sung in. He knew she didn’t speak her culture’s language usually. There were…. issues with her and her own culture. He knew the sort of hate in her expression whenever she spoke about how she grew up in short moments. Her mother… had regrettably passed leaving her in the care of her father. Her father was a man whose obsession was his research and his first wife… her sister’s mother. Well half-sister to be more exact. Her half-sister was the golden girl of the family. Praised and adored by so many who met her no matter what she did while Vira had always struggled to just be worth some shred of praise. Eventually that enviroment hit some boiling point. Something happened Vira didn’t ever speak of and she had ended up here… researching magic from the catacombs under the city, that he understood was forbidden. He had asked her about her research and magic more in depth but she’d shrug it off. Sometimes when he asked she’d be colder and sharper than usual aiming purposeful insults to push him away. She didn’t lie to him though. Thats the thing despite all her oddity… she and vern would never lie to him to manipulate him. They might beat around the bush or be clumsy socially but he knew they had no sort of talent with manipulation or lies. Vira would tell someone to shut up and shove it before lieing and Vern well… Vern was just the world’s worst liar. He could trust them. Even if she protested, Vira would always defend him and Vern.

He chucked a bit at his own nostalgia which caused Vira to stop suddenly. He lurched forward in his seat at the sudden stop and turned back to look at her. Snow settled on her pink eyelashes and the rim of her spectables, Her deep usually teal skin tone had shifted to a more soft lighter blue that cast a small faint glow across the snow. The little cloud like pattern of her skin seemed absent of thunder currently although he could see one or two as she glared at him pressing up her glasses.

“You interrupted my song” she huffed.

“Sorry I was just thinking about things. Nostalgic sort of sensations” he informed her. She stuck her tongue out wrinkling her nose.

“Sentimentality? Gross. “ she replied as she continued wheeling “I’m just going to toss you in the first pool of water we find if you keep this weird stuff up”

“Oh? How cold. How could my favorite witch do this to me? Toss me cold and alone into the waters of the winter where I might become some fish popsicle.” he said dramatically with a grin playfully.

“Keep tempting your luck. Just go on. I know you like the ice. “ she retorted with a little grumpy huff that created a little cloud of warmth when she exhaled. He couldn’t help grinning more at her obvious annoyance.

“Well then miss lovely Vira are we almost there” he hummed leaning back. He watched her ears wiggled and her skin shift to shades of bright teals across her face. Embarassment? Well that was new.

“Shut up! Oh my god you’re such a wind bag. We’re really close now” she snapped and immediately tried to adjust his view forward. He chuckled again a bit quieter this time to himself as he watched the shape of the artists studio come into view as they rolled down one of the hills decorated the countryside. Large skylights decorated the slope roof, probably letting in the light of the setting sun into the large building painted with scenes of vibrant places he had never seen along its concrete walls. It stood out, a burst of color in the quiet. The walkway was just as colorful. It was hard to imagine that a monster might of lurked around such a place. However he could see vira bristle. He could hear the snarl rumble from her body. He glanced at her hands seeing them distort in shape growing like sharp razor like claws leaving scratches in the wheelchair handles. He felt his breath catch in his throat as he glanced around trying to figure out where the creature might be skulking waiting to devour someone whole. Vira clicked her tongue quietly then gestured to one of the top windows. He hadn’t noticed it but one window was broken letting the snow fall through.

Before Yukon could even say anything, like a flash Vira was darting forward pushing the chair through the snow in a dash. He gripped the handles startled by the sudden movement. Ahead the sounds of wood ripping and breaking rung through the silence. Yukon felt his brow wrinkle as he frowned. His ears could pick up sounds from inside the warehouse. He could hear glass shatter. Vira paused only to stop at the door and leave him there before rushing in. He could seem her features had shifted as she had moved past. A familiar shape of her face distored from its human like features shifted into something more akin to a dragon’s snout with sharp horns atop her head and the flash of her fangs… he knew them well.

He grasped the wheels of his chair hesitantly as he gazed into the open door before him shrouded in thick shadow. Yukon took a deep breath. He could feel his heart beat faster and faster… an inkling of fear growing. Combat wasn’t something he was front and center for. He couldn’t just let things be like this though. What if there was someone in there who needed his help. Vira could handle trapping the beast well enough couldn’t she? Now he had doubts about that too. He took another deep breath letting the burning cold air fill his chest a moment before he began to advance inside the warehouse.

It was dark as he crept ever so carefully forward. The skylight cast rare beams of light over the dimmly lit studio. Shelves filled with paintings made a maze around him. He could hear some of the shelves smash from the sounds of the fight. He leaned forward in his seat trying to peer what might be ahead, his ears moving as he struggled to listen for sounds of someone other than Vira and the monster. Just barely he could catch some sounds. The distant scared gasps of a person along with small hiccups. It felt so close but still so far. The racks of paintings obscured the view but he could see a path through them to a little workshop area where he was pretty sure the sounds came from with an easel and small platform. His fingers gripped the wheels of his wheelchair tightly before he took care with each movement toward the area. Statues loomed between the shelves watching his every careful movement. Something about statues had always unnerved him. They reminded him of something distant like a strange foreboding memory at the corner of his mind he couldn’t quite grasp. Yukon shook it off though inching forward more and more towards the workshop section to where he heard the small noises .

When he reached the section he had been aiming for his eyes flitted around looking for the source. He could hear the snarling, and snapping of the fight between beasts growing closer and he felt the panic rise in his chest. It felt like his every movement was too slow as he looked around for the source. He wasn’t far off luckily. Curled up hidden against the shelves was a small burst of pink hair trying to hide in some sort of wrapped fabric. Yukon wheeled closer quietly. He extrended one of his hands out to the shaking bundle. Deep rose toned eyes peeked up at him from under a mess of soft pink hair. They were beautiful in a way Yukon hadn’t expected. Marks of soft glowing gold decorated their warm yet lightly tanned skin. Yukon couldn’t spot any clothes either under the shawl they were hiding under. He figured they were probably the artist’s model but where was the artist. He couldn’t help the curiosity about that tugging at the back of his mind but he took the delicate hand of the young man in front of his in his own gloved hands and carefully pulled him into the wheelchair atop him.

“Sorry about the close quarters but lets get you out of here… I’m yukon” he whispered softly as he began to unwind the scarf from around his neck. He drapped it around the young man in his lap. “I’m… meda” the model mumbled his voice quivering just a slight bit rattled from whatever had happened before they got here. Yukon’s thoughts wandered wondering if the artist, Meda worked with, had … perished. He pushed those thoughts down though as he began to unbutton his coat. Yukon carefully laid the warm fabric around Meda’s shoulders.

“Its cold outside… cant have you freezing. Wouldn’t be a good rescue then would it?” Yukon joked trying to ease the situation the best he could . He could feel a small chuckle leave Meda’s body and Yukon felt a small bit of relief. It was odd to have someone in his lap. Oddly close, he could feel the warmth of the other man as his hands moved to grip the wheels carefully. He could feel the light rise and fall of Meda’s chest as tiredly the model laid his head atop Yukon’s chest. Could he hear how fast Yukon’s heart was beating? Yukon turned the chair and began to inch it towards the door. He worried about the cold but cold was safer than claws and fangs dyed with blood.

Yukon struggled to try to make his way as quickly and quietly to the open door as he could. Claws scratching on concrete and the howl of a beast in pain filled the air behind him. He could feel his hair stand on end. His thoughts wandered to small worried about Vira. He could hear the shelves crack and break with each impact until right in front of him the two beasts landed. Barreling through the shelves scattering the ruined canvases. Vira’s changed form was pinned under the beast’s claw. Slick oil like blood stained her skin and oozed from the large gash across her snout. Despite the painful wounds though her jaw opened as she snapped her razor sharp fangs still fiercingly trying to dig into the flesh of the creature that loomed above her. The beast kept her forced down with its talons digging in her stomach. Broken feathers fluttered down on to the bloody floor from the beast’s own wounds. Its wings had been clawed through and some of the thousands of eyes decorating its shadow like form had been clawed out. The oil like blood of Vira mixed with the creature’s own on the floor as its beak opened. It leaned forward and Yukon felt like his heart might stop watching the scene.He couldn’t move fast enough. Every movement felt too slow as he rummaged through his pockets for something that could help. He needed something… anything he could enchant to catch the creature off guard. His finger tips brushed cold metal. It was a small retractable knife. Vern had given it to him in case of danger. This was danger. He pulled it out fumbling the blade out as quick as he could. He prayed in his mind this would work as he forced the feelings he was feeling into his own magic. He forced every panicked prayer and desire to save Vira into his own magic focusing it into the blade. The metal grew colder in his hands and in one swift movement he threw it.

The blade sunk into one of the red eyes then from that spot ice exploded covering the beast in it over one of it’s shoulder blades where its wings connected to its body. The creature faltered from the force of it and Vira snapped up in that moment her claws ripping across its chest before it could move causing feathers to fly. It stumbled taking steps back and she lunged.

Yukon covered Meda’s eyes as Vira tackled the creature down biting into its neck with her rows and rows of fangs. It twitched and thrashed beneath her. He looked away as he heard her claws dig into it cracking bone ripping it apart every time it tried to snap at her. He gripped the wheels with his free hand and took a slow moment to wheel forward. He could hear gurgling blood filled croaks from the monster as he left clutching Meda close to his chest. They weren’t catching this one… it had taken too much of a chunk out of vira plus they didn’t need to get someone else hurt. His stomach felt like it turned as he made his way outside.

The cold air felt like a shock jolting him out of the moment. He glanced down at Meda removing his hand.

“Sorry” he muttered quietly “... are you okay?”

“Thank you… for saving me. I’m not usually this anxious I promise… What was that thing? The um big bird? Well and the other thing… the one with horns and massive claws? The thing fighting the bird” Meda asked stumbling over his words as if trying to regain what pose he had usually between shivvers from the cold. Yukon let a sigh escape his lips.

“Thats one of the monsters… they eat people. They tend to plague this area since before I was even here. As for the horned creature, thats vira. Shes one of the people who hunts the creatures. She tracked it here.” Yukon explained raking his fingers through his hair. Meda glanced up at the man who rescued him as if studying Yukon’s features.

“You tried to save me even though you cant move as well on land…” Meda said softly “do you usually come with?”.

“Uh me? No no I’m the enchanter for the area. I enchant weapons or tools for people . I work with the hunters but Im not one myself. I’m here because originally we wanted to catch it… we want to find out why more keep appearing. I’m guessing you’re new here?” Yukon muttered glancing away. Now that they weren’t running from monsters he felt very aware of the fact Meda wasn’t wearing anything beneath coat,scarf and the shawl. He opened his mouth to add a question about that but quickly snapped it shut. “I’m a model. My artist had suggested that a change of scenery would yield to more creativity so we asked to borrow a friend of hers studio” Meda answered adjusting his own hair a moment “She probably would of liked to paint you… I was waiting in the studio while she went into town”. Well that answered many questions but still left quite a few. His mind wandered a bit to running over the situation currently. They had failed to catch the monster but they had managed to save someone. On one aspect but on the other he was no closer to answers then when he started. Worse, Vira would definitely probably be gorging on that monster’s corpse like a rabid animal till her wounds healed, have crazed. They’d have to make it somewhere on their own. Maybe vern’s home would be best. He could get the young man in his lap dressed then escort him to town so they could find the artist Meda was working with. Vern would question what happened though… worse Vern would be angry they hadn’t told him. Maybe he should of told Vern though. Why was he doubting everything? Why did everything seem to not fit together like he planned.

Meda’s hand waving infront of his face jolted him from his thoughts a moment.

“Hey, whats got you spaced out handsome” Meda chuckled with a roguish grin he hadn’t expected from the young man’s earlier demeanor. How long had he been thinking? Was Meda staring? Yukon felt his whole face to the tips of his pointed ears heat up with embarassment as he stared down at Meda watching the model’s tail flick mischievously. “Ah … uh I’m going to bring you by my friend’s place so we can borrow clothes” yukon mumbled straightening up his eyes flitting away unable to meet the rosey toned ones of Meda’s. He gripped the wheels of his chair and began to wheel away from the warehouse.

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acenettle · 5 years

Text

Pillars Prompts Weekly prompt 0072: Story inspired by a seasonal song

Unfortunately, while I had an idea for a story, the song’s really... not... in English. Erm. I’ve included a rough translation at the end of the story, but I’m not sure how much that’ll do.

Features Vela and an orlan fire godlike Watcher.

The girl and the sparrow

It was the dead of winter by the time they made it back to Caed Nua. A recent blizzard had piled drifts as tall as an adult orlan against the shattered walls, and what little of the keep itself remained was once more strewn with rubble. But there was a candle burning in the window of the Game Warden’s Lodge, and after a moment of deliberation, that was where Elzana headed, the shivering Vela in tow.

The warden welcomed his Lady back with cries of disbelief; everyone had thought Elzana dead, and with the young miss Vela missing, Caed Nua had been presumed a lost ruin once more. Elzana listened to the warden’s woes and then reassured him that she was here to stay, and that the keep would be restored to its former glory. She had returned from Deadfire with ample funds, after all; they would only need to wait for more favourable weather, and then the rebuilding effort would begin in earnest.

In the meantime, however, there was little to do but settle down into the cottage. While not very large, it had room enough for the bust of the Steward and the two orlans - or rather an orlan and a godlike the size of one. The warden regarded the Steward with relief and his Lady with politeness, but he absolutely doted on Vela. He even found the young orlan a knit cap and a scarf so long it must have belonged to a particularly tall aumaua, and the little girl shrieked and laughed in happiness as she raced through the gardens and played in the snow.

Or not so little any more, Elzana mused. At seven, Vela came to stand almost at the height of her eyes; a few inches more, and the child would be as tall as a grown woman, and that much closer to inheriting the keep. She really did have to continue Vela’s lessons soon, especially the combat training; it simply wouldn’t do for the future Lady of Caed Nua to be unable to defend herself. But perhaps that, too, could wait until spring; certainly she could afford for Vela to be but a carefree child a moment longer.

***

Over the following days, the sky finally cleared and the bitter winds died down. Apparently word of the Watcher’s return had gotten around, for people kept dropping by, some from the surrounding farmsteads, some from as far away as Dyrford. If Elzana had learned anything from her recent stint as a successful sea captain, it was that booze was excellent at keeping everyone’s spirits up. And so, even as people began repairing some of the smaller buildings in hopes of getting the keep running again, she sent for food and drink; they’d make a bonfire out of the material that had to be discarded, and have themselves a midwinter banquet.

For her part, Vela was thoroughly excited by all the people, as if she hadn’t just seen breathtaking wonders quite beyond a small gathering in the Dyrwood. But then, her spirit had always been amazingly strong; Elzana recalled with dry amusement and a lingering sense of anger that it had been what had almost gotten the girl killed in the first place. She herself had seen red the moment she’d learned how the child had been treated by those who were supposed to be looking after her. As if Readceras hadn’t already been bad enough.

Right now it seemed all Vela cared about was making friends; when she was rebuked a few times too often by the dwarves and folk working on repairs, she set her eyes on the little birds that darted around the tables in search for food. With a spring in her step the girl disappeared into the lodge, and once she returned she was hugging a bag of grain against her chest. She only needed to set the bag down and throw out a couple of handfuls before she’d gathered herself a rapt little audience. Then one of the sparrows landed on the girl’s outstretched palm, and the child barely dared to breathe. Quietly, Elzana went to stand next to her daughter.

“Watcher, look at the birds,” Vela said. “Do you think they’d want to be friends with me?”

“They just want the food, my little maid. But provide it for them often enough, and they’ll learn to trust you.”

“They’re so grey and drab, nothing like Ishi or the other birds in Deadfire. Why do you think that is?”

“I haven’t the foggiest idea, dear, but I’ll be sure to ask Hylea if she ever happens to show her face to me again.”

“Well, I think I like them anyway.” The sparrow took flight, but landed a short distance away in the snow. Something about the bird nagged at Elzana’s memory, and she opened up her senses to the small thing – and took a sharp breath. She grabbed Vela by the shoulder.

“Child, I think you were right about them wanting to be your friends. That one – he used to be a small boy, running in these very halls.” She concentrated, coaxed the name out of the memory. “Lendry.”

“Lendry? My friend Lendry?” And now Vela’s lip was suddenly quivering. Not used to waterworks, Elzana rushed to reassure her.

“Hush, little mite, don’t cry.” But if anything, her words worked only to unstopper Vela’s tears. For a moment Elzana was at a loss, but then she became aware of how Vela’s soul, usually burning so bright, was flickering in distress. And of course it was only last spring that she’d lost all those little friends of hers, and the nursemaid who’d seen to her needs, and the cook who prepared her favourite treats and… and everything, really. Everything and everyone. Even the strongest of souls had a breaking point, and perhaps what she had thought of as a happy and carefree demeanour wasn’t really all that.

Swallowing a piece that had lodged itself into her throat, Elzana pulled the girl into a tight hug. “No, here I’m talking nonsense again. Listen to me now, my daughter. You walked out of a disaster that killed damn near everyone else, you sailed half across the world, fought pirates and braved storms the like I hope we’ll never see again. And all that time, not a peep from you. You never cried and you never complained. You were strong when I needed you to be, and put on a brave face when you had to. But now… now I’m telling you a secret.”

“Yes?” Vela managed between her quiet sobs.

“Nobody can keep that much hurt and pain inside themselves forever. There has to come a time to let it all out. Otherwise, it merely crystallises and starts cutting you up inside. And now… all is well, Vela. Your friends escaped into the world before the Wheel stopped. And in time, the Wheel will be mended, just as the keep will be. I’m well and you’re well, Vela. It’s safe to cry.”

Vela hugged her tightly, and let the tears come. They sat together on the lodge’s porch, even as workers and visitors came and went around them. Eventually, Vela wiped her eyes, and they simply remained in silence and watched the birds, until they’d finished eating and, one by one, darted away again.

Elzana shifted and stretched out her legs. “It will be dark soon,” she said. “They’re probably setting up the bonfire as we speak. Are you ready to go, my little maid?”

“I guess so, mother.” It was a rare thing for Vela to call her that; having been raised by a nursemaid like she had, she usually referred to her as the Watcher, just like everyone else. Feeling moved all of sudden, Elzana adjusted Vela’s cup and rested an arm around the girl’s shoulders as they made their way towards the path leading around the rubble.

"The sailors used to sing about a Lendry,” Vela ventured quietly.

"It’s a common enough name, moppet.”

"Yes, but could you sing it for me? Please?”

Recalling the shanty in question, Elzana did. She’d never had the best of singing voices, but then, neither had most of the sailors, and Vela did not seem to mind. She listened with rapt attention as they walked, and joined in for the last verse of the song.

"...heave away, my Lendry boy. We’re all bound to go."

And come back one day, Elzana thought as she once more spotted the bird that held the little boy’s soul, gods and kith willing.

And here’s the song “Sparven om julmorgonen,” “Sparrow on Christmas morning,” which goes roughly like this:

Now the white snow has fallen, fallen on birches and linden trees. The clear sea has frozen, waiting for spring winds. The little sparrow, destitute sparrow, ate up his stores from summer, The clear sea has frozen, waiting for spring winds.

By a green cottage’s door stood a little girl: “Little sparrow, come here, come and have some grain! Now it’s Christmas in our hut, little sparrow, dirty and grey. Little sparrow, come here, come and have some grain!”

The sparrow flew to the girl’s feet, flew on glad wings: “Gladly I’ll take the grain, the grain that you bring me. God will surely reward you, you who are a dear friend. Gladly I’ll take the grain, the grain that you bring me.”

“But I am not who you think I am, the one whom your eyes see. I am your little brother, who died away in the spring. When you gladly gave your bread to the poor who was in need, You gave to your little brother, who died away in the spring.”

#pillars prompts weekly #pillars of eternity 2 #deadfire #vela #pillars fan fiction #fan fiction #varpunen jouluaamuna #is what this song's called in finnish #and I guess back when it was written nobody liked sparrows much #I think they were considered pests?#nettle's stories

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mattness · 5 years

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Space Dementia

Here we go again)) Another chapter! OTP: jenniwise Come to read this now! ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Chapter VI. New York was lit up by the sunset. The sky was painted in a beautiful orange color, merging with the horizon line. The view from the hotel window, which is located Jen on arrival in the city, was impressive. Now, every evening, thanks to the panoramic windows of the skyscraper, she, being here on an internship, could watch the sunrises and sunsets. And it was insanely inspiring.

Having settled down in hotel, the girl learned that tomorrow she needs to appear on a workplace at nine in the morning. Fortunately, it was only seven in the evening, and there was plenty of time to rest. So Jennifer, without thinking twice, called Tyra and arranged a meeting. A friend was supposed to arrive at the hotel in about half an hour. Jen went into the bathroom and looked at the reflection in the mirror, the flight took from her all power. Under the eyes lay light dark circles, which indicated how she needed a good night's sleep. In the mind again began to scroll to recent events, which don't give rest. Mysterious Robert Grey at the same time managed to repel and attract. Jen couldn't understand why he was stuck in the brain like a cancer tumor. He stuck down as if he meant something to her, but in fact it was not so. Peering into her own blue eyes, she didn't notice how the reflection slowly began to distort. The burning lamp above her head blinked, preparing to burn out. Suddenly Jen felt an unpleasant chill, strolled on the back. Heartbeat quickened, the blood pounding in her temples. Cold sweat erupted on her forehead from the mixed feelings that overwhelmed her right now. Like someone's about to stab her in the back. The girl raised her head to the blinking lamp, cursing softly. The light stopped blinking and she again turned her attention to her own reflection. Wright sighed, trying to bring breathing back to normal. But nothing turn out. Behind the right shoulder in the mirror suddenly appeared a recent acquaintance. He was smiling crazily, and his whole mouth was bloody. Jennifer screamed in horror, instantly turning around: in the place where he stood, nobody was there. "Fucking asshole!" Jen cursed, again having looked in a mirror and for back. There was no one in the bathroom. Having calmed down, Jennifer returned to the living room. She tried to get my thoughts in order and to understand the cause of the sudden hallucinations. Could she have going crazy talking to that idiot for a couple of hours? Maybe it's just fatigue. Because of the flights, strange things often happen. Jen continued to look for glitch in the mirror a rational explanation, eyes searching every corner of the room. Putting her hand to lips, she sat down on the sofa. Maybe a conversation with a friend will help her relax? Maybe as soon as she gets to work, a strange acquaintance will fly out of her head? Brunette very much wanted to hope for it. Something inside suggested that Grey would hardly dare call her back. Surely he has a lot to do in his own company, which he, of course, didn't tell. He so wanted to show themselves ordinary man, that in end overdid it. Jennifer smirked at her thoughts, taking with coffee table red bomper. The jacket was thrown as soon as the girl crossed the threshold of the room. She put her hand in left pocket and fished a snow-white card out of it. The number with the initials of the owner cast gold paint, literally screaming about the high financial position. Jen frowned, starting to consider a small piece of paper on all sides. But she couldn't concentrate. A sudden, persistent knock on the door made her shudder and wake up out of thinking. On the threshold of room was Tyra, which, starting from happiness, immediately began to hug her. Jennifer smiled, also enjoying the coming of a friend. "I'm brought us a bottle of red semisweet as you like", the girl murmured as she walked through the room and placed the grocery bag on the coffee table. "I'm took all for our get-togethers." "Thank you, Tyra", Jen said sheepishly, sitting back down on the sofa. "I'm glad that you found the time for me today." "It's nothing!" friend smiled. "You better tell me everything. How are you?" She went to the mini bar and got two drinks while Wright began to unzip the package. On the table appeared various fruits, a box of chocolates and a bottle of red wine. The girl smiled, knowing that on sober head is the amount of sweet fruit you can hardly overpower. Tyra sat down beside her on the sofa, already carefully trying opens to the bottle. "I'm relative fine", the brunette began, scratching her head. "What happened on the road from Derry to Bangor? You're were alarmed on the phone. And another you told me that met someone," on the face of the girlfriend immediately appeared a sly grin. "What's his name? How old is he?" "Robert. Twenty-seven years", Jennifer chuckled, bending her legs under her. "He's very handsome. Like Roy, only a more advanced version." "Wow! Someone was able to surpass the beauty of this piece of shit out of our University?" Tyra laughed. "Have you photos with Robert?" In response Jen shook her head. "Then describe him to me. I want to introduce handsome." "He's tall and thin. Big green eyes, cheekbones, perfect lips, perfect hair, and weared in such nice suit", smiled Wright, but the smile instantly disappeared from her face. The girl grabbed her glass of wine, making a big gulp. "Everything would be fine if not…" "If not what?" Tyra was surprised. "Such a perfect prince might have something wrong?" "He's very strange", frowned Jen, and she immediately flinched from the recent hallucinations in the mirror. "Too mysterious and, one might say, muddy. In his eyes there is a kind of madness." "Well, if he haven't demons, then I wouldn't have believed in his existence," she smiled, sitting comfortably on the couch. "Try to lose him, Jen, and I'll kill you." Brunette with incomprehension stared at Tyra. Why would she want strange Robert Grey continued to communicate with her? Didn't she realize Jen was serious? Still, it's difficult to assess the story of a stranger... Yes and the was only the first impression, which is often wrong. Maybe Jennifer is really wrong about Robert, and he isn't the way she had already imagined him? "Rich and beautiful guy may not be without its own demons", smiled Tyra, send in her mouth grapes. "You know what I'm able to make a joke about", giggled Jen, letting go of all thoughts and finally deciding to properly relax. "With him is not necessary to have anything but friendship." "You're fool, Jennifer." "I know." More of the night they told each other not a word about love. The conversations were about urgent matters and problems, about memories of the university and about different films. Nothing can so relax and give strength as a heart-to-heart conversation with a close friend. Jennifer felt happy. She let go of herself and problems, which this evening seemed to become much smaller. * * * The next morning and the ringing alarm clock forced Jennifer to quickly get out of bed. She hastily put on jeans, a dark jacket and, taking the bag with a MacBook, ran out of the room. She didn't want to be late for internship for a minute. Jen came down from the hotel and ran to the subway station. The time on the clock was slow and the train arrived quickly. The girl with pleasure has plunged into the morning rhythm of the metropolis, which was lacking in the little Derry. In the big city nobody cares about you, nobody whispers behind your back and does not let dirty gossip. It was much easier for Jennifer to be in the big city. Maybe it's just a matter of habit. Train raced through the dark tunnels, occasionally illuminated by the lights. There was a rattle and a whoosh of wheels. Because of the high speed of the train swayed from side to side. People around were passionate about their business: someone read a book, someone slept or sat in the phone, listening to music. On the face of Jen flashed a smile: a long time since at the soul was not so easily and quietly! Two metro stations were behind, one was left. The clock hand was nearing nine, and Jen sighed in relief. The first day, fortunately, will be without delay. Often at University, she was late because of his bad sleep or night walks in Brooklyn with friends or with a boyfriend when he was still. Now, as an adult, she didn't want to be late for a possible future job. After all, Jen didn't plan to work all her life in a women's magazine. The train slowed down smoothly and the doors opened. The girl ran out of the train, quickly heading for the exit. Bright sunlight blinded her eyes for a few seconds, and Wright frowned. To the skyscraper, which housed the publishing house, remained a few meters. She noticed a building with numerous advertising signs and screens where one could see different expensive clothing brands. Inside the building everything was decorated in a strict modern style. Beige and buff colors reassuring, directly opposite the entrance were four lifts, in which occasionally people came in. All hurried to work, to their office, as well as Jen. At the entrance there was a reception desk, where she was able to find out what floor is necessary for her office. "Hello, I'm Jennifer Wright", Jen introduced to young red-haired secretary with glasses, sitting at the entrance to the publishing house. "I came for an internship from Derry." "Hi, I'm Katie", smiled the girl, immediately starting to type something on the keyboard. "We're already waiting for you." "Really?" "Everyone already talking about you last week", Katie replied, distracting herself from the computer monitor. "I hope you enjoy working with us. Your article impressed with Mrs. Johnson. She said you had a lot of potential." Jen faintly surprised, not believing his own ears. Really stupid article about the relationship between a man and a woman could impress? However, it looked like the workplace now is Jennifer's. Something suggested that the internship would not take more than the promised week. "Come with me", asked the secretary, and with Jen headed for the snow-white door. Katie opened doors, and Wright seen a large publishing office, done in nice bright colors. Panoramic windows overlooking the river and the old Brooklyn bridge. This view from the eighty-fourth floor was breathtaking. Jen wanted to come closer to take a closer look around the city. She haven't been in skyscrapers, almost on the top floors. But Katie wouldn't let her see the view. The receptionist called Jennifer to herself, and they went on in the office. Here, each employee had his own place. Everyone was engaged in the business. The working atmosphere was in the air, the buzz of conversations did not abate. The girl felt like she starts to like it here. She climbed a small staircase to the door of the study, the walls of which were made of glass. So the head of the office could follow literally every employee. Jen smiled, mentally comparing this study with the predatory eagle's nest, where he saw each of his next victim. Katie gently knocked on the door, and on the other side there was a soft voice: "Come in." "Mrs. Johnson, Jennifer Wright has arrived today", said the secretary. "Who?" quite rudely asked a woman with black hair and in the bright shirt with a simple black pencil skirt. She got distracted from the phone, looking narrow brown eyes on her worker. "You took her on an internship." "Oh, right!" she remembered immediately, and a good-natured smile appeared on her face. The woman rose from the large leather chair and walked over to them. She held out her hand to Jennifer, who shook it with pleasure. The secretary silently withdrew from the study, so as not to interfere with the conversation. "I'm Helena Johnson. And it's good to see you, Jennifer. Ready to get to work?" "Yes, of course", the brunette smiled politely. "Your skills impressed me very much", the head of the magazine honestly admitted. "So I decided for you, Jennifer, to make a small exception. I will reduce the internship time to four days, and if during this time you manage to write a couple of good articles, the place in our large team is yours." The girl raised her eyebrows in surprise, once again not believing her own ears. Inside, she literally jumped with happiness. Jen's joy knew no bounds, so she bravely took Mrs. Johnson by the hand and shaked it. The head of the magazine laughed out loud and added solemnly: "Jennifer, welcome to our magazine!" * * * The first and the second week at work in publishing house for Jennifer began sweeping imperceptibly. Place she, of course, received. And now every day she was doing what she loved: writing articles, picking up new material and has already conducted several interviews. The brunette was happy and content. Emotions she shared with her friends, who have seen now quite often. They also got a job, but not in the specialty. But they liked it, too, so Jen was happy for them. About how everything went well, the girl immediately told her father on the phone. He was sincerely happy for her, said he was waiting for her in the near future in Derry, so she can see how transformed the old granny's house. But Jennifer said nothing. To return to the small town again, she doesn't. Plans in new York came true, and now she wanted to buy an apartment in Brooklyn. An independent life suited her. Chester, knowing the daughter, was not to argue with her and swear. He knew that Jen would definitely find time for him to come. But this time has not yet come. The sitting on the couch in the room, Jen wearily yawned and turned on the TV. At seven o'clock as usual were news. However, Wright didn't really listen, completely immersed in writing another article on her MacBook. Again she yawned, suddenly vaguely heard the message of the speaker: "A five-year-old boy, Jack Tyler, disappeared in the Brooklyn area. According to police, the last time the boy was seen near the waterfront. However, he hasn't yet been found." Jennifer added a little sound. "Also missing are several people in the Queens area. Their photos are presented on the screen. If you met them on the street, please report to the police immediately. Perhaps your information can help in the search for the missing." "It's so terrible..." softly gasped Jennifer, subtracting sound and remembering the faces of the missing. More just like to boy found. Safe and sound. Suddenly Jennifer remembered how she was leaving the hotel in Orono. In the head immediately poped up the image of Robert Grey, whom she tried so hard to forget. It was at the time of her departure at the hotel began some strange fuss. Somehow, the disappearance of people wanted to associate with a strange wealthy prince, much embarrassed Jen. She closed "Word" and went to the browser, where the search box wrote the name of the hotel where she stayed. The girl thought she'd run into a scathing magazine article about how a lost a few people in hotel. However, nothing but the address and services provided with the description of the hotel, could not be found. Apparently, in order not to spoil his own reputation, the head of the hotel decided to hide everything. Or Jennifer just made it all up just to somehow explain the mystery of Robert. She snorted, realizing how foolish it was to accuse a man, she had only known him for a day. Putting the MacBook on the coffee table, the brunette got up from the sofa and went into the bedroom. Tomorrow was another working day, and now it is necessary to have a good sleep before to immerse yourself in the routine and the rhythm of the metropolis. * * * Pain shackled the whole body, and the legs were terribly wet. Looking down, Jen found herself standing ankle-deep in the water. She shivered in the cold and looked around. She stood in the middle of the dark tunnel at one end which was visible a faint light. After a few faltering steps to it, Jennifer immediately winced from the foul smell that hit the nose. It smelled like rot mixed with dampness and different waste. She pressed the sleeve of her jacket to her face, continuing her journey. She thought it was a sewer or a gutter. Occasionally could be heard as somewhere in the distance, water dripping, and the feeling of emptiness and lack of a direct way out of this unpleasant pressured to her. With each step, Jennifer became more and more uncomfortable. But luckily, the tunnel ended, and she was in the center of the drain where were conducted all the pipes. She was unable to contain a quiet gasp of horror that instantly swept over her, when she was enough to see a huge tower, consisting of different children's toys. It stood up to the ceiling and was about ten meters or more high. From it you could see dolls, stuffed toys, wheels of small cars and strollers… Jennifer had a hunch that all of this belonged to the children who had ever gone to Derry. Wright made another step towards the dump, suddenly seeing under the feet of her own bear. Picking up the dirty toy with eye torn off, she felt her heart ache. All childhood bear was next to her, and then she had to leave him at his grandmother's house. When Jen was about to leave with dad, bear completely slipped her mind. They were rushing. And now she felt like a true traitor that left best childhood friend. But the feeling instantly faded into the background, she feeling someone's gaze. Just like Jen felt when she checked into the hotel in Orono. She was ready to turn around and to see someone who been in her thoughts a few days. But no one behind was not, and the unpleasant feeling is still pinned down inside. "Sweet Jenny", murmured a voice echoing down the drain. " I know why you came here." "Why?" the girl said with her lips, afraid to move. "You, too, want to fly down here", again came the voice, and the body Jen shiver. Something was coming right at her, but she didn't see anything. Sharp claws pierced the neck skin and Jennifer screamed, jumping on the bed in the room bedroom. Heart pounding in her chest, a cold sweat stood on her forehead. The damn dream almost drove her crazy. The girl tried to catch her breath and grabbed the phone that was lying on the bedside table. Before her alarm clock just a few minutes, so no point to go back into the clutches of the nightmare was not. Jen rinsed her face with cool water and felt relief. Irrational fear has finally receded, and she quietly washed her face, starting to get ready for work. In the publishing house she greeted with all new friends and sat down at the desk. Turning on the computer, Jen sighed heavily and looked at her watch. There was a difficult day ahead, and there was still a lot of time before the end of it. She tried to focus on the article, but nothing worked. In the head repeated this voice that seemed so familiar. If Jennifer heard it before, but she couldn't even remember who it belongs. "Why are you so tense?" asked the neighbor Mary, who was sitting literally behind the girl. "Bad dream. Never mind", waved Jen, sighing wearily. "Well, okay. If anything, you can always share it with me." "Thank you", the brunette replied. She really appreciated the care the new friend Mary, but now this care she was useless. Mary was kind and sympathetic, as said all her appearance: good brown eyes, slightly plump face and light brown hair. The girl always dressed in blouses with a variety of cute prints, emphasizing their same colorful skirts. Jen's sure that she could be a good friend. However, the brunette didn't want to get close to anyone. Wright sighed and again tried to concentrate on work. * * * Finally, the clock stopped at six in the evening, and the girl with peace of mind about she going home. Putting on a burgundy coat and taking the bag, Jennifer left the office and went down the elevator. Once on the street, she noticed that the weather gradually deteriorated. Dark clouds were gathering in the sky, foreshadowing the rain, and a cool wind was rising. That's why she had to hurry. The girl quietly went their usual way to the subway station, this time deciding to cut down on the road through the nearest way. It is this narrow quarter led straight to the descent into the subway. But it was worth she to go into a dark alley with trash cans and nasty smell, like back the echo he heard footsteps. Jen over her shoulder saw a man holding his hands in his pockets, following her. "Maybe he also decided to shorten the path. Calm down, nothing will happen", Jennifer thought nervously, accelerating her step and noticing how the pursuer also accelerated. "Damn!" the girl screamed before to be with the force pressed against the wall. She screamed, but a knife was immediately placed to her throat. "Just try to squeak, baby", the crazy man hissed menacingly, peering into her eyes, "And I'll kill you, gutting all your organs." Jen gulped, trying to figure out how to get out. The cold knife blade touched the skin down from the neck right to the chest. She immediately understood the true intentions of the rapist. The girl felt a pepper spray in her coat pocket, waiting for the right moment to use it. The man pulled time and did not dare to do anything. Jen almost got a trembling hand spray, but it fell out of her hands with a deafening thud falling to the ground. "You're ugly whore!" the madman yelled, putting the blade back to Jen's throat. "Ugh, how rude", protested a familiar male voice, causing Wright and a rapist simultaneously shuddered. "Is that right to treat a lady like that?" They looked at the silhouette of the tall man who was standing at the beginning of the alley. The streetlight hit him right in the back, and it made it impossible to get a good look at his face. But Jennifer seems to have quickly figured out who it was. "Who the hell are you?" the maniac was indignant. "Her boyfriend or something?" The girl silently prayed that the whole circus that lit these two, end as quickly as possible. Hands still trembled treacherously, and eyes were dimmed with tears. Why is everything that's happening right now happening to her? Jen groaned in pain and despair, feeling the blade of the knife almost pierced the skin. "Stay away, or I'll cut her throat!" threatened the rapist, but the Jennifer's savior just giggled with laughter. Wright bit her lower lip to blood, trying to hold back a scream. She closed her eyes, fearing that death was about to overtake her.

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meltingalphabet · 5 years

Text

I Should've Known

I should’ve known something was off about Juniper.

For starters, her name was Juniper. That should have been my first reg flag. But when her photo popped up on tinder, my thumb hesitated over her face. Yeah, it was a bathroom selfie and yeah, her lips were pursed in an annoying semi duck face, but fuck she was hot.

My thumb slid across my phone’s screen as I swiped right.

Our first date was at a bar near her work, somewhere in Midtown. She wanted to meet up on a Tuesday. I’d have preferred a weekend night, but whatever. I’m flexible.

When the catch is hot enough...

It was some douchey place with a sports reference for a name. Foreplay or something. The place was filled with frat-boy-now-financial-advisors taking advantage of the happy hour specials and attractive bartenders in tight tank tops.

I grabbed us a table in the back, behind the giant jenga and pool tables.

My phone buzzed with a text message. Running late. Be there in 10.

I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my cheap lager. She better be worth it.

My beer caught in my throat as she walked past the bar into the main seating area. She scanned the room for me, her long blonde hair over one shoulder. She wore a fitted button up shirt, unbuttoned at the top, and a pencil skirt. Her long thin legs ended in a pair of pink pumps. A little bit of spice in an otherwise fairly conservative business outfit. I felt my groin warm as my eyes lingered on her calves.

Her face lit up with recognition when she caught my gaze. Her tinder picture didn’t do her justice. Her nose and chin were round, her face an oval with a slight widows peak. Her lips were full and rosy pink. Her blue eyes wide with excitement. I raised my glass and smiled my most charming first date smile.

Five hours later, I lay in her bed empty and satisfied. Overall, a decent first date. As I listened to the water running from Juniper’s bathroom, I decided with drowsy comfort that she would make a great sacrifice.

We dated for a few months. Juniper was hot, cheeky, and wild in the bedroom. Things were going great. Until she invited me to her parent’s cabin for Christmas.

My father passed away earlier that year, so no one was waiting for me. I had to keep Juniper close for this year’s offering and I figured it was the season of family. As they say, the more the merrier.

We weren’t able to drive up to her family cabin till Christmas eve. Juniper worked as a legal secretary, and the office didn’t give her much time off, so it wasn’t till around 3pm before we were loading Juniper’s luxury crossover. It’s ok, I thought. Still plenty of time.

She wove the car through snowy back roads and explained to me what a “snow tire” was. I had only recently moved up north from Florida and I thanked Christ she didn’t ask me to help drive. But I had never seen snow before and its beauty struck me. I watched out the window as we passed the sparkling white landscape, mesmerized.

Her parents, both lawyers, were loaded so I don’t know why I was surprised when we pulled up to the “family cabin.” The two story mini-mansion was built from polished wood and stone. Large columns stretched up from the ground to the roof, creating a sharp awning that sheltered the double glass front doors and floor to ceiling windows that spotted the modern exterior.

Juniper parked her car at the top of the driveway, expressing obvious annoyance that all three spaces in the garage were already taken by her parents’ and sisters’ cars.

I peered out the passenger window at the house. Large soft snowflakes fell lazily to the ground, illuminated by two spotlights shining from the front yard onto the cabin’s facade. The light reflected off the snow, giving it the illusion that the heavens were raining gold.

“Wow, I know I’m from Florida, but…” I paused. “This isn’t really what I was picturing.”

Juniper lowered onto the wheel to get a better look at her family home. Her face glowed in the warm light from outside. She chuckled, “yeah, I know. But don’t be fooled, it’s not all fancy.” She eyed me mischievously, “the cell service is fucking shit.”

“Ah.” I nodded, as if that one fact brought her whole family back down to earth.

“You brought your swimsuit, right?”

I laughed at the joke. “Oh, of course.”

Her smile fell. “No, Calvin, I’m serious. You brought your suit, right?”

I looked out at the snowy wilderness around us, unsure how to respond.

Juniper sighed. “For the jacuzzi! I’m sure my dad has an extra pair you can borrow.”

“Oh, great.” I said without much enthusiasm.

Big wet snowflakes coated us in the few minutes it took to unload the car and jog to the house. The door closed with a thud and Juniper dropped her bags, kicking off her pristine duck boots before bounding down the hallway.

“Amber, Clover, where are you guys?!”

I placed the box of meticulously wrapped gifts I had been carrying down and grabbed a quick look at my watch. 5:14. Perfect. The ride up was faster than I had expected. Still plenty of time.

I looked around to see that I was standing in an entrance room. The wood floor and walls glowed with the yellow light radiating from a huge chandelier hanging above my head. It was made of light grey branches braided around each other, their bark smooth and manicured as if they had naturally grown like that.

Feminine squeals rang down the hall from the back of the house. I stood there, awkwardly unsure what to do. At least I looked the part. Juniper, dissatisfied with my wardrobe, had bought me a tan wool coat. She explained that my faded leather jacket was neither weather appropriate nor fashionable. I had moved up to the city during the summer and my closet hadn’t been prepared for the blistering winds and snow of the north. I’m lucky I had Juniper to help with that. At least according to her.

Snow clung to the shoulders of the department store coat as the warmth of the house embraced me. I could feel the chilly wetness of melting snow sink into my knit beanie. A matching scarf was wrapped around my neck, the fibers clinging to my moist lips unpleasantly.

I grabbed at the scarf with my gloved hand and pulled. In my defense, I wasn’t used to the lack of individual fingers and the clumsiness of a hand wrapped in thick wool. I had half of the unwieldy piece of clothing in one hand while the end hugged my throat tightly when the Mills family entered.

“Oh no! Baby!” Juniper’s voice was filled with amusement as she rushed to help me. She took the scarf and carefully untangled it from my neck.

A gravelly voice boomed, filling the space, “June mentioned you were from the South! Guess you guys don’t really need winter accessories down there, huh?”

Juniper continued to help me undress out of my winter outwear as I turned. Behind her stood a beast of a man. He towered over my 5’11” frame, his shoulders broader than a football player’s. His beard was thick yet neatly trimmed. He wore a fitted flannel shirt and pressed jeans, making him look more like a lumberjack who modeled for L.L. Bean on his off days than a lawyer.

My mouth hung open for a moment before I regained my composure. “Mr. Mills, it’s nice to meet you.” I extended my hand around Juniper, who was still working on my coat. “I’m Calvin.”

“Matthias, Matthias!” He roared joyously, pushing Juniper out of the way as he pulled me into a tight embrace. My body was engulfed by his meaty chest. I’m not ashamed to admit it, it was the best hug of my life. Comforting and warm. For a moment, I forgot about the greater good. My purpose in life. My father. It was like being suspended in a vat of Christmas and love.

He let go of me and I stepped back, noticing for the first time the two figures behind him.

“Calvin, these are my sisters: Clover and Amber.” Juniper said, beaming from me to them.

Juniper was the middle daughter of three. Clover, at 29, was the eldest and Amber, at 22, was the youngest. The only thing the sisters had in common was that they were three of the most gorgeous women I had even seen in my life. Clover had silky black hair, cut short at her chin. Her features were sharp, her thin grey eyes bordered by heavy eyelashes. She smiled coyly at me as she extended her hand.

“Nice to meet you, Calvin.” While Juniper’s voice was high and bubbly, Clover’s voice was low and throaty. Similar to her father’s but with a husky feminine quality that made it difficult to think of her as my girlfriend’s sister.

“And I’m Amber.” A soft voice said to my left. I tore my gaze away from Clover to the younger sister. Amber was much shorter than her siblings, with thick red hair and a circular face. She had a button nose and round green eyes. She looked like she had stepped out of an Irish folktale. Amber contrasted sharply with her sisters. Juniper was tall and had an athletic build. Tight but soft, firm and preppy like a cheerleader. Clover was tall and thin, angles and bite, the only one in the room who actually looked like a lawyer (but ironically was a painter).

And Amber…. Well… Let’s just say Amber’s curves swelled and ebbed in all the right places. A sailor could get lost exploring those rolling waves.

I smiled and took her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Juniper didn’t talk about her family much and I knew well enough not to ask, but I made a mental note to discreetly broach the subject of whether her and her sisters all had the same parents. “Where’s Mrs. Mills?”

Matthias’ smile wavered. “Eh, she had to run an errand.” His eyes shifted to Clover, who's returning gaze narrowed slightly. His dark eyes shot back to mine and he smiled confidently again, the moment of weirdness over as suddenly as it had started. “She’ll be back later.”

“Come on, Juniper. Help us with dinner!” Amber said as she grabbed her sister’s hand and began to pull her down the hall.

Clover’s mouth turned downwards as her dark eyes lingered on me for a moment before following her sisters.

Something heavy hit my shoulder and I jumped. Matthias had clapped his huge hand onto my back. “Let me tell you, it’s nice to have a man to talk with! I’m always surrounded by women!” He laughed a low good hearted growl as he lead me into another room.

We entered a cavernous living room, the ceiling arching high above us. Several thick naked wooden beams held it up. A large red oriental rug stretched from wall to wall, complimenting the forest green walls well. Two large brown leather couches sat kitty corner to each other in the middle of the room.

The walls were lined with hunting trophies. The taxidermied heads of different animals stared out across at each other, their dead glassy eyes unseeing. Deer and bears snarled meaninglessly, their teeth barred without emotion. A bobcat perched on a rock in the corner of the room next to a fat pheasant. Against one wall was a large glass gun rack. Polished rifles gleamed in the warm overhead light. The centerpiece of the room, a massive moose head, rested above the marble fireplace in which a large fire roared, radiating heat and golden light around the room.

Catching me eyeing his collection, Matthias laughed. “Are you a hunter, Calvin?”

I thought for a second before carefully choosing my next words. “My father and I used to go hunting once a year together. I still practice the tradition.”

“Good.” His deep voice resonated with the warmth from the fireplace, creating an atmosphere of masculine comfort and safety. “I like a man who hunts.”

I smiled at him and nodded, unsure how to respond.

“Sit down, sit down!” He ordered as he fell into one of couches. I obliged, sitting on the other couch facing him as I prepared for the inevitable father-boyfriend interview.

“Calvin…” he rolled my name around his tongue experimentally as he eyed me. “That a protestant name, isn’t it?”

“Uh…” I stammered, taken off guard. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Matthias leaned forward, resting his forearm against his thigh. “Do you believe in God, Calvin?”

The line of questioning was going down a dark path I had not expected. In the four months I had been dating Juniper, she had never brought up religion.

“Of course...” My answer was slow and deliberate.

Matthias nodded, his eyes narrowing at me. “God is the most important thing to this family. The Mills clan walks close with Him. We are His servants, and we take that role very seriously.”

I nodded. “My family believed the same. We were very devote.”

“Were?” Matthias asked.

“My father died this past February. I never knew my mother, but my dad raised me to be fearful of God.”

“And what do you believe now?”

I hesitated. “I still practice.”

“You can be honest with me, Calvin.” Matthias sat back into the thick leather couch. “I won’t tell Juniper not to date you because of your religious beliefs. Or lack thereof.” He laughed, as if that last part was a joke.

I smiled at him, “I’ll admit, I do not follow the more embellished of the ceremonies my father taught me, but I still believe in his word and actions.”

He nodded. “I can respect that. I know my daughters only participate in some of the more, how did you put it… embellished of the ceremonies solely for my benefit. I understand the younger generation doesn’t care as much for the ritual of worship. But I think it’s important that you know how deep this family’s spirituality runs. God comes first in this house. When God asks us to do something,” he paused, looking towards the floor as he cleared his throat. He looked back up at me, his gaze fierce, freezing me in time and space. “We obey without question.”

“As it should be.” I said.

We stared at each other for several moments before the tension was broken by Matthias’ deep laughter.

“I like you, Calvin.” He stood. “I’m gonna go grab a beer, want one?”

“That’d be great, thanks.”

He left and I sat in the living room, surrounded by fire and death.

Dinner and drinks passed uneventfully. The food was delicious and Matthias’ wine cellar impressive. I didn’t even notice the absence of Mrs. Mills throughout the course of the dinner. Matthias kept filling my glass and I drank the rich red wine with relish.

I should’ve known better. Christmas eve had been me and my father’s night and so maybe my overindulgence was an attempt to deal with his absence. Maybe I wasn’t ready to go through that night’s rite without him just yet. But I knew at the back of my mind that I had to. That it was my duty. I owed it not just to my father, but to the world.

As Matthias poured another glass of wine, I looked down at my watch. 9:58. I needed to pace myself. To rest. I’d need my wits and strength for the witching hour. Luckily, I did not have to excuse myself early. As the clock struck ten, Matthias raised his glass in cheer.

“Let us bless our last sip of wine before we head to bed.” His eyes twinkled with drink. “Tonight’s a big night for us, and so let us toast to family” he held his glass towards me, “and new friends. To endings and new beginnings.” He winked, his smirk lopsided. “To the most sacred holiday, and to God. Let us give to Him all that He asks of us, and hope He favors us with the treasures of His bounty.”

He stretched his glass to mine. “To Saint Nicholas.” Our wine glasses clinked as the sister’s voices echoed their father. “To Saint Nicholas!”

I laughed and drowned the last of my wine, attributing each and every red flag to the quirkiness of a rich and spoiled family of lawyer lumberjacks.

I awoke later the night to hands running up my chest. I opened my eyes, my mind groggily trying to catch up to my body’s instant reaction. A warm naked body pressed into me and I rolled towards her, pulling her closer. My lips found her soft skin and I kissed her neck, tracing the gentle curve to her jaw. Something brushed lightly against the back of my neck, but my brain was too drenched in desire and sleep to register the sensation. She moaned and I ran my hand up her side. As I cupped her breast, the supple flesh gave under my fingertips and electricity shot through my body as I squeezed. Bringing my mouth to hers, I kissed her deeply

Arms wrapped around my back and I opened my eyes with instant focus, my vision suddenly filled with Clover’s cold grey gaze.

I recognized the sensation of breasts much larger than Juniper’s or Clover’s pressing against my back, firm and soft. Amber’s breath was hot on my ear. “Shhhh, don’t fight it.” Her tongue slid across the sensitive skin at the top of my neck and brought my earlobe between her lips. She sucked softly and my dick swelled.

I turned to face her, her lips finding mine as I pressed myself into her thighs. I moaned lightly as Clover’s hand snaked around my hip. As I kissed Amber, Clover moved to my cock, gently teasing it before wrapping her fingers around the shaft.

“Oh, fuck.” I gasped as she began to stroke. I rolled onto my back, my eyes closed as Amber and Clover explored my body, their heat radiating into my sides.

Clover kissed my cheek and whispered, “open your eyes.”

I obeyed.

Above me, standing at the foot of the bed, was a woman. I sat bolt upright, filled with sudden panic. Clover and Amber’s hands fell away as they watched my reaction with amused expressions on their faces.

The woman stood, looking at me. Her hair was long, longer than Juniper’s, and it was stark white. Not graying, but pure white. She stood completely naked, her pale body glowing in the silver light of the moon outside the window. Her eyes were wide, revealing pupils completely milky with cataracts. She looked ageless, color fading from her along with her youth, yet her fair skin was still smooth and firm.

“Calvin, mom. Mom, Calvin.” Clover cooed beside me, her voice a mix of sensuality and power.

Mrs. Mills stared at me with those unseeing eyes, and she smiled.

“It’s nice to meet you, Calvin.” She said quietly, her voice delicate.

I was breathing heavily, my panting shifting from arousal to fear in mere seconds. My fight or flight instinct was screaming at me to do something, but I was frozen. My eyes darted to the digital clock on the nightstand. 11:28. My alarm was set to go off in only a few minutes. I still had time to prepare for the ritual. I looked up at Mrs. Mills, who was still smiling at me, waiting for a response.

My voice came out strained, tight with fear, confusion, and some embarrassment at the sheer amount of nudity around me. “You too, Mrs. Mills.”

“Please, call me Holly.” Without waiting for a response, she turned to Clover. “He will do. Prepare him for sacrifice.”

I felt a pinch in my neck, then darkness.

I opened my eyes slowly. My head throbbed and my body was shaking uncontrollably, the air shockingly cold. I tried to take in the scene around me through blurry vision. I was sitting on the cold hard ground. Short walls of snow surrounded me in a circle, but the circle itself was bare except for dozens of thick white candles. My ass cheeks were numb against the frozen leaves that had only recently been covered. I was naked and I realized the Mills family was kneeling around me.

Juniper and her sisters swayed in the chill night air, the slowly falling snow soaking into the delicate fabric of their nightgowns. They chanted together, their voices joining in a chorus of a German sounding dialect I did not recognize.

Directly in front of me stood Matthias. His hands clasped in front of him as if in prayer. A black, crooked dagger jutted out from his grasp towards his face.

Jesus fuck, what time is it? I thought as I tried to stand, but my hands were tied behind my back.

A creature stepped out from the chilly darkness and into the circle. Looming above me was a reindeer, Holly straddling its back. She wore a long, flowing white gown. A crown of icicles was perched on her forehead and she looked down, her white eyes glowing in the candlelight.

Contrasting starkly to Holly’s disturbing beauty, the reindeer was twisted and distorted. It looked more like someone’s idea of a sick joke than a living animal. Instead of standing on hooves, the deer’s leg bones protruded from the ends of red oozing stumps. Bloody velvet hung loosely from white bones in fleshy stripes. It’s face was dirty and blackened with what looked like charcoal. A long, black tongue lolled out of its mouth between two rows of human teeth.

I squirmed in the rope that bound me, trying to pull its knot loose. Juniper and I had played with bondage in the bedroom and I knew her style. It wouldn’t take me long to undo anything she had done and my adrenaline silenced any doubt that it could have been any one of the other four family members.

The creature stepped forward towards me as it spoke, its exposed ankle bone pressing into the frozen earth with a dull crunch.

“I am the soul of Saint Nicholas.” It roared, its voice cracking through the air like thunder.

I paused my squirming. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard him, mortal!” Holly shrieked. Her voice had lost the fragile air from before. It was now dry and harsh, like paper crinkling into a ball. Or wood cracking as fire bites into it. It didn’t sound real. More like a demon's voice than a human’s. Like a succubus or siren. High pitched and flittering. The cackle of an evil witch.

My fight against the rope renewed with desperate determination. Fuck this shit and fuck this family.

The reindeer snickered quietly before beginning to speak again. “I am weak and old, but fresh blood will wash me anew.” His eyes glowed like burning coals.

“Oh Saint Nicholas, we worship thee!” The voices of the Mills family rose above the circle, their eyes closed with intense concentration.

Matthias continued, “we call upon the witching hour to bring our deity new life!”

“Let Saint Nicholas live again!” The daughters chanted.

The rope fell loosely from my wrists and I silently thanked my now ex-girlfriends crappy survival skills. I jumped up, naked and filled with a fury that easily squashed all self-doubt I had going into this cursed holiday. My father’s death was far from my mind, replaced with hatred.

Matthias’ eyes shot open. His daughters’ chanting faded as they looked from him to me to the god before us.

I looked at my watch. 11:58. I sighed with relief. Witching Hour wasn’t for another three hours. I had plenty of time to deal with the Mills’ shenanigans before it was too late to complete the ritual.

The reindeer, who stood almost a foot beneath me, smiled. “Oh, the foolish confidence of the son charged with the burden of the father.” He bellowed, his voice deep and impressive.

I looked down at him, our eyes locking. “What did you say?”

The deer began to paw the ground, shifting right and left. He looked like a child doing the pee-pee dance. “Oh, look at me.” He said in a mocking tone. “I’m Calvin and I’m an orphan. My daddy entrusted me with our family’s sacred duty but I’m scared.” The reindeer shook its head dramatically with each word, “if only daddy was here to help me kill these people.”

Holly’s anger faltered on her face. She was confused as well. This behavior, apparently, was not what the Mills family expected from their god.

“What the-” Matthias stood, his face twisted in confusion.

“Get the fuck off me, lady.” He bucked and Holly fell to the ground with a painful thud. Matthias reached out and quickly pulled her towards him. His daughters were now cowering at his sides. All malice and power gone from their faces, replaced with utter confusion.

How do you like it? Fucking assholes.

The reindeer continued, “luckily for little Calvin, the Mills are too dumb to know that the witching hour isn’t midnight. Little Calvin still has hours to kill all of them and burn their black little hearts in a fire born of coal and pine.”

He stopped his dance, his face becoming stern again. “You must’ve been thrilled when you were brought to the woods. No fake Christmas for Florida boy, oh no. No mail order pine needles and coal for daddy’s little boy. No, you thought coming up north was the right thing to do. Not like daddy made you live somewhere where it didn’t snow for a reason.”

I spat at the ground and look to the Mills. “This isn’t fucking Santa Claus you dim fucks.”

The reindeer took a steps towards me. “Do you believe in fate, Calvin?”

I looked down at him. “How did you find me? How… how are you even mortal?”

He leaned forward, his dead animal lips hovering by my face. “I followed you, Calvin. I could smell your hunter scent in the snow and I followed it.” He stepped back and looked up at me, smirking. “I found the same idiots I knew you would. A little early Christmas gift, just for you.” His long tongue stretched out towards me. I flinched as the dry leathery skin touched my face, caressing me. It smelt of dried fish and dirt.

“How were you able to become corporeal?” I asked, shooing his tongue away from me. It fell lifeless, hanging in front of him uselessly.

He turned his head to look at the Mills family, who stood behind him, mouths agape. Juniper’s mascara ran and she cried, confused at the scene in front of her. My mind shot back to Matthias’ gun rack. His hunting trophies on the wall.

“Oh god, he made this vessel for you? Fucking sick, man.”

The reindeer shrugged. Or at least, he lifted his shoulders in what could be interpreted as a shrug.

“So what now, are you going to kill me?”

“Not tonight, Calvin.” He winked.

I looked down at my watch. 1:15.

“I still have two hours to perform the ritual…” There was a hiss around me, like sand flowing. I looked up to see a pile of black where the Mills family had been seconds before.

The reindeer swung his face around, as if in astonishment. “Oh my! Where did those rascals get to!?!” He stomped around in mock confusion, the bare bones he stood on audibly snapping with the weight.

“Welp,” he looked back up at me, “good luck trying to find new sacrifices in the middle of bum fuck whatever state this is. I’m out.” He turned away from me and leapt into the snow. He bounded deeper into the woods, his legs spasming in front of him as if he didn’t have the right number of knees.

“See you next Christmas Eve, mother fucker!” He said over his shoulder as he disappeared from sight.

And now, because of the idiocy of one family, my legacy has died. For the first time in 200 years, my bloodline has failed in our sacred duty.

And for that, I apologize. I have failed you. There were so many signs, so many red flags. I should’ve known.

So here’s a warning, the last thing I can offer you in my father’s name. This Christmas Eve, make sure to lock your doors and windows. Leave your shoes outside and stay bundled in your bed. Because this year, Krampus is back.

#nosleep #horror #christmashorror #christmasshortstory

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