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sunnyie-eve · 4 months

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3 | Don't need you

Series: Uttermost Lifestyle

Paring: Johnny Knoxville x Original female character

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: Mention of rape and young pregnancy's

| MASTERLIST |

I've been working with the guys for a few months now and we were all super close. Caiden loved to say he had multiple uncles since his real uncle was a piece of shit.

At the moment I was at the office coming up and going over ideas because Jeff told me to. "Morning." I hear Johnny come in.

"Thought you were off this weekend?" I say looking through the papers.

"Jeff told me to help you with ideas." I look up to see him holding Madison.

"Put me down." She tells him so he does and she comes running over to me.

At times he would bring her to work when we weren't filming and I would play with her so she took a liking to me.

"I still can't believe she goes straight to you. Oh, her mom told me to tell you... she hates you in a playful way because now when she does hairstyles on her, Madison says you do it better." He takes a seat at the table with me.

"Tell her I'm sorry." I laugh putting Madison on my lap. "You really wanna do the cup test?" I look at what he put as different tests.

"For number one Caiden already volunteered to kick." He lets me know.

"You asked him?" I give him a look.

"He asked me about what I had in mind and he said can I kick you. I'm scared why he volunteered so quickly."

"Because he'll get to be on tv. He loves you almost as much as he loves Chris, so it's not because he doesn't like you." I laugh.

"Okay, that's a good reason." He makes me laugh more.

After a few hours of working on bits, I have to get going to pick up Caiden from my parents place. "Wanna go get some lunch?" Johnny asks picking up Madison.

"I have to go pick up Caiden from my parents house. I'm sorry." I get my things together.

"Then let's go get him then go eat." He smiles.

"You're gonna follow me around?" I laugh.

"To your place so you can park then we can go get him in my car. Let's go." He heads out.

I shake my head heading out too and he follows me home so I could get in his car. "Well now you know where I live." I laugh getting in his car.

"I'm sure I was bound to know at some point." He laughs so I tell him where my parents live.

When we get there we park and get out since I soda I might be awhile because my parents love to talk forever.

"I'm here!" I shout opening the door.

"Mo- JOHNNY!" Caiden runs past me going to hug him so he puts Madison down who holds onto my leg in a unfamiliar environment.

"I feel the love. You know what." I pick up Madison, "You steal my son, I steal your daughter when she's with you and not her mom." I walk into the living room with Johnny holding Caiden on his back.

"So we finally get to meet the Johnny Knoxville." My father laughs.

"Hello Mr. Hunt." Johnny gives him a polite smile.

"We can't stay much long because Johnny is taking us all out to a free lunch." I say making him look at me.

"I didn't say free."

"You offered so it's free." I laugh.

"Well have a good lunch." My mom says as we all leave.

When we get to a restaurant we go inside taking a seat at a table. Most of our meal was good with Caiden talking about school and stuff. We also continued to talk about upcoming bits.

"Mom." Caiden stops laughing getting super serious.

"What honey?" I ask seeing him stare in the distance so I turn my head to see Kyle sitting at a table alone watching us.

"What? Who's that?" Johnny looks where we were looking.

"We're ready to leave." I make the table look nice.

"Yeah, okay." Johnny calls the waitress for the check.

"He keeps staring mom." Caiden stares at the table.

Last week Kyle showed up to my apartment banging on the door threatening me since I won't let him near Caiden. I recently made it to where Kyle had no visiting rights because how he's been get worse with showing up in unwanted places. The school had to call the police because he got past the office walking around the school for Caiden.

"Just don't look at him." I tell him as Johnny pays so we can leave.

"Have a good day." The waitress tells us as we get up to leave.

"Let's leave through the outside area so we don't have to pass him." Johnny takes my free hand with his free hand.

As we get to the car Johnny helps us get in as I see Kyle come out the front to watch us. When we get back to my place Johnny stops me while Caiden takes the keys to go inside.

"You need to get a restraining order against him. I could tell how scared you both were. What happened recently?" He asks me.

"Last week he threatened me and trust me I know. Thank you for lunch." I give him a smile shutting the car door going to my apartment.

Caiden goes to his room wanting to take a nap so I let him. As I started to head to my room to change clothes there was a knock at my door. I look out the peephole to see Johnny.

"What?" I ask confused.

"We're stay here with tonight because I saw your ex park outside." He comes him with Madison shutting the door locking it behind him.

"We don't need you here." I let him know.

"I don't care if you don't need me here. I wanna be here." He puts Madison down.

I just stare at him as he gives me a serious worried look. "I don't have a third room for you two." I knew there was no changing his mind.

"I can sleep on the couch." He looks over at it.

"What about Madison?" I ask because I only had one couch in my shitty apartment.

"I can make it work."

"No, you guys can just sleep in my room. I'll sleep with Caiden in his bed. We can both fit." I walk to my room and he flows me while Madison watches what Caiden put on tv before going to his room.

"I don't wanna kick you out of your bed or Caiden." He sits on my bed as I look for clothes to change into.

"I'm not letting you sleep on the couch." I walk I to my bathroom taking my hair down to brush.

"Well what are we gonna do to fix this problem?" He asks as I get undressed to change clothes.

"I'll share my bed with you both. It's a king so it's big enough for three." I look at him so he looks at the whole bed.

"And your comfortable with that?" He looks back over at me.

"Johnny, I'm changing in front of you right now and I've basically showered with you. I think I can share a bed with you." I laugh at him.

"We have sorta become close friends since you saw my dick. Chris was right about that." He laughs.

"I'm gonna be best friends with the whole cast at some point then." I fall back on to my bed.

"Tell me the full story of you and your ex." He says making me groan.

"We met through our friends. His best friend was dating mine at the time. We started talking and hanging out. He was really sweet but he had a terrible temper so he could turn into a whole other person in a second. We started dating and back then, I was the one that could calm him down. When it came to the night I got pregnant with Caiden, I didn't even wanna go to the party so that meant I didn't want to drink. He kept pressuring me to drink more and more. After one I knew it didn't feel right anymore and that was because he drugged it. All I can remember is his walking me to a room to lay down and he said he'll make me feel better. I woke up the next morning terrified not remembering anything and how I ended up naked. I thought back to the last drink making me break down. I got dressed and when home crying to my mother. I told her everything and she told my dad. They went to the police and Kyle's parents but no one believed me because I had no proof. We were both just drunk stupid teens who tries out sex for the first time. After that he was pissed I would told someone and threatened to do it again with me all there to know what's going on. He refused to let me end things until I found out I was pregnant. He wanted nothing to do with what was growing in me making me fat. He avoided me like didn't even exist."

"And he randomly decided to pop back in on Caiden's 6th birthday getting his hopes up." Johnny remembers what I told him.

"Yeah. Caiden was slightly excited to finally meet his father because he didn't know him. But when Kyle would cancel last minute or never show, Caiden gave up on him. He's terrified of Kyle from spending only a couple of hours with him on day." I explain to him.

"What happened?"

"He won't talk about it to me or Chris. It worries me because he's my baby and I wanna know what Kyle did." I start to get upset.

Johnny hand grabs my hand pulling me to sit up and wraps his arms around me making me start to tear up. "I wish he was comfortable to talk to me about it." I start to cry into his chest.

"I'm sure he will at some point to help get it off him. Don't think you're a bad mom because he hasn't told you yet. Like he's your world, you're his world too. You're all he has." He rubs my back.

"Thank you for this." I say in the hug.

"I'm here if you ever want to talk about it." He says making me laugh.

"I meant the hug but that too." I say making him laugh now. "You should go check on Madison." I get out of the hug.

"I forgot about her." He gets up rushing out of the room.

#jackass #johnny knoxville #ryan dunn #bam margera #steve o #chris pontius #wee man #dave england #ehren mcghehey #preston lacy #jeff tremaine #spike jonze #jackass 2 #jackass 3d #jackass forever #johnny knoxville imagine #johnny knoxville ff #Johnny knoxville fanfic #smut

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dandylion240 · 1 year

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A few hours later as they were leaving the small motel Cory was scrolling through his phone muttering to himself. “What’s wrong?” Caiden asked, coming alongside him.

“Nothing,” Cory muttered, “just that I should have ordered pizza before we left. Miah’s going to be hungry.” “When isn’t he hungry?” Caiden chuckled. “It’s too late now to order something so let’s just stop at a convenience store along the way. Most of those places have ready made personal pizza’s. We’ll pick up a few of those.” “Yeah I guess that’s better than nothing,” he agreed, following Caiden out into the parking lot. “Whose car is this?”

“I rented one while you were asleep,” Caiden slipped into the driver’s seat “once you fell asleep you were dead to the world.”

#caiden houts #cory rosenberg #ts4 #from the deths

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starpirateee · 1 month

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🌧️ 💧

🌧️Share something angsty from your WIP.

It had to be portalswap... Of course it did! I thought about this for a while but of course it had to come from portalswap! I don't think many people know about this wip? But essentially, John goes through the portal instead of Wilbur and he's the one who goes mad

"Take another step, and I shoot. That's the deal."

He was well aware that there was a good chance Faberes wasn't alone. He could be completely outnumbered on all sides, and there would be nothing he could do about it. For now, though, he had this situation well under control, and his every threat was meant as far as his confidence would allow.

"I don't have to..." Faberes pulled a gun as well, and the two of them were locked into a stand off vaguely reminiscent of a western movie. That atmosphere was broken by the fact that they were in a high school corridor, and the fact that only one of them had the ways to counter Clint Eastwood.

"That's how you're gonna play this? I guess as soon as you take that shot, you've got backup lookin' to tear me to shreds..." He sighed, and nodded. Was that him accepting his fate, or something more sinister? Did he decide that he was ready to die and accept his fate?

"We are everywhere! You cannot escape, even if you wanted to!"

"I'm sorry, Faberes. You were a good man."

Wilbur knew exactly what he had to do. There was nothing left of the soldier, of the man that Faberes used to be. This was for the greater good.

He checked the level of his pistol one more time, then pulled the trigger, leaving the barrel smoking in the air as Faberes collapsed. Even from here, he could tell that his blood wasn't red, but tinged in a sickening blue.

💧Share something romantic/hot from your WIP, or just something sweet if it's gen.

.... So, problem? I don't have anything I can think of from any of the fics I'm actively working on, but! I can give you this bit from one of my main wips that's still in development? This particular bit is a little over a year old, so forgive the change in style...

"Please, don't apologise. You- you said you can't stay... Why?" There was a beat of silence. Stephen had grown embarrassed suddenly, and had allowed a furious blush to rush across his cheeks like a river of pain. Before he could overrun himself with thoughts, he clenched his first and hummed. "I dunno about it yet, nothing's certain. There was a rather... Brisk turn of events back home, and I fear that if something goes wrong again, then I might have to return and not see the pleasant front of this place again." "And your dream? What of it?" "I'm holdin' onto it while I can, but if I can't make it-" he closed his eyes, a burning hot tear lining his eyelids. "Then maybe you can carry it for the both of us." Caiden wasn't sure how to react to that. He felt reliably crushed by the fact that Stephen was just that ready to give in. With that in mind, he approached carefully and pulled him into a hug that was as meaningful as it was cautious. Stephen hesitated for a beat, and then let his arms drape around Caiden's sturdy frame. "Don't think that way, Stephen. I'll wait with you, and we will go on as we meant to. If things change– and only in that case- then I will try for us both." Caiden promised.

#star mail #tw death #tw blood #caiden and stephen were originally ambiguous but i decided i liked them too much...#unfortunately that was the prologue chapter and things do not go well for stephen #(workshop accident)#poor caiden doesn't find out till a year later. from stephen's son

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meraki24601 · 1 year

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Mountain Vacation Part 2

CW: Blood, bruises, past whipping, past torture, mentioned nudity (not sexual), implied past sexual assault, restraints

Part 1

The girl is hurt and weak, but her whole body reacts, pulling away with all her strength, as her eyes finally focus on me. Her wrists are still bound to the tree above her head. Her legs, however, are free to kick and struggle against Alex and Antony’s restraining hands. Some of the cuts covering her body begin to bleed again under the stress.

“Hey! Hey, you’re okay. We’re not going to hurt you.” I whisper. The girl doesn’t seem to hear my plea. Her head pushes against my hand as she resists, fighting to watch all of us for danger. I can understand the fear. Based on how some of her injuries look half-healed, she’s been abused for a while now. Injured, restrained, naked, and suddenly surrounded by 6 strange men? I can’t imagine what she must be thinking.

As the weight of her head begins to rest more heavily in my hand, her struggles die down. Tears begin to fall down her face, and she wordlessly surrenders. Her body goes limp, and her eyes meet mine.

I smile. “There you go. It’s alright.” I let her head rest back against the tree and pick up the knife. We need to get her arms free. Blood has started to drip down her arms from where they’re bound. I’ll have to be very careful not to cut her.

When the knife comes in sight the girl tenses. Her chest heaves with a barely supported cough. Her eyes stay fixed on me as I try to reassure her. She begins to relax, but I immediately tense up. The girl watches me as she lets her head fall back. Her bruised throat is now exposed. Broken lips mouth one word. “Please.”

My heart pounds in my chest. She’s begging me. Begging for her death. Levi’s gentle voice jolts me back to the present, “Hey, you okay?”

He didn’t see. None of them know what the girl asked for. “Yeah. All good.”

The bindings around her wrists come off easily. We don’t know how long she’s been stuck out here in the elements but based on the way her face scrunches in pain as her arms are lowered to her sides, it wasn’t a short time.

“Alright.” Alex sighs. As he presses down the tape on a bandage I notice the worst of the girl’s wounds have been wrapped. “The rest of these can wait until we get her back to the cabin where it’s warm. We need to put her hip back in its socket and then we can go.”

“This is going to hurt. We’ll need to hold her down so she doesn’t reopen any more of those cuts.” Antony’s brow is furrowed so deep that his eyebrows look like they’re going to poke his eyes. I was with him when he dislocated his hip playing football. If any of us know what it’s going to feel like, it’s Antony.

Alex nods. “Evan, hold her right arm and support her head. Levi, her left arm, and be ready to help Evan if he needs it. Caiden, you take her left leg. Aiden, try to keep her core steady. Antony, you’re with me. On three. One… Two… Three.”

The pop echoes through the trees.

The girl struggles against us with surprising strength. Another hissing scream is the final straw for a flock of birds hiding in the trees nearby and they fly away. None of us have time to react as she takes advantage of Alex and Antony’s loosening grip on her right leg and kicks Alex in the face. We all reach out to help Alex, releasing the girl in the process. She throws herself onto her stomach and begins to drag herself away.

She doesn’t make it far. Maybe two good pulls away from us before we refocus and hold her down. I don’t know how she’s still able to move in her condition. Especially now that I can take a good look at her back. Whip marks and bruises that if I had to guess were made by a bat combined with the cuts and bruises from her front. This is too much. Awful.

Levi turns away and pukes. Aiden takes a step away and punches a tree. The rest of us simply hold the girl down. Her struggles little more than twitches. “Rest,” I whisper, stroking her hair. “We’re not going to hurt you. You can rest safely.”

Her body collapses in the snow. She breathes a little more even as she gives in to exhaustion. Pulse, slow but consistent under my fingers.

“Alex, can we move her?” Caiden asks. After Alex runs a gentle hand down the girl’s spine, he nods in confirmation. “Okay. I’ll carry her since I put off the most heat.” He takes off his outer coat, and I help him put it on the girl. “Once I get her situated, wrap the blanket around us both. It should help at least a little.”

Aiden helps his twin lift the limp girl into a bridal carry. They twist her a little so the girl’s head rests on his shoulder, and her chest presses against Caiden’s a little more for better heat and a lighter hold on her back. I walk behind them, watching the arm thrown over Caiden’s shoulder bounce bonelessly with each step.

“Hang in there,” I whisper so no one can hear. “We’re going to save you.”

(Part 3)

#whump #whump fic #whump ideas #whump scenario #whump writing #hurt #hurt/comfort #injuries #Past Injury #past torture #original character #interrupted vacation #rescue #injury whump

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manypersons-writes · 2 years

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manypersons writing masterlist

I’m inconsistent and horribly unorganized sooo I’m going to try this and see if it works. I’m going to give a brief description of each and some related tags

Aware

One of my first major works, Aware observes the death of the world through the eyes of Viviana Ati. Viviana goes on a quest with Kai Akani to at first for self preservation, but with time, it grows to be more than that

I wrote the first draft for Aware early 2017 and then did not finalize it until 2020 (Aware is a quarantine baby). The first draft is available on Wattpad here. I don’t advise reading it.

Status: Complete

Total Wordcount: 120k

Tags:

General: #Aware, #Aware Universe

Character tags: #Viviana Ati, #Kai Akani, #Harper Vina, #Niklas Alwin, #Caiden Pratilac

Unstable

As companion to Aware, Unstable features a parallel story to Viviana’s. Aldric Further is content in his sub-surface home. But he he has terrifying visions that cause him to accidentally volunteer to go on a mission and to live beyond the Underneath as a peace offering.

Unstable was originally written in the format of a screenplay under the title Unity back in 2018. In 2021, I revisited the concept and wrote Unstable. I never posted anything complete from this work, but I did share a lot of clipping as I went.

Status: First Draft (I’m terrified to edit this)

Current Wordcount: 114k

Tags:

General: #Unstable, #Unstable updates, #Aware Universe

Character tags: #Aldric Further, #Tylin Akani, #Zheo Zavier, #Jasper

The Sequel to Aware and Unstable: Santuari (?)

It’s in the working! My goal is to have a first draft of at least 100k written by the end of September. I haven’t been writing much lately because I don’t have an laptop anymore.

The Wordweaver

The Wordweaver is an attempt to paint a supposed utopia in which ones place in society is based solely on merit. Aldridge Bane has a choice to make which can have him leaving this perfect place in order to save his only living relation.

I started writing this by hand one day in 2017 in a blue notebook and I’ve revisited it now and then bit progress has been slowed due to my file for The Wordweaver being corrupted a while back.

Status: Half a first draft (I’m stuck…)

Current Wordcount: ???

Tags:

General: #The Wordweaver

Character tags: #Aldridge Bane

Why?

A kind of silly idea I had back in middle school where a society is ranked by the number of ys in one’s name. The story Why? follows Adere Alein as she realizes that this system is kind of messed up.

I spent an entire semester of school writing up a list of every name I could think of with a y in it. I currently have three chapters up on Wattpad here and the fourth is sitting in the draft. This is just a project I’ve been working on in my free time, so it’s sporadic when I work on it.

Status: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Current Wordcount: 3.5k

Misc.

I’ve written a lot of speeches and whatnot throughout this last year. Many of the below I have performed in competitions.

Shorts:

An Assassin’s Order

A Million Angers and Frustrations

Awakening

A Single Ship

I am You

The Life of Mallory Wesson

Time Management: Illustrated

Environmentally Challenged

Poems:

I am a Fly

This World was not made for People Like Me

The Secret Teller

Home

Cloud Language

To be Known

Circle Tunes

Nonfiction:

The Not-So-Hard Truth About GMOs

The Heist Story

#writing #writing masterlist #manypersons writes

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alteredlaxity · 2 months

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𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘. (𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒐)

“Hi, Dad…” In a hushed whisper, the blonde stood on the grass just above where her father was buried. Furrowing her brows as her eyes began to water, she shook her head. “Do I even call you that? We didn’t really get a chance to get to know each other.” She paused, a short laugh escaping as the first tear fell down her cheek. “Well, you didn’t get to know the real me. The me you always wanted in a daughter…” She sniffled slightly, wiping away the stray tear. Extending her hand towards the cold stone in front of her, she allowed her fingers to trace across the top before then falling to the lettering on her father’s grave.

MARK EVERETT SLOAN Beloved father to Sloan and Sofia. Adored son, cherished friend. REST IN PEACE.

Sloan took a moment of silence as her fingers traced each letter on the grave, tears now falling down her cheeks at a slow pace. By the time she had gotten to the end of the lettering, she had frozen in her spot. Sucking in a deep breath, she allowed herself to feel this moment. Losing her father before getting a chance to really know him was tough. She was a reckless, immature and irresponsible teenager when she lost him. Pregnant and kicked out of her mother’s house, Sloan went to Mark to seek help and although he didn’t know her, he welcomed her with open arms. She abused his trust, taking him for granted and continuing to live a reckless life. By the time she had her son, Caiden, Sloan was ready to run. She gave all that responsibility to her father before taking off to get back to her life of partying. Only when Sloan arrived back to that life, she discovered something new about herself.

She didn’t want to be that way anymore. Having a child had changed her in ways she could not imagine. Caiden wasn’t with her and although she was receiving letters from Mark with updates on her son’s progress, Sloan ignored them all. However, having a child had opened her eyes to everything that was much more important. Instead of spending nights getting so intoxicated that she couldn’t remember a thing, she focused on her studies. Sloan was smart. Smarter than she once believed she was and she vowed to make her father proud. As she put herself through college, she promised herself that she would be someone who Mark could be proud of… Who Caiden could be proud of. She owed it to both of them, but she never got the chance.

That phone call from Derek Shepherd changed everything. Hearing his voice on the other end of the phone, wavering, trembling as he explained the situation to Sloan was hard to hear. Mark had been in a plane crash and he wasn’t going to survive. Sloan dropped everything and made her way to see her father and say her goodbyes to the man she had barely gotten a chance to know.

“I’m sorry you only got to see the ugly parts of me…” She mumbled as the tears continued to fall. Sinking to her knees, she stared at the writing on the stone before her. “I’m sorry I dumped all of that responsibility on you. I’m sorry for everything, Dad…” She began to ramble, allowing the thoughts in her head to finally flow freely. “You did a good job with Caiden. Arizona and Callie are great with him too.” She paused, sucking in another shaky, unsteady breath. In a voice no louder than a whisper, she continued. “What if I can’t be his mother? What if I’m not a g-good enough p-parent?” Stumbling over her words, Sloan used her sleeve to wipe away her tears. “What if I leave him behind in the park and he gets taken? What if I hurt him? What happens then? He d-doesn’t have you to p-protect him anymore. He doesn’t h-have you… and I don’t h-have you…” The last few words came out in a painful, broken cry for help.

Collapsing against the tombstone, Sloan allowed one hand to rest on top of it and the other was clutching a photograph of herself and Mark. The only photo she had of the two of them. “I’m so sorry, Dad… I’m sorry… I’m so… sorry…” She repeated her heavy apology over and over again, hoping to resolve some of her guilt but all it did was weigh heavier on her chest. “I wish you could see me now…” She whispered, her lips almost touching the stone. “I wish you could see how much I’ve changed, Dad. I’m not that girl anymore. I went to school. I almost have my degree… I’m getting better. But I’m not ready…” She sobbed quietly, closing her eyes. “I’m not ready for you to leave me, so I-I-I n-need you to c-come back, okay? I n-need you to s-see me… I need you, Dad…” She mumbled as the cry got stuck in her throat. Taking in violent, heavy breaths, she allowed all the emotion to finally release.

Before Mark passed, he had made Sloan promise him one thing. To be there for Caiden. To step up as his mother. To teach him right from wrong. To give him advice. To love him endlessly, regardless. To put in the time. To be a parent to a stranger… Sloan wasn’t ready. She was wiser and definitely more mature, but she wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready for that much responsibility but how could she possibly walk away now? Caiden needed her. She made that promise to Mark and despite being terrified, Sloan vowed to keep it. She had to. She had to know that Mark’s final words were being honoured and that was on her. Not on Arizona or Callie. It was on /her/.

“I’m going to do it…” She said, after minutes of silence passed. She wiped her eyes again, sitting up in her place. She faced his tombstone, smiling as her eyes scanned over his name. “I’m going to be there for Caiden. I have no idea what I’m doing though.” She managed a light laugh, her hand resting on top of the stone once again. “I hope you know that. I have no idea what to do with a toddler, but you did it, so it can’t be that hard, huh?” Her lame attempt at a joke. “I promised you and I promised him…” She paused. The next words out of her mouth would be ones she had never said before, but ones that she needed to say a long time ago. “My son… needs me. He needs his mom and it’s my job to step up.” She nodded her head, laying the photo of the two of them down at his grave. She pressed her lips against it, just above her father’s carved name and then pulled back. “I wish you could see me now, Dad. I hope you can be proud of me one day… I hope Caiden can be proud of me… I’m not ready, but I’ll step up. For him. For you.” She nodded again, wiping away the final tears as she slowly pulled herself to her feet.

Sloan cast a glance behind her, her eyes falling upon her girlfriend and her son. Ashton was holding Caiden, pointing out all the different flowers and getting Caiden to say each colour. A smile spread across Sloan’s face as she watched the two of them interact. She waved at the pair of them, watching as they waved back with mirrored happiness across their faces. She then turned her attention back to Mark’s place of burial. “I’m going to be someone you can be proud of, Dad. I’m going to be Caiden’s mother. I’m really going to do it. I promise.” Pressing two fingers to her lips, she then moved them over his name and for one final time, she said her goodbyes. “I love you, Dad and thank you for helping me grow up. I won’t mess it up this time. I promise…” She allowed herself a few more seconds to gaze upon his burial grounds before flashing a smile and lowering her voice to a whisper. “Goodbye, Dad…”

Turning on her heel, Sloan then walked back towards Ashton. As her girlfriend saw Sloan approaching, she placed Caiden down on the ground and he immediately ran towards Sloan. She crouched down, extending her arms as her son stumbled comfortably into them. She picked him up, propping him on his hip as Ashton’s arm came to snake around Sloan’s waist. “You okay, my love?” “Yeah…” She stopped to allow herself to look between her girlfriend and her son before meeting her girlfriend’s concerned expression again. “Everything’s perfect.” Leaning her head against her girlfriend’s for just a moment before then pulling away, Sloan allowed herself to smile. “Let’s go home, hmm?” “Homeeee!” Caiden giggled, his fingers tangling in Sloan’s hair. “That’s right! Home! Clever boy.” Pressing a kiss to his head, Sloan then walked out of the cemetery with her girlfriend and son beside her. I wish you could see me now, Dad. I hope you’re proud…

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519magazine · 9 months

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stories-of-arenthis · 1 year

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Riverbank Regroup

Kathra ran towards Will’s shivering body, his eyes were closed, lips and fingers blue, with wet curls matted against his forehead. His breath trembled in his chest and she could tell she needed to do something quickly before he succumbed to the chill.

She had dealt with cold like this before. Winters ago, Caiden became restless with the poor weather and tried to fish on the ice covering the small pond just past the field behind Kathra’s house. It hadn’t settled in the middle yet and he fell through, and Bandrid had to jump in to pull him out. Kathra remembered how strong Bandrid looked as he ran through the front door with Caiden in his arms and placed him on the examination table, the frozen water steaming off of his activated body, and how small Caiden appeared, lips and fingers blue, hair matted…

Will’s body tensed under Kathra’s quick hands as she lifted his torso. The frigid water had already began frosting over his clothes. She made quick work of loosening his tunic and wrapping him in her dry, pelt-lined cloak, knowing that if he kept his cold, wet clothing on any longer he could become frost bitten. Kathra knew that he was only a few years older than her, but up until this point, she hadn’t realized that that meant he was still a boy in many ways. He looked so young.

She thought of Caiden’s ribs shuddering against the long wooden table with each breath, her mother pulling woolen blankets off the shelves, and her father adding more water and herbs to a kettle. “Kathra, take Caiden’s wet clothes from Bandrid and stabilize his head,” her mother’s serious voice echoed in her mind.

She cradled Will’s head the same way she had with Caiden, her palm against the back of his neck, thumb holding up his skull. Placing her other hand on his chest over his heart, Kathra closed her eyes and breathed in and out slowly, hoping to regulate his breathing with hers.

In her breathing, she found herself depleted of her magical healing. Shit. Okay, we’re okay, I could heal people all the time without magic before I knew how to use magic, just… remember…

She opened her eyes and the wind was softly knocked out of her. Dozens of glowing numensung were floating around her hands, radiating soft silvery white light. They are showing themselves to me. My gods, they are really there.

Stifiling a sob and moving slowly as to not scare them away (could they be scared?), Kathra continued to warm Will up. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks as she felt the numensung almost respond to her attempt. Her cloak alone would help a little, and yet, as she rubbed his arms over the wool and pelt, she watched as the spirits danced around her and Will. Redness was coming back to his lips and cheeks, and a moment later, his breathing steadied and his eyelids fluttered open.

As the numensung floated into nothingness with Will’s awakening, Kathra looked up. Synnowyn had swam to shore with Patrick, who was running over.

“Will! Will! Is he alright?” Patrick yelled hoarsely.

Breathless, she let him take over watching his fellow ranger.

“Yeah, he’s just cold… can you help warm him up? I should get to… the others…”

She looked back to shore to see Synnowyn wringing out her hair, and above her, Lena floating down, starlit wings wide, lowering Arlin to the ground.

Kathra ran as quickly as she could, bloodied scale mail thumping against her chest with each stride. As Synnowyn eased both the drenched Arlin and gleaming Lena to the ground, Kathra grabbed all three of them into an embrace, fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Arlin, are you hurt? And Lena! How did you - when did you - you can fly?!”

“I’m fine - what the heck, Lena?! What spell is that?!” Arlin sputtered, wiping the frigid river water from his eyes.

“I- I don’t know. I didn’t know I could do that. I just… I thought we were going to die,” Lena gasped, her topaz eyes wild and welling with tears. Her chest heaved as if she had forgotten to breathe since her angelic, stardust wings erupted from her back.

The wings were still blazing brilliantly, gleaming gold and silver, ephemeral and nearly incomprehensible. Lena’s usual glow and magic were nothing compared to this. Slowly though, the wings began to shrink and fade.

“Well, I’m glad we made it out of there relatively unscathed”, Arlin said as he prodded a small gash in his head. “Although, I wish birthday boy wasn’t looking as good as he did before we had to bail,” he added through gritted teeth, looking up the cliff, blue runes sparking at his fingertips.

“Who cares about birthday boy when you’ve got his friends’ cool bag?” Synnowyn smiled proudly, holding the embroidered pouch close to her chest. “I bet this thing can hold a lot of fishing equipment!”

“Uh, before we figure that out, can we get out of here?” Patrick worried aloud as he stumbled up toward the group. He had gotten Will up to his feet and was doing his best to help him walk. Patrick, being a full foot and a half shorter that Will, was not doing the best job.

Kathra straightened up. “We need to get somewhere to rest, and quickly. Patrick, how far is the old guard tower?”

“Uh, well, we managed to not have to use the bridge, you know, with the falling over the cliff and stuff. Also, thank you Synnowyn for saving me, you’re a really impressive swimmer.”

“It was fun,” Synnowyn responded pleasantly.

“Aha, I’m glad it was for you!” Patrick gulped, laughing nervously. “The tower is a couple hours walk from here, but if the stuff about the bandits’ curse being true, they shouldn’t be able to attack us since we’re pretty much beyond the Singing Wood now.”

“I’d like to get there as soon and as safely as I can, since I’m, well, like this,” Will moaned, wincing.

“Let’s head out then. Lena, now that you have wings, can you just fly me there?” Arlin adjusted his wet robes and held out his arms for Lena to grab onto.

Lena took a deep breath and strained. “Arlin, I don’t think I can do it again, I’m feeling pretty worn out.” She sighed, defeated by the strangeness of her natural magic.

“Hm, well maybe you could Tenser’s Floating Disk me there! Let me know when it’s ready and I’ll just hop o-“

“Let’s start walking, buddy,” Kathra rolled her eyes as she pulled on the damp sleeve of his robes.

“Walking is so… inefficient…” Arlin muttered, trailing behind.

The group moved forward, leaving behind the freezing river’s rapids, the view of the bandits, and the ethereal vision of Lena’s shimmering wings.

#dungeons and dragons #two worlds #stories-of-arenthis #d&d 5e #writing #fiction #fantasy writing #oops hello I’ve made a blog for this now

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caffeinewitchcraft · 2 years

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Narrative Town

Summary: You don't ever want to be the main character. In your town, that's deadly. Someone has to warn the new kid.

--------.

Someone has got to tell the new kid in town the Rules.

“Hey,” you say.

The new kid looks up at you. He’s sitting at his desk in the back corner of the classroom, right next to the windows. It’s a chilly day, but he’s got the window open so that the breeze ruffles his curly, black hair. “What’s up? Fern, right?”

“Don’t call me by my name,” you snarl. Then, realizing what you’ve done, you look over your shoulder. The other teenagers are still looped around the teacher’s desk, trying to get Ms. Slauson to move the test date so they could organize a welcome part for the new kid. “I need to talk to you. Privately.”

The new kid leans back in his chair and studies you. You know what he sees – a completely average high school girl in jeans, a sweatshirt, and a ponytail. There’s nothing remarkable about you. He tilts his head. “You don’t look like a bully.”

You frown. “I’m not.”

“You’re being awfully threatening,” he says in a drawl.

The accent is going to be a problem. It’s southern and sounds really cool. Honestly, it might be too late for him already.

But you still have to try.

“Meet me on the rooftop—no!” You press the heel of one hand against your eye. Fight it, you tell yourself. Fight it! “Meet me at the supermarket on Western Street. The dairy aisle. After school.”

“Okay…?”

You spin on your heel, head throbbing. Meeting on the rooftop is against the rules. You glance up at the ceiling uneasily. You’re not usually affected by the compulsion so badly. Are you being targeted?

If you were smart, you wouldn’t show up to the meeting. You’d just let the guy get sucked into the madness on his own.

But you also really need to buy some milk.

---------------------------------.

To your surprise, the new kid meets you in the dairy aisle after school. He actually gets there before you and you find him frowning at the selection.

“I’ve never heard of these brands before,” he says. He points to one. “Moo-ilk? That’s not a thing.”

“It is here,” you say. Like you’d hoped, the supermarket is nearly empty. It won’t stay that way for long. “That’s what I need to talk to you about, new kid.”

He turns to look at you. You’re tall for your age, so you stand eye to eye. “My name is Caiden.”

“I know,” you say. “You should stop telling people your name, especially when it’s such a cool one. It’s safer to just be a nameless face in the crowd.”

“That’s deep,” Caiden says. His drawl is clearly sarcastic. “That can’t be what you wanted to tell me.”

It’s not my problem if he doesn’t believe me, you tell yourself. You take a deep breath. “It’s part of it. This town is magic and the school is the heart of it. It forces people to live out popular tropes. If you’re popular or interesting in any way, it makes you the main character.” You take in the number of pockets on his black pants. “Unfortunately, you’re probably the coolest person to transfer ever and the magic is going to target you big time.”

Caiden stares at you. “You’re saying magic is real.”

“Yeah,” you say. You glance over his shoulder towards the front of the store. You can see shadows slanting through the windows as the sun starts to set. “All sorts. It depends what type of story you get pulled into.”

“But the main magic,” Caiden says, “is in the town itself which forces people to act like main characters?”

“Some people,” you say. You point at his trio of long necklaces. “Is that a wolf?”

Caiden looks down at the metal pendant. “It’s my favorite animal.”

“You are in so much danger,” you marvel. That’s the coolest thing you’ve ever heard. He also has a necklace that looks like an ancient coin and the other is a shark tooth. “The magic is definitely going to make you a main character.”

Caiden opens his mouth, closes it, then asks, “Are you insane?”

It really depends on what he thinks insane means. But going into that actually does make you sound insane, so you just sigh and shake your head. “You don’t believe me.”

“No.” Caiden doesn’t sound angry. He almost sounds apologetic. “I don’t.”

The bell at the front of the store rings. You reflexively look to see who came in. You see tennis rackets and gym clothes before you make yourself look away. A sports team, probably from a rival school. That…could be safe. Or safer. If they’re the first people he runs into, he might actually survive without having to believe you. “That’s fine. You do you.”

“…okay?” Caiden says.

He doesn’t follow you as you grab a gallon of milk and beeline for the self-checkout. You pass the tennis team in the aisle. They smell like sunscreen and don’t notice you dart past them.

“Hey,” you hear one of them say. They’re looking at Caiden. “I’ve never seen that guy around before.”

Another one hums. “There’s something about him. He looks…strong.”

“Why’s he just standing by the milk?”

You grab your purchase and calmly walk out the door.

------------------.

It’s a month after Caiden first transferred when he marches up to your desk after the last bell rings and says, “You. I need to talk to you.”

You look up at him from under your bangs, hands stilling on the open textbook. Caiden looks a lot different. He’s always dressed in a tennis club uniform now and his wild, curly hair is held away from his face by a sweatband. He’s a little sunburned and there is a bandage wrapped from wrist to shoulder on his right arm. Your eyes dart down to see a matching bandage wrapped around his left ankle.

“Please,” Caiden says when the silence stretches too long. His voice cracks. “I was wrong. I was—”

You close your textbook with a snap. You weren’t really studying anyway. Studying makes you look like a background character, but the ace of the tennis team coming to talk to you cancels it out. “There’s a dentist on 3rd Street. Meet me there in an hour.”

“A dentist?” Caiden asks, bewildered. He dumbly moves out of your way when you stand to go. “Why a—”

“Not here,” you hiss. “Dentist office.”

You rush out of class before anyone notices him talking to you.

-------------------.

The first time this town killed one of your friends, you didn’t know about the magic.

You were just a kid, barely thirteen, and new in town. You didn’t know what you were doing when you decided you wanted the quiet girl in class to befriend. Jeanine always sat by the windows, staring out into the school’s courtyard by herself. Her black braids swung on either side of her face and her glasses were pressed high on the bridge of her nose.

You introduced yourself to her, complimented her on her book, and asked if she’d like to have lunch. Sometimes you remember the smile she gave you in that first moment. Surprised, vulnerable, secretly pleased. You treasure that moment where you were just two girls looking for friends. You remember all her smiles over that blissful period where you went to the bookstore and the library, to the movies and to sleepovers, to parties and to concerts.

Sometimes remembering those smiles even helps you forget the painful one she gave you before she lost her life saving yours.

-----------------.

Caiden is pacing in front of the dentist’s office when you arrive. The street is deserted and there’s a faded Closed sign in the window.

Caiden jerks his thumb at the sign. “It’s closed.”

“Yeah,” you say. There’s a little bench in front of the office where patients are invited to wait for their appointment. You take a seat and gesture for him to do the same. “Very few stories start at the dentist and, those that do, always start when it’s open. It’s unlikely we’ll run into any trouble here.”

Caiden clutches his bandaged arm, looking over his shoulder as if checking for pursuers. “So location is part of it? Even just…walking down the street can trigger it?”

“Depends which street,” you say. You twist so you can put one foot up on the bench, angling your body towards him as he sits next to you. “Setting is an important part of the story.”

“Okay,” Caiden says. He breathes in through his nose and out through his mouth. “Sorry. I just—sorry. Thank you for talking to me. I know I didn’t believe you—”

“It’s hard to believe,” you say, “even without the magic.” You nod your head at his arm. “You okay?”

Caiden looks down at his arm as if he forgot about the bandages. “Oh, this? I’m not injured.” He unravels the strips to show unblemished skin. “Mark – the tennis team captain? – he’s worried about spies from other schools. I’m pretending to be hurt so they think I’m out of commission.”

“Thus giving you the element of surprise when you face them at Nationals next week,” you say with understanding. You eye the other bandage. “And your ankle?”

Caiden laughs. It’s not a joyful laugh. It sounds a little hysterical. “No, no, that’s real. I got invited to a drama club after party and spent most of Saturday night running away from a werewolf. I sprained it in the woods.”

“The Drama Club President is a werewolf,” you say. If he’d believed you a month ago, you would have warned him. You were there when she got bitten, but you managed to escape that particular story by pretending to faint. “She’s really had a lot of character growth since she got bit. She used to be super mean before.”

“Oh, as long as it’s for character growth,” Caiden says sarcastically. He scrubs a hand over his face. “We barely got away. It was only because the track team was there that we managed to run her into exhaustion.” He looks up at you. “I think—I think she’s going to kill someone one day.”

“She already has,” you say. When Caiden’s eyes widen, you wave a hand. “It was a bad guy who was trying to turn our entire school into werewolves. We actually owe her a lot for managing to contain that particular plot.”

“How is she going to put that on a college application?” he asks.

You point at him. “See, that right there is why you’re already so deep into a story. Being funny when you should be panicking is basically a requirement for protagonists.”

“I’m panicking,” Caiden assures you. He points to himself emphatically. “I’m definitely panicking.”

“Good,” you say, “that means the magic doesn’t have complete control over you yet. I was worried. Nationals isn’t supposed to be for another four months. I thought the accelerated schedule was a sign you’d completely become the main character.”

“How do I get out of this?” Caiden pulls at his jersey. “I don’t even like tennis! I don’t even know how I joined the club, I didn’t sign up for anything. I don’t know how I got the equipment. My dad didn’t buy it for me.”

“Those details aren’t necessary for the story you’re in,” you say. You pick up your backpack and unzip the main pocket. “I have some Rules to avoid getting sucked into a role. No meeting people in Big Settings, first of all.”

“Big Settings?”

“The lunchroom, the roof, the community pool, the lake, a love interest’s house, anywhere after curfew, etcetera,” you rattle off. You pull out a copy of The Rules and hand it to him. Even now, the mix of your handwriting and Jeanine’s sends a spike of sorrow through you. “There are some pretty specific ones on there too. I suggest you read through them all and pick out the common themes.”

The sun is getting dangerously low. You keep one eye on Caiden as he scans through the six pages of photocopied rules and one eye on the street. A couple cars pass by, but they’re all normal sedans. The moment you see a motorcycle or a van it’ll be time to leave.

“I can’t have an accent?” Caiden looks up from the paper. “But I’m not from here! How can I control an accent?”

“You can’t,” you admit. “But don’t use any region-specific idioms. That should help.”

Caiden points at the page. “Do not go to the library’s second floor?”

“Do not go to the library’s second floor,” you agree solemnly. When Caiden stares at you, you relent. “It’s super haunted. Also all the books in the back corner are cursed.”

“How do you know that?”

“They look super cursed. In a town like this, if it looks cursed, it’s cursed.”

“I guess I can’t say I don’t believe you,” Caiden mutters. “Werewolves are real, I’m pretty sure my club captain is some sort of spymaster, and I saw a kid fall four stories and land on his feet yesterday.”

“That’s Mark’s little brother. He’s got some sort of budding superhero thing going on,” you explain.

“Superhero implies the existence of a supervillain,” Caiden says.

“I try not to think about that.” A car turns onto 3rd Street a little too quickly. You tense and watch as a bicyclist comes screeching around the corner and pedal furiously in pursuit. “Time to go. Sunset is when rising actions get to climaxes. Read the Rules. We’ll talk about how to get you out of your current story tomorrow.”

“Wait!” Caiden scrambles up after you. “I can’t wait until tomorrow! Who know what will happen by then? A stalker could climb the trellis outside my window, or my house could catch on fire—”

“Do you have any little siblings?”

“No? What—”

“Are you going to be out after curfew tonight?”

“No, but my parents—”

“Your house won’t catch on fire then,” you say. “You’re a main character right now. The magic won’t give you a tragic back story when you’re there to stop it. I’d leave now if I were you. There’s about to be a police chase down here.”

“How could you know that?” Caiden cries out.

“Did you see that bicyclist just now?”

“From a minute ago? Yeah, but—”

“We’ll talk tomorrow. If the police see you here, you’ll get dragged into it as a witness.”

As if on cue, sirens start up a couple blocks over. You duck into a side street without waiting to see if Caiden understands.

-----------.

Your parents stop talking when you come through the front door. You set your backpack down slowly, taking them in. They’re sitting on the floor of the living room with a whole pile of newspaper articles and printed Wikipedia pages between them. They’re both dressed in all black and your mom has a grappling hook over one shoulder.

“What’s going on?” you ask.

“Costume party,” your dad says.

“Collage for my book club,” your mom says. When she hears your dad’s answer, she nods quickly. “My book club which is also a costume party.”

It’s sad to see your parents caught in the magic like this. You remember them when you were little. Your mom was an accountant, and your dad was one of the best mechanics in your hometown. Sure, they’d still been a little…odd. Your dad taught you to hotwire a car before you learned how to change the oil and your mom would bring you along into corporate fraud investigations, but that was what they wanted. Now their eccentricities make them main characters.

“Sounds fun,” you say with false cheer. You desperately want to beg them not to do whatever they’re planning. You want to plead with them to be safe. You want your dad to quit adding spy-like features to the family car and for your mom to stop breaking into the town museum. But you aren’t strong enough to protect them. You’re only strong enough to protect yourself. “I’ve got a history test tomorrow, so I’m going to study in my room. I’ll probably have my headphones in so I won’t be able to hear anything. Try not to scare me.”

Your mom’s eyes light. “We won’t bother you, sweetheart. Do you want to take some snacks to your room? So you don’t have to come in and out.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Does it hurt your parents are so eager to get you out of the way? Yes, but at least it’s an attempt to protect you.

You let your parents give you some mixed nuts, fruit, and popcorn before heading up to your room. While they plan whatever heist they’re doing tonight, you’ve got planning of your own. Caiden’s in a pretty tame story, but it’s still a story.

He’s got to get out as quietly as he can or else things will get messy.

----------.

“Let’s meet in the lunchroom after classes,” Caiden says the next morning. The circles under his eyes are even darker than they were yesterday, but his eyes are bright and alive. He ruefully gestures to his tennis uniform. “Before practice.”

You raise an eyebrow. The lunchroom will be empty, students choosing to use the more comfortable chairs and tables in the multipurpose room or library to study. “I’m impressed. That might be the only time the lunchroom will be safe.”

“I finally did my research,” Caiden says grimly. He flinches when the classroom door opens but recovers quickly. He walks away from your desk as if only passing by it, smiling easily at a fellow tennis player when they greet him.

“Hey,” the girl at the desk hisses at you. She’s a lower-level antagonist, easily identified by the bubblegum she’s always chewing. The teacher is always yelling at her for it, but she never gets in trouble unless the magic needs her to be a background character in detention. “Is it just me or is Caiden talking to you a lot?”

“I don’t think so,” you say. You frown at her like she’s the strange one, not you. “Are you feeling okay?”

Flustered, she pops a bubble and turns back to the doodles she’s scratching on her desk. “Never mind.”

Whew. That was a close one. Her words could’ve triggered a romance plot between you and Caiden with her as the third wheel. You’ve seen more than your fair share of those pan out. Best case scenario, one of you would end up studying abroad for a year. Worst case, one of you would end up dead.

Your heart races a little. Frowning for real, you press a hand to your chest. Could…could you actually have a crush on Caiden? After a moment, you shake your head. That’s ridiculous. You’re probably still feeling the adrenaline of escaping the pull of a story.

Even now, after four years, avoiding the magic still feels like a victory.

----------------.

The thing is, you used to love the magic. When Jeanine first showed you how to watch people, it was like TV come to life. The teacher is in a slow-burn romantic comedy with the principal. The tenth grader who just passed you in the hall is actually one of the most respected journalists in town. There’s going to be a musical number in the park after school because the eggs the biology club has been looking after finally hatched into the cutest baby ducklings.

You loved it. You and Jeanine would race around after school every day to check in on each story. You remember the way her jacket would puff out behind her as she jumped the last few steps in front of the auditorium. The glint of the sun off the barrette in her hair that matched the one in yours. The joy when she would turn to smile at you like what you were witnessing was for just the two of you.

It got to the point where you could guess what sort of story someone would get caught in. You and Jeanine used to place bets on the genre, the cast, the ending. It was a game. It was all a fucking game until it wasn’t.

You were naïve. You thought that being watchers protected you from the bad endings. The Rules…you thought yourself clever for making them. You never saw how incomplete they were. That’s why you didn’t notice when Jeanine became withdrawn. She never told you about the threatening letters that started to show up in her mailbox. Her parents were always away working and she didn’t have anyone to turn to.

She should have turned to you. You believe that now. If she’d just come to you sooner, then the weight of the story you’d gotten yourself tangled in would have been bearable. Or maybe you should have been able to see it. You were right there, watching. You should have seen the mysterious cloaked figures. You should have known.

You didn’t know soon enough.

Jeanine died saving you.

And now it’s your turn to save someone else.

-----------------------.

The end of the school day can’t come soon enough. When the bell finally rings, you make yourself count to ten before standing up.

Rule 14: Never be the first one out of class.

Rule 27: Never be the last one out of class.

You exit exactly in the middle of the pack. To your delight, Caiden is only a few people ahead of you. He read the Rules and he’s following them. That means this morning wasn’t a fluke. He’s still not completely bound by the magic.

He can be saved.

“Alright,” you say when you reach the lunchroom. Like you’d hoped, there’s no one there. You slam you backpack on top of a table and start pulling out folders. “I’ve got a couple ideas on how to get you out of your story.”

Caiden twirls the racket in his hands. “Can’t I just quit the club?”

“No, that’ll just turn it into a story about getting you back in time for Nationals,” you explain. You flip open the first folder. “One option is to get arrested for something. Sure, it’ll make you a criminal for a little bit, but your team won’t come looking for you. Heck, they might kick you off the team entirely.”

“If they’d come after me for quitting, don’t you think they’d just bail me out?” Caiden asks.

You pause. You didn’t think about that. “Would they even have the money to do that?”

“Mark’s estranged Dad is a millionaire,” Caiden says. He pulls out his phone and flips to a picture. “Here he is on a yacht.”

“I don’t really pay attention to the adult stories,” you say. You examine the picture. Yep, that’s definitely the start of a millionaire romance trope. “Good thing my parents are still together.”

Caiden frowns. “Mine aren’t.”

“Don’t let either of your parents meet Mark’s Dad,” you say apologetically. You flip to the next folder. “Next option is to pretend to be possessed by a famous tennis player. Then, when you lead the team to victory, you say it’s because of the ghost, the ghost gets exorcised, and the team loses interest in you when your abilities fade.”

“That’s pretty convoluted,” Caiden says. He pulls the folder towards him and examines the doodle of a ghost you did. “You don’t know if I’ll lead the team to victory.”

You scoff and gesture to him. “Look at you. Of course, you will.” Before he has a chance to respond, you reveal the last plan. “That’s why I think this one will work. Instead of leading the team to victory, you become a supporting character.” You open the folder to reveal a picture of Mark. “In short, you make Mark a main character.”

“What?” Caiden yelps. He casts a guilty glance towards the front of the lunchroom, making sure no one in the hall heard him. He lowers his voice. “You want me to sacrifice Mark? The guy’s already been through a lot!”

Caiden looks awfully heroic with the way he’s squared his shoulders. He’s genuinely a good person and if you’d meant to sacrifice Mark in his place, you’d feel very villainous right now. “No,” you say, “don’t you see? Making him the main character will actually help him.”

“How?”

“His little brother’s got powers and his dad is, apparently, a millionaire.” You hesitate. You don’t really want to say it, but you don’t think Caiden’s quite understood what it means to be surrounded by main characters. “The way it is now, Mark is in danger.”

Caiden goes still. “What?”

“What’s more powerful than a superhero fighting to protect his brother’s memory? Or a millionaire who only needs the right romantic interest to recover from the grief of losing his eldest son?” You flip over the page and grab a pencil. You draw a circle on one side of the page. “Imagine that’s a superhero story.” You draw a dot in the circle. “That’s Mark’s brother. He can only be affected by superhero-related things as long as he’s in that circle. Their dad’s millionaire-romance story won’t stop him from being a hero, just like his son being a hero won’t stop their dad from becoming a sugar daddy for some lucky single in town.”

“Definitely keeping my dad away from him,” Caiden mutters.

You draw another circle and put another dot in it. “That dot is their dad. He’s protected from any superhero stuff because he’s the main character in the romance stuff.” Between the two circles, you draw a third dot. “In the center? That’s Mark. And right now he doesn’t have a circle to protect him from the superhero stuff or the romance stuff. Do you understand?”

“You’re saying that Mark needs to be a main character so he doesn’t become a tragic backstory,” Caiden says. He scrubs a hand over his face and collapse onto a chair. “This stuff is messed up.”

“Sometimes,” you say, “being outside the magic is just as dangerous as being in the magic.”

That’s what you and Jeanine never understood. There’s a difference between being a background character and being an exception. Exceptions make great protagonists. When the sorcerers that live in the park noticed that you and Jeanine never fell under their hypnosis, they took interest.

Deadly interest.

“Hey.” Caiden reaches out to place a comforting hand on your arm. “You okay?”

You shake yourself. The quiet of the lunchroom makes you feel like you’re the only two in the world. It’s been a long time since you’ve been able to talk to someone that’s not under the town’s magic. You swallow. “My friend,” you say without really knowing you’re going to say it. “The one who wrote the Rules with me.”

“Jeanine?” Caiden asks gently. When you shoot him a surprised look, he says, “You guys signed the Rules.”

You’d forgotten about that. You hardly ever read the Rules anymore. You know them all by heart. You nod. “Yeah. She saved my life. The town isn’t evil and the magic isn’t all bad. But when it’s bad, it’s really bad. You’re doing Mark a favor by making him a main character. You might even be saving his life.”

That seems to break through to Caiden. He takes his hand off your arm, eyes far away as he considers that. When he looks back at you, there’s no resolve in the set of his jaw. “Okay. I’ll do it. How do I make Mark a main character?”

You pass the folder over to him. “It’s all there. You’re going to have to go to Nationals but, after that, you should be back in the background. Just like me.”

“Perfect,” Caiden says with a sigh. He stands, taking the folder with him. “I gotta get to practice.” He pauses in front of the door. “Will you come see us at Nationals?”

“Probably not,” you say. You scrunch your nose. If you go and meet Caiden after the game, you could be in danger of triggering another romance plot. You start packing up to hide your blush. “I’d hate to be caught up in a sports story.”

“Right, rule #35,” Caiden says, laughing a little. He looks awfully cute when he laughs. “If you’re good at sports—”

“—no you aren’t,” you say with him. You grin and wave him off. “See you later.”

Caiden glances down the hall for other students before leaning back into the lunchroom. “Thanks, Fern,” he whispers and then disappears out the door.

Your face feels hot as you make your way home.

-------------------.

You find yourself at the park the day of Nationals. You can’t bring yourself to watch Caiden. On paper, the plan is simple. He has to let Mark play all the singles and, if he plays doubles, Mark needs to be the one to score the most points. Or whatever the right terminology is. Even if it wasn’t dangerous to know too much about sports, you wouldn’t care.

Jeanine would care.

You wander past the kids’ playground and head across the lawn to where there’s a cluster of birch trees. In your mind’s eye, you see this place four years ago. It was night then and there weren’t any kids on the swings or parents idly chatting around the water fountain.

No, it was dark and empty and the only sound you could hear was the harsh panting of your own breath and the slow, rhythmic chanting of the sorcerers about to sacrifice your best friend.

Jeanine was an exception. She was someone who’d grown up here her whole life but was just…average. Average grades, average looks, average worries. Average. She was never compelled into a story as a kid. She wasn’t called on to fight dragons and she wasn’t recruited to be a child spy. She was just Jeanine.

The birch trees are looking a little weak. You stop just where the grass changes to dirt and stares up into their thinning canopies. Good. You hope these trees die. Then the sorcerers trapped inside of them won’t ever emerge and, at last, Jeanine will be avenged.

“If that’s even possible,” you say absently,

The truth is some days you feel like you killed her. Jeanine was average. You were the transfer who knew how to do too many things. You were the one the town took an interest in. Of course it did. You were a 13-year-old who could hotwire a car and who regularly broke into corporate offices searching for dirty books.

Jeanine saved you. She saved you from all the fates she’d seen her classmates fall prey to over the years. She taught you how to watch. She taught you how to survive. Sometimes you wonder why she did that for you, knowing what it could potentially (and did) cost her.

The truth is you would have done the same for her.

You kick at a root with real anger. When the magic couldn’t drag you into a mundane story, it escalated. The sorcerers that lived in seclusion on the other side of town got tipped off. They made a prophecy.

A prophecy about you.

You know the story that you should have had. You were supposed to be a lonely transfer student with only one shy friend. You were supposed to be excited when the sorcerers came to recruit you into their epic fight against evil. You were supposed to learn their spells and their ways and forget all about the normal life you once led.

Jeanine noticed the hooded figures first. She intercepted them before they could get to you. That’s what finally caught the magic’s attention. Here was a girl who would do anything for her friend. A beautiful girl with quick wits and an amazing loyalty.

Here was an obstacle that the sorcerers had to kill. Here was the final piece of your tragic backstory.

But Jeanine didn’t let that happen. Quietly, desperately, she worked to change your fate and, in exchange, sealed hers.

There is a reason that there aren’t any prophecies in town anymore. Jeanine’s sacrifice not only saved you, but everybody else from that fate. She gave her life to seal the sorcerers here, in these woods where they’d meant to kill her and take you away.

What you’re doing for Caiden isn’t like what Jeanine did for you. He’s not in danger of being whisked off into another dimension or being tortured by power you’ll never understand. He’s on a tennis team he doesn’t want to be on. But you’re teaching him like Jeanine taught you.

You just hope he sticks around long enough to learn.

----------------------------.

You get to school early on Monday. It’s against the rules, but you can’t help it. You need to know how Nationals went. You need to know if Mark won the title for them or Caiden.

You see the back of Caiden’s head in the hall outside of class. Your heart races. “Caiden!”

Caiden turns. When he sees it’s you, he raises two fingers in the air. “We won!”

Your heart sinks. “No, I’m so sorry—”

“I mean, I didn’t win,” Caiden says. He gestures down at himself. “Look! No tennis uniform!”

For the first time you realize that Caiden’s wearing normal clothes. Black cargo pants, a Henley, and boots. Normal clothes might be a bit of an overstatement. You try to focus on the positive. “Nice job! Did Mark score the last goal?”

“Not how that works in tennis, but kind of,” Caiden says, grinning. “He got scouted. That means he’s the main character right? He’s safe?”

“Yeah.” You eye Caiden’s necklaces. He’s still got the wolf pendant and the shark tooth on, but now the ancient coin has been replaced by a tiny sword. “I don’t think you’re in the clear yet though.”

Caiden deflates. “What? Why not? Can you see something on me?” He turns in a circle as if looking for note that says main character stuck to his back.

“You’re still way too cool,” you say. You point at the sword necklace. “Where did you get that?”

“Found it on the ground,” he says.

“Oh my god, take that off right now,” you say.

You’ve really got your work cut out for you.

-----End----

Thanks for reading! I love writing semi-meta stories like this and you know it’s not the last you’ll see of Narrative Town!

I post all my stories early on Patreon (X) Join me there to read stories a week ahead of time and to see exclusive continuations!

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Summary: When Shireen's city falls to a Supervillain, she knows there aren't any Heroes to save the day. So she does in more ways than she knows.

Thanks again for reading :)

#my writing #second person #long post #meta writing #of a kind #Caiden is Too Cool #Fern is a mother hen

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sunnyie-eve · 5 months

Text

1 | Welcome to Jackass

Series: Uttermost Lifestyle

Paring: Johnny Knoxville x Original female character

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: None

| MASTERLIST |

"Hey you could be part of doing pranks in public. You don't have to seriously hurt yourself. It's a job that pays better than this shitty restaurant you work at." Chris tells me as I was on my lunch break.

"Are they even gonna want a female as part of the cast?" I ask laughing thinking it's stupid.

"I can talk to them about it. Come on, what does a show of a bunch of fucking idiots need? A smart hot babe." Chris says making stare at him. "I mean it in a good way. Come on, Lex. If I can get them to agree, will you?" He grabs my hands.

"Chris, I can't. Kyle is pissing me off. Then I have to help Caiden out with school." I explain to him.

"Fuck Kyle. And can't your parents help out with Cades?" Chris asks in a whiny tone.

"They're out of state at the moment for my brothers wedding. I wasn't invited and I don't wanna talk about it." I make sure he doesn't ask questions.

"Then my parents will help out with him. They watched him when you came over all the time. Please for me." I knew he wasn't gonna drop it anytime soon.

"Fine, if they agree. Now I gotta get back to work." I leave the table to clock back in.

After work I wait outside on my apartment balcony waiting for Caiden to get off the school bus. As I was waiting I get a phone call. "Hello?" I answer it.

"Hello, is this Alexandria Miller?" The man asks me.

"That's me. How can I help you?" I ask seeing the bus coming into view.

"I'm Jeff Tremaine, and your friend Chris Pontius said us adding you to the show would be a great idea. He says you're a pretty good actor for pranks to be believable and funny. We were thinking of having a test run with you too see what you got. Is tomorrow afternoon good for you?" He asks and tells me all the stuff.

"Yeah, it's good for me." I let him know.

"Okay, great. Can't wait to meet you." He hangs up the phone as Caiden comes into the apartment.

"How was school?" I put my phone away.

"Kyle showed up at school trying to pick me up early. They were going to call you, but I told them your job makes you turn off your phone. And I left my book with the restaurant number here by accident." He puts his bag on the couch.

"That son of a... Hey, tomorrow I have to drop you off at Chris's parents house. I have a new job interview tomorrow afternoon." I let him know.

"Cool, I like hanging out with them. What's the new job?" He asks turning on the tv.

"It's for a show on MTV, Chris is trying to get me on with him."

"What show?!" He gets excited.

"Jackass." I go to the kitchen to start dinner.

"I heard about that because Justin's dad. It would be so cool if your were on tv." He gets off the couch sitting at the bar.

"Well hopefully tomorrow goes well."

"Caiden, hurry up. We have to drop you off at my parents so your mother can get a job!" Chris shouts for him as he gets things together for the day.

"I'm almost done!" Caiden yells from his room.

"Can I?" Chris looks at me.

"Go ahead." I wave for him off while I open the front door.

"CHRIS! You know I hate this!" Caiden yells as Chris runs out of his room carrying him over his shoulder.

"You know what happens when you take too long." Chris runs out the door with him so I lock the door behind us.

When we drop Caiden off I thank Chris's parents and they said it was no trouble. The whole ride to wherever Chris was taking me, I was nervous bouncing my knee up and down.

"Don't worry, Lex. You'll do great." Chris pats my knee.

Chris and I have been friends since elementary, even through he was the biggest idiot, he's always been there for me. Especially when I got pregnant in high school because my shitty ex boyfriend took advantage of me. Chris and his parents helped me raise Caiden whenever my parents weren't helping me.

"We're here. Since it's a public prank we're meeting in this parking lot." Chris laughs so I just nod my head.

"You must be Alexandria." A guy smiles as Chris and I walk up to him and a few other guys.

"That's me. Nice to meet you all." I give them a smile trying not to be nervous. They all introduced themselves to me and it seemed like half of the cast was here.

"Okay, so we have a little skit but we wanna see how much you can improv without actually knowing the skit." Jeff tells me.

"So free ball it and go along with whoever. I can do that." I nod my head and we high five.

"Let's go for a walk honey." Johnny grabs my hand leading the way to a crowded place.

"Can I have a small hint?" I ask with a small smile.

"I'm your new boyfriend and your crazy ex shows up while I go to the bathroom." He gives me a wink.

"I can work with that. Especially the crazy ex." I laugh swinging our arms.

Once we get to a busy small restaurant with people sitting outside, we stop and take a seat at an empty table.

"What can I start you two off to drink?" The waitress comes up to us.

"He'll take a water and I'll take a sweet tea." I speak for the both of us.

"I love when you know what I want." Johnny take a hold of my hand as the waitress leaves. "I have to use the bathroom. I'll be right back. Love you." He stand up kissing the top of my head before heading inside.

I look around and see a older couple so I turn to them. "It's our one year anniversary to day." I smile at them.

"That's sweet. I remember our one year." The lady smiles at her husband as Chris takes Johnny's seat.

"Who the fuck was that?" He asks pisses off.

"Why the fuck are you following me?" I turn to face him.

"You didn't answer me!" He slams his hands down making people look at us.

"I don't have to because we aren't together! You need to leave." I point away.

"Fuck you. You're gonna regret this." He stands up taking the water out of the waitress hand throwing it at me before storming off.

"Are you okay?" People around me start to ask as I make myself cry.

"Just my crazy ex." I wipe my tears away.

A van pulls up and Bam and Ryan jump out running over to me grabbing me by the arms and legs. I start to scream and fight as they rush to throw me in the van before anyone can grab them.

"Hey!" Johnny comes running out.

"I told her she would regret it!" Chris yells at him in the driver seat.

When we see some pull out those phone to call the police that's when the crew tells everyone it was just a prank for the show.

"You almost bit me fighting back." Bam makes me laugh.

"I had to make it believable. And you asshole, throwing that drink at me." I glare at Chris making him laugh.

"I made sure to grab the water." He wraps his arm around my shoulder.

"Your a good actress making yourself cry." Jeff tells me.

"Told you. That's how most of our life she got what she wanted. Always made herself cry and I fell for it every time." Chris kisses my cheek.

"I wanna do something." I get an idea.

"What do you have in mind?" Johnny asks crossing his arms.

"I need to make a fake baby and someone who will hit me with a car." I smile.

"I'll do it!" Chris throws his arm up.

"Are you sure?" Jeff and Johnny asks me.

"Do you know how rough big brothers, especially when one didn't want a little sister? I can handle hurting myself."

"If you insist." Jeff says so I get things to wrap my jacket around making it look like a baby was swaddled up.

"I won't hit you too hard." Chris pats the top of my head.

"Thanks make sure the passenger door is unlocked so I can hope in because you're my ride picking me up." I smile at him.

"Did the 13 year old in you come back?" He laughs.

"Maybe see you at the crosswalk." I walk off.

"Good luck!" The guys shout out to me.

Once I get to the busy corner I pull out my phone pretending to call Chris. "Where are you? I gotta get home to put the baby to sleep? Wait a minute." I move the phone slightly. "Excuse me, do you know the name of this street?" I ask a woman and she tells me so I say it to my phone. "Okay, great. Bye." I put phone away and as I see our car I walk out into the street.

Chris bumps me putting the breaks on so I throw myself onto the hood then roll off holding my baby as people around scream and rush to me.

"I'm okay, the baby's okay." I groan as a man helps me up. "What the fuck dude?!" I shout at Chris walking around to the passenger side.

"You said this street." He sticks his head out.

"You're an idiot." I get in the car and we drive off leaving everyone who rushed to help confused.

When we all group up again the guys give me I high five. "How did it look?" I ask rubbing my thigh.

"Fucking amazing." Johnny high fives me again.

"Gonna use both for the show so I guess that means you got the job." Jeff says making Chris pick me up.

"I told you!!!"

"I didn't take you as a girl who would throw herself onto a car then fall onto the street." Bam walks up to me.

"Should have seen how she acted when we were 13. She was super crazy. Sprain both wrist trying to do a dumb trick on a skateboard." Chris tells him.

"Skateboard? You can ride a skateboard?" Bam looks at me.

"Is that surprising news for you? Let me guess... I don't look like they type of girl?"

"Yeah..."

"Well I can." I laugh.

"And super well too." Chris adds.

"Hey Alex, Welcome to Jackass!" Johnny shouts.

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dandylion240 · 2 years

Text

Cory closed his eyes for a moment. He was tired. It was the first time he felt old. Old in body and old in mind. Forcing his eyes open he gave Miah a tired smile “I didn’t do a very good job.”

His eyes took in Miah’s wounds “I’m sorry. You wouldn’t have gotten hurt if you hadn’t tried to save me. ” Maybe it was a bad idea to go after the old man on their own. It wasn’t the first time that thought had run through his mind. Every time he looked at Miah the idea repeated itself in his brain. “Do you still want to go after him? He knows we’re after him now. It could be…” He was going to say dangerous but Miah knew that already. He wanted the old man as much, no, make that more than Cory did himself. Cory wanted him for all the boys he damaged. All the boys like Cecil, Jonah and Miah and hundreds of others.

“You can trust Caiden,” he leaned back grimacing as his body protested.

@mahvaladara

#nehemiah #caiden houts #cory rosenberg #ts4 #from the depths #tw wounds #tw blood

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aliens-and-shiz · 2 years

Text

Part 72: Awakening

Caiden looked out upon the blasted lands of Luyten-B that now sat beneath him. A massive chunk was eaten out from it, simply vanished, with now a large coating of magma that had poured out from its mantle the last few days. He looked at the life signs display below. Only a few were left alive on the planet, as the gas emissions from the destruction he caused poisoned everything that had once existed on the surface. And few meant a total of one hundred. On a planet that had reportedly housed cities of the enslaved. A planet he now helped devise a way to save. An experiment that had never been done, for fear of what might result. For fear of the sensitive equipment it would destroy.

Caiden turned away from the carnage in disgust… and triumph. Not a single soul believed him. Only he saw what was coming. There may be millions dead now, but it would have been trillions.

A man entered his glass cell. They stood there, covered in dust, except for the obvious outline of a rebreather.

“You.” The man said, “are who they call Caiden?”

Caiden sat on the lone stool in the room. “What may I assist you with… mister…?”

The dusty man sat, and began stripping rags off his face and neck. As he did so, he spoke.

“You are responsible for the destruction of the planet below, and they make you stare at what they must feel is your greatest failure. And yet, you sit there with triumph in your eyes.”

Caiden slowly gasped as the man revealed his face.

“You must tell me what you saw. And I needed, frankly to thank you… and possibly explain the Great Plan to you.” Sanchez spoke, gazing straight into Caiden’s eyes, with a pair of bright violet eyes with a blue light pulsing behind the iris.

“My friend, what have you become.”

As Caiden spoke, an event that hadn’t taken place before -in any time, in any universe- began. The array of satellites surrounding the planet and its moon began to pulse with a green light. Then, they went dark for but a moment and exploded in a dazzle of light that roared through the Torus and rippled into the universe, a wave of energy and power that bent the fabric of space with it, moving every fiber, every cell, out of place entirely, then slamming back together in the way they were always meant to be.

Every color conceivable, every shade imaginable lit up Sanchez’s face as he began grinning with a smile of now sharp, pointed teeth. But nothing had changed.

“The lesson we will learn today is not what I have become, but rather opening you to that which has always been.”

The dust stirred on the ground, then turned into a spike and struck at Caiden.

*******

The planet shuddered. John still could not control himself, but he stopped in his tracks. Lights began to flicker, and go out. Then, a strange wave of light that seemed to rip him apart and put him back together in a heartbeat shot through his vision.

His fingers released the heavy box, sending the stack clattering to the cement floor. The Az’Khrani guards did not seem to care. This was not what they were used to. This place was supposed to be safe for them.

Suddenly, John felt something. It felt like a… warmth of some kind that seemed like it had been missing for… his whole life he realized. No… far longer. It was reminiscent of an old cave, one where you reached the air pocket through a pool of water miles long, where the air hadn’t moved in millions of years. A feeling of… being that simply hadn’t been there. But always had.

John instinctively flexed, knots loosening slightly as he did so. He froze. It was one thing to drop an item, but this was control. He could move. “May God have mercy on my soul.” He whispered as he turned toward the closest Az’Khrani guard. His anger swelled. A sense of power filled him with the anger. He ran at the creature and smashed a fist through its thorax, blowing its arms off in the same instant.

He pulled back and roared, his anger building into a rage with the power that filled him, that began to buzz through every fiber of his being. Fire began to flicker in the air around him, small jets began shooting from his pores. Then began to crack with small gouts along his fingertips, as if his skin was holding back the sun itself.

“I am awake you insects, and I am going to destroy you!” He bellowed down the valley, and detonated, cracking the planet beneath him for ten miles in every direction, the shock wave flattening everything within fifty.

Within moments, more explosions occurred across Drekka as those who’s very being was torn from them tore back the shreds of what was left of their humanity.

Within the day Drekka was no longer a prison, but a volcanic tomb.

#space orcs #humans are space australians #az’krah #humans are space orcs #sci fi & fantasy #long reads #humans kick ass #humanity is weird #space australia #scifi series

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meraki24601 · 1 year

Text

Mountain Vacation Part 3

CW: Blood, bruises, past whipping, past torture, mentioned nudity (not sexual), implied past sexual assault, restraints

Part 1, Part 2

The walk back to the cabin seems longer than it was before. The snow deeper and harder to carve a path through.

At around the halfway mark, Caiden passes the unconscious girl to me. His shirt is streaked with blood. The look on his face shows he knows exactly what I’m thinking as I cradle her to my chest. She’s too light. Too cold. The only comfort is the slight rise and fall of her chest as she breathes.

The others surround me for the rest of the hike. Their eyes flick around, constantly watching for the evil people who committed such an evil crime. We don’t know who they are or how many of them are around. Will they look for the girl? Or did they abandon her completely?

“Hey! I can see the cabin!” Levi cheers, his pace automatically quickening.

I can see it too. The clearing around the building is just a few steps away. We’re going to make it!

The relieved noises the guys make ring off of the remaining trees. Somehow, it’s enough to wake the girl. She shifts in my arms slightly, just enough that the arm lifted over my shoulder falls against my chest. She’s barely conscious and extremely weak. Her hand pushes against me as her breathing stutters.

“It’s okay. You’re safe now. We’re not going to hurt you.” I whisper to the girl. “Hey. She’s waking up. We gotta get there. Now.”

Levi runs ahead to open the door as the rest of us pick up the pace. I want to run. To get her cleaned up and in a warm bed as soon as possible, but I can’t risk jarring her more by getting in a hurry. “Aiden, do you think you can find some clothes that might fit her? Antony, can you get some cool water and some rags to clean her with?”

“Cool water? Shouldn’t it be warm?” Antony asks.

Alex sighs, “No. Her body is too cold. Warm water might as well be boiling. Evan, take her to the kitchen and put her on the table. The couch is too low and the beds are too big.”

The warm air flowing through the doorway takes my breath away. It’s so warm and the girl in my arms is so cold. Her head falls back as her struggles increase. The girl’s eyes are wide and her breathing stops. She’s panicking. I don’t know of anything I can do to calm her down.

“It’s alright, Evan.” Alex’s hand claps on my shoulder making me jump. “She may not realize it yet, but she’s safe. We’re going to do everything we can to help her.”

Alex helps me rest the girl gently on the table. Antony and Levi burst in with a bucket of water and clean wash rags. Alex gives us a few tips on the safest way to wash her injuries and we set about the task of cleaning her of blood and dirt and the other stuff covering her.

The girl seems to be drifting in and out of consciousness through the process. Her hand pulls away slightly as I clean under her nails, then goes limp again. We try to be respectful, but the girl still reacts as we make sure to clean all of her to prevent infection and let Alex check for other injuries. By the time Alex finishes bandaging her and we dress her in the clothes Aiden found, the girl has rested and warmed up enough to shiver.

Her whole body quakes as I pull her back in my arms. She doesn’t fight. Her eyes seem unable to focus on me as we walk to the first bedroom. It had been Aiden and Caiden’s room, but the two had quietly agreed to sleep on the pull-out bed in the living room. It was the smallest room with only a single bed.

As I rest her on the bed, her eyes finally seem to focus on me. Her mouth opens slightly, but all that comes out is a rough cough. Her hands twitch up as her face screws up with pain. Alex doesn’t have to tell us that she’s done some serious damage to her vocal cords. Her throat must burn from screaming.

We have water bottles and straws in the kitchen. A quick glance and a nod from Alex who is pulling the covers up sends me out of the room to grab one. I start to grab one from the fridge, but realize the mistake and take a room temperature one from the case. I’m not sure if she’ll be able to use the straw, but I grab one anyway.

The whispers leaking through the door of the room are harsh and angry. Everyone but Alex is gathered at the foot of the bed. They seem to barely be holding it together as they argue in hushed voices.

Alex motions me closer and takes the bottle from my hand. “Help them calm down.” He whispers, setting the straw aside and twisting off the cap of the water. “They’re getting distracted thinking about what might have happened. We need two people to stay with her. To help her warm up. You and whichever one of them calm down first will need to lie down and share your body heat with her. Somehow, I don’t see any frostbite damage, but staying like this for much longer will be bad.”

I nod and step away as Alex lifts the girl’s head to help her drink. None of the others react to my approach, continuing to argue quietly. “There’s no way we can do that! We’ll be buried in an avalanche if we try to take her down the mountain.”

“We’ll call for a helicopter. They can fly her down.”

“A helicopter will do the same thing. There are other cabins lower on the mountain. We can’t risk an avalanche.”

“We have to do something! We can wrap her up, but we’re not doctors. You saw her. I don’t know how she’s still alive.”

“She’s a fighter, Levi.” I throw my arm over his shoulder, trying to pass on the confidence I’m not sure I feel. “You’re right. She went through something horrible, but she survived. I don’t think she’s going to give up now.

“We’ll call it in. Let the police and emergency people know to send help as soon as it’s safe. Until then, we have to stay calm and watch her. We need to be ready to help her in any way we can. Protect her from the people who are still out there.”

My eyes scan over the group. The only one ready to meet my eyes is Antony. “Hey, Antony. Go talk to Alex for a moment. The rest of you need to cool off. Go for a walk. Check over the First Aid supplies to see if there’s anything else useful. The girl is safe for now. Go rest.”

Caiden and Levi look like they’re going to argue, but Aiden takes their arms and drags them out. I watch them go, not ready to turn around and face her again. The girl’s chilling hissing scream gives me the courage I needed.

Antony has taken off his shirt and is undoing his belt. Alex is holding the girl in the center of the bed whispering, “Shh. It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you. We just want to get you warm. It’s alright. You’re safe.”

She’s not going to listen, and I don’t blame her. It would be better if she were still unconscious. I slip around to the other side of the bed, watching her as her eyes stay trained on Antony who is laying his pants over the chair in the corner. She throws her body onto her side with surprising strength as Alex moves to let Antony take his place. The moment her eyes focus on my now bare chest, she freezes.

Looking at each other for bravery, Antony and I slip into the bed. Antony’s arm slipping around her waist breaks her from her panicked daze. She strikes out at my back as I back against her, but the most painful part is how cold her hand is. Her feet kick, and I trap her freezing toes between my legs. Antony gasps as he closes the final gap. The girl is pressed fully to my back and I have to stifle a gasp of my own from the cold.

Antony whispers reassurances in the girl’s ear as she continues to fight. She’s losing strength. Each movement is weaker. Then, finally, she’s out. I glance over my shoulder at Antony. He nods angrily. We’re going to protect her. She’ll survive this. She has to.

Part 3

#whump #whump fic #whump scenario #whump ideas #whump writing #hurt #hurt/comfort #injuries #Past Injury #past torture #original character #interrupted vacation #rescue #injury whump #scared

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