>”A-Anon?”
>You roll over in bed
>”I-I can’t s-sleep.”
>You groan, your eyes still glued shut
>Sam is just a dream, you say to yourself. A voice in the dark
>”I-I-It smells so strong in h-here,” he takes a sharp breath
“So what do you want me to do?” You ask
>A very apt question indeed
>Your room smells how it smells. Who cares?
>You weren’t expecting having any anthros in your home, so you didn’t do any cleaning, or even consider that his nose is insanely sensitive
“You can sleep out in the family room on the couch…” you grumble
>”Eep!” Sam squeaks like you’d just stepped on his tail
>”B-B-B-But-”
>His stuttering reaches a frantic pace, even if it’s beneath a whisper
>Oh Christ you know what he’s trying to do
>Not tonight lil’ gayboy
“You take my bed,” you say crawling from under the sheets in just your shorts — no t-shirt
>Sam shields his eyes
>Rabbits must have great nocturnal vision
“I’m going to take your bag. Deal?”
>You end up sleeping on the floor next to your bed in Sam’s sleeping bag
>You think you hear Sam softly breathing, the gravity of sleeping pressing dreams into his head
>Or he’s just turning ever so softly, uncomfortable in your flannel sheets with all the fur he’s got
>Something is awry
>Whatever, you don’t care. Sam can deal with it
>You can’t do everything for him, now can you?
>You are Mike MUTHAFUCKIN’ Sapone
>And there is a faint little voice in your ears right now, though its distance is indeterminate
>In fact, it could be miles away
>Or it could be right up next to you
>Everything is so dark
>”Mike?” It says, its voice sinking to a worried octave, still lacking masculine weight
>You smile — at least you think you do
>Whoever this voice belongs to must be pretty
>”Mike? Can you hear me?”
>It sounds louder now
>VERY close
>A hand is on your shoulder, shaking you awake
>When your eyes finally do open, you’re staring up at a silhouette cast in the fire of street lamps and the moon’s behemoth size
>Long, conal nose, ears that rise like sharp angles on the top of the head
>Orange fur
>White strip that travels under a muzzle and down to the chest
>”Hey! Do I need to call 911?”
>You know that voice
>It’s… Oh fuck
“Jenna?” You sit up quickly, and the sharpness of the world collapses into black stars that suck at your vision
>That was a bad idea
>But, maybe out of spite, you remain vertical
>Jenna Orthorn retracts her hand
>”God Mike, you scared the hell out of me. What are you even doing out here?”
“I’m going to kill the vampires,” you mumble and shove your body to your feet
>You wobble, unsteady, as if a gust of wind could dislodge your footing and send you crashing against the hood of your car
>Your body feels as hot as it did before
“What are you doing?” You step back, bracing your fists for a fight “Are you one of them?!”
>You lean back into the light of a street lamp
>”One of them? You’re outside my house you weird-“ She stops, her jaw going slack as you stray into the light
>”Oh my God…” Jenna grabs at your shirt
>Its largely scrapped in the back, but the front has good bit of dried blood on the front
>Surprisingly, you don’t fight back
>You don’t feel worried about her, and you can’t place why
>”Mike…” She stares, her brain still processing
“Vampires did this,” you breathe, not sure of what you’re saying. The world looks funny, and you feel REALLY warm
>”Vampires?” Jenna draws her face up, her eyebrows arched and mouth slightly agape
>”Alright. Vampires. I get it. Stay there. I’m going to call an ambulance. You tell me about the vampires and the werewolves, okay?”
>She draws her phone out of her pocket and begins to dial
“No,” you say, staggering forward. “No. No werewolves and no vampires.”
>You grab the phone out of her hand with surprising ease
>Her eyes glass over with fear
>And you see fangs, for the first time in the four years you’ve known Jenna
>”MIKE! Give that back!” She snarls
>You don’t fight her when she snatches it from your grasp
>You just stare, muttering, brain cranking at warp speed to find out your next move
>And what is your next move?
>You need to see someone
>Someone you can trust
>And it has to be tonight
>You have no idea if you’ve been followed, if you can even trust Jenna, if the feverish feeling is from the scuffle today in the bathroom or not…
>”Just… Stay where you are. I’ve got first aid training and a basic kit in my house. Please, Mike. Just stay right here, okay? Don’t move.”
>Stay where you are? OUT IN THE OPEN LIKE THIS?!
“I can’t!” You cry into the night. “I’m being hunted! What about that don’t you understand Jenna?!” You lurch forward, knocked unsteady by your own cry
>Now you see
>She’s one of them
>This evil vixen must be working with Lydia and Vanessa
>And now you’ve got her alone
>Or vice versa
>GOD IT’S HOT
>You scan her like a hungry wolf, settling on the fuzzy nape of her neck
>It looks especially-
>Oh no
>NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
>She takes a brave step forward, though her tender, delicious arms are trembling
>God fucking- You are not allowed to become a vampire
>You clutch at your head as pain shoots through your temples
>You look up at the moon and feel a hot flash come over you like a rush of sharp wind
>That moon is way too big and way too close. This is not natural
>None of this is natural!
>”Give me your keys, Mike.”
>She extends a shaking palm
>Instinctively, you reach into your pocket
“Why? Don’t you trust me? I’m just a little drunk. Nothing you haven’t seen before.”
>”You’re not drunk,” she says quietly, almost hurt. “I’d be able to smell it on you. There’s something wrong with you.”
>You shake your head
”Well, alright, you got me. I’m just turning into a vampire is all,” you reply unceremoniously, like it was just another casual fact about being Mike Sapone
>Jenna thinks it’s anything but casual
>”STOP SAYING THAT! STOP WITH THE VAMPIRE STUFF! YOU’RE SCARING ME!”
>The sound of her voice is sharp against your ears
>When did they become so sensitive?
>You’re running out of time
>You need to get the fuck out of here
>You step towards the car
>She steps forward
>You’re going to go to Anon’s house—
>You take another step
>She takes another step
>—Whether or not that faggot wants you there
>He’s got to have something that can help you
>Jenna clasps her paws together and mirrors your pace
>You eye her claws, though thin and bone-white, you are undeterred. You don’t think Jenna has it in her to claw you
>You take another step and put a hand on the car door
>She places her hands over yours with a sharp snap of her wrists
>Your eyes turn downwards, marveling at the way her small, trembling hands rest on your own
>Such small hands
>A snarl crawls out of her chest, and you meet her narrowed gaze
>Her fangs are like gleaming little daggers, wet and glistening in the light
>Would she have the guts to maul you over this?
>Mammals like Jenna don’t hurt people
>You don’t have time for this
>You scowl, grab her wrist and pull — hard
>Her face twists up in pain as you pry her away
>Though it hurts your heart, you don’t stop until you’ve pried her off entirely
>With a shove, you push her back from you
>She stumbles, but does not try to stop you any further
>Just lets her body hang in the dark, defeated and slack
>”What’s wrong with you?” She whispers. “Why don’t you accept help?”
>You slide into the driver’s seat and start the car, praying that there’s enough gas left to find Anon’s house from here
>Jenna does not look up
>You pull up alongside her and open your mouth, but nothing comes out
>What do you say?
>’Sorry I’m becoming a bloodsucking freak and I need to see my weirdo friend whose weirdo book might be able cure this’?
>There’s a stone in your stomach
>Something about her defeated look, the way her dress falls off her tired body—
>—It makes you feel really guilty
“Come talk to me at school tomorrow. I promise I’ll tell you more then.”
>That seems like enough
>You start to push on the accelerator but stop just before you edge out of earshot
”And for FUCK SAKE, do NOT talk to any cheerleaders tomorrow. Just… stick to yourself this week at school. Do you understand?”
>She raises her head
>Her green eyes are almost glowing
>”Promise me you’ll tell me?”
>…
>…
“Promise.”
>Your feet find the pedals and you coast off into the night, swallowed quickly by the absence and silence of a suburban photograph
>You don’t know how much gas you’ve got left, but that needle has been on ‘E’ for awhile, but there’s no way in hell you’re stopping for gas
>The moon feels like it’s watching you
>And with every headlight that cleaves into the leftmost lane, you duck your head behind the wheel a bit
>A distinct chill sets in your gut, slowly blossoming there and spreading outwards like the tendrils of a some vine
>You check the dash clock, having lost your phone on your flight from school
>It’s a little after 11:00
>You are Anon
>And this is gay
>This is so gay
>He had to have planned this
>Not a few minutes after you’d fallen asleep on the floor, Sam had rolled off the bed and basically onto your stomach
>His head now rests in the crook of your elbow
>His ears draped over your arm
>And the rest of his body splayed out across your chest
>He breathes easily and calmly, his eyes shut tight
>And you can’t help but feel how soft he is
>Not as bony as you’d imagined — and yeah, he’s built like a bird, but there’s something about this that feels okay and natural
>Maybe it’s the way he smells
>Or the thinness of his arms and legs, all the weight of him placed in his midsection
>Something about this feels right, like you want to protect him from everything bad in the world
>But you know it’s so wrong
“God fucking damnit…” you hiss, trying hard to wriggle out from underneath him
>You try moving his arm, and you treat the whole thing as if he were made of glass
>In the moonlight his face tenses up in pain as you touch him
>Must be a dream, or he’s used to being hurt in his sleep
>Well, fuck
>Guess you’re stuck here
>You just hope to God Alex doesn’t see this
>Sam’s ears start to jitter and twitch
>He sits up with a sudden gasp
>And then looks down
>His eyes split wide
>His face instantly explodes in a blush
>You can feel how hot his breath is on your face
>”A-A-Anon?” He stammers. “W-W-What are you d-d-doing?”
“What are YOU doing?” You almost have to shake your head
>How can he be so oblivious to everything?
>How can YOU be so attuned to all of this? HMMMM?
>”I heard a l-l-loud noise and and and a-a-and I w-woke up h-here”
“No I meant about you being on top of m- Wait, did you just say you heard a loud noise?”
>You jetpack up into a sitting position
>Your unwanted bedmate slides into your lap
>Ordinarily, you’d care, but not right now
>You glance around the moonlit room, ears suddenly perked
>A noise?
>Sam scampers to his feet, clutching his own ears out of stress
>There’s a loud clatter in the kitchen
>Alex sits up abruptly and pulls his beanie off of his face
>There’s only one thing in your head: Sam’s dad
>You don’t know how he found you, but he did
>On two shaking feet, you stand up
>Sam’s baseball bat is in the corner of your room
>You retrieve it and nudge Alex awake as quietly as you can
>Sam cowers behind you, his ears twitching wildly with each crash and scraping sound
>Chairs moving
>Things falling over on tables
>Hissed swears
>Heavy breathing
>Moving towards the door
>You see lights come on, and a voice croons:
>”Annnnonnnn.”
>That scraggled, throaty voice. It has to be him
>You twist your fingers around the handle of the bat and stand in front of the door, ready to strike
>The nob starts to turn
>Your heart jumps
>Sam squeaks and hops backwards a bit, putting some distance between you and him
>Alex is standing off to the side, wielding your alarm clock like a heavy stone
>The door creaks open, cool air rushes in
>You hold your breath
>And then once you see the outline of someone in the door, you let rip a yell, and jam the bat forward towards what you think is the midsection
>There’s the sound of sucking air, and then the metallic *piff* of fingers on the bat’s broad-size
>You push harder but can’t seem to make contact with anything solid!
>”What the fuck!?” You hear, and finally that voice sounds close enough to be recognizable
“Mike?”
>”Anon? Did you just try and stab me with a baseball bat?”
>He wicks the bat from your shocked grip as the lights go on in the room
>Alex chucks the alarm clock at Mike’s head
>Where it bounces off, sending him stumbling
>”Die you capitalist pig!” He cries
>You have to physically restrain Alex from leaping onto Mike and killing him
“ALEX! ALEX! Stop! It’s Mike!” You cry
>Alex’s body goes slack and he looks back at you
>”I know, but he abandoned us,” he says with some hurt in his voice
>Mike stumbles into the room rubbing a spot on his forehead
>”I didn’t abandon you retards. I lost my phone and got attacked by vampires.”
>”A likely story,” Alex replies
>”It IS! Look at my clothes!”
>He turns around and reveals the bloody gashes etched into his skin, and his peeling, gray shirt
“Jesus Christ, Mike, what happened?”
>He grunts in pain, and you notice his legs are trembling
>”No time to explain what happened. I need your help.”
>His eyes, beginning to glow with an unnatural aura, settle on the red book on the nightstand
“I- I don’t know what you want me to do!” You exclaim
>You’ve moved the research into the kitchen table, where you assess Mike’s fate under a singular kitchen light
>The rest of the house looks impossibly dark
>You spin through the red book, looking for something that might be able to help Mike
>But you’re hindered by the old, spidery handwriting, its thin pen demanding of a light
>It’s interesting, but full of weird, esoteric things that elude you
>Writings on the nature of hell
>Explorations in time and space
”There are ghosts of other times and world that walk among us. They are as if we are not. And we are as if they are not-“
>Mike paces back and forth in the kitchen
>”That’s not going to cure this bullshit, Anon. Look for something about vampires.” Mike demands
“Hey, I’m going as fast as I can. You need to chill out.”
>”I CAN’T CHILL OUT!” Mike clutches his head in frustration
>”I DON’T WANT TO BE A SPARKLING VAMPIRE FAGGOT, I WANT TO BE HUMAN!”
>Sam is useless. During the chaos he simply clutches his ears, trying to turn down the volume
>Alex is not as useless
>In fact, he’s pacing alongside Mike
>Like a starved tiger in a cage
>”LISTEN!” He grabs Mike’s shoulders and shakes him a bit. “Quit yer bitching. You are NOT going to be a vampire for the rest of your life. If anything, we can go to a church tomorrow and have a priest lift the curse.”
>Mike shakes his head. “This isn’t a videogame Alex, a priest can’t just cast ‘heal’ on me.”
>Actually
>You squint and rattle off a line
>He can
>That old header you found earlier? “To cleanse body and soul”?
>You start to read aloud
“Men of cloth are men of the curse, oaths taken in darkness and the shadows of the Earth. One in the same, though they share no name.”
>”Does that thing only rhyme?” Alex asks
“Sometimes.”
>You continue reading
“Two flowers to be plucked form soil: The devouring plant and the plant of purity. Lay them at a crossroads under pale dawn. Until carriage passes, be not free of other-worldly blight.”
>”…. What?” Alex and Mike both look at you, as if expecting a translation
>You shake your head
>You’re not a machine, and you don’t work like that
>And if you were a machine you’d be a shitty one
>”Very helpful Anon, good find, good find. Now we just need to find this FUCKING DEVOURING PLANT AND THE PLANT OF BEING A PURE FUCKING UNHELPFU-“
>Alex smacks the kitchen table hard
>Sam squeaks
>”Shut the fuck up Mike. Just… Shut the fuck up.”
>Mike clenches his fists, stares at Alex, and lets out a slow ball of hot air from his lungs
>A moment passes, and the wind batters the house from outside
>It almost sounds like someone is trying to get in.
>”I’m sorry. I’m panicked. Anon.” Mike looks at you with a nod. ”Sorry. I’m being a dick. I’ve been a dick about this whole weekend.”
“It’s alright,” you say. “I’ve been a useless coward up until now.”
>”Up until now?” Mike says. “No offense buddy, but you haven’t done anything yet.”
>You glance around the kitchen
>All eyes fall on you, Mike’s from across the polished wooden table, Alex’s alongside his, and Sam’s just near the tall entryway that leads into the kitchen — the threshold of inclusion
>Everyone is here, or where they should be
>You roll up your sleeves and bare the scar from where Vanessa cut you
“I have some things I need to tell you.”
The Leaves of Fall Act 2: Fear the Nobodies (Part 10)
You've never really 'fit in' with the heavily divided Ranchview High School crowd. Jock, Goth, Prep, Cheerleader, Nerd... you were never any of these. But as Halloween approaches, strange things start happening, and a dark ritual begins with the finding of a curious red book. It's a race against time for you and your friends to stop a group of students from ushering in an age of darkness, and to also figure out just what the hell is wrong with that rabbit.
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About this version: originally, The Leaves of Fall was split into two pastebins to compensate for the length of the story. Given that pastebin has chosen to censor this story for ambiguous reasons, it will forever be stored here and on AO3. This new version contains spelling, grammar and content fixes. Please understand that the content is all the same as the earlier versions minus some sentences being changed and fixed up. I cannot stress this enough: no new content has been added. It's my hope that this is a cleaner, easier-to-read version of the story.
Cover: https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q
Sam (drawn by Akella of /hmofa/) https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT
Fan art collection: https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv
Accompanying playlist (WIP): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J
Alternative link: https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078
Total word count: 147,552 words
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About this version: originally, The Leaves of Fall was split into two pastebins to compensate for the length of the story. Given that pastebin has chosen to censor this story for ambiguous reasons, it will forever be stored here and on AO3. This new version contains spelling, grammar and content fixes. Please understand that the content is all the same as the earlier versions minus some sentences being changed and fixed up. I cannot stress this enough: no new content has been added. It's my hope that this is a cleaner, easier-to-read version of the story.
Cover: https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q
Sam (drawn by Akella of /hmofa/) https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT
Fan art collection: https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv
Accompanying playlist (WIP): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J
Alternative link: https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078
Total word count: 147,552 words
5 years ago
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0 Likes
Estimated reading time
15 Minutes
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