>Be Sam
>And…
>Ow
>Everything hurts
>Are you made of glass?
>It feels like it
>Did every single bone in your leg break?
>It feels like it
>But you keep pressing on, now that all the hot air feels like its been sucked out of the gloomy hallways
>Your natural night vision and sense of smell help guide you through the maze of corridors where Vanessa brought you
>And soon you start to smell something other than mold and mildew and wet concrete
>You smell wet bodies, strong and sharp against your nose
>You (carefully) descend the stairs that lead to the door into into the gym’s equipment room
>And the closer you get to the bottom, the sharper the smell
>And the louder the noise
>And screaming
>And murmuring
>But mostly yelling
>It’s like a hurricane in your ears
>When you finally stumble into the gym, all the lights are on
>And… you swear there was a metric ton of fog clouding everything
>Now you just see a chaotic swarm of mammals
>Humans, anthros, all mixing together, yelling, looking around, frantic in their costumes
>Everyone is out looking for someone or something
>The shock of the ritual’s defeat must have sent everyone into a frantic state
>Your burning eyes struggle to focus on anyone or anything in particular
>It’s just lights and motion
>You lean into the door frame and grit your teeth
>Another jolt of pain tells you that racing (if you could call it that) through the tunnels and down the stairs was a bad idea
“H-H-Hey!” You yell, desperate. “S-S-S-Someone come and h-help me!”
>God damnit, Anonymous is going to bleed to death
>It’s worse than talking to a wall
>People embrace and hug and cry and rush for the doors, but pay you no mind
>Hell, even a few of the cheerleaders, color back in their skin, hug and embrace over the disintegrating bodies of their former squad mates
>If they remember anything, you can’t tell
“HEY!” You shout again with hoarse lungs
>And then
>Parting the crowds like Moses, is Gloria, barely dressed in a tablecloth
>And she’s leading Jenna and Alex and Stella
>”Sam!” Alex waves his arms frantically
>Relief nearly drops you to your knees in prostration and thanks
>That and the broken leg
“P-P-Please hurry.” You point a finger towards the not-so-hidden doorway, still wide open. “A-A-A-Anon is up there a-and he l-l-lost a lot of b-b-b-blood.”
>It’s times like these that make you hate your stutter even more
>”What the hell is that?” Stella says points towards the open door. “I’ve never seen that door before in my life.”
>Unlike Gloria, the badger hasn’t bothered to clothe herself
>Her wide, yet stacked body moves with slovenly grace as she pounds her feet towards the door
>…Followed by Alex and Jenna and Gloria
>You want to go with them
>You want to make sure he’s safe
>But you know you’ll never make it up the stairs again
>You’ve done all you can do
>And now you wait
>Be Anonymous
>Are you
>Flying?
>Yeah
>You’re ascending to heaven
>You feel weightless, bereft of any earthly tethers
>A leaf on the wind
“So… I… I’m dead?”
>A booming voice echoes back
>”You made it little buddy.”
>You dun did good this time around
>A warm smile spreads across your face
>Everything is dark
>It feels… good, to be dying
>It’s blissful, like a dream
>”You’re going to be alright.”
>Wat
>”ETA to the hospital?”
>No
>Wait
>You’re dead
>But you hear voices around you
>The whirring blades of a helicopter cutting through the air
>The slow trickle of blood piped into your arms through an IV
>”Give us 10 minutes and we’ll have him in ICU.”
>Your eyes creak open…
>…And are filled with sterile, surgical light
>A paramedic — a cheetah — leans over you
>Her whiskers and nose twitch as she sees you flirting with consciousness
>”HEY JOE! HE’S AWAKE!”
>’Joe’ answers back: “Right, I’m punching it.”
>Your internal gravity shifts forward as Joe indeed punches it
>Where are you?
>You roll your head
>Oh
>Oh fuck
>You’re in a helicopter, circling above the school
>You peer out the open door, vision pulsing as blood fills your sapped veins
>You can just make out the rooftop of the school
>And the four shapes on top of it, standing still with apprehension
>You shut your heavy eyes, stones on each lid
>Oblivion feels good
>So you should enjoy it while it lasts
>Because after this?
>There’s so much life to live
The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 26)
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
3 years ago
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Estimated reading time
4 Minutes
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