>A tremendous, unearthly roar forces your eyes back open
>The air almost instantly becomes bone dry and cold, and a strange, fiery light spills into the long corridor
>The four of you suck in huge gasps of air like you'd just been held under water for too long
>Before anyone can speak, Sam lets out a girlish yelp, undoing all the air he'd just taken in
>He inexplicably slides forward, as if tugged down the hall by his backpack
>"H-H-Hey!" he squeals, falling flat on his face
>He's jerked further down the hall, his fingers clawing into the raw concrete for something to hold on to
>You instinctively lunge out towards him and wrap your fingers around his thin wrists
>He slides further down the hall, tugging you along with him
>The loudest sound you've ever heard practically deafens you
>Alex grabs at your ankles, trying to keep you and Sam from being pulled away
>He goes down with the two of you, and Mike doesn't have much luck either
>You hang on to Sam as tight as you can as you and your friends effortlessly strung along like dumb fish who took the bait
>You all get pulled into a somewhat spacious room, but it's clear that whatever's happening has something to do with Sam, who gets tugged into the air
>You heroically let go of your grasp on him lest you get pulled up into the air as well
>The rabbit is suspended over a concrete basin in the middle of the room
>"H-H-Help!!" He yells, flailing in the air, desperately reaching towards the ground
>You can only lay there on the floor, paralyzed with shock
>Is this a dream? This is anime shit, not real life
>Sam's backpack rips at the top, and the small red book comes flying out
>The rabbit comes crashing down into a stone basin at the center of the room, landing face first
>The book hovers in the center of the room, its pages flipping and glowing with a pale, phantasmal aura
>The room explodes with a blinding, fiery light, and when you can see again, you look around
>The walls are COVERED in strange writings, symbols, poems
>It looks like the bedroom of a madman
>You can recognize a few symbols
>Pentagrams, symbols for planets, for men, for women, various species of anthros…?
>And then at the center of the room, two numbers appear on the wall, scribbled in fire
>31
>A titanous rumbling in the earth beneath you shakes you out onto your back
>What follows is a deep, throaty roar that shakes the whole building and forces all of you to clap your hands over your ears
>It echoes for some time, and you try yelling, but your screams are swallowed by the monstrous howl
>After a few seconds the roaring flitters out into stunned silence
>You cautiously crack an eyelid and look around the room
>The red book, which was floating in the air, drops harmlessly onto Sam's head
>Deciding that they feel safe, Alex and Mike start slowly moving, and then scanning the walls
>Bathed in the dim, warm light that seems like it has no source, nobody says a word, just stares slack jawed at each other and the fiery writings on the wall
>Sam is heaving silently, his ears pulled tightly over his face in fear
>You think he might be crying, which would be understandable. You'd probably cry too if you weren't in shock
>Slowly you pull yourself up onto your feet, though your legs tremble and shake
>Holy fuck
>You stumble over and lean against a wall, but you quickly pull away, not knowing if you should touch anything here
>The walls are schizophrenically covered in strange writings and symbols, a massive “31" burns against the largest wall, traced in a flame
>You study your surroundings as you try to steady your breathing
>The closer you look, the more things start to make sense – at least a little bit
>It looks a little bit like what's written in that book Sam showed you today
>There are words here. Words like “Drain" and “Desire," burn as clear as red flame
>Other words like “Rage," “Rape," “Raise" also appear
>You read a little farther down the wall, trying to commit to memory what you're seeing
>The name written beneath the great 31 makes you pause
>'Doermuth'
>"Anon?" The sound of Alex's voice makes you jump
>Mike and Alex are both on their feet, though they're hanging on to one another trying to keep upright
>Sam is leaning against the basin, knees pulled tight against his chest. He's got the book in his hands – shut
>"What the hell is all this stuff?" Mike asks, glancing around
“I have no fucking clue. None at all."
>You're not superstitious or anything, but this defies the natural order
>You saw Sam get pulled into the air, you heard that awful noise. You can see the writing that is literally on the wall
>You take out your phone and try to snap a picture, but they all come out dark despite the strange light filling the room
>Nobody is going to believe this. You can't believe it. You try pinching yourself to see if you're dreaming but you can't wake up (wake me up inside)
>You all marvel and whisper, except for Sam, who is still trying to regain some nerves
>Mike opens his mouth to speak
>"We…We all saw that happen, right? Like, every one of us saw Sam get tossed around? Heard that noise?"
>Speaking of…
>You ask Sam if he's okay, but he doesn't answer immediately, he just stares straight ahead, trembling with the fear of supernatural death hanging over him
>The poor kid must be so scared right now
>You extend a hand in front of him, offering to help him up
>His eyes focus on your hand, and he hesitantly accepts your offer
>He must have been weak in the knees, because when you pull him up, you pull a little too hard, and all 104lbs of him stumble into you
>You wrap your arms around him to try and stabilize yourself to keep from being knocked over
>God damn this kid is bony as hell. He must have an eating disorder
>But you also feel a tenderness to him, something you wouldn't expect from an Auschwitz-tier kid like him
>This is so gay
>When you realize what you're doing, and how close he is, you break the unintentional hug and give him a sharp push, which sends him stumbling towards the basin
>You awkwardly dig your fingers into the skin on the back of your neck
>This is some fujoshi's wet dream, and you'll not be a part of it
“Y-You okay Sam?"
>He nods his head and quickly averts his gaze to the floor
>"Y-Y-Yeah, t-t-thanks."
“Good…Good…"
>Silence, except for your strained breathing
>You raise an eyebrow as you see a trail of blood winding down from Sam's nose
>How did you not notice that before?
>He notices you looking and runs a finger under his nose
>It comes back covered in warm blood, which causes a brief look of panic to cross his timid face before it collapses into something that looks like guilt
>He must have hit his nose when he fell into the basin, which now has a substantial blood stain on it
>It doesn't seem to be bleeding anymore, so the small fluttering of worry in your heart subsides
>N-Not that you'd tell him of course
>The light of the room slowly begins fading, however, cutting your investigation short
“I'm ready to go home now and forget this all happened." You say, which earns tired nods from your friends, and Sam just shuffles behind you
>The other end of the room opens up into a similar hallway, with pipes emerging from the concrete like branches out of an old tree
>The lights is quickly dwindling down to embers, so you all follow the shiny copper pipes, around corners, down long corridors and cramped hallways, silently hoping they will deliver you into the school's interior
>You're relieved when you locate a set of stairs, which means you're at least heading in the right direction
>Or to the basement, and God knows you don't want to find out what fucked up shit is down there
>After a few more minutes of near darkness, you finally push open a clean, heavy door, and burst into the sterile light of the school
>"Where the fuck is this?" Alex asks
>You notice that the walls are stacked with shelves of sporting equipment, football pads and old event signs
>The Spooktober Fest sign is pulled into the center of the room, ready for use next Friday
“I think this is the equipment room, the one attached to the gym…"
>It looks clean enough for Sam to have been in here recently
>Kid probably just forgot to turn out the lights
>Nobody wants to stay in the school any longer than they have to, especially not Mike, who cites his drunkenness and nausea
>The crisp autumn night feels good against your feverish skin when you finally exit from the gym's doors
>You hope no shit heads had come around while you were in there and fucked with your car or Alex's bike
>Luckily they're all still where you left them
>Alex props his bike up, but doesn't get on it. He stares expectantly at you, waiting to move
>"So…What now?"
>A chill wind blows, and you can feel exhaustion starting to weigh on your eyelids
“We all go home and sleep. Try to figure out what we just saw."
>He nods in agreement and jumps on his bike
>You make Alex promise to text you when he gets home, and he agrees, sailing off across the cold pavement of the parking lot, beneath a moon that looks much closer than it should be
>Mike produces a joint from his pocket, half smashed, sparks up, and begins puffing on it, not looking at any of you, just letting the pathetic little thing hang out of his mouth as he peers down the hill at the city
>You frown, and as you get closer to Mike you can see him shivering – either from the cold or from something else
“Mike?" You lightly tap his shoulder, but he doesn't respond
“Mike, we're going home, okay?"
>Silent as a stone
>"C'mon dude, don't give me the silent treatment right now. You gonna even offer me a hit off that?"
>At last Mike turns around – and you wish he hadn't
>He's scowling, eyes bloodshot red, face twisted up with something beyond malice
>"Just- give me a second, okay? Fucking Christ, you're so needy."
>Ouch
>You can feel that warm blood rush hitting you as well
>Heart racing, you open your mouth
>What crawled up his ass?
>And despite that sudden and impulsive need to defend yourself, you swallow down your anger, shut your mouth, and nod
>Where the fuck is that retarded little rabbit? You need someone to take this out on
>Found him
>He's sitting down on the curb at the edge of the lot, head down, hands working on something, his backpack beside him
>You approach and try to make your presence known with a cough – you've already had enough of people turning their backs on you
>All this accomplishes is startling him, causing a scrap of paper to fly from his hand into the wind's pull
>"N-NO!" He throws down his notebook and pen, digging into a full-on sprint, vanishing into the darkness that the streetlamps could never penetrate
>Suddenly, you're worried
>Several seconds pass
>Did the darkness swallow him? Is there something out there?
>You jump to the edge of the curb, too afraid to venture into the dark yourself
“Sam?" You call, not yet brave enough to yell
>No response
>Your fists clench, white-knuckled with panic
>You just need somewhere to put your anxiety. You can't deal with this right now – this entire night has fried your nerves
>Just before you cut a path down the hill into the darkness, see a brown rabbit emerge out of the dark, head down, a balled-up piece of paper in in his right hand,
“SAM WHAT THE HELL!?" You shout
>The shout makes him wince, and he looks up to you all suddenly hurt
>He apologizes to you in a voice just beneath the wind's own, and you can see that he's still trembling, either from the sudden cold or the adrenaline
>Could be both
>You unclench your fists and snap the balled-up paper from his hand
“This better be important enough for you to go off into the night for," you sneer
>You retreat from that threshold back under the light artificial fire of the parking lot's light
>You undo the damage that his tiny, anxious hands did to the paper
>It's a loose outline of a sketch, some basic shape of a human, and maybe a cape flowing behind him? There's a big circle drawn on the chest – the start of something, possibly a logo?
“What is this, Sam?" You say, still trying to make out the beginnings of the features he sketched under the fragile light
>"I'm sorry!" He squeaks, quickly appearing at your side, and for the first time (that you've seen), you think he might be crying
“Why are you apologizing? You don't have to apologize. I just… did you just draw this? Like, in those five minutes I was talking to Mike?"
>The wind cuts into you again. This wind shouldn't be here
>He doesn't answer, instead he wipes his eyes with his sleeve
>You try not to think about how crusty that sleeve probably gets
>You don't know what to feel right now – anger, fear, anxiety, pity – so you just mumble something about being sorry you asked
>You ball the drawing up and shove it into your pocket – he doesn't seem to care
>Alright, now it's your turn to go and sulk for a bit
>You need to cool off. Everyone needs to cool off
>Mike is already in the backseat of your car, head against the window
>Silent, except for some grumbles
>Sam stands on the curb, his ripped backpack slung loosely over his shoulders, not knowing what to do or say
>Does he walk to and from school every day?
>Damnit, you really just want to go home
>You sigh and ask if he wants a ride
>"W-W-Well y-you don't need to, I sometimes get c-c-car sick an-“
>Mike cracks open a window and pokes his head out at Sam, annoyed, drunk, high, but much more mellow than before. The weed seems to have done its job
>"Get in Thumper, we're going home."
>Normally you'd cringe at him using a slur against rabbits like that, but you're too tired to care right now
>Sam stutters an apology and scrambles into the passenger seat
>The whole ride is silent, you figure everyone is processing what just happened
>You put on some music, some boring acoustic stuff, just to keep it from getting more awkward and confusing
>You drop Mike off as he mumbles a 'thanks'
>You pull away into the dark neighborhoods
>You're still a little salty about him snapping at you, but it'll pass
>You look over and think Sam might be asleep next to you, so you shake him by the shoulder
>There's no way you're doing this alone
>Startled, he jumps a bit in his seat
>"S-S-Sorry! I was l-looking at the h-h-houses…" he trails off into a whisper. “They're all so nice out here."
“Speaking of houses, mind telling me how to get to yours?"
>He sits up straight in his seat and nods his head
>You go slow through the neighborhoods, your car passing quietly underneath the orange street lamps
The Leaves of Fall Act 1: Co-Conspirators (Part 3)
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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Estimated reading time
12 Minutes
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