>So you spend over an hour detailing what happened on Monday
>Everything that you did
>The pact, rescuing Sam
>And everything that Vanessa said to you
>How she ‘trusts you’
>Mike tells you his side
>The clocks in the kitchen all glow with the same times
>1 a.m. Becomes 2.
>2 becomes 3
>Sleep is no longer heavy on your eyes
>You disobey its gentle push that ordinarily drives you into bed by 11 or 12.
>In fact, you feel alert as the clocks glow at 3:30 a.m.
>And you know you’ve fucked yourself out of sleep because outside the birds are starting to chirp
>And you hear something howling
>Probably the wolf family down the street just waking up
>When all is said, and you think you’ve got everyone on the same page, you get up to make coffee as Mike and Alex both sip on beers
>Sam has another Dr. Bepper, which he sips on throughout the rest of the night
>”Jesus Christ, what did we get ourselves into?” Mike asks, crumpling his can
>You no longer care how many beers you all go through while your parents are gone. Beer is irrelevant in the apocalypse
>”I can’t believe they just… trusted you like that, and agreed so readily to give you powers.” Alex says
>Mike squints, his eyes beginning to redden with blood and exhaustion
>”Yeah, it sounds too easy. Too good to be true. Are you sure they’re not just using you?”
“No. I’m not sure. They could be using me.”
>”What do you mean you’re not? You might have played right into their hands! And for what? To save Thumper over there?”
>Mike tosses a weak thumb over his shoulder, towards Sam
“Stop calling him that.” You rise from your chair. “Sam is our friend. And I learned more about their plan. It’s a win-win for us, you fucking dickhead. Plus we’re getting rid of Gloria.”
>”Well, there is that,” he says, half sarcastically. “It’s just… I’m going to be one of them pretty soon, and I’d rather not. Does that make sense to you? Does it bother you at all? You weren’t the first to jump at stopping this bullshit, you know.”
>Yes
>But only because you’re his friend do you swallow your words
>He already sounds like one of them, and that enough should be reason to start shouting
>So full of anger and hatred towards others, feeling so deprived and robbed of things owed
>You restrain these words behind your lips, and instead try another tactic
“Mike. I’m sorry, okay? I was doing what I thought was best. Just like you were when you came over here.”
>(Thinking he’d been followed, no less)
>Even through the sheen of sweat on his face, you can see Mike soften a little, like melting wax
>”I know. I didn’t mean to yell. I’m just…”
>”Scared?” Alex says
>Mike nods
>”I feel it more each second. It’s like I’m watching everything I’ve wanted get swallowed up by this edgy, edgy darkness. Like I’m drowning and trying to breathe water. I don’t want that.”
>His voice begins to shake
>”Every moment I feel more and more pitiful, more angry at things out of my control, more… what’s a good word that’s not hateful?” He asks you
>”Retarded?” Alex cuts in
“Recalcitrant,” you correct him
>Mike nods slowly
>”I feel more and more retar- recalcitrant. And you two are starting to look drinkable.”
>”Majorly gay,” Alex nods, looking at you. “But Anon is gay too, so it’s okay.”
>You can’t decide if it’s out of fear, or anger, but he’s REALLY turning into an edgy drone
>Just like one of them
>”I refuse to accept the situation at hand. But I feel so helpless… I’m worse than Sam.”
>”Yeah, he is kind of useless,” Alex casually asserts. He digs his hands into his pockets, eyes finding his shoes
>Well that was uncalled for
>You notice how Alex isn’t looking at you anymore — only Mike has the balls to meet your displeased gaze
>His eyes have an unnatural glow to them. Through his clenched teeth you can see his fangs beginning to bud, like little tiny daggers
>Mike’s knuckles go white as he coils up everything he has inside of him
>“So I’m asking you as a friend — as my longtime best friend. Help me. Please.”
“So we need a devouring plant and a plant of purity,” you frantically scroll through search results on your computer
>’Plant of purity’
”There’s like a billion results and a billion different names for a plant of purity,” you say
>Outside the sky is beginning to lighten, a glowing blossom of amber light that chases at the fleeting darkness
>Your room smells like sweat and bodies and the faint reek of blood from Mike
>You’ve been up all night with nothing to show for it except a seriously fucked circadian rhythm
>Mike’s been pacing, Alex sleeping, and Sam?
>Well Sam looks pretty contented right now to be reading old superman comics
>But you’re starting to worry about him a little
>He said awhile back that he feels warm
>When you felt his head, it was true
>You flick through the results on your computer and try to keep your friends off your mind. You need to focus
>Another question is coming up:
>Are you even capable of doing this ritual? That’d mean you’re cursed, right? Because you sure as hell aren’t a priest
>And that means Vanessa didn’t just grant you bravery
>She also cursed you…
>Maybe her book can ONLY curse, hence why it’s called The Book of Wrath, you dummy
>God you’re gonna kill her when you get the chance
>But now is not the time to dream of murder
>”Isn’t sage what people use to purify their houses and shit?” Mike grumbles from the far end of the kitchen. He crushes an empty Dr. Bepper can with his foot
>He’s been pacing back and forth like a caged tiger ever since you started your research
>Grumbling to himself, displeased with circumstances (and who wouldn’t be?)
“I think so. Do you want to try sage?”
>Mike leans over your shoulder, and you can feel the sheer heat pouring off of him
>It feels like you’re standing next to an old furnace
>”What else does it say?” he asks, eyes glazing over from the volume of text on your computer screen
>”Baby’s breath, daisies and white lilies…”
>Sam lifts his head
>He’s been silent up until now, sitting in a high kitchen chair and reading, looking like an overgrown rabbit doll that had been left there by some toddler
>”D-D-Daises and l-l-lilies?” He repeats, just loud enough for you and Mike to hear him
“Yeah, those two. And sage,” you say
>”O-Oh. We h-have daisies and l-lilies at s-school. They’re in the g-garden by the p-parking lot.”
“Great! We can use those two for our purifying plants,” you say. “Man, this book is really nice. Shame that once those goth bitches find out that we’ve got the other book they’re going to eat us alive.”
>”Speaking of, which one is the devouring plant?” Mike says. “Because that sounds vague as hell, and I’m getting itchy over here.”
“Devouring plant…” you begin scrolling back through the list of sacred flowers and plants
>Nothing comes up — not that you really expected anything. ‘Devouring plant’ is such a shitty, vague hint
>There’s like… no plants that devour anything, except maybe the venus flytraps
>You remember a freshman project that you had to do in Mr. Bolm’s room with those things
>You were studying plant ecology and evolution
>….
“Sam?”
>Sam perks up a bit
>”Can you still get us into school?”
>He shakes his head
>”I-I lost the k-key at my h-house,” he says. He weakly looks to you, then glances away quickly. “When A-Anon picked me u-up I think I dro-dropped them.”
>”Of course you lost it, Sammy boy,” Mike grumbles. He turns to face you.“Simply out of masochistic curiosity, what were you thinking with the school, Anon?”
“It’s a stretch, but there are venus flytraps in one of the biology rooms. A devouring plant, right? I figure it might work if we can get in early and swipe one while nobody is looking.”
>”I see, I see…” Mike shifts his gaze to Sam again. “But you lost your keys? Isn’t there a morning janitor who could let us in?”
>Sam tucks himself into a nervous ball
>”Y-Yes, but s-she’s already mad at m-me for lo-losing my keys already,”
>Mike slowly paces over to Sam, a wide, shit-eating grin playing out across his face
>The rabbit squeaks a bit and scoots back in his chair, sensing ill-intent pouring off the vampire fledgling
>”I-I d-d-don’t thi-think she’ll g-give m-me more k-k-keys! And…” he drops his voice, “s-s-s-she scares me.”
>Mike puts two gentle hands on Sam’s shoulder and presses him in for a hug, that grin frozen on Mike’s face
>”Thanks for helping us Sam. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
>Sam’s arms spread out, unsure of himself what to do with the appendages
>You can see they’re shaking something awful
>And a part of you feels a little jealous that Mike is hugging Sam so tightly
>The gay part of you
>”Bu-But I didn’t d-d-d-do anything!” He squeaks uselessly
>Mike squeezes Sam so hard the rabbit gasps, letting out the last of his stored up oxygen in one desperate fit
>”Not yet you didn’t,” Mike says, warmth dripping off his voice. “But you will.”
The Leaves of Fall Act 2: Fear the Nobodies (Part 11)
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
8 Minutes
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