>Ah fire, mammal-kind’s oldest friend?
>You love fire?
>It’s so… mesmerizing?
>Calming?
>Hot
?>And apparently Alex loves fire too
?>… Maybe a little more than you do
?>He rushes around like a madman, collecting sticks and twigs for kindling while you drag some old logs up from the surrounding area?
>You throw them all into a tight pile in the center of the parking lot like the world’s worst boy scout?
>With the wind gone and the light faded, you rely on your cellphone’s weak camera flashlight to cut around in the darkness of the barren fields surrounding the church?
>And your car’s cigarette lighter to start the blaze
>You heap everything you’ve gathered into a loose, brown assortment in the center of the empty lot
“Last thing we need is to burn this whole place to the ground,” you say, pressing down on your car’s cigarette lighter. It sinks neatly into its slot
>”At least something on your car works,” Mike remarks
“Hey, it gets us around town. You can complain when you’ve got your car back.”
>The vampire saunters back over to your crummy pile of sticks and logs grumbling something about getting his car back and driving it up your ass
>Par the course for Mike
?>You press the red-hot lighter into the pile of grass and twigs, hoping you can get enough heat going to catch the bigger sticks?
>Shit?
>All it does is burn through the dry grass, the flames curling the brown plant matter into a charred crisp
?>At least the wind is down to a pathetic limp?
>You hunch over the pile with the lighter, its heat renewed by a second trip to the car
>You press the lighter down once more into the brittle grass
>And you fail once more to create fire?
>Everyone is standing around, waiting for your shitty little pile of twigs and dredged up logs to spark up and become…?
>…Anything other than a puff of smoke
?>”Good job there, Ranger Anon,” Mike says?“You wanna do better? I’m trying my best here.”
?>You feel the Book of Rite like a flat, square pancake in your breast pocket?
>Maybe?
>Hmmm??
>With the book open you find a broken piece of glass in the parking lot
>Probably the leavings of some irresponsible teenagers coming up here to drink?
>Sam looks on with alarm as you delicately trace the broken glass across your skin?
>You hesitate, still forcing the glass into your skin?
>C’mon Anon, just do it?
>You even found a page about starting a fire
?>It’s simple shit?
>… Simpler than curing Mike’s vampirism, which you so beautifully pulled off last time?
>You suck in a lung full of cold air?
>How does it go again??
>”Down the street not across the lane,” Mike says, as if he were reading your mind?
>”Mike!” Jenna slaps him on the arm, her claws extended, leaving score marks in Mike’s exposed skin?
>”Hey! What the hell was that for?” Mike says in protest
>He rubs at his arm, but produces no blood -- just scratch marks
?>You shrug?>You know he’s wrong anyway?
>That’ll get you killed?
>”Please b-b-be careful,” Sam says?
>He nervously tugs at his ears
?>God damnit you’ll stop him after this?
>He’s like a child sometimes, you swear
>Kid is going to tear his ears off?
“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. I’m a professional.”
>”Professional emo,” Mike remarks, and gets another smack for it ?
>You smile at Sam, which calms his nerves a bit?
>Well, here goes?
>The longer you drag this out the less likely you are to do it
?>Just
?>Fuckin’?
>DO IT
?>Don’t let your dreams be dreams?
>The glass stings as it cuts across your wrist?
>Your veins open up slightly, and a small trickle of blood drips out?
>It lands on the page you’ve set down at your feet?
>In an instant the fire blazes up, throwing heavy shadows across the blacktop and against the fading white of the church?
>Jenna, Sam and Alex all clap?
>Mike is still too busy rubbing at his arm to notice??
>Like slavs, you squat on your hams near the fire, feeding sticks into the unnatural blaze?
>Both you and Alex and hypnotized by the tendrils of flame that lap at the sky?
>Above you the moon hangs like a massive stone, ready to drop at any second?
>Another night with a full moon?
>Another night closer to Friday?
>Your phone’s clock reads 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday?
>You look over to Sam, who, despite his heavy, ratty clothing, is shivering against the fire?
>It’s still a cold night regardless, and there’s not a lot of meat on his bones to keep him warm?
>He’s a hungry skelly?
>Do you… do the thing??
>You know, what you’ve seen in all the movies?
?>…?
>You slip out of your torn blazer and drape it over Sam’s trembling body?>He looks up at you in bewilderment, as if he couldn’t believe that somebody was THIS kind
?>You’re… not? You’re not kind?
>Goddamnit you’re a coward and you’ve been a dick to him for so long?
>You just can’t stand to see him so cold and forgotten about
?>”Thank you,” he whispers, his voice broken by the snapping of the fire
?“Don’t mention it.”
>You hope nobody notices
>Everyone is too busy with each other or the fire
>Alex stares into the fire, his eyes reflecting its light and little else
>The lights are on, but when there’s fire, nobody is home
>Mike and Jenna are sitting side-by-side, leaving just a few precarious inches between one another
?>You can feel the heat of the fire on your face?
>This was a good idea?
>And hey, it’s close to Halloween
?>Sam doesn’t really have much holiday experience?
>Hell, you’d be surprised if he celebrated any holidays at his shithole of a home?
>How do you give Sam a more authentic, festive experience??
>…?
“You guys wanna hear some scary stories?” You probe
>Damn, scary stories? You’re all legally adults
>Why would anyone want to hear scary stories?
?>”Hell yeah man, been a long time since I heard any good ones,” Alex says. “The specter of capitalism was a lot less frightening than I thought it’d be.”?
“That’s just a concept from The Communist Manifesto,” you remind your dumbass friend?
>”Ah, yeah. That book was good. Not at all scary though.”?
>You sigh
>You love Alex but he’s helpless without you?
>Sam pokes at you?>”I-I want to h-hear a scary s-s-story.”?
“Alright, Thumper, you want a scary story?”?
>You crack your knuckles?
“You’ll get a scary story.”
??>By the time you’re done, Sam is huddling up next to you, wrapping himself around your arm and shivering?
>His amber eyes sweep around the darkness that surrounds your dwindling fire, searching for something
?>A horrible monster
?>The man with the hook for a hand, waiting to gut little rabbits and hang them in his basement
?>You can only fight a satisfied grin?
“Scary, huh Sam?”
?>The rabbit shakes his head violently?
>”N-No…” he says, fighting the tremors in his voice
?“C’mon, it’s okay to admit you’re scared. That story used to scare me a TON,” you assure the gun-shy rabbit?
>His trembling slows a little?
>”Y-You get scared?”?
>BOI, if only he knew what a coward you were at heart?
“Yeah. I do. Probably more than you think.”
?>The fire snaps and hisses, and you see its lapping flames reflected in Sam’s huge eyes that stare back up into your own
?>He looks so… spellbound??
>Your heart goes doki doki?
>You’re so caught up in looking into Sam’s eyes that you didn’t even notice that Mike grabbed your car keys and popped open your trunk?
>But instead of driving off like a dick, he wanders back into the firelight with Sam’s baseball bat leaning easy on his shoulder
?>In his free hand he’s got a few dusty old beer bottles by their necks
?>“You know what’ll take your mind off Anon’s shitty story?” He asks
?>Sam clings tighter to you?
>”Some batting practice.” Mike smiles, his fangs visible as they bite into his lower lips??
>You and Alex throw more sticks into the fire
>Alex with joy
>You, with reluctance. Sleep is starting to weigh heavy across your whole body
>What a fucking day
?>The fire’s light stretches further, painting your tall shadows across the empty blacktop?
>You sneak concerned glances at Mike and Sam and Jenna?
>Sam is standing a good 20 feet away from Mike, his two small hands wrapped around the base of the aluminum bat that once belonged to his brother?
>Jenna huddles over him, adjusting his grip?
>”Okay so, hold it like this,” she says, sliding Sam’s hands a little further up the metal cylinder
?>”And when Mike throws it, I want you to pretend like you’re swinging THROUGH the bottle. Got it?”
?>”G-Got it,” Sam stammers. “H-How do you kn-know all of this? You’re li-like a genius.”?
>The vixen laughs
?>”Genius? No, I just played softball for eight years. I’m as unathletic as they come.” ?
>”Well I’ve never played a sport. You guys ready to see the shittiest throw you’ve ever seen?” Mike asks, a dusty beer bottle in his grip
?>Jenna steps away from Sam, leaving the bunny an isolated figure in the fringes of the firelight, accompanied only by his shadows?
>Mike steps into his throw, hurling his arm forward, his body following with a controlled burst of power?
>You nervously watch the bottle sail through the air towards Sam?
>The rabbit pulls his arms backwards, bringing the bat with him, his body tensing up like a compressed spring?
>Sam’s follow through is smooth and clean?
>The bottle explodes in the air in a shower of amber glass?
>You breathe out?
>Were you holding your breath?
?>Sam’s shoulders slump forward as he relaxes his grip on the bat?
>Mike’s jaw drops open?
>”Holy shit Thumper, did you used to play baseball or something?”?
>Sam holds the bat in front of him, astonished at his own capacity to demolish glass bottles?
>”N-No I never pl-played a sport. B-But I w-w-watched my b-brother smash up old cars w-w-w-with this bat…” he trails off, eyes finding yours, as if asking for approval
>You nod slowly
>Vandalism is badass?
>Mike readies another bottle?
>”Alright dude, this one is coming in hot. Last time I went easy on you. No mercy this time.” ?
>Sam jumps into a ready stance, lifting his shoulders, raising the bat high, glancing at the positioning of his fingers and adjusting according to Jenna’s instructions
>The bat wobbles with uncoordinated grace
>It might be too heavy for him?
>Mike doesn’t wait for a signal
?>He lunges into a merciless throw
?>The bottle goes hurtling forward without grace, turning end-over-end in the firelight…
?>… And becomes a million tiny fragments when Sam swings through it?
>Jenna claps her hands loudly. ”Nice hit!” ?
>Jesus fuck, no kidding?
>You don’t want to be on the receiving end of that any time soon?
>Sam’s eyes crack open
?>He looks around at the little glittering fragments that catch the firelight
?>”I-I did it?” He says, questioning himself?
>”You crushed it!” Jenna squeals in excitement?
>Mike looks… defeated. He squanders a scowl and throws his head towards the fire?
>”Nice hit,” he grumbles
?>Sore loser?
>You’re just relieved that Sam didn’t get hurt ??
>The fire reduces itself to a weak smolder?
>The beer bottles are all gone?>You, Sam, Alex and Jenna watch the smoke drift up into the sky and then disappear against the moon?
>Everyone is shivering?
>Even Sam, who is wearing your suit jacket on top of his hoodie?
>”So…” Mike starts. “I’m going to be sleeping in your car, right?” He looks towards you as he suffocates embers with his heels. “Because inside the church is no-go, and I’m sure as shit not sleeping outside.”?
>Well, he’s already got your keys, so why is he asking your permission??
>Ah, maybe he’s just trying to be nice?
“As long as you don’t drive off in the middle of the night,” you warn him, though you know it’s not going to do any good?
>Still, you issue the warning as a kind of formality?
>The rest of you end up back inside the church?
>Your eyes are as heavy as water though, and the warmth of the church isn’t helping?
>You feel the gravity of sleep pulling you down
?>Jenna and Alex post up on pews, pillowing their hands underneath their heads?
>You sit down, the old pews creaking under your weight?
>You’re going to stay awake as long as you can, watching that back door
?>Sam hops up on the seat next to you and leans his heavy head on your arm
?>Is it just you… or is Sam being insanely affectionate lately?
?>All this touching and grabbing and boldness directed at you makes you feel… something… in the crispy ashes of your heart
?>He’s just being so nonchalant about this, almost like it’s a normal thing nowadays
?>The creaking of the pews steers your attention away from the rabbit cuddling up to you?
>It’s Jenna, sitting up, her eyes half open, nose in the air, twitching?
>”That smell…” she mutters, looking around the church in a daze?
>She settles on Sam
?>The bunny doesn’t seem to notice, his eyes already failing against sleep
?>”Couldn’t be…” Jenna mumbles, narrowing her vision, brows furrowing
?>She hums in thought, and then says something beneath your range of hearing?>She lowers herself back against the pews?
>You try inhaling deeply through your nose?
>*Snifffffff sniffffffffff (my dear)*
?>Only a slight mustiness
?>It smells kind of sour, like sweat
?>Well, it’s not like any of you have showered in a couple days?
>And you don’t even want THINK about the last time that Sam bathed
?>Do anthros give themselves tongue baths??
>Ewwww
?>You shake your eyes open?
>Oh the places your mind goes when you’re nearing sleep’s door
?>You reach your arm around Sam and pull him in tight?
>The bunny doesn’t tense up or squeak
?>Instead he nuzzles in against you, cooing softly?
>You look down
?>Yep, he’s definitely asleep
?>”Y-You smell so g-good,” he whispers
?>…?
>Okay so he’s not asleep
?>He must be in limbo between slumber and lucidity?
“T-Thanks?” You offer back
?>What the hell are you supposed to even say to that?
?>Guess that was good enough, because he doesn’t reply
?>You can hear Alex snoring loudly a few rows over
?>Alex has no qualms about where he’s sleeping, as per-usual
>You lay your head against the back of the pew and try to get comfortable?
>Your eyes flutter shut
?>And sleep is within your grasp?
>But then a train horn forces Sam up, which forces you up?
>Down at the bottom of the hill, behind the church, a freighter screams on by in the night, its horn pulling away
?>Sam’s posture stiffens with fear, and you can feel his grip on your arm tighten?
>It’s just a train, no need to get so worked up?
>Is what you want to say?>But instead you say nothing?
>You just pull Sam tighter while the train rolls on??
>A few minutes later it passes in the night, leaving silence in its wake?>Sam slowly relaxes himself, his body and muscles slackening into the crook of your arm?
>You pull him tighter against you, trying to comfort him
?>”S-Sorry, I-”
“You don’t have to explain,” you say (and try to resist making an egg joke)?
>A yawn escapes you and you lean your head back against the pew
?>Sam snuggles up against your side, still shaking in little tremors that subside into the soft rising and falling of gentle, controlled breaths leaving his lungs?
>You let your eyes fall shut?
>You stare at the pinks of your vision, fighting against the always-on overhead lights in the church?
>But eventually you can no longer pay attention to anything?
>It all falls away?
>Alex
?>Mike?
>Jenna?
>And finally, Sam?
>Just leaving you, drifting off to sleep
The Leaves of Fall Act 2: Fear the Nobodies (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
4 years ago
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Estimated reading time
13 Minutes
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