>The door to the roof flies open
>You weakly turn your head around and squint through your collapsing vision
>Standing there in the portal, breathing hard and gripping the frame like a life preserver in choppy seas…
>…Is the BIGGEST asshole you’ve ever met…
>Mike MOTHERFUCKING Sapone
>”You bitch,” he seethes
>He starts forward, and you notice his body is practically ruined
>No water gun
>MASSIVE bloody gashes running down his chest and arms and legs
>Blood from his forehead forcing one of his eyes shut
>Nose crooked
>Hands looking like they’ve been dipped in a vat of acid
>He rushes past you, almost like you’re not even there, suffocating on the ground
>”You stole my friend.”
>”You stole HIS boyfriend.” He jabs a finger at you
>He lunges through the air, intercepting Vanessa mid-sprint
>”You stole my future!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZbOvE996hY&list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J&index=24&t=0s
>The pair tangle their limbs together, digging tooth and nail into one another, fighting to stay on their feet
>The first one to go down isn’t getting back up again, you know that
>Vanessa gives Mike a powerful shove, sending him clunk-footing backwards
>She follows up with a wild right that goes wide as Mike ducks it
>And watching him move, even all ragged and bloody, is like watching water slip around sharp rocks
>He comes up strong, exploding with an uppercut that knocks Vanessa a good inch or two into the air
>Though she lands on her back, the doe is far from done
>She swiftly rolls out of the way of another rage-guided fist, meant for her face, which explodes into the gravel
>And in an instant she’s back on her feet, breathing hard, her face a horrible, bloody mask of what she once was
>The Behemoth roars, shaking the entire school — hell, maybe even the earth, you don’t know
>Now is your chance
>The world is ringing. Everything starts to collapse around you — an avalanche of sensory data cascading in on you all at once:
>Mike and Vanessa, tangled up together, near the edge;
>Dark stars pulsing and receding in the fringes of your vision;
>The feel of the gravel and grit underneath you as you dig your fingers in and pull yourself across the rooftop;
>The hammering pain jumping and pulsing through your body, emanating from a bloody gash at the back of your head;
>Spinning nausea rising in your gut;
>Heart hammering like God Himself was pounding on your ribcage with a mallet;
>The sight of Sam aching to her feet;
>The panic that rises in you when you see Mike come away from Vanessa as a splattering of crimson is shot up against the moon;
>His gurggling shriek and Vanessa’s laughter against your ears;
>Everything, all at once:
>One time for all time
>Your right hand falls upon The Book of Wrath, its gritty black cover reflects the crimson light of the moon
>You flip it open to a page — any page — intent on one quick spell to knock Vanessa on her ass for good
>You look up
>Mike stumbles backwards, away from the rooftop’s edge, clutching at his neck
>Your eyes widen as blood spills out between his fingers
>He makes horrible, ugly gurgling sounds as he bleeds profusely through the slash across his throat
>A razor gleams in the doe’s hands
>She turns to look at you, and even from a distance, you can see the proud smile on her face that says, ‘That’s for the bottle.’
>Mike drops to his knees
>But you can’t take your eyes off your best friend, who is sharing a look with you
>A desperate, wild look, one that says, ‘I’m scared to die,’ and ‘I don’t want to go.’
>But there’s something else there behind his bulging and panicked eyes
>Another expression
>And it sends your heart plummeting when you lock eyes for the span of a heartbeat, because you know what he’s saying:
>’Goodbye.’
>No
>NO
“MIKE!” Your throat is raw, like you’ve been screaming with your head under scalding water
>You know what he has planned
>Mike, that asshole, rises to his feet, tottering on the edge of the roof where you once sat and threw beers at the city
>He releases his hold on his own neck, and blood comes cascading out like a dam bursting
>He needs both hands for this
>He needs Vanessa, who is striding forward, towards you, the razor gleaming in her hands
>”Now, your turn,” she says in your direction
>But she doesn’t get any further than a foot or two
>Mike wraps his tired arms around her waist and digs his feet back into the grit and gravel
>And starts dragging her backwards
>”Get the hell off me!” Vanessa throws an elbow backwards at Mike
>But the distance to the edge is short, and he’s long since passed the stage of lucidity
>He’s just a body, hauling another body
>The last of what he has is wrapped around her waist
>All effort and pain and glory between his threaded fingers
>If Mike’s heart were anywhere else but his shuddering chest, it’d be between those fingers
>He stumbles backwards, hauling Vanessa’s struggling form towards the edge of the roof
>Now at the edge
>So close
>You scream again
“MIKE! YOU ASSHOLE!”
>He lets one foot slip off, his body suspended in purgatory, eyes to the sky, vacant and yet so full of moonlight you swear they’re glowing
>With one final effort he pulls Vanessa’s body tight against his own, takes another step backwards
>And then they’re gone
>You remain unreasonably still despite it all
>Everything has gone hauntingly quiet, save for the rush of blood pulsing through your veins
>That you are alive; you hear that loud and clear
>You just keep looking at the spot where Mike and Vanessa once were, as if they were going to reappear any second
>But they don’t. And the ground rumbles again with an otherworldly tremor again
>Your throat tightens up, reminiscent of the pain you felt when Vanessa was choking you out
>But this?
>This hurts more
>Your eyes instinctively flit towards some motion on the edge of the rooftop, just in the fringes of your vision
>It’s Sam, struggling to rise to her feet, wounded body trembling itself back into consciousness
>Sam
>It’s Sam
>WAIT
>IT’S SAM
>Suddenly you're on your feet, having collected the two books and an edge of the broken glass bottle
>”Sam!” You call, clutching at your head where the pain is the sharpest
>The little bunny can’t stand under her own power
>Your sprint across the rooftop
>It feels like you’re running the mile all over again
>Before you help Sam, you take a masochistic look over the edge of the roof
>Two bodies
>A pool of blood
>Still as the moonlight
>It’s a long way down, but you can see Mike’s eyes peacefully resting, his lips just slightly parted, almost as if he were sleeping and would never wake up again
>And Vanessa, that horrible bitch of a doe, looks shot through with surprise — eyes bulging, mouth agape
>But still and void, just like Mike
>Even though she’s pure hatred and evil, you can’t help but feel a little bit of sympathy for her and her ilk
>No
>Sympathy isn’t the right word
>What you feel is pity
>That mike had to die, so that you may live-
>”A-Anon, h-help me,” Sam wheezes
>She’s limping upwards on a badly wounded leg
>-You’re not going to waste his sacrifice
>You slip your shoulder underneath Sam’s arm and hoist the rabbit to her feet
>She nearly collapses against you as her leg gives out again
>”S-S-Sorry,” she says, wincing. “T-T-Think it might b-be b-broken.”
“It’s alright,” you say to her. “Just hold out a little bit longer.”
>You press the books and shard of glass against your breast and stare fixedly at the open door
>The one with the hole punched into it
>The one leading into the dark
>And towards the end
The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 24)
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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
37 Views
0 Likes
Estimated reading time
7 Minutes
Supporters of SoFurry
No comments yet. Be the first!