{"sf1_id":1491631,"sf2_id":"dmBVbbZm","title":"The Leaves of Fall Act 2: Fear the Nobodies (Part 4)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":5079,"posted_at":"2019-09-20T03:25:19.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Alternate Reality","Anon","Boy","Brother","Bunny","Classroom","Couple","Emo","Fight","Girl","Green text","Greentext","HMOFA","Halloween","Heterosexual","High School","Hmofa/","Human","Kissing","Plot Development","Rabbit","Siblings","Slow burn","Young Romance","anthro/human"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1491631-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-4","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/dmBVbbZm","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/1d/7f/1d7f7629-8dd1-4031-914f-593c01f49e25","description":"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.  \n~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  \n  \nAbout 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.  \n  \nCover: [https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q](https://imgur.com/a/vZS4Q)  \nSam (drawn by Akella of /hmofa/) [https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT](https://imgur.com/a/nk3t1wT)  \nFan art collection: [https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv](https://imgur.com/a/SCCSIQv)  \nAccompanying playlist (WIP): [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410\\_nI-0J](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410_nI-0J)  \nAlternative link: [https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078](https://www.sofurry.com/view/1479078)  \nTotal word count: 147,552 words","content":"\\\u003eBe Mike Sapone  \n\\\u003eAnd MAN you gotta take a leak  \n\\\u003eThe first floor men’s room and women’s room are both closed. Figures that only the second floor men’s is open  \n\\\u003eThe construction seemed to come out of nowhere  \n\\\u003eSo you practically sprint from English class, down the hall, telling the straggling teachers that you ‘Gotta piss like a racehorse.’  \n\\\u003eWhich is not wrong, because when you finally hit that urinal, you feel like you’re chipping the porcelain  \n\\\u003eFeelsgoodman.jpg  \n\\\u003eYou do your ritual, which involves taking a deep breath, looking around, then looking back down  \n\\\u003eHuh  \n\\\u003eThe bathroom is empty  \n\\\u003eWell that’s always nice  \n\\\u003eOh wait, no it’s not  \n\\\u003eThere’s a twiggish gray wolf… slumped in the corner right behind you, by the trashcan, arms folded in his sleeves, his yellow eyes unblinking and shot open with panic, covered in highlighter-colored flyers for the Spooktober Fest  \n\\\u003eAt least, you see him in the mirror  \n\\\u003eWeird, but he might be looking at something else, so you try to ignore him  \n\\\u003eYou finish up, zip up, and turn your head towards where the wolf should be  \n\\\u003eYou should ask him if he’s okay. He looks… Kinda out of it   \n\u0026nbsp;\\\u003eYou open your mouth, fingers pinching your zipper  \n“You like what you se-”  \n\\\u003eBut the corner is vacant  \n\\\u003eJust the trashcan, standing alone in the flickering darkness  \n\\\u003eYou look back to the mirror  \n\\\u003eThere’s not just the wolf there, there’s also four cheerleaders — an otter, a possum, a white rabbit and a badger, all in their skintight maroon-red uniforms, frilled skirt clipping at their knees  \n\\\u003eOne of them is moving silently towards you, smirking, eyes bright red with rabid intensity, smiling and practically slavering at the mouth  \n\\\u003eYou jump back when you feel something tugging at the back of your shirt  \n\\\u003eYou spin around  \n”Get the FUCK off me!” you shout  \n\\\u003eThere’s nothing there  \n\\\u003eThen you hear the sound of paws scraping across the floor  \n\\\u003eEveryone except the wolf is moving  \n\\\u003eYou try to keep your eyes on at least one of them but  \n\\\u003eN-NANI!?  \n\\\u003eThey’re fast  \n\\\u003eYou spin around in all directions  \n\\\u003eLeft  \n\\\u003eRight  \n\\\u003eStumbling backwards but bumping into something or someone you can’t see  \n\\\u003eThere’s nobody here! Why can you only see them in the mirror!?  \n\\\u003eDid someone drug you?  \n\\\u003eYou’ve gotta be high right now  \n\\\u003eAlex probably sold you some bad weed  \n\\\u003eThis is his fault  \n\\\u003e”Please stay,” the badger hisses, her voice low and sharp like her fanged mouth. “We’re so hungry. We’ve been waiting for something tastier than Louis to walk through the door.”  \n\\\u003e”Yeah!” The white rabbit joins in. “Louis is so…. Ugh. We want something sweeter to snack on!”  \n\\\u003eNope  \n\\\u003eThat rabbit has fangs where she shouldn’t  \n\\\u003eYou are getting the FUCK out of here  \n\\\u003eGotta get the fuck out of here and beat the SHIT out of Alex for this  \n\\\u003eYou lift your feet to run, but feel something heavy pulling down at your pants  \n\\\u003eAnd then you see them sheer down the middle, the fabric shrieking as invisible claws easily rip through them…  \n\\\u003e… And into your skin, blood springing from fresh wounds  \n\\\u003eYou kick forward and hit nothing but empty space  \n\\\u003eSomeone is laughing  \n\\\u003eSomeone with a booming and deep voice  \n\\\u003eA voice you swear is right in your ear  \n\\\u003e”Where are you going, Mike? You don’t think you’re going back to class, right? We all know you don’t really give a shit about class.”  \n\\\u003eOh Jesus, you recognize that voice from your English class  \n\\\u003eLydia Penferth  \n\\\u003eYou look back into the mirror  \n\\\u003eShe’s there, a towering anthropomorphic lion, tight-fitting black clothes, hair dyed bright purple, eyes colored in with what looks like an unnatural, feverish glow  \n\\\u003eShe studded her face with piercings  \n\\\u003eMetal hooks in her ears, nose…  \n\\\u003e… Studs and rods bulging out of her angular and feminine face  \n\\\u003eHer lips are practically ringed shut and her massive, fuzzy ears are strung together with a thin metal chain  \n\\\u003eBut the worst of it all is the way she’s standing  \n\\\u003eShe makes her 6’0” look like another extra foot with the way she’s curled her body up over yours  \n\\\u003eWithout a little restraint, she may as well be drooling on your face  \n\\\u003eShe plants two paws on your shoulders  \n\\\u003eYou can feel their impressive weight kneading into your muscles, as if she was tenderizing you, like a slab of meat  \n\\\u003e”You know, I bet these girls wouldn’t give you a second glance if they weren’t under my control. They’re such horrible people deep down, wouldn’t you agree?”  \n\\\u003eThe cheerleaders circle your shivering body, their fangs glistening, mouth’s frothing with hunger  \n\\\u003eThey must not be able to hear Lydia  \n\\\u003eYou keep your eyes focused on the mirror, watching the circle of cheerleaders tighten around you  \n”You’re awfully cocky for a woman about to have her jaw broken,” you say  \n\\\u003eYou tighten your fists, feeling blood boiling in the pit of your stomach  \n“You hurt me and I swear—”   \n\\\u003e”I don’t think it’ll hurt. Well, it might. Having your soul drained from your body can’t be comfortable. I just wish it didn’t have to be you, or that weirdo over there with all the bugs crawling through his hair.”  \n\\\u003eShe nods towards Louis, who looks about as useless as a discarded doll right now  \n“What do you mean? Then let me go you stupid razor mouth bitch.”  \n\\\u003eYou feel the fine needles of her claws pinching at your shirt fabric  \n\\\u003e”We don’t want to hurt the nobodies. Or anyone without a shred of social cred. But we also can’t have you running off now, darling.”  \n“The nobodies?”  \n\\\u003eShe smiles, or, what looks like a smile behind all the metal coating her face  \n\\\u003e”You, that wolf over there — people who don’t mean shit to anyone but a few people. Or people who don’t mean shit to nobody at all. I mean, the kids with no sort of pull in any social circles. Yeah, to be fair, you’re all going to go soon, but it doesn’t have to hurt if you don’t fight it.”  \n“And I’m not good enough to matter?”  \n\\\u003e”Oh, I’m sorry baby. You know I always liked you — still gonna suck the soul right outta your body — but you don’t pull any weight in anyone’s social circle. Hardly even your own little pond with Anon and Alex and that weird rabbit.”  \n“Pull huh,” you nod your head several times, ignoring the piercing bite of her claws and the ear-rending shriek of fabric being slashed open  \n\\\u003eJust a little longer. You clear your throat and search the open air for a distraction   \n“Maybe we can cut a deal?”  \n\\\u003eShe pauses, claws weighing into your bare flesh  \n\\\u003e”Well… You might have something I want. But it’s a long shot.”  \n“Social pull, right?”  \n\\\u003eHer laughter is a lion’s roar. ”Lets face it. You missed your chance to have that.”  \n“I never missed my chance. I gave it up. I don’t want it.”  \n\\\u003e”Oh sure you did. You’re such a bad boy… you don’t want the fame or the glory at all. You’re just too cool and edgy to be in high school huh?”   \n\\\u003eOne by one her claws sink into your skin, pulling your body downward  \n\\\u003eIt takes everything you have just to remain vertical  \n\\\u003eYou’d have an easier time breathing underwater  \n\\\u003eThe cheerleader’s watch the sadistic spectacle, eyes feverish with feral hunger and need  \n\\\u003eWhatever consciousness they have left seems replaced with only a rabid desire to feed  \n\\\u003eOr to fuck  \n\\\u003eYou do notice none of them are wearing the traditional spats  \n\\\u003eBut that begs the question of why they were in the men’s room-  \n\\\u003e”God this is FUN!” Lydia shouts, her sadism on full display  \n\\\u003eYou can hear her in your ear, but it doesn’t sound like the sound is coming from in the bathroom  \n\\\u003eAnd neither is the ragged breathing of the cheerleaders  \n\\\u003eIsn’t the women’s restroom next to the men’s room?  \n\\\u003eThe first floor’s was closed, wasn’t it?  \n\\\u003eThey had to be in there, or… or something. You just need a way out  \n\\\u003eOr a way to stop them from maiming your dick and/or your soul  \n\\\u003ePanicked, your split eyes flick back towards the mirror where your assailants are visible  \n\\\u003eThe mirror  \n\\\u003eMike you geni-  \n\\\u003eYou bend your knees to the bite of her claws and stifle a pained groan  \n\\\u003eFuck  \n\\\u003eThis isn’t good. She rests her chin on your shoulder, driving you even further down  \n\\\u003eThe minute you hit the ground, you know it’s gonna be curtains for Mike muthafuckin’ Sapone  \n\\\u003eLydia only confirms this  \n\\\u003e”When your body hits the ground, Mike, I’m gonna watch you suffer. But no hard feelings, babe. Like I said, this is more about liability than hatred.”  \n“Oh fuck off, you like this,” you grunt.  \n\\\u003e”Well, you’re not wrong.”  \n\\\u003eThe \\*tap\\* \\*tap\\* of blood splattering on the ground draws your attention  \n\\\u003eYou’ve got seconds, maybe, to execute your genius, well thought out plan  \n“S-So, back to our negotiations…” you try to keep your body rigid, but all it does is build tension in your lower legs  \n\\\u003eYou need to buy a little more time  \n\\\u003eYour mind spins through all the possibilities while your mouth stammers, fighting back pained screams  \n\\\u003e”Right, I almost forgot. I know you don’t read, but have you seen a little red book lying around here?”  \n\\\u003eA little red book?  \n\\\u003eYour mind spins through all of the memories you might have containing ‘little red books,’ and it’s shockingly brief  \n\\\u003eExcept for one recent memory  \n\\\u003eSam had a book just like that  \n\\\u003eYou’d sell out that gayboy in a heartbeat, but you know now Anon has it  \n\\\u003eAnd soon they will look for it  \n\\\u003e”Tik-tock, fleshy.” She presses down. Your spine bows forward, giving you a great view of the bottom of her muzzle  \n\\\u003eYou blurt out the first thing that comes to your mind  \n“I’ve seen it! I know what you’re talking about! A little red book with weird writing inside, yeah! I know it! But you have to let me go first!” You cry in desperation  \n\\\u003eSome of the pressure releases  \n\\\u003e”Bullshit, you’re just trying to save your soul.”  \n“NO! I mean YES! But I see your point now. Fuck normal, well-adjusted cunts. Fuck ‘em! Just let me go first!”  \n\\\u003eYou tighten your fists again as the pressure continues to evaporate  \n\\\u003eYou try to stand a little taller  \n\\\u003eShe pushes you back down  \n\\\u003e”You’re not in much of a position to negotiate right now, babe.”  \n\\\u003eYou hope this works  \n\\\u003eYou suck down a gulp of air and lock your sights on her bottom muzzle, a stud poking through her thin, brown fur  \n“Right, right. I don’t have any social pull. But I know who has the book. You remember Sam?”  \n\\\u003e”Garlen? That brown Mini-Rex?”  \n“They’re all Rabbits to me. You can’t miss him. Short. Same clothes everyday. Messy fur. Dark brown fu-”  \n\\\u003e”You mean he’s got it?”  \n\\\u003eShe tenses her hold on you  \n“FUCK! MAYBE!”   \n\\\u003eShe arches her legs and tries forcing down harder  \n\\\u003e”Nah, you’re full of shit, Mike. I shoulda known your dumb ass would say anything to get out of this.”  \n“I am dumb,” you squeal. “And I don’t have any social pull…”  \n\\\u003eNow is the time  \n\\\u003eYou bend your legs, ass nearly hitting the tile floor  \n\\\u003eLydia’s horrible smile grows  \n\\\u003eThe cheerleaders hiss and claw at the empty inches in front of you and behind you  \n“…But I’ve got a lot of PUSH!”  \n\\\u003eYou explode upwards, your legs decompressing like a mine  \n\\\u003eAll those years of gymnastics paid off  \n\\\u003eThe top of your skull slams into her lower jaw with such force that she yelps and stumbles backwards, ropes of crimson blood and spit thrown from her red maw  \n\\\u003eFree, but with the cheerleaders pressing in on you now that their handler has been temporarily incapacitated, you jump backwards towards a urinal  \n\\\u003eYou know you have little time. The cheerleaders hiss and grab at you, claws bared. One them lunges forward on all fours, skittering into the urinal next to you  \n\\\u003eYou face the mirror, ready to watch as the cheerleaders descend upon you like locusts  \n\\\u003eWell Mike, you’ve made it this far  \n\\\u003eWhat’s seven more years of bad luck?  \n\\\u003eDespite the gnawing pain in your legs, you hit a dead sprint in the small distance between the back wall and the sink mirror  \n\\\u003eHands unseen grab you by your loose shirt fabric, but you run like your soul depended on it  \n\\\u003eNot out the door—  \n\\\u003e(you’d never make it)  \n\\\u003e—But forward, at the mirror  \n\\\u003eWith a bound and a leap, you curl your body into a tight ball and become airborne, a human cannonball  \n\\\u003eYour eyes slam shut as you watch yourself hurtle towards the bathroom mirror  \n\\\u003eThere’s the sound of glass shattering, a body thudding off the sink, and then tumbling from the sink onto the filthy tile floor  \n\\\u003eAnd then a scream from next-door — a pained cacophony of one animal forcibly ejected from a reality warp, and four cheerleaders now likely unconscious from the severing blow that was your entire body colliding with their tunneled portal into the men’s room  \n\\\u003eYour eyes open to a shattered mirror, shards of the reflective glass littering the sink  \n\\\u003eAnd a whole lot of blood coating your upper body, dampening your shirt  \n\\\u003eBut you know time isn’t on your side with this one  \n\\\u003eYou don’t even think about going to the other bathroom and beating Lydia within an inch of her life (because let’s face it, she’d win that one)  \n\\\u003eAnd that wolf that they likely victimized and then brought to the women’s bathroom is as good as dead as far as you’re concerned  \n\\\u003eSnapjaws can fend for themselves better than you can  \n\\\u003eYou scramble onto two feet and leg it out of the bathroom, past the women’s restroom, and down the hall towards the stairs  \n\\\u003eYou white-knuckle the railing as you throw your body into a turn. Your wild flight comes to a halt when you crash into someone you didn’t see  \n\\\u003eA red fox  \n\\\u003eYou stumble forward and brace yourself against the railing  \n\\\u003eThe fox sits up, shaking off the hit  \n\\\u003eIt’s Jenna Orthorn  \n\\\u003e”Mike? Why are you sprinting down the stairs?” She asks, quickly scrambling to her feet and doing the ‘gotta pee’ dance  \n\\\u003eShe goes white when she sees the trail of blood running down your side  \n\\\u003e”JENNA. DO NOT GO TO THE BATHROOM ON THE SECOND FLOOR!” You spin around and leg it down the stairs. “JUST GO PEE OUTSIDE OR SOMETHING!”  \n\\\u003eYou leave one of the few anthros you really actually like on the stairs in a daze, her head cocked to the side as you practically evaporate in a blur of blood and torn clothing  \n\\\u003eA well-dressed rhino tries to stop you by virtue of your name, but you keep sprinting down the hall  \n\\\u003eClass was almost over, and so the halls were beginning to swell with kids, making your escape both easier and yet more challenging  \n\\\u003eThe few times your grateful for more students in the hall is when you care about them the least  \n\\\u003eAlright Mike  \n\\\u003eMake it to your car  \n\\\u003eOr find Alex and Anon  \n\\\u003e…  \n\\\u003eFuck it, you can call them late-  \n\\\u003eYou blur right past a group of cheerleaders, who suddenly rise to their feet with mechanical alertness to your presence  \n\\\u003eYou swear you see their eyes glowing with lust and hunger  \n\\\u003eOh God  \n\\\u003eOne of them is a cheetah  \n  \n\\\u003eBe Anon again  \n\\\u003eAnd, fuck, there’s finally a question  \n\\\u003eVanessa sits up in her chair for once, body locked straight forward on Mr. Bolm, who looks unbelievably overjoyed to have an actual question from Gloria  \n\\\u003e”Actually, that’s a great question, and I’m glad you asked! Do humans mate for life?” he repeats, eyes eagerly scanning the sea of pimply, teenage faces for- oh god, no, no  \n\\\u003eLook somewhere else you old f-  \n\\\u003e”ANON!” He brightens, turning to write the question on the board. “Pop quiz for my brightest student. Do humans mate for life?”  \n\\\u003eYou become acutely aware just how piercing everyone’s stares suddenly are  \n\\\u003eEspecially Vanessa’s  \n\\\u003eWith a curious interest, she taps on the desk, cocking her head to the side, a smile gathering on her black lips  \n\\\u003eFuck  \n“Well, that’s… That’s the ideal, I think. I don’t know. I’ve never been in love before-”  \n\\\u003eA few hushed whispers from the class cause you to start sweating  \n\\\u003eWell shit, you kind of know how Sam feels  \n\\\u003eEvery time you get nervous, you always look for a distraction  \n“Have you ever been in love, Mr. Bolm?”  \n\\\u003eTo the sound of barely restrained gasps and your own heavy breathing, Mr. Bolm turns around, a stung look on his face  \n\\\u003e”Yes, I have,” he says. You see a flash of light from the ring on his finger  \n\\\u003e”I was in love for a long, long, long time. They say you only get one person in life you truly love. Or at least for humans this is true.”  \n\\\u003eBut his expression doesn’t match up like you thought it would  \n\\\u003eIt looks like you just diagnosed him with stage four cancer, or you informed him his best friend was dying-  \n\\\u003eOh god  \n\\\u003eHis wife is dead, isn’t she?  \n\\\u003eIsn’t that perfect?  \n\\\u003eVanessa can no longer hold back her laughter as the bell kicks itself  \n\\\u003eMr. Bolm does not dismiss the class he only stares defeated at the floor  \n\\\u003eThe class dismisses itself  \n\\\u003eYou’re the first out the door, muttering a red-faced apology at the isolated figure that is now Mr. Bolm  \n\\\u003e”Hey Anon, wait!”   \n\\\u003eVanessa is right behind you  \n\\\u003eDamn, she moves quick  \n\\\u003eYou step into the stream of students  \n\\\u003eVanessa grabs your arm  \n\\\u003eGod she’s cold  \n\\\u003eLike, ice cold  \n\\\u003e”Great answer. How did you know that Bolm’s wife left him?”  \n“L-Lucky guess?” You shrug, not feeling any less like a complete fucknugget  \n\\\u003eIt suddenly dawns on you: this is her  \n\\\u003eThe woman who might be responsible for everything  \n\\\u003e“God.” she starts laughing like she’s not potentially involved in some dark ritual. “He’s such a fucking sob. He’s probably just upset he can’t pull any teen pussy now that his wife is gone. ‘Oh no my wife had an affair oh noooooo.’”  \n\\\u003eShe looks at you, suddenly serious, the laughter evaporating from her face. Her black lips go slant, and her green eyes flick upwards into your face from beneath heavy eyeliner  \n\\\u003e”Don’t you just wish everyone like him, all these well adjusted, thoughtless fucks, were gone? Or at least punished?”  \n\\\u003eYep  \n\\\u003eShe fucking done it, Anon. She is no longer a hapless victim  \n\\\u003eShe’s at least some pawn in this entire mess  \n”Punished in what way?”  \n\\\u003eShe pauses, studying you with pursed lips  \n\\\u003eYou stand alert, but only out of fear  \n\\\u003eSatisfied, she nods her head slowly  \n\\\u003e”Any way you want, Anon.” She nods to something further behind you  \n\\\u003eOh, it’s Harold, a North American Black Bear  \n\\\u003eHis arms shudder as he balances a high stack of percussion instruments  \n\\\u003eHe’s a band kid, and nice enough. You had gym with him once  \n\\\u003eSurprisingly good at doing hurdles  \n\\\u003eYou look back to see Vanessa drawing a small black book out of her bag  \n\\\u003eYour heart tightens up into a little ball of anxiety  \n\\\u003eOh god, she really is behind all this. ‘Brothers, black and red.’  \n\\\u003e’The Book of Wrath’  \n\\\u003e”We can do all kinds of things to shallow and awful people. Doesn’t that sound nice?”  \n\\\u003eShe spins open the book and nips at her finger. A small dot of blood appears on the tip  \n\\\u003eShe then smears it onto a messy page  \n\\\u003eThe drums practically explode out of Harold’s arms like a cluster bomb, shotgun-spraying in all directions  \n\\\u003eHarold gets blown on his wide ass by the force  \n\\\u003eBy the time the bear can sit up, he has two punks on him, both humans, twisting his collar up, screaming in his face  \n\\\u003eThe crowds look tense  \n\\\u003eAnd not because they’re about to witness a hate crime  \n\\\u003eBut because the ones still recovering from the barrage look pissed off at Harold and each other  \n\\\u003eIn fact they all look ready to commit hate crimes against each other  \n“What the-”  \n\\\u003e”I told you. We have all kinds of ways to turn them against each other,” Vanessa says, closing the book, wearing a terribly satisfied grin  \n\\\u003eIt shuts with a heavy \\*THUMP\\*  \n“Is that why everyone seems so on edge lately? That book?”  \n\\\u003e”No,” she says, shoving the book back into her bag. “Not just this book. How about we talk about this somewhere more private?”  \n  \n\\\u003eYour feet tap against the concrete  \n\\\u003eYou agreed to meet her at the loading dock behind the school after three  \n\\\u003eThe loading dock is empty except for the memories of you, Mike, Sam and Alex climbing the broken ladder  \n\\\u003eSpeaking of, you whip out your phone and start tapping out a message to the two of them  \n‘Vanessa is the one. We need to’-  \n\\\u003e”I knew you’d come, Anon.” Vanessa emerges from the shadows of the loading dock, reeking of nicotine  \n\\\u003eTwo other goths are at her side  \n\\\u003eOne human — A male  \n\\\u003eAnd the other an adorable lil’ rat   \n\\\u003eWho does not look all that adorable smoking on a cigarette that’s nearly 1/4 of her size  \n\\\u003eOkay, it’s a little funny though  \n”Right, I’m… I’m here.”  \n\\\u003eThe other two step towards you  \n\\\u003e”Hang on. Anon’s not one of them,” Vanessa halts their advance  \n\\\u003eExchanging suspicious looks, they step back towards Vanessa’s side  \n\\\u003eYou notice she’s got The Book of Wrath open in her palm  \n\\\u003e”Anon is one of us. A misfit — on the inside and outside.”  \n\\\u003eCringe  \n\\\u003eGod this was a mistake  \n\\\u003eYou should just leave right now  \n\\\u003eYou shouldn’t even be at school  \n\\\u003eYou should be trying to get Alex and Mike together to save Sam…  \n\\\u003e… However you’ll do that  \n\\\u003e”Do you believe in magic? Curses?”  \n\\\u003eOh, you always hated Harry Potter  \n“… I don’t know what if what know is true anymore. I guess I’m open to the idea?”  \n\\\u003eThe rat flicks her cigarette at your feet and looks up to Vanessa  \n\\\u003e”How about a demonstration?” She says, her voice far deeper than it has any right to be  \n\\\u003eShe cuts into her thumb with her teeth and presses the bloody thumb into the pages of the book  \n\\\u003eGod her sharp little bangs that cover only of her eyes are just too adorable-  \n\\\u003eYou jump backwards as the cigarette pops and fizzes like a firecracker  \n\\\u003eFrom its bubbling ashes, a terrible shape arises, the shape of a beast, rising from the small light, billowing up out of smoke and ash, a cherry-red heart of flame beginning to glow  \n\\\u003eIt lets out a scorched roar, breathing nicotine and flakes of ash   \n\\\u003eIt’s nearly twice your size in a matter of seconds   \n“Holy fuck!” You jump back as it reaches for you with an ashy hand  \n\\\u003eVanessa wheezes, sweat beading down her face  \n\\\u003eNo longer able to control the smoke-beast, she slams the book shut  \n\\\u003eWith a billowing puff, the beast becomes wisps of smoke, fading into the atmosphere  \n\\\u003eYou feel like shitting yourself  \n\\\u003eGod you’re such a coward  \n\\\u003e”See what we can do?” She says, looking winded, but satisfied. ”And we can do more than just that.”  \n\\\u003e”Have you seen the moon lately?” the human says  \n\\\u003eOh shit  \n“That was you? You can control the moon?”  \n\\\u003eHe nods in satisfaction. ”We could, until Kate lost the other book.”  \n“Kate?”  \n\\\u003e”Winslow,” Vanessa says. “Kate Winslow helped us set this week in motion, but then lost the Book of Rite in the bathroom.”  \n\\\u003eJust like the book said — ‘The Book of Rite’ that is  \n\\\u003eGod this is too much to take in all at once  \n\\\u003eYou feel like you’ve been drugged  \n\\\u003eYou hope they don’t notice your whole body trembling  \n\\\u003e”We just need it to the complete the final rite on Friday. Along with a few… other things.”  \n“Final rite? Other things?”  \n\\\u003eVanessa smirks  \n\\\u003e”Remember what I said about punishing every normie, Anon?”  \n\\\u003eNormie  \n\\\u003eHeh  \n\\\u003eShe continues as you struggle to move your mouth  \n\\\u003e”What better way to punish the normies than to have them punish each other? Once Friday rolls around, and we have our pure virgin and our book, we can finally return this world to a primal form of madness.”  \n“Primal madness?”  \n\\\u003e”You read a lot. Ever read Lovecraft, Anon? Think of violent, Eldritch madness, with a little bit of Twilight thrown in there for good measure. All the people that take their sanity for granted, their social status… They’ll be at each other’s throats soon enough.”  \n“So why are you telling me this?”  \n\\\u003eThere had to be an ulterior motive  \n\\\u003eYou back up, aware that you’re being clowned  \n\\\u003e”Because you’re not one of them. You and your friends somehow are able to exist outside the petty spheres of high school cliques: The nobodies.”  \n\\\u003eOh  \n\\\u003eSo they’re awfully trusting. That’s a good thing  \n“Gee, thanks,” you quip, sarcasm dripping off your syllables  \n\\\u003eIt hurts because it’s true  \n\\\u003e”But we need your help. You’re close with Gloria Duchene, right?”  \n\\\u003eYou blush at the idea  \n“Close? No, I wouldn’t say I’m close with her. More like she’s been fawning over me (no offense) ever since she got to public school.”  \n\\\u003e”Right!” Vanessa says. “Her weird human fetish is exactly what we need. Well, that and her virginity.”  \n“WHAT”  \n\\\u003eThe goth’s start laughing  \n\\\u003e”Calm down Anon, it’s not what you think. We just need pure, virgin blood to continue the ritual.”  \n“So you want me to… NO, I am NOT having sex with-”  \n\\\u003eVanessa laughs even harder  \n\\\u003eYou take a step back, face burning  \n\\\u003e”We don’t want you to fuck her either. What you do with her is your own deal. We just need her for the week. So, will you help us? Bring her to the gym tomorrow for lunch. We’ll be waiting.”  \n\\\u003eHelp bring about Eldritch madness like in a badly written teenage drama?  \n\\\u003eHelp THESE cringy idiots?  \n\\\u003eWho the hell do they think you are?  \n\\\u003eWhy would anyone want to help them complete a dark ritual?  \n\\\u003eSure you hate Gloria, but even you wouldn’t betray her to them  \n\\\u003eWell, on second thought, it’d have to be a good enough reason…  \n\\\u003eYour eyes flick towards the broken ladder again, and all you can think of is Sam, languishing under his father’s ‘care’  \n\\\u003e…Which you think you’ve found  \n\\\u003eYou clear your throat  \n“Vanessa?”  \n\\\u003eThis is the dumbest thing you’ve ever done  \n\\\u003eThe doe perks up at the sound of her name, her pierced ears twitching  \n\\\u003eWho knows if it will even work?  \n“I’ll help you get Gloria.”  \n\\\u003eYou’re going to keep your knowledge of the other book a secret  \n\\\u003eOne last ace up your sleeve, just in case  \n\\\u003eRight now though, that doesn’t matter. The book is irrelevant. Because you have another chip you can cash in: Gloria  \n“But in exchange — right here, right now — I want you to make me brave.”  \n\\\u003eThe goth’s exchange confused looks  \n\\\u003e”Brave?” The rat asks  \n“Just… Don’t ask.” You stare directly at Vanessa, eyes begging “Can you do it?”  \n\\\u003eShe studies you, the trusting look gone from her face  \n\\\u003eYou can physically feel your armpits getting wetter  \n\\\u003eGod DAMNIT you’re such a coward  \n\\\u003eFirst it was college  \n\\\u003eThen it was this whole situation  \n\\\u003eAnd now you’re cutting a deal with the enemy  \n\\\u003eTo what?  \n\\\u003eSave a kid who, up until last night, you couldn’t care less about?  \n\\\u003eAre you gay? Is that why you’re doing this?  \n\\\u003eYou shake your head, ignoring the piercing stares of the goth’s  \n\\\u003eYou’re not gay, not even a litt-  \n\\\u003e”Fine.” Vanessa says. “Hold out your arm.”  \n\\\u003eYou don’t even question her until she draws a razor from her bag  \n\\\u003eSomehow you’re not surprised she keeps a razor with her  \n“Y-You’re not gonna stab me, right?”  \n\\\u003eShe shakes her head and grabs your elbow to steady you   \n\\\u003eHer fingers are ice cold  \n\\\u003eThat’s not natural  \n\\\u003eWell neither is getting your wrist cut but Vanessa Doermuth to get magical, Eldritch courage to save the life of your friend, but you’re pretty much ready to abandon reason at this point anyway  \n\\\u003eWait, did you just call Sam your friend?  \n\\\u003eThe knife glides cross your wrist horizontally, leaving a budding red slit.  \n\\\u003eBlood trickles out  \n\\\u003eShe then takes your hand, twists your arm, and holds the book beneath your dripping wound  \n\\\u003eYou watch in silence, heart racing, as a page in the black book becomes soggy with your blood  \n\\\u003eThe goth’s are all smirking, and you swear they’re about to start chanting ‘one of us, one of us, one of us’  \n\\\u003eWith each drop of blood, you feel your heartbeat getting slower and slower  \n\\\u003eYou no longer evade the goth’s eye contact, but meet them head on  \n\\\u003eVanessa seems to notice, and a smile spreads across her lips  \n\\\u003e”You feel It, Anon? The rewards of being on the right side.”  \n“I feel it, Mr. Krabs.”  \n\\\u003e”What?”  \n“Nothing.” You withdraw your wrist, letting your blood drip onto the concrete. “Are we done?”  \n\\\u003eVanessa nods  \n\\\u003e”You should be all juiced up and ready to go. Just don’t forget our promise, Anon.”  \n\\\u003eYou turn your back to them, car keys already dangling from your fingers  \n\\\u003eMan you feel cool  \n\\\u003eYou feel confident, unafraid to piss them off  \n\\\u003eBut your mind feels sobered, fresh, not without forethought  \n“You’ll have your goat tomorrow,” you say, making for your car  \n\\\u003e”Good!” Vanessa calls after you. “Because if you fuck us on this, our deal is off!!”  \n“Like I said, I’m going to help you. But first, I have something to do.”  \n\\\u003eThe parking lot is chaos, but you don’t mind. You maneuver cooly around hormonal, potentially magically cursed teenagers  \n\\\u003eYou flip your phone out of your pocket and ring Mike  \n\\\u003eYou get his answering machine  \n\\\u003eHuh, you can normally get him  \n\\\u003eYou ring up Alex  \n\\\u003eAnyone to help you with what you’re about to do  \n\\\u003e”Y’ello?” Alex’s sleepy voice crackles through on the other side of the line  \n“Alex? You free?”  \n\\\u003e”No, I’m at work. But yeah, I can do whatever. What’s up comrade?”  \n\\\u003eThe sun was just beginning to set on you, diffusing like a drop of amber into the gathering dusk  \n\\\u003eAn unnaturally cold wind whips across the car, carrying a handful of leaves against your windshield  \n\\\u003eThough the skies were clear, it looks like a storm is fast approaching from the west  \n“I’m coming to pick you up. We’re going to rescue Sam.”","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1489921-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-3.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1493085-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-5.json"}}