{"sf1_id":1666392,"sf2_id":"q1xGb4yn","title":"The Leaves of Fall Act 2: Fear the Nobodies (Part 19)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":1719,"posted_at":"2020-12-28T01:58:58.000Z","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/1666392-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-19","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/q1xGb4yn","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/1a/92/1a92e34b-4153-4f0e-9db5-d1e7d39ee0cb","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":"\\\u003eIt was a dark and stormy night — except it was day time, around noon, and though the skies were the color of wet concrete, the narrator was full of shit and it was not raining  \n\\\u003eAnd you are Mike Sapone  \n\\\u003eMike Sapone, an angry manlet turned vampire, who has two things running through his mind at this very moment: a desperate lust for blood, and a sharp mental pain that his future is draining away right before his eyes, much like the blood that's draining from this dog's neck  \n\\\u003eThat's right, you've got a dog by the neck  \n\\\u003eA family-looking mammal, evident by his beer gut, his slightly graying (otherwise wonderfully golden) colored fur, his too-big-for-him polo shirt and goofy cargo shorts  \n\\\u003eAs you plunge your fangs into his quivering neck and get a mouthful of fur, there's an explosion of hot salty blood in your mouth  \n\\\u003eThe anthro dog struggles, but you've been imbued with a Twilight-tier strength, making you one mean motherfucker  \n\\\u003eYou bite extra hard, secretly hoping that you sever an artery or something  \n\\\u003eHe shudders, his eyes roll upwards, and he droops helplessly in your grasp  \n\\\u003eIt takes you only a little bit of your newly found strength to keep him from collapsing onto the bathroom floor of the Burgershack  \n\\\u003ePoor bastard was just washing his hands when you ravenously descended upon him  \n\\\u003eYou suck hard, feeling your belly fill and grow, hot with blood  \n\\\u003eSomething inside of you goes slack   \n\\\u003eYou can feel your muscles start to relax and thoughts slow from a manic bullet to a contented wisp of smoke  \n\\\u003eGod, you're not proud of what you're doing, at all, but you were so hungry — feral, almost  \n\\\u003eYou drag the still bleeding golden into the stall, shut the door, and…  \n\\\u003eEww…  \n\\\u003eYou crawl out underneath the divider and back into the bathroom  \n\\\u003eYou wipe a smear of blood from your lip with the back of your hands as you stare into the mirror  \n\\\u003eYou're pretty sure only you can see yourself\u0026nbsp; in the reflection, because that dog didn't even seem to care that you were standing right behind him with ill intent  \n\\\u003eYour emerald-green eyes, alight with a red glow, stare back at you  \n\\\u003eGod you've changed  \n\\\u003eYour already pale skin is even paler now  \n\\\u003eYour eyes are sunken in, bags underneath them the color of bruised fruit  \n\\\u003eYou lips, were they not soaked in hot blood, are nearly blue  \n\\\u003eAnd despite all the transformations, you're still pretty short and kind of stocky  \n\\\u003eSomewhere some muscle grew — the muscles you used to clock Anon, of course  \n\\\u003eThinking back on it makes you feel like shit  \n\\\u003eBut you tell yourself he's the one responsible for all of this  \n\\\u003eThis… thing you're becoming  \n\\\u003eIt's not you  \n\\\u003eWhat's it matter anymore anyway? It's you now  \n\\\u003eIt's not you  \n\\\u003eNo, it is you, and you're going to be like this forever  \n\\\u003eIt's not you  \n\\\u003eYou're going to be trapped here in this podunk fucking town for the rest of your life, just like Sam and Anon, who can't sack up and leave  \n\\\u003eIt's not you  \n\\\u003eIt's not you  \n\\\u003eIt's not you!  \n\\\u003eYou throw your fist into the mirror, as if you could strike the 'you' on the other side and obliterate him  \n\\\u003eThe mirror shatters, glass shards flying downward in a glinting rain  \n\\\u003eYou catch only little bits of yourself in the showering glass — a fractal image of the whole Mike Sapone  \n\\\u003eSomehow, in the scant seconds that you see yourself reflected back in the falling shards, there's a young man there, bright green eyes, healthy, warm skin, and someone tall and well-dressed standing next to him  \n\\\u003eAnonymous, and you, standing side-by-side  \n\\\u003eThen the image is gone when that glass clatters into the sink, and time sets back upon itself  \n\\\u003eWhen you look down at your trembling pale fist, the richness of your blood contrasts with ghastliness of your skin  \n\\\u003eYou can't help but laugh  \n\\\u003eYou really have become an edgelord now  \n\\\u003eAnd in all of your laughter, you don't even notice the tightness of your throat, the stuttering of you heart beat, or the tears cutting down the caked on grime on your face  \n\\\u003eYou swiftly exit the bathroom just as a pup — fur as gold as his father's — skirts past you, probably looking for his dad  \n  \n\\\u003eNext, you stop at a convenience store for some pain killers  \n\\\u003eYour head is killing you  \n\\\u003eAnd so are your bloody knuckles  \n\\\u003eSo many noises fill your ears  \n\\\u003eEverything seems to have been raised to painfully sharp levels  \n\\\u003eYou can hear the dead drone of the music overhead and pick out every single instrument and every note  \n\\\u003eYou can hear the cooler's fans kicking on, chilling some drinks  \n\\\u003eYou swear you can hear the harsh blood of the female cheetah at the counter flowing in her succulent veins  \n\\\u003eIt takes a tremendous effort on your part not to launch yourself over the counter at her and feast  \n\\\u003eYou shove the little packet of pills into your pocket, scanning the ceiling for any security cameras  \n\\\u003eThere's at least three, so you stuff an extra few into the waistband of your jeans and throw your shirt over them  \n\\\u003eWho gives a shit if you get caught, man?  \n\\\u003eNothing matters anymore  \n\\\u003eYou convince yourself you don't feel nothin'  \n\\\u003eYou're going to live out the true edgelord vampire shit  \n\\\u003eFuck college  \n\\\u003eYou can't go  \n\\\u003eFuck getting out of this town  \n\\\u003eIt's not going to happen  \n\\\u003eFuck everyone and everything  \n\\\u003eAll they've ever done is let you down  \n\\\u003e\"Ahem.\"   \n\\\u003eYou turn around  \n\\\u003eThe cashier is standing at the end of the aisle, impatiently tapping her feet, arms crossed over her dark blue vest with a pin on it that says “Have a great day!\"  \n\\\u003eShe does not look like she's having a great day  \n\\\u003eShe's old, with stress-lines pressed deeply into her skin, a sizable amount of pudge gathering around her hips, waist, arms, thighs, etc etc  \n\\\u003eShe couldn't be more than 35, but she looks at least 60  \n\\\u003e60 and pissed  \n\\\u003e\"You need some assistance robbing my store, sir?\"  \n\\\u003eYou don't know why you say what you say next, but you don't care  \n“Actually, that would be great. Could you get me a pack of smokes, snapjaw?\"  \n\\\u003eThe cheetah's face twists up into a snarl  \n\\\u003e\"You little shit. This store is my livelihood. Put 'em back, skinnie\"   \n“Why?\" You take a small step backwards  \n\\\u003e\"Why? What do you mean 'why'? Stealing is wrong, and if I let one more shoplifter out the door corporate is going to fire me. Put. Them. Back.\"  \n\\\u003eYou flinch  \n\\\u003eSure, feeding on that retriever was one thing — you had to, or you'd probably die. And you didn't hurt him or really cost him anything  \n\\\u003eBut this was ruining someone else's life  \n\\\u003eF-Fuck this town, right? G-Going to raise hell  \n\\\u003eThe emergency exit sign glows behind you like a beacon  \n\\\u003eThe cashier's body tenses up for a chase  \n\\\u003eThe seriousness of her threat is made all the more apparent by the way her jaw falls open, revealing a jagged set of teeth, yellowed with years of smoking and poor dental hygiene  \n\\\u003eFuck it  \n\\\u003eFuck everyone  \n\\\u003eThese pills may not be worth dying over  \n\\\u003eIt's the general principle of the thing that moves your legs right out the door  \n\\\u003eThe emergency exit screeches in protest  \n\\\u003eAnd it really does screech, as the fire alarm explodes in protest as you bolt out the door  \n\\\u003eThe cheetah clamps her hands over her ears, but manages to push on after you  \n\\\u003eOh hell  \n\\\u003eYou leg it out around behind the store, knocking a few trash cans down as you make your less than daring escape  \n\\\u003eWith your vampiric powers, your body seems to absolutely FLY across the asphalt and down the smoothed sidewalk  \n\\\u003eYou pass Halloween decorations and seasonal costume stores that blur together in an orange and black smear  \n\\\u003eYou throw a glance over your shoulder  \n\\\u003eShe's still behind you, but losing steam quickly as years of habitual smoking and poor eating habits literally destroy her career at the convenience store  \n\\\u003eIgnoring the sudden pangs of guilt now rising in your stomach like acidic floodwaters, you keep sprinting, the sidewalk now curving up into a hill, pressing its slope into your lungs   \n\\\u003eGod damnit  \n  \n\\\u003eYou stand atop the hill panting, the chase long since over, the cheetah long since collapsed in an exhausted heap onto someone's lawn, bawling and begging for you to come back  \n\\\u003eYou may have incredible, super-human strength, speed and agility, but even you get tired and guilty  \n\\\u003eAnd to be honest? You feel like absolute shit right now, physically and emotionally  \n\\\u003eYou can never go back there, and that was where you and Anon would get slushees after school  \n\\\u003eAnd this neighborhood that you're now in…  \n\\\u003e…It's so perfect  \n\\\u003eThe houses are neat and prim, large and well-kept  \n\\\u003eThe lawns may be yellow, but the paint is unmarred by the seasons, the windows are clean, there are new cars in the driveway and carved pumpkins garnishing every porch  \n\\\u003eNot to mention all the fake cobwebs and skeletons strewn across the dead grass  \n\\\u003eThis is where suburban families live  \n\\\u003eFamilies like that golden retriever you attacked  \n\\\u003eThey wake up at orderly hours — some at dawn's first light — and they hoof it to work and then back  \n\\\u003eThey eat quiet and healthy dinners and are in bed by 10  \n\\\u003eThey are silent in their contentedness  \n\\\u003eAnd where are all the people?  \n\\\u003eWhere is everyone milling around, visiting small shops, attending ragers, skipping class?  \n\\\u003eEverywhere you look it's void of life  \n\\\u003eJust clones of clones of houses and not a soul on these pristine sidewalks  \n\\\u003eIt's just you in suburbia, the lone phantom, haunting the hoity-toity part of town…  \n\\\u003eHere forever, or until you work up the nerve to kill yourself  \n\\\u003eYou're burning every bridge now — with town, with Anon, with Jenna, Alex  \n\\\u003eHow many until you set fire to the one you're standing on, Mike?  \n\\\u003eAll you ever wanted to do is escape this shitty town and live a new life with new people and new friends and do…  \n\\\u003e…Something that matters  \n“FFFFFFFUCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!\" You shout into the uncaring clouds  \n\\\u003eThe sky answers back with the distant rumble of scattered thunder","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1666391-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-18.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1666396-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-20.json"}}