{"sf1_id":1666397,"sf2_id":"lmX7PZye","title":"The Leaves of Fall Act 2: Fear the Nobodies (Part 21)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":1048,"posted_at":"2020-12-28T02:02:51.000Z","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/1666397-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-21","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/lmX7PZye","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/74/99/74999e70-1c92-4827-991b-da40e3f6996e","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 again  \n\\\u003eYou’re standing a good 20 feet away away from Lydia Penferth, after she just offered you to join her   \n\\\u003eWell?  \n\\\u003eWhat’s the call, chief?  \n\\\u003eThe world’s about to change — and not in your favor  \n\\\u003eThe lion’s eyes go soft for a moment  \n\\\u003e”I know this is hard for you. What I’m asking isn’t easy, but nothing worth doing is easy to begin with. I mean, what would your weirdo friends think?”  \n“I don’t care what they think. At least, not anymore. Fuck ‘em. And fuck everything else too. Fuck this whole town,” you say with finality  \n\\\u003e”That’s what I like to hear from you.” Lydia raises her head a bit, and you can see her many chains and piercings sway with her. “That’s the Halloween spirit.”  \n“Fuck Halloween too. All I wanted to do was smash some pumpkins and drink some beer and now I have to be this… thing-”  \n\\\u003eLydia cuts in  \n\\\u003e”You can do all of that. We’ll even help you! And after Hallow’s Eve comes to pass, there will be more drinking and debauchery than you could ever dream of!”  \n\\\u003eThat does sound… tempting, eternal hedonism and all  \n\\\u003eYou recall a discussion in Anon’s car last Friday where you proudly (and drunkenly) announced your intent to ‘berry ur dick in some fine wimmin’ or something to that extent  \n\\\u003eLydia’s offer is starting to make sense. You could probably do well if you joined them  \n\\\u003eIF you joined… you’d know everything  \n\\\u003eYou’d know Anon has the Book of Rite with him, that he’s planning on stopping things  \n\\\u003eYou were too, at one point  \n\\\u003eBefore Anonymous let you down and shattered your dreams  \n\\\u003eBefore you turned into this… this fucking… thing  \n\\\u003eThis shadow of who you once were…  \n\\\u003e…This edgy faggot who hates everyone and everything like some kind of bad Sonic OC  \n\\\u003eWhat happened to ‘doing something that mattered’?   \n\\\u003eNONE OF THIS SHIT MATTERS ANYMORE  \n\\\u003eA dark wind blows, and you can feel it roll across your paled skin, prompting goose pimples  \n\\\u003eEverything feels so much sharper now that you’re a vampire  \n\\\u003eYou hear minute details, like blood pumping in someone’s veins  \n\\\u003eThe gentlest breeze lights up a million different nerves on your body  \n\\\u003eYour vision is impeccable — you can see that slight smile playing on Lydia’s pierced upper lip  \n\\\u003eYou’re the ultimate badass now  \n\\\u003eA perfect predator  \n\\\u003eA killing machine, if you so wanted it  \n\\\u003eBut you don’t want it  \n\\\u003eRight now you want only one thing  \n\\\u003eAnd that’s to break every finger of the hand that dealt this to you  \n  \nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PvyBKSmQ\\_g\u0026list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410\\_nI-0J\u0026index=12  \n“You know, I haven’t exactly enjoyed being a vampire. It’s actually kind of ruined my life,” you say calmly. “Not sure how you all have done it for so long. Can’t go to college, can’t leave this town, can’t go anywhere that’s not within five miles of a blood bank…”  \n\\\u003e”Well, it’s only been since Friday,” Lydia says with a fabricated air of humility. “I have no idea how far I can push my new powers. But come this Friday, I’ll find out.”  \n“Bet it’s impressive.” You kick at the sidewalk  \n\\\u003e”You know, we could… learn… together. Push one another day in and day out, becoming the strongest that we could possibly be. I know you’ve always had a lot of strength — you nearly broke my jaw on Monday. Together we can become even stronger.”  \n\\\u003eYou frown  \n”Stronger than Vanessa?”  \n\\\u003eLydia smirks as her\u0026nbsp; purple hair blows evenly across her face  \n\\\u003e”If we become strong enough, we might not even need her. Me and you, Mike. Think about it. Nobody above us. Not even the Behemoth.”  \n“I have thought about it,” you reply, forcing calm and even syllables into your words, cheek muscles fighting back against a force so indescribably powerful that it could make nuclear weapons look like firecrackers:  \n\\\u003eYour cock-sure smile, in this perfect moment  \n\\\u003e”And?”  \n\\\u003eYou lock eyes with the lion, their unnatural feverish glow steadily rising in intensity and luminosity  \n\\\u003eThey await your answer with decisive hunger  \n“I’m not in to furry bitches,” you say  \n\\\u003eAnd you can no longer refuse the smile spreading across your lips  \n  \n\\\u003eA cold gust blows a vacant plastic bag between you two  \n\\\u003e”Guess you’re not gonna come quietly over to our side, huh?”  \n\\\u003eYou spit again on the cold cement  \n“Guess not.”  \n\\\u003e”I see.”  \n\\\u003eLydia straightens her spine, her massive form seeming to grow larger and larger  \n\\\u003eMuscles ripple underneath her black shirt  \n\\\u003eA hungry growl crawls up from her throat and sends shivers through your whole body  \n\\\u003eHer eyes blaze with fiery red intent  \n\\\u003e”I’m sorry it has to end like this, Mike. I gave you the chance to join us willingly.”  \n“You did,” you say as you stiffen your own spine and tense up your body. “It was a generous offer, but I don’t think I’d fit in with you all anyway. I’ve been itching to re-locate your jaw since Monday.”  \n\\\u003eFor a moment, nobody moves  \n\\\u003eYou know, you really can’t take a juiced up lion-vampire-succubus-thing and her five minions, right?  \n\\\u003eBut you sure as hell can try, can’t you?  \n\\\u003eNah, that’d be dumb. You’d get mauled and SUCCed to death  \n\\\u003eNow might not be the best time for bravery  \n\\\u003eYou crack your neck  \n\\\u003eThe air is heavy with cold moisture — it bites into your pale flesh  \n\\\u003e”Scared?” The Lion says with a razor smirk, her mouth made nearly indescribable by piercings  \n\\\u003eYou shake your head  \n“Not scared. Cold.”  \n\\\u003eBut you are scared  \n\\\u003eYou’re actually terrified right now  \n\\\u003eYou need a way out  \n\\\u003eLike  \n\\\u003eNow  \n\\\u003eYou’re reminded briefly of Anon on the ground in the parking lot, reaching for a weapon to clock the werewolf with, instead of bumrushing him with his fists…  \n\\\u003e…Which you’re about to do (the bumrushing part that is)  \n\\\u003eThankfully your better judgment catches you as your leg muscles tense up, ready to explode forward like a compressed mine  \n\\\u003eWhat would Anonymous do?  \n\\\u003eAnon would probably run right now  \n\\\u003eYou shrug your shoulders in what might be the lamest standoff exit ever  \n\\\u003eSpinning on your heels, you tear off down the sidewalk, past all the little shops and houses  \n\\\u003eTowards where? Where are you going to go?  \n\\\u003eYou’re going to the only place you have left  \n\\\u003eThe Shop N’ Save","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1666396-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-20.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1666402-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-22.json"}}