{"sf1_id":1666411,"sf2_id":"Xnr8PLre","title":"The Leaves of Fall Act 2: Fear the Nobodies (Part 26)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":2683,"posted_at":"2020-12-28T02:11:52.000Z","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/1666411-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-26","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/Xnr8PLre","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/d5/6e/d56e61af-4df4-454c-b3fe-841000bd30fe","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":"\\\u003eAh fire, mammal-kind’s oldest friend?  \n\\\u003eYou love fire?  \n\\\u003eIt’s so… mesmerizing?  \n\\\u003eCalming?  \n\\\u003eHot  \n?\\\u003eAnd apparently Alex loves fire too  \n?\\\u003e… Maybe a little more than you do  \n?\\\u003eHe rushes around like a madman, collecting sticks and twigs for kindling while you drag some old logs up from the surrounding area?  \n\\\u003eYou throw them all into a tight pile in the center of the parking lot like the world’s worst boy scout?  \n\\\u003eWith 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?  \n\\\u003eAnd your car’s cigarette lighter to start the blaze  \n\\\u003eYou heap everything you’ve gathered into a loose, brown assortment in the center of the empty lot  \n“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  \n\\\u003e”At least something on your car works,” Mike remarks  \n“Hey, it gets us around town. You can complain when you’ve got your car back.”  \n\\\u003eThe 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  \n\\\u003ePar the course for Mike  \n?\\\u003eYou press the red-hot lighter into the pile of grass and twigs, hoping you can get enough heat going to catch the bigger sticks?  \n\\\u003eShit?  \n\\\u003eAll it does is burn through the dry grass, the flames curling the brown plant matter into a charred crisp  \n?\\\u003eAt least the wind is down to a pathetic limp?  \n\\\u003eYou hunch over the pile with the lighter, its heat renewed by a second trip to the car  \n\\\u003eYou press the lighter down once more into the brittle grass  \n\\\u003eAnd you fail once more to create fire?  \n\\\u003eEveryone is standing around, waiting for your shitty little pile of twigs and dredged up logs to spark up and become…?  \n\\\u003e…Anything other than a puff of smoke  \n?\\\u003e”Good job there, Ranger Anon,” Mike says?“You wanna do better? I’m trying my best here.”  \n?\\\u003eYou feel the Book of Rite like a flat, square pancake in your breast pocket?  \n\\\u003eMaybe?  \n\\\u003eHmmm??  \n\\\u003eWith the book open you find a broken piece of glass in the parking lot  \n\\\u003eProbably the leavings of some irresponsible teenagers coming up here to drink?  \n\\\u003eSam looks on with alarm as you delicately trace the broken glass across your skin?  \n\\\u003eYou hesitate, still forcing the glass into your skin?  \n\\\u003eC’mon Anon, just do it?  \n\\\u003eYou even found a page about starting a fire  \n?\\\u003eIt’s simple shit?  \n\\\u003e… Simpler than curing Mike’s vampirism, which you so beautifully pulled off last time?  \n\\\u003eYou suck in a lung full of cold air?  \n\\\u003eHow does it go again??  \n\\\u003e”Down the street not across the lane,” Mike says, as if he were reading your mind?  \n\\\u003e”Mike!” Jenna slaps him on the arm, her claws extended, leaving score marks in Mike’s exposed skin?  \n\\\u003e”Hey! What the hell was that for?” Mike says in protest  \n\\\u003eHe rubs at his arm, but produces no blood -- just scratch marks  \n?\\\u003eYou shrug?\\\u003eYou know he’s wrong anyway?  \n\\\u003eThat’ll get you killed?  \n\\\u003e”Please b-b-be careful,” Sam says?  \n\\\u003eHe nervously tugs at his ears  \n?\\\u003eGod damnit you’ll stop him after this?  \n\\\u003eHe’s like a child sometimes, you swear  \n\\\u003eKid is going to tear his ears off?  \n“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing. I’m a professional.”  \n\\\u003e”Professional emo,” Mike remarks, and gets another smack for it ?  \n\\\u003eYou smile at Sam, which calms his nerves a bit?  \n\\\u003eWell, here goes?  \n\\\u003eThe longer you drag this out the less likely you are to do it  \n?\\\u003eJust  \n?\\\u003eFuckin’?  \n\\\u003eDO IT  \n?\\\u003eDon’t let your dreams be dreams?  \n\\\u003eThe glass stings as it cuts across your wrist?  \n\\\u003eYour veins open up slightly, and a small trickle of blood drips out?  \n\\\u003eIt lands on the page you’ve set down at your feet?  \n\\\u003eIn an instant the fire blazes up, throwing heavy shadows across the blacktop and against the fading white of the church?  \n\\\u003eJenna, Sam and Alex all clap?  \n\\\u003eMike is still too busy rubbing at his arm to notice??  \n\\\u003eLike slavs, you squat on your hams near the fire, feeding sticks into the unnatural blaze?  \n\\\u003eBoth you and Alex and hypnotized by the tendrils of flame that lap at the sky?  \n\\\u003eAbove you the moon hangs like a massive stone, ready to drop at any second?  \n\\\u003eAnother night with a full moon?  \n\\\u003eAnother night closer to Friday?  \n\\\u003eYour phone’s clock reads 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday?  \n\\\u003eYou look over to Sam, who, despite his heavy, ratty clothing, is shivering against the fire?  \n\\\u003eIt’s still a cold night regardless, and there’s not a lot of meat on his bones to keep him warm?  \n\\\u003eHe’s a hungry skelly?  \n\\\u003eDo you… do the thing??  \n\\\u003eYou know, what you’ve seen in all the movies?  \n?\\\u003e…?  \n\\\u003eYou slip out of your torn blazer and drape it over Sam’s trembling body?\\\u003eHe looks up at you in bewilderment, as if he couldn’t believe that somebody was THIS kind  \n?\\\u003eYou’re… not? You’re not kind?  \n\\\u003eGoddamnit you’re a coward and you’ve been a dick to him for so long?  \n\\\u003eYou just can’t stand to see him so cold and forgotten about  \n?\\\u003e”Thank you,” he whispers, his voice broken by the snapping of the fire  \n?“Don’t mention it.”  \n\\\u003eYou hope nobody notices  \n\\\u003eEveryone is too busy with each other or the fire  \n\\\u003eAlex stares into the fire, his eyes reflecting its light and little else  \n\\\u003eThe lights are on, but when there’s fire, nobody is home  \n\\\u003eMike and Jenna are sitting side-by-side, leaving just a few precarious inches between one another  \n?\\\u003eYou can feel the heat of the fire on your face?  \n\\\u003eThis was a good idea?  \n\\\u003eAnd hey, it’s close to Halloween  \n?\\\u003eSam doesn’t really have much holiday experience?  \n\\\u003eHell, you’d be surprised if he celebrated any holidays at his shithole of a home?  \n\\\u003eHow do you give Sam a more authentic, festive experience??  \n\\\u003e…?  \n“You guys wanna hear some scary stories?” You probe  \n\\\u003eDamn, scary stories? You’re all legally adults  \n\\\u003eWhy would anyone want to hear scary stories?  \n?\\\u003e”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.”?  \n“That’s just a concept from The Communist Manifesto,” you remind your dumbass friend?  \n\\\u003e”Ah, yeah. That book was good. Not at all scary though.”?  \n\\\u003eYou sigh  \n\\\u003eYou love Alex but he’s helpless without you?  \n\\\u003eSam pokes at you?\\\u003e”I-I want to h-hear a scary s-s-story.”?  \n“Alright, Thumper, you want a scary story?”?  \n\\\u003eYou crack your knuckles?  \n“You’ll get a scary story.”  \n??\\\u003eBy the time you’re done, Sam is huddling up next to you, wrapping himself around your arm and shivering?  \n\\\u003eHis amber eyes sweep around the darkness that surrounds your dwindling fire, searching for something  \n?\\\u003eA horrible monster  \n?\\\u003eThe man with the hook for a hand, waiting to gut little rabbits and hang them in his basement  \n?\\\u003eYou can only fight a satisfied grin?  \n“Scary, huh Sam?”  \n?\\\u003eThe rabbit shakes his head violently?  \n\\\u003e”N-No…” he says, fighting the tremors in his voice  \n?“C’mon, it’s okay to admit you’re scared. That story used to scare me a TON,” you assure the gun-shy rabbit?  \n\\\u003eHis trembling slows a little?  \n\\\u003e”Y-You get scared?”?  \n\\\u003eBOI, if only he knew what a coward you were at heart?  \n“Yeah. I do. Probably more than you think.”   \n?\\\u003eThe fire snaps and hisses, and you see its lapping flames reflected in Sam’s huge eyes that stare back up into your own  \n?\\\u003eHe looks so… spellbound??  \n\\\u003eYour heart goes doki doki?  \n\\\u003eYou’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?  \n\\\u003eBut instead of driving off like a dick, he wanders back into the firelight with Sam’s baseball bat leaning easy on his shoulder  \n?\\\u003eIn his free hand he’s got a few dusty old beer bottles by their necks  \n?\\\u003e“You know what’ll take your mind off Anon’s shitty story?” He asks  \n?\\\u003eSam clings tighter to you?  \n\\\u003e”Some batting practice.” Mike smiles, his fangs visible as they bite into his lower lips??  \n\\\u003eYou and Alex throw more sticks into the fire  \n\\\u003eAlex with joy  \n\\\u003eYou, with reluctance. Sleep is starting to weigh heavy across your whole body  \n\\\u003eWhat a fucking day  \n?\\\u003eThe fire’s light stretches further, painting your tall shadows across the empty blacktop?  \n\\\u003eYou sneak concerned glances at Mike and Sam and Jenna?  \n\\\u003eSam 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?  \n\\\u003eJenna huddles over him, adjusting his grip?  \n\\\u003e”Okay so, hold it like this,” she says, sliding Sam’s hands a little further up the metal cylinder  \n?\\\u003e”And when Mike throws it, I want you to pretend like you’re swinging THROUGH the bottle. Got it?”  \n?\\\u003e”G-Got it,” Sam stammers. “H-How do you kn-know all of this? You’re li-like a genius.”?  \n\\\u003eThe vixen laughs  \n?\\\u003e”Genius? No, I just played softball for eight years. I’m as unathletic as they come.” ?  \n\\\u003e”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  \n?\\\u003eJenna steps away from Sam, leaving the bunny an isolated figure in the fringes of the firelight, accompanied only by his shadows?  \n\\\u003eMike steps into his throw, hurling his arm forward, his body following with a controlled burst of power?  \n\\\u003eYou nervously watch the bottle sail through the air towards Sam?  \n\\\u003eThe rabbit pulls his arms backwards, bringing the bat with him, his body tensing up like a compressed spring?  \n\\\u003eSam’s follow through is smooth and clean?  \n\\\u003eThe bottle explodes in the air in a shower of amber glass?  \n\\\u003eYou breathe out?  \n\\\u003eWere you holding your breath?  \n?\\\u003eSam’s shoulders slump forward as he relaxes his grip on the bat?  \n\\\u003eMike’s jaw drops open?  \n\\\u003e”Holy shit Thumper, did you used to play baseball or something?”?  \n\\\u003eSam holds the bat in front of him, astonished at his own capacity to demolish glass bottles?  \n\\\u003e”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  \n\\\u003eYou nod slowly  \n\\\u003eVandalism is badass?  \n\\\u003eMike readies another bottle?  \n\\\u003e”Alright dude, this one is coming in hot. Last time I went easy on you. No mercy this time.” ?  \n\\\u003eSam 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  \n\\\u003eThe bat wobbles with uncoordinated grace  \n\\\u003eIt might be too heavy for him?  \n\\\u003eMike doesn’t wait for a signal  \n?\\\u003eHe lunges into a merciless throw  \n?\\\u003eThe bottle goes hurtling forward without grace, turning end-over-end in the firelight…  \n?\\\u003e… And becomes a million tiny fragments when Sam swings through it?  \n\\\u003eJenna claps her hands loudly. ”Nice hit!” ?  \n\\\u003eJesus fuck, no kidding?  \n\\\u003eYou don’t want to be on the receiving end of that any time soon?  \n\\\u003eSam’s eyes crack open  \n?\\\u003eHe looks around at the little glittering fragments that catch the firelight  \n?\\\u003e”I-I did it?” He says, questioning himself?  \n\\\u003e”You crushed it!” Jenna squeals in excitement?  \n\\\u003eMike looks… defeated. He squanders a scowl and throws his head towards the fire?  \n\\\u003e”Nice hit,” he grumbles  \n?\\\u003eSore loser?  \n\\\u003eYou’re just relieved that Sam didn’t get hurt ??  \n\\\u003eThe fire reduces itself to a weak smolder?  \n\\\u003eThe beer bottles are all gone?\\\u003eYou, Sam, Alex and Jenna watch the smoke drift up into the sky and then disappear against the moon?  \n\\\u003eEveryone is shivering?  \n\\\u003eEven Sam, who is wearing your suit jacket on top of his hoodie?  \n\\\u003e”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.”?  \n\\\u003eWell, he’s already got your keys, so why is he asking your permission??  \n\\\u003eAh, maybe he’s just trying to be nice?  \n“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?  \n\\\u003eStill, you issue the warning as a kind of formality?  \n\\\u003eThe rest of you end up back inside the church?  \n\\\u003eYour eyes are as heavy as water though, and the warmth of the church isn’t helping?  \n\\\u003eYou feel the gravity of sleep pulling you down  \n?\\\u003eJenna and Alex post up on pews, pillowing their hands underneath their heads?  \n\\\u003eYou sit down, the old pews creaking under your weight?  \n\\\u003eYou’re going to stay awake as long as you can, watching that back door  \n?\\\u003eSam hops up on the seat next to you and leans his heavy head on your arm  \n?\\\u003eIs it just you… or is Sam being insanely affectionate lately?  \n?\\\u003eAll this touching and grabbing and boldness directed at you makes you feel… something… in the crispy ashes of your heart  \n?\\\u003eHe’s just being so nonchalant about this, almost like it’s a normal thing nowadays  \n?\\\u003eThe creaking of the pews steers your attention away from the rabbit cuddling up to you?  \n\\\u003eIt’s Jenna, sitting up, her eyes half open, nose in the air, twitching?  \n\\\u003e”That smell…” she mutters, looking around the church in a daze?  \n\\\u003eShe settles on Sam  \n?\\\u003eThe bunny doesn’t seem to notice, his eyes already failing against sleep  \n?\\\u003e”Couldn’t be…” Jenna mumbles, narrowing her vision, brows furrowing  \n?\\\u003eShe hums in thought, and then says something beneath your range of hearing?\\\u003eShe lowers herself back against the pews?  \n\\\u003eYou try inhaling deeply through your nose?  \n\\\u003e\\*Snifffffff sniffffffffff (my dear)\\*  \n?\\\u003eOnly a slight mustiness  \n?\\\u003eIt smells kind of sour, like sweat  \n?\\\u003eWell, it’s not like any of you have showered in a couple days?  \n\\\u003eAnd you don’t even want THINK about the last time that Sam bathed  \n?\\\u003eDo anthros give themselves tongue baths??  \n\\\u003eEwwww  \n?\\\u003eYou shake your eyes open?  \n\\\u003eOh the places your mind goes when you’re nearing sleep’s door  \n?\\\u003eYou reach your arm around Sam and pull him in tight?  \n\\\u003eThe bunny doesn’t tense up or squeak  \n?\\\u003eInstead he nuzzles in against you, cooing softly?  \n\\\u003eYou look down  \n?\\\u003eYep, he’s definitely asleep  \n?\\\u003e”Y-You smell so g-good,” he whispers  \n?\\\u003e…?  \n\\\u003eOkay so he’s not asleep  \n?\\\u003eHe must be in limbo between slumber and lucidity?  \n“T-Thanks?” You offer back  \n?\\\u003eWhat the hell are you supposed to even say to that?  \n?\\\u003eGuess that was good enough, because he doesn’t reply  \n?\\\u003eYou can hear Alex snoring loudly a few rows over  \n?\\\u003eAlex has no qualms about where he’s sleeping, as per-usual  \n\\\u003eYou lay your head against the back of the pew and try to get comfortable?  \n\\\u003eYour eyes flutter shut  \n?\\\u003eAnd sleep is within your grasp?  \n\\\u003eBut then a train horn forces Sam up, which forces you up?  \n\\\u003eDown at the bottom of the hill, behind the church, a freighter screams on by in the night, its horn pulling away  \n?\\\u003eSam’s posture stiffens with fear, and you can feel his grip on your arm tighten?  \n\\\u003eIt’s just a train, no need to get so worked up?  \n\\\u003eIs what you want to say?\\\u003eBut instead you say nothing?  \n\\\u003eYou just pull Sam tighter while the train rolls on??  \n\\\u003eA few minutes later it passes in the night, leaving silence in its wake?\\\u003eSam slowly relaxes himself, his body and muscles slackening into the crook of your arm?  \n\\\u003eYou pull him tighter against you, trying to comfort him  \n?\\\u003e”S-Sorry, I-”  \n“You don’t have to explain,” you say (and try to resist making an egg joke)?  \n\\\u003eA yawn escapes you and you lean your head back against the pew  \n?\\\u003eSam 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?  \n\\\u003eYou let your eyes fall shut?  \n\\\u003eYou stare at the pinks of your vision, fighting against the always-on overhead lights in the church?  \n\\\u003eBut eventually you can no longer pay attention to anything?  \n\\\u003eIt all falls away?  \n\\\u003eAlex  \n?\\\u003eMike?  \n\\\u003eJenna?  \n\\\u003eAnd finally, Sam?  \n\\\u003eJust leaving you, drifting off to sleep","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1666409-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-25.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1666412-the-leaves-of-fall-act-2-fear-the-nobodies-part-27.json"}}