{"sf1_id":1673750,"sf2_id":"GnDjr4Ge","title":"The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 5)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":2281,"posted_at":"2021-01-16T00:39:30.000Z","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/1673750-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-5","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/GnDjr4Ge","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/bc/fc/bcfc3aa9-8671-49a0-9436-888f52b7e8bc","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":"\\\u003eThe weak light of Thursday, October 30th, pins warm pink tones to your inner eyelids\n\n\\\u003eYou had just strayed into a waking dream, trapped in that purgatory between the full gravity of sleep and waking lucidity\n\n\\\u003eIn truth, you hadn't slept well\n\n\\\u003eAnxiety drove its barbs into you\n\n\\\u003eEarlier in the week it was one distraction after the other\n\n\\\u003eAnd this whole business happening on Friday night never felt real\n\n\\\u003eIt felt like college — some kind of concept people whispered about while staring at the city from a high school rooftop — not an actuality that was approaching\n\n\\\u003eLike a storm on the horizon\n\n\\\u003eBut now the sky is swollen and ready to empty its fury\n\n\\\u003eFriday was one day away from rearing its bald fucking head at you\n\n\\\u003eYou had:\n\n\\\u003eThe Behemoth\n\n\\\u003eThe goths\n\n\\\u003eSam's Dad\n\n\\\u003eAll out hunting for you right now\n\n\\\u003eAll gearing up for Friday night\n\n\\\u003eAnd what did you have?\n\n\\\u003eA shopping cart full of garlic and squirt guns\n\n\\\u003eOh, and Sam's baseball bat in your trunk\n\n\\\u003eSpeaking of Sam, the bunny is stirring in his sleep, murmuring half-sentences and clenching his body tight\n\n\\\u003eYour heart really does go out to the kid\n\n\\\u003eHe's really had a rough go of it, and all he wanted was to have one actual Halloween\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\\u003eYou guess you've taken holidays for granted, because they're, in a way, a symptom of a healthy and happy home life\n\n\\\u003eAll this dumb bunny wanted was to have a little bit of what everyone else gets\n\n\\\u003eAnd now you've involved him in some weird cult and put his life in danger\n\n\\\u003eYou \u0026nbsp;clutch your head as you feel a wave of guilt come over you, pounding in your temples like railroad spikes\n\n\\\u003eDear God\n\n\\\u003eWhat have you done?\n\n\\\u003eAll he wanted was one crummy dance with you\n\n\\\u003eYOU DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT SCHOOL OR THIS SHIT, WOULD IT REALLY HAVE BEEN THE WORST THING TO SPEND ONE. FUCKING. NIGHT. WITH. HIM?\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\\u003eBefore you can tear any further into yourself, Sam sits up and rubs sleep from his eyes, belting out a yawn\n\n\\\u003eYou quickly scoot a heterosexual distance away from him\n\n\\\u003eHe doesn't seem to notice as he blinks himself awake\n\n\\\u003e\"M-Morning,\" he says, as if in a daze\n\n\\\u003eHe might have slept, but it doesn't appear to have been all that restful\n\n\\\u003eBad dreams, maybe\n\n\\\u003e\"Morning,\" you say, making no effort to keep your voice low\n\n\\\u003eYou check the time on your phone\n\n\\\u003ePlenty of time to kill before school\n\n\\\u003eAlex is still sawing logs, so you decide to let him peacefully sleep\n\n\\\u003eIt's the least you could do for your comrade after he rescued Mike\n\n\\\u003eAh, and speaking of-\n\n\\\u003eYour gaze sweeps the church pews\n\n\\\u003eJenna is weirdly absent\n\n\\\u003eYou check the bathrooms (even the boy's room) and she's still missing\n\n\\\u003eShit\n\n\\\u003eDid she ditch you guys in the middle of the night?\n\n\\\u003e…Would you blame her?\n\n\\\u003eYou mean, you can understand the betrayal\n\n\\\u003eShe's involved now and had no good reason to be, other than wanting to save Mike\n\n\\\u003eNot like he needs saving anyway\n\n\\\u003eHe's not helpless anymore now that he's partially given up on his future\n\n\\\u003eHe's drunk on that dumb, reckless nihilism that tends to infect people bereft of their hope and means of escape\n\n\\\u003eYou and Sam slip out through the fire exit 'round the back of the church\n\n\\\u003eYour lungs tingle as you fill them with frosted air\n\n\\\u003eYou stand outside the church and watch as your your breaths disappear into thin clouds of vapor\n\n\\\u003eSam makes like he's blowing on a cigarette and pushes a steady knot of warm out from his chest\n\n\\\u003eYou both watch it ascend and join back up with the clouds\n\n\\\u003eHe looks up at you, giggling a little\n\n\\\u003eYou smile despite the chill\n\n\\\u003eWrapping your arms around your midsection and shivering in your thin fucking baseball t-shirt (good choice, idiot), you pace towards your car (parked like you'd gotten three margarita's deep behind the wheel last night)\n\n\\\u003eYou get about halfway across the parking lot when the sight of a busy fox-tail sticking out of the rear driver side door grinds your legs to a frosty halt\n\n\\\u003eWat\n\n\\\u003eYou hear Mike's husky voice echo: “Hold it still, you're getting it all over the upholstery.\"\n\n\\\u003eJenna replies: “I'm trying, but you're shaking. Just… okay, hold on. How about now?\"\n\n\\\u003eYou don't know why you did this, but you assume a crouched stance, evenly distributing your weight across your body\n\n\\\u003eStealthy, like a fox (just not Jenna)\n\n\\\u003e\"A-Anon-\" Sam calls after you\n\n\\\u003eYou hush Sam with a finger against his lips\n\n\\\u003eJenna's ears twist in your direction like a pair of antennas honing in on a signal\n\n\\\u003eHer tail, ordinarily swishing back and forth, freezes up, standing stiff and alert\n\n\\\u003e\"Someone there?\" Mike asks from inside the vehicle\n\n\\\u003eGod knows what the fuck they're doing inside the car\n\n\\\u003eYOUR CAR\n\n\\\u003eJenna slides herself out of the car very slowly, her back facing you, fingers wrapped around her left wrist, as if she were pressing upon a wound\n\n\\\u003eYou can guess her back is turned because she's blushing\n\n\\\u003eDo vixens blush beneath the orange fur?\n\n\\\u003eShe's still wearing the same green sweater and pale blue jeans, but with her tail plastered between her legs, she looks more like a kid who just got caught looking at her christmas presents too early\n\n\\\u003e\"Anon?\" She says, slowly, her voice trembling, stumbling and striving for the courage to say-\n\n“It's not what it looks like?\" You offer\n\n\\\u003eMike slides easily out of the vehicle\n\n\\\u003eHe wipes his palm across his mouth, and then onto his pants\n\n\\\u003eHe evasively turns his head to the side and peers into the car?\n\n\\\u003eWhy do they both look so guilt-\n\n\\\u003e\"A-Are you okay?\" Sam lurches forward. “Y-You're b-bleeding…\" he says in a low voice\n\n\\\u003eHe weakly aims a finger at Jenna\n\n\\\u003eShe still doesn't turn around\n\n\\\u003eThe vixen tries hiding her left wrist behind her body\n\n\\\u003e\"I'm fine,\" she blurts, her posture stiffening up to its full, pathetic height. “J-Just go back inside. Nothing to see here-\"\n\n\\\u003eBleeding?\n\n\\\u003eIN YOUR CA-\n\n\\\u003eOh, bleeding\n\n\\\u003eYou're not a total idiot\n\n\\\u003eYou look towards Mike in disgust\n\n\\\u003eMike shrugs, still not meeting your gaze\n\n\\\u003e\"She offered, I was hungry. I don't see the problem,\" he says, sounding almost embarrassed\n\n“Oh fuck.\" You take a small step backwards. “Does this mean you bit her? You sucked her blood? Is she going to turn into-\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Eww!\" Jenna spins around, fury printed onto her features (and a touch of blush). She clutches her left wrist, but you can still see the blood seeping through the cracks between her claws\n\n\\\u003e\"He didn't /bite me/. I cut my wrist and… and…\" her blush only reddens, like hot coals whose smolder had been stoked with gasoline\n\n\\\u003eMike sticks his tongue out and points to it\n\n\\\u003eAh, that makes some sense\n\n\\\u003eHe… licked her arm\n\n\\\u003eWhich is disgusting, but logical\n\n\\\u003eSam is the first to react\n\n\\\u003e\"T-That's so sw-sweet,\" he stammers. He looks up at you for entirely too long, as if to ask 'would you do the same thing for me if I were a vampire?'\n\n\\\u003eYou make a disgusted face and flick him lightly on the nose\n\n\\\u003eHe shrinks back from you\n\n\\\u003eJenna, on the other hand, seems less than thrilled. Still wearing her blush, she explains that Mike is an asset to the team and he needs to be taken care of\n\n\\\u003eYou only buy that a little\n\n\\\u003eYou suspect that there are some ulterior motives at play here, but don't want to dig too deeply\n\n“Well, if you're all done bleeding into each other's mouths, why don't we wake Alex up and start talking about a plan,\" you declare.\n\n\\\u003e\"Fine by me,\" Mike says, look very satisfied with both Jenna's embarrassment and his satiation\n\n\\\u003eAlex is already up and eating a balanced breakfast of yesterday's peanut butter cups\n\n\\\u003eHe waves as you enter\n\n\\\u003e\"Ahoy comrades. Care to share some breakfast with me?\"\n\n\\\u003eSam bounces forward, all too excited at the idea of having candy for breakfast\n\n\\\u003eChrist, he's like a little kid\n\n\\\u003eJust wait until you guys go trick-or-treating…\n\n\\\u003eAt some point, either before or after you stop Vanessa and The Behemoth and… Sam's Dad…\n\n\\\u003eYour heart sinks to same depths as it did this morning when you were contemplating everything stacked against you\n\n\\\u003eBut if Sam has those thoughts, they don't seem to bother him\n\n\\\u003e\"C-Can I h-have one?\" he stutters, bounding down the aisles of the church, his words miles behind him\n\n\\\u003eAlex cocks back his arm and fires a wrapped chocolate at Sam's head\n\n\\\u003eIt donks off his forehead and lands at his feet\n\n\\\u003eThe bunny is undeterred\n\n\\\u003eHe skitters to a halt and pounces on it like a starved wolf, shucking the candy's foil in visceral carnage and plopping the little chocolate nugget into his mouth\n\n\\\u003e…Kid really likes sugar\n\n\\\u003eHe doesn't notice everyone staring at him until he stands up to find all eyes turned towards him\n\n\\\u003eHe swallows nervously and forces his hands behind his back\n\n\\\u003e\"S-Sorry. H-H-Hungry.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou manage to drag Alex outside to talk with Mike, which is no easy task\n\n\\\u003eAlex, the little (big) commie is lanky, tall, and has little to protect him from the jagged knife that is the cold, October morning breeze\n\n\\\u003eNow, assembled around your car (again), you pass the bag of candy around, Sam taking generous handfuls and stuffing them in his hoodie's pockets\n\n\\\u003eYou don't mind\n\n\\\u003eHonestly, you've eaten enough chocolate for five Halloweens over\n\n\\\u003e…If you live that long\n\n\\\u003eAnd that depends on your next steps here\n\n\\\u003eYou've got a decent idea, but you're not sure everyone else would go for it\n\n\\\u003e\"Anon, you wanna enlighten us as to what our next move is?\" Mike says, not with an air of renewed vigor. “Because Alex looks like he's going to freeze his ideologies off.\"\n\n\\\u003eHe looks less pale than before, his face and skin touched with color\n\n\\\u003eThe blue veins that spider webbed beneath his porcelain skin seemed to have retracted or melded back into the warmth of his body\n\n\\\u003eGuess a little Type A in your system will do that to you\n\n\\\u003eAlex's body is shaking and spasming with chills, but that's what he fucking gets for wearing shorts and long sleeves and no jacket (not that you're any better, you just have proper pants)\n\n“Well hey we're all wearing weather appropriate clothes, that's not our fault.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"W-W-Worry not c-c-c-comrades,\" Alex says, his teeth ramming together with every syllable, sounding like he was guillotining the words. “I've slaved at The Shop N' Save in worse.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou nod at Comrade Alexi\n\n\\\u003eHe is indeed a brave, dumb soldier\n\n“Alright, I'll try to keep this brief. Tomorrow is Halloween. And more importantly, tomorrow is the night of the Spooktober Fest — when the dark rite, ritual, what the fuck ever, can be completed. And also when it can be stopped. That's our Death Star.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"D-Death Star?\" Sam says\n\n\\\u003e\"Do-Don't te-tell me y-y-you haven't s-s-seen Star W-Wars either,\" Alex chatters\n\n\\\u003eThe rabbit hangs his head in embarrassment\n\n\\\u003e\"Jesus Christ,\" Mike whistles. “We gotta get this kid up to speed when we're done.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Anon, please continue,\" Jenna smiles, obviously not interested in being out in the cold either, despite her fur and sweater\n\n\\\u003eYou nod\u0026nbsp;\n\n“Right. So we're going to that dance-party-function-thing. All of us.\"\n\n\\\u003eA bright gleam leaps up into Sam's eyes. \"W-We are?\"\n\n\\\u003eSurprisingly, everyone nods in agreement\n\n\\\u003eYou expected more resistance than this\n\n\\\u003eWell, to be fair, your plan is extremely basic\n\n\\\u003eWith a slight twist\n\n“And I'm also proposing that we go in costume shopping after school,\" you say, expecting similar agreement\n\n\\\u003eMike stuffs his hands into his pockets\n\n\\\u003e\"Why? I'm too damn old to do that shit still,\" he says\n\n“Two reasons: one, we'll have to infiltrate the Spooktober Fest in costumes so we don't instantly get caught by Vanessa and the others. And two…\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\\u003eYou look down at Sam, whose eyes are shining at the idea of getting to wear a costume\n\n\\\u003eYou quickly glance up and hope nobody notices your pleased smile\n\n\\\u003e\"…There is no second reason. We just go.\"\n\n\\\u003eWell, there is actually a second reason\n\n\\\u003eYou're going to give Sam as close to a normal Halloween as you can get at your age\n\n\\\u003eBut then again, your best Halloween memories are only scant recollections of traditional holiday fare — trick-or-treating, dressing up, carving pumpkins — the real memories began when you and Mike and Alex would fuck around, get drunk, play vidya, puke into each other's sinks and pass out in your basement\n\n\\\u003eIs a storybook holiday really right for him? Maybe a party with kids his age would help diversify his experience\n\n\\\u003eYou look down again quickly, and Sam is wearing the cutest, dopiest grin across his effeminate face\n\n\\\u003eYeah, at least costume shopping will be good for him\n\n\\\u003eMike seems less than thrilled at the idea\n\n\\\u003e\"I'm 18. I'm too old to be doing this crap. What, you wanna go trick-or-treating next?\"\n\n“We're all 18,\" you say, “and I don't hear anyone else objecting.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\\u003eHe crosses his stubby arms across his chest in casual defiance. \"Well, I don't have any costume ideas. And I want something cool.\"\n\n\\\u003eA smile creases your lips\n\n\\\u003eMike looks like he's seen something wretched\n\n\\\u003eYou dig into your back pocket and draw out two neatly folded sheets of notebook paper\n\n\\\u003eYou unfold them — Sam's drawings from Tuesday — and hold them up for everyone to see, like you'd just found the map to some buried treasure\n\n“Sam's already got costume ideas for all of us.\"","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1672333-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-4.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1675506-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-6.json"}}