{"sf1_id":1696965,"sf2_id":"V1Y2w4De","title":"The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 17)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":3624,"posted_at":"2021-03-19T01:02:02.000Z","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/1696965-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-17","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/V1Y2w4De","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/43/f7/43f7da26-59d0-489c-b2b9-9f4a9c256564","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":"\\\u003e\"At least the garlic makes sense.\"\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\\u003eMike folds his arms across his chest\n\n\\\u003eIt was a little after 4 in the afternoon\n\n\\\u003eYou're all back at the church now, except for Mike, who is watching from the front doors, which you've propped open with a few rocks\n\n\\\u003eYour heart flutters as you watch Alex and Jenna rip open plastic and cardboard boxes containing squirt guns and water pistols\n\n\\\u003eIn fact, you pace unevenly up and down the aisles, constantly checking your phone\n\n\\\u003eYou need a place to put your apprehension and anxiety\n\n\\\u003eThe Spooktober Fest was in five hours\n\n\\\u003eYou'll need to bring Sam and the red book with you deep into enemy territory, secure the Book of Wrath from Vanessa, and undo the ritual before midnight or EVERYONE, not just the 'normies' (as Vanessa might say) are fucked\n\n\\\u003eBefore everyone goes mad with lust and hatred and evil, all at the behest of The Behemoth\n\n\\\u003eOh, right\n\n\\\u003eYeah, that hallucinatory dog-thing that's lurking somewhere in the school RIGHT NOW probably, uncontrollable by Vanessa since Sam fudged the ritual up about a week ago\n\n\\\u003e\"But I don't get the water pistols. We've got an army of goths, vampires, an insane janitor and trans-dimensional monster to plow through, and you're bringing squirt guns?\" Mike says\n\n\\\u003eWell put, Mike\n\n\\\u003eIt's like he can read your mind or sense your anxiety\n\n\\\u003eYou even complete each other's sentences sometimes, like an old married couple\n\n\\\u003eBut this is no time for gay jokes\n\n\\\u003e\"Quit being such a pessimist.\" Jenna stands up with a see-through pink water pistol in her hands. She trots past you, still in her bumblebee costume, to where the baptismal font is, near the entrance of the church\n\n\\\u003eIts waters are still with the powers of purification\n\n\\\u003eShe dunks the pistol into the font, its surface shattering like fragile glass\n\n\\\u003eA few sputters and gurgles of air rise to the top as concentrated vampire repellent fills up the pistol's body\n\n\\\u003eShe rips her arm from the font, pulling the pistol up with it in a spray not unlike that of waterfalls that cascade down mountain cliffs in forgotten jungles\n\n\\\u003eThe last rays of light that pour in from the cross-shaped window at above the altar strike the water pistol so perfectly that it was like God himself was blessing that little $1 toy from China\n\n\\\u003e\"Behold!\" She announces. “A blessed water pistol!\"\n\n\\\u003eYou half expected a choir of angels to open up and shower you all in shimmering and airy harmonies\n\n\\\u003eInstead, Jenna spins on her heels and aims the gun at Mike\n\n\\\u003e\"Hold still,\" she says, slamming one eye shut as she sights down the length of the 'weapon.'\n\n\\\u003eMike takes a cautious step backwards. \"Wait, hold on. We don't know what that-\"\n\n\\\u003eHe never finishes his sentence\n\n\\\u003eInstead, a pathetic piss-stream of water strikes him in the shoulder, though most of it is absorbed by his shirt\n\n\\\u003eAnd that's right about when he started yelling\n\n\\\u003eAs if he were a smoldering blaze suddenly doused in an ice-bath, steam rises from his shoulder where he was struck\n\n\\\u003eHe scrambles and struggles to wipe the holy stain from his shirt, but it only gets on his hands, causing him to scream louder\n\n\\\u003eJenna throws down the water pistol and dashes to Mike's side\n\n\\\u003eIn his panic (or out of contempt) he pushes her aside\n\n\\\u003eThe fox goes stumbling down onto her ass, and lets out a panicked yelp\n\n\\\u003e\"Holy FUCK!\" Mike says, ripping his shirt off and whipping it to the side\n\n\\\u003eHe looks even more pale now that he's bare-chested, his skin the sickly color of cream cheese\n\n\\\u003eYou have to admit: when he first looked down at Jenna, who was sitting up on her palms, you thought Mike might kill her then and there\n\n\\\u003eInstead, he looks down at the burn mark on his shoulder\n\n\\\u003eThe whole spectacle is a little…\n\n\\\u003eGross?\n\n\\\u003e\"That was fucking wild,\" he says. “I can't believe that worked so… so… so well!\"\n\n\\\u003eJenna hobbles to her feet\n\n\\\u003eHer bumblebee costume makes her look like a massive, striped marble, propped up on her two thin little legs\n\n\\\u003e\"What?\" She whispers under her breath\n\n\\\u003eSaying she was relieved and astonished would be an understatement\n\n\\\u003eShe looks like someone just pulled her cub from the crumbling wreckage of a burning building\n\n\\\u003eThe dark shadow of Mike falls upon Jenna as he turns to face her\n\n\\\u003eMania burns in his eyes\n\n\\\u003e\"That's brilliant. Do you know that?\"\n\n\\\u003eJenna can only stare on, slack-jawed\n\n\\\u003eSteam rises off Mike into the sky\n\n\\\u003e\"I said, it's brilliant. The squirt guns. Filling them with holy water. Did you come up with that?\"\n\n\\\u003eJenna nods, her eyes still split wide and jaw slack\n\n\\\u003eYou feel as if Mike's words are reaching her, but her concern has overridden everything else except primitive motion\n\n\\\u003eMike turns his attention towards the remaining water pistols and the large water gun leaning near the baptismal font\n\n\\\u003eHis eyes settle on its smooth, bulbous plastic form, painted green and purple (thanks doc)\n\n\\\u003eThere's a huge reservoir in the back for water, and a gimmicky orange pump at the front for, well, pumping water\n\n\\\u003e\"I want that one,\" he says dimly, like a child with his eyes on candy\n\n\\\u003e\"Mike, wait,\" Jenna tries to stand between him and the water gun. “You can't.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"And why not?\" He says, a tinge of frustration in his voice\n\n\\\u003eJenna motion towards his burnt shoulder. \"You're lucky I only got you with a little bit.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Bah, I'll be careful.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"I'm serious! I don't want you doing anything crazy or dangerous!\" She growls\n\n\\\u003eMike is unperturbed. “This is coming from the woman that just shot me with holy water. Right.\"\n\n\\\u003eShe assumes a defensive stance, barring her fangs and spreading her body wide, claws extended\n\n\\\u003eShe's the fiercest looking bumblebee you've ever seen\n\n\\\u003eHe brushes past her with ease, however, his shirt in hand, stopping only at the entrance of the church, as if held in place by an invisible hand\n\n\\\u003eJenna stamps her feet\n\n\\\u003e\"God damnit Mike!\"\n\n\\\u003eMike turns his attention to her. “Listen, Jenna, sweetie, babycakes, sugartits, I'm going to be okay.\"\n\n\\\u003eIn turn, Jenna bows her head, hiding her face\n\n\\\u003eBut from this angle, you can see it tighten up with frustration\n\n\\\u003eHer body starts trembling\n\n\\\u003eOh shit\n\n\\\u003eThis isn't about the water gun\n\n\\\u003e\"You better be okay,\" she says, her voice struggling against the tightness of her throat\n\n\\\u003eWhen she looks up again there are tears stinging her eyes\n\n\\\u003e\"You better not do anything stupid or dumb or crazy, you hear me Mike Sapone?\"\n\n\\\u003eMike doesn't say anything back\n\n\\\u003eHis brows narrow together and slowly, he nods\n\n\\\u003e\"I promise you,\" he says, turning to face all of you\n\n\\\u003e\"You hear that? These motherfuckers took away my future. I don't want any of you doing something stupid — that's my job. I want my future back, or at least some fingers to break. And I need all of you to stay alive tonight, because if the world ends, I'm at least doing it in good company.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou have to admit, the way he's looking around at everyone makes you think that he might attack any one of you at a moment's notice for saying the wrong thing\n\n\\\u003eJenna scrubs her eyes with the back of her paws\n\n\\\u003e“If you get hurt I'll fucking kill you.\"\n\n\\\u003eHonestly, you're more surprised that she's swearing over the fact that she's crying\n\n\\\u003eWhatever, it's probably one of those emotional things that are super out of your range\n\n\\\u003e\"You can kill me after I kick Vanessa and Lydia's dreary asses back to hell.\"\n\n\\\u003eAlex obediently hands Mike the squirt gun, which Mike hoists onto his shoulders\n\n\\\u003eYou can't help but think back to Sam's drawings for you all\n\n\\\u003eHe really is 'Slayer,' as unoriginal as that sounds\n\n\\\u003eYou shrug. Guess they fit\n\n\\\u003eYou all sit on the hood of your car and suck down on Dr. Beppers, cheap burgers and lukewarm beer\n\n\\\u003eYou watch as the sun sets, washing everything in a thin orange haze\n\n\\\u003eYour heart hurls itself against your ribcage, even with Sam sitting next to you on the hood\n\n\\\u003eShe seems to be in the same place you're at, mentally\n\n\\\u003eOr it's the caffeine?\n\n\\\u003eHer legs kick off against the front-end of the car, and her whole body shakes as she brings the can of Dr. Bepper to her lips\n\n\\\u003eYou can feel The Book of Rite in your pocket, heavy and flat like Mike's sister\n\n\\\u003eNobody says much as you watch the sun set, counting the minutes as they turn into hours\n\n\\\u003ePretty soon darkness swallows you all, and the lights in the church flick on, as if God were home for the night\n\n\\\u003eMike hops off the hood of the car, glowing white with anemia\n\n\\\u003eHe's still holding the squirt gun\n\n\\\u003eHe still seems pretty attached to it\n\n\\\u003e\"Well,\" he says, his fiery-red gaze sweeping the group, and ending on you. “What's the time?\"\n\n“7:30,\" you say, shoving your phone back into your pocket.\n\n\\\u003eA smile forms on his lips, though its hard to see in the darkness\n\n\\\u003e\"Shall we?\"\n\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjTTB6yII4o\u0026list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410\\_nI-0J\u0026index=6\n\n\\\u003eYou dunk a water pistol into the baptismal font whose waters never seem to run dry\n\n\\\u003eThe pistol gurgles and sputters as it fills\n\n\\\u003eJust for safety reasons, you dunk Gloria's crucifix (still around your neck) in the font\n\n\\\u003eSam, Jenna, and Alex string together garlic necklaces from the garlic bulbs Jenna 'paid for' on Tuesday\n\n\\\u003eYou fill the other two water pistols up as your brain works your confidence over with a lead pipe\n\n\\\u003eMike's words echo in your ears\n\n\\\u003e'We've got an army of goths, vampires, werewolves, an insane janitor and trans-dimensional monster to plow through, and you're bringing squirt guns?'\n\n\\\u003eWould this really be enough? Not to mention the general violence\n\n\\\u003eAnd\n\n\\\u003eThe Behemoth\n\n\\\u003eA stream of water hits you in the face, shattering your anxious wanderings\n\n\\\u003eMike is standing at the entrance of the church, pumping water at you\n\n\\\u003e\"This thing has RANGE baby. You feel that?\"\n\n“Hey I'm not refilling that if you keep shooting it at me.\" You wipe your face down with your shirt\n\n\\\u003e\"No worries my possibly bisexual friend, I'm just getting my range down.\"\n\n“Right, well, don't do it with me.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"C'mon, you know you like it when Mikey gets you all wet.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou flip off Mike and return to your task\n\n\\\u003eEverywhere there's motion\n\n\\\u003eGarlic necklaces laced around necks (and any extras go into pockets)\n\n\\\u003eWater pistols passed out to Alex and Jenna\n\n\\\u003eAnd more importantly, beers\n\n\\\u003eSam totters off to your car, its doors open and headlights on,\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\\u003eThey blast against the peeling white paint of the church\n\n\\\u003eShe comes sprinting back at break-neck speed, her garlic necklace bouncing against her hoodie\n\n\\\u003eBut you see she's not empty-handed when she returns\n\n\\\u003eShe's got a length of rope and…\n\n\\\u003eAh shit\n\n\\\u003eHer brother's bat, in her right hand\n\n\\\u003e\"H-H-Hey A-Anon. I-I need some help wi-with this.\" She offers up the rope and the baseball bat\n\n\\\u003eYou stuff your water pistol into a belt loop under your robes (which really completes the whole 'priest' look) and tie the baseball bat around her shoulders and under her arms, securing it to her back\n\n\\\u003eShe ties the red bandanna around her snout and throws her hood over her head, shoving her ears through the holes you so graciously cut at the top of her hoodie\n\n\\\u003eShe looks up at you, her amber eyes shrouded in shadow, peering up at you from the darkness like two lights in a tunnel\n\n\\\u003e\"H-H-H-How do I look?\" She says cautiously\n\n\\\u003eYou crouch down to her height\n\n“You look great, but you're missing something.\"\n\n\\\u003eShe yanks down her bandanna\n\n\\\u003e\"W-W-What?\"\n\nYou plant a quick kiss on her lips\n\n\\\u003eJust a short one, but long enough so that your taste lingers on her tongue\n\n“My luck.\" Your voice drops to a whisper\n\n\\\u003eSam lets out a shy squeak\n\n\\\u003eIn an instant, her head is pointed to her shoes\n\n\\\u003e\"Y-Y-Your costume is so nice,\" she says evasively\n\n\\\u003eYour heart sinks\n\n\\\u003eMaybe that was too soon\n\n“Thanks. I like it too, I gues-\"\n\n\\\u003eShe jumps forward and plants a clumsy kiss on your lips, and lingers there, pressed against you, for far too long\n\n\\\u003eYou said it once, you'll say it again: why do you always attract the weirdos?\n\n\\\u003eWhen you at last pull apart, she looks distraught, her brows sloping up and her mouth curled down into a frown, slight distress pressed into her features\n\n\\\u003e\"S-Sorry.\"\n\n\\\u003e…\n\n“For what?\"\n\n\\\u003e\"I c-c-couldn't think of a-a-anything clever to s-s-say.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou want to spend forever with her, here, in this crummy old church, shooting water pistols at Mike's feet, shivering as a breeze sweeps the leaves by like handfuls of confetti thrown to the wind\n\n\\\u003eBut forever isn't in the cards for you tonight\n\n\\\u003eThe hours roll by, and your reserve stock of fortifying beer and Dr. Beppers runs dry as you chill by the front doors with Mike\n\n\\\u003eHe looks especially manic today, chugging his beer and howling at the moon, which has grown alarmingly fat and red in the sky\n\n\\\u003eHe swipes the back of his hand across his mouth, catching the last drops of beer\n\n\\\u003e\"God, I don't even care how close to oblivion we all are. I'm just ready to get some revenge and break some knees.\"\n\n\\\u003eJenna appears beside him with a Dr. Bepper\n\n\\\u003e\"Here. Try and sober up a little bit. You're no good to us drunk.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Drunk?\" He stumbles backwards in one small inebriated step. “Listen, let me tell you something. I fight better when I'm a little bit loaded.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"S-So d-d-did my d-d-dad,\" Sam says to nobody in particular\n\n\\\u003eMike pauses in his swagger\n\n\\\u003eThe cringe on his face says it all\n\n\\\u003e\"I didn't mean it like that,\" Mike says, a foreign shame creeping into his whispering tone\n\n\\\u003e\"O-Oh!\" Sam shakes her head. “N-Neither d-d-did I. S-S-Sorry. I'm just th-thinking about some o-other stuff.\"\n\n\\\u003eRight\n\n\\\u003e'Other stuff.'\n\n\\\u003eThe taste of Sam still lingering on your lips offers some insight as to what she's probably thinking about\n\n\\\u003eYou didn't want the moment to end either\n\n\\\u003eKissing her feels… right… like how a fish was born to swim, you know?\n\n\\\u003eYou stare up at the moon in silence and take a hearty slug of your beer\n\n\\\u003eLiquid courage\n\n\\\u003eAnd you're going to need it\n\n\\\u003eLike a pair of well-meaning school shooters, you opt not to park your shit heap car in the now crowded parking lot, but in the teacher's lot out front\n\n\\\u003eIt'll be a longer haul to the gym versus the student lot, but that's okay\n\n\\\u003eYou might need to make an escape later, and you don't want to be caught in traffic\n\n\\\u003eWouldn't it be bad ass if you guys had a car chase? Like damn, that-\n\n\\\u003e\"Anon.\" Alex shakes the back of your seat. “Are you ready comrade?\"\n\n\\\u003eYou cut the engine\n\n\"You're freaking me out man, I feel like I'm about to go shoot up the school or something.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Don't get cold feet on us right now, bunny-boy. We need you to get to that altar with Sam,\" Mike says, now more sober than before. “What time you got?\"\n\n\\\u003eJenna checks her phone. \"10:45. We're cutting it close.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Cut it too soon and we're going to show up before show time and get caught,\" Alex offers, one of the few intelligent statements he's made. “Too late and… well…\"\n\n\\\u003e\"So, front doors, guns blazing?\" Mike says, pumping on his over-sized squirt gun. He rests his hand on the door handle, eager to get moving\n\n“If you can control yourself, I was thinking stealth. We really only need to worry about the vampires\"\n\n\\\u003eAs you rattle off a list of potential foes, your stomach sinks further and further\n\n\\\u003e\"…The goths, Lydia, Vanessa, whatever they did to Gloria… The Behemoth…\"\n\n\\\u003eIf you weren't nervous before, you were now\n\n\\\u003eYour feet beat into the shitty, carpeted floor of the rustbucket\n\n\\\u003eSam, picking up on your nerves, wrings her ears like she was trying to squeeze the blood out of them\n\n\\\u003e\"A-A-And what d-d-do we do?\" She asks, staring dead ahead at the school\n\n\\\u003eOrdinarily you'd say the school was looming in the darkness, but it's not dark\n\n\\\u003eNot at all\n\n\\\u003eAbove the school the moon is pinned low into the sky, glowing a near scarlet red\n\n\\\u003eYou're reminded of the moon in Majora's Mask, when the celestial body would get closer and closer each day\u0026nbsp;\n\n\\\u003ePublications called it a 'harvest moon'\n\n\\\u003eYou and your friends knew better\n\n“W-When we get into the s-school-\"\n\n\\\u003eShit, did you stutter?\n\n\\\u003eIt's either nerves, or that Sam is rubbing off on you\n\n\\\u003eOr both\n\n\\\u003eYou swallow hard and feel for the The Book of Rite tucked into your pocket\n\n\\\u003eIt feels loose, so you push deeper down in there\n\n\\\u003eDon't need it flying out\n\n\\\u003eIt takes a few earth-spinning seconds, but you finally put your thoughts together like the broken puzzle pieces that they are\n\n\\\u003eRemember, Anonymous: you've changed. People are capable of change and growth\n\n\\\u003eYou and your friends are living examples\n\n\\\u003eAnd yet, here you are, wishing to be anywhere else in the world, wishing to slink away and let someone else handle it\n\n\\\u003eBut you are 'someone else'\n\n\\\u003eAlex shakes your seat again\n\n\\\u003e\"Comrade, are you alright?\"\n\n\\\u003eYou wave your wrist in a dismissive fashion\n\n\\\u003eIf only to try and dismiss the nerves\n\n“I'm a-alright. What I was saying was: when we get in there, we'll need cover from all of you in getting to the gym. Vanessa knows that I know there's a way to stop this. I imagine it's going to be heavily guarded by Vanessa's thugs, and whatever supernatural spookery she can concoct.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"And you know how to stop it?\" Jenna says\n\n\\\u003eYou turn to face her, which is a struggle considering you're still wearing your seatbelt\n\n“Both books brought to the altar, and Sam's freshly drawn blood ought to banish The Behemoth and put an end to this whole thing.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"H-How fresh?\" Sam squeaks at you, her body still shaking\n\n\\\u003eYou flash a grim look at her\n\n\\\u003e\"Like, straight from your wrists fresh, since it was your blood that ruined the ritual the first time. I found a banishing ritual when I was browsing through The Book a few days ago.\"\n\n\\\u003eSam's anxious foot-pounding is so loud that even Jenna tries to get her to calm down\n\n\\\u003eDeep breaths, everyone\n\n\\\u003eRemember all that you've learned\n\n“So you'll need to go up there with me,\" you continue. “And we'll need cover from the rest of you, whatever that looks like.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"So like I said, guns blazing,\" Mike adds\n\n\\\u003eHe seems about the only one excited for this\n\n\\\u003eOr, rather, he seems mad\n\n\\\u003eWhich for him often looks like the same thing\n\n\\\u003eYou won't lie, the dark and edgy looks he's been flashing ever since you were gearing up in the church have been concerning you\n\n\\\u003eYou exhale slowly, trying to remember what your therapist told you about anxiety and fear\n\n\\\u003e'Take all of your fear and worry and put it into a little ball that-'\n\n\\\u003eBah, fuck it\n\n\\\u003eYour therapist can't help you at the end of the world\n\n\\\u003eOnly you can\n\n\\\u003e\"I'm tired of waiting. I'm ready to light this candle,\" Mike says\n\n\\\u003e\"As am I,\" Alex concurs. “The revolution has come to its climax. Once more, friends, to the barricades again!\"\n\n\\\u003e\"Everyone, just be safe.\" Jenna pops open her side door and steps out into the cool air. “Especially you, Mike. I don't want you doing anything stupid.\"\n\n\\\u003e\"I'm going to do what I have to do, but I promise I'll try not to get anyone hurt,\" he says in reply\n\n\\\u003eThough you can't see them, you can tell just by the tone of Jenna's voice that she's worried. Their conversation continues, but you can't hear anything, because Alex is humming the Soviet anthem loudly\n\n\\\u003eHe pauses\n\n\\\u003e\"Everything be okey, komrade.\"\n\n\\\u003eGOD his accents are bad\n\n\\\u003eHe sounds like a Bond villain\n\n\\\u003eStill humming the Soviet anthem, Alex exits the vehicle, leaving only you and Sam, and the mutual sound of your feet pounding into the floor\n\n\\\u003eFocus on the moon, dude\n\n\\\u003eJust… chill\n\n\\\u003eYou're a lot stronger now than you were before\n\n\\\u003eStill, what's with this feeling in your gut?\n\n\\\u003eThis otherworldly anxiety as you watch the sky get swallowed by the moon\n\n\\\u003eIt dominates the whole skyline, and you swear you can almost feel its gravitational tug, like it could rip you out of this car and suck you into orbit\n\n\\\u003eA shaking, fuzzy hand finds your own\n\n\\\u003eIt's Sam\n\n\\\u003eShe's no longer pulling at her ears, but she still wears all the signs of nervousness as plain as the bandanna tied around her neck\n\n\\\u003eKicking legs, trembling features, quivering lips flush with blood\n\n\\\u003eYet her eye contact is impeccable — something you're pleased that she's learned\n\n\\\u003eYou drink in her glowing amber eyes, searching for courage\n\n\\\u003e\"W-W-We're g-gonna b-b-b-be okay r-r-right?\"\n\n\\\u003eYou swallow and nod\n\n\\\u003e\"R-Right. We've all come so far. We'll be okay. And l-like I said, I won't let anything bad happen to you.\"\n\n\\\u003eShe breathes out a held breath and squeezes her eyes shut\n\n\\\u003eShe tries putting on a brave smile\n\n\\\u003e\"Y-Yeah. I-I'm a lot s-s-stronger than I-I was. I'll d-d-do my best to t-t-take care of m-myself i-in there.\"\n\n\\\u003eMike slaps the hood of the car, causing you both to jump\n\n\\\u003eYou'd have hit the ceiling were it not for your seatbelt\n\n\\\u003eHis voice is muffled, but you hear him well enough. \"LET'S GO LADIES.\"\n\n\\\u003eYou and Sam share one last look\n\n“Ready?\"\n\n\\\u003e\"R-Ready,\" she says\n\n\\\u003eYou unbuckle your seatbelt\n\n\\\u003eReady","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1694931-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-16.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1697993-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-18.json"}}