{"sf1_id":1706089,"sf2_id":"znJwk3z1","title":" The Leaves of Fall Act 3: Something That Matters (Part 23)","author":"Oliver_Hart","words":2119,"posted_at":"2021-04-12T23:01:00.000Z","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/1706089-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-23","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/znJwk3z1","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/a2/86/a28668c9-4273-4fe8-9f9b-cfac554e6784","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":"\\\u003eYour beaten head rolls back, like your neck was a noddle and your head a bowling ball  \n\\\u003eYou feel swollen all over, wet with blood and sweat  \n“You know, I think you're right. People don't change,\" you say, struggling for breath  \n\\\u003eYour gaze briefly flits to Sam's crumpled body on the edge of the roof, and then back to Vanessa, who is staring so triumphantly back at you through darkening eyes  \n\\\u003e\"Little too late to fly a new flag there, Anon. You missed your chance to be on the winning side.\"  \n“You didn't let me finish.\" You breathe hard. “I was going to say I always hated you. I still hate you. Even if I could understand where you were coming from, I'd still hate you. In some ways, people don't change, because I will always, always hate you.\" You take a shallow breath. “But you're wrong about everything else.\"  \n\\\u003eVanessa flashes a toothy grin, or some poor attempt at containing her fury — one of the two  \n\\\u003e\"Aww you're cute, you know that? If I were into humans — scrawny cowards like you — I might think about making you some sort of concubine in the new world. But sadly…\"  \n\\\u003eShe lifts you higher in the air like you're some kind of rag doll  \n\\\u003e\"People just don't change.\"  \n\\\u003eShe cocks her arm back, and in one swift motion, hurls you with unbelievable force  \n\\\u003eYour back slams against the hard metal door of the rooftop's maintenance access entryway, a low, hunched over brick building jutting out from the roof  \n\\\u003eYou bounce forward, coming to rest against the door, all the air ejected from your lungs via concussive force  \n\\\u003eYou lurch forward and breathlessly gasp, propped upright by sheer luck  \n\\\u003eYou swear you physically felt yourself going concussed  \n\\\u003e\"You'll be a coward forever!\" She howls, starting forward, “Always creeping in the dark, always running from what threatens your peace. I know your type.\"  \n\\\u003eShe towers over you with clenched fists, her blood moon shadow engulfing you entirely  \n\\\u003eThe sound of car alarms blaring draws both of your attention  \n\\\u003eAnd then a terrible squealing noise that shakes the rooftop gravel, the sound of The Behemoth raging somewhere  \n\\\u003e\"Can you hear it? Maybe not with your pathetic human ears, but I can. It's the sound of a human's spirit breaking. Ooooh we're so close now to the end now.\"   \n\\\u003eShe shivers, but not from the cold and biting wind. Her expression turns soft as she look down at your pathetic, writhing form  \n\\\u003e“Seeing you like this, down and out, moments away from death, I can't help but pity you just a little.\"  \n“You don't have pity,\" you wheeze, still trying to recover from the glancing blow dealt to the back of your head (which you're sure is starting to bleed now). “You only have anger and hate for people who couldn't care less about you at all.\"  \n\\\u003e\"You mean those SHEEP in the gym beneath us? Of course they don't care. And that's their crime. They're self-absorbed, self-obsessed, normal, well-adjusted, happy, social and loving, and they always, always will be. You and I are different — that's why I trusted you. It's why I thought you'd understand what I had to do.\"  \n\\\u003eShe leans in close  \n\\\u003e\"I wanted you to rule beside me, you stupid fucking coward. At least you know what it feels like not to belong.\"  \n\\\u003eYour vision is going fuzzy, but you're still lucid enough to spit blood and curses  \n“Fuck you, Vanessa. Gloria was right this whole time. People can change. You're just a sad, lonely doe who never got the message.\" Blood and curses fly from your mouth  \n\\\u003eDid you bite your tongue?  \n\\\u003eVanessa shrieks with laughter  \n\\\u003eReal, horrible, rib-sucking laughter  \n\\\u003e\"Oh Anon, how I wish that were true. Maybe you'd have seen our side of things… saw all these normalcunts for what they are: shallow and selfish. But it's okay. I'm going to make everything better. We can all be equal in our madness as we tear this world apart, brick by rotten brick.\"  \n\\\u003eJESUS CHRIST she's insane  \n\\\u003eYou thought she was just edgy and had gone too far, but no, she's just insane  \n\\\u003eAnd cocky too  \n\\\u003eVillains  \n\\\u003eWhy do they always have to gloat?  \n\\\u003eYou might gloat too if you were her  \n\\\u003eAnd you're about to have reason to gloat  \n\\\u003eYour hand sneaks beneath your robes, where you keep the water pistol tucked into a belt loop  \n“Some free advice, you crazy bitch:\" you say, aiming the pistol upwards under your vestments.   \n“don't monologue.\"  \n\\\u003eVanessa recognizes the shape of your holy water pistol beneath the robes all too late  \n\\\u003eTriumphantly, you squeeze off a few shots that fly through the relatively thin fabric of your fake vestments  \n\\\u003eThank FUCK for cheap costumes  \n\\\u003eThey catch Vanessa once on the breast of her skin-tight black jacket  \n\\\u003eAnd then again in the face, arms and legs  \n\\\u003eIt's about as unceremonious as it gets — little streams of water pounding against Vanessa's arms, legs, chest and face  \n\\\u003eNo concussive heat blast, no triumphant orange muzzle flash to herald her doom  \n\\\u003eJust holy water in a cheap, 99-cent water pistol  \n\\\u003eBut it's enough  \n\\\u003eShe flinches and winces as the streams of water strike her  \n\\\u003eWisps of steam and smoke trail off her as a bright scars appears where her skin and makeup begin to slough off from her face  \n\\\u003eAnd yet beneath the searing flesh, you can see a hateful, devil's grin  \n\\\u003eReminds you of Sam's Dad  \n\\\u003e\"Very clever you little CUNT.\"  \n\\\u003eYou pull the trigger again — and you keep pulling it until her hand grips the water pistol and easily squeezes it into shards, sending plastic and holy water flying in all directions  \n\\\u003eWith skin and fur falling away from her hands, revealing tightly corded and magically cursed muscle beneath, she looks up at her now bloody and raw fist with morbid curiosity  \n\\\u003eAnd then with contempt down at you  \n\\\u003e\"You're still a coward…\" she hisses through her fangs  \n\\\u003eOh god  \n\\\u003eHer face is starting to peel and welt up  \n\\\u003eStill winded from being hurled across the roof, you can do little more than struggle when she grips you by the collar and pulls you to your feet  \n\\\u003eShe pulls back her right arm like a pistol's hammer being cocked back  \n\\\u003e\"…You brought a gun to a fist fight!\"  \n\\\u003eHer arm explodes forward and hits you so goddamn harm in the jaw that you don't actually feel it  \n\\\u003eYou feel the blunt force of her bloody fist colliding with your jawbone, but the tremendous shock of pain that normally follows a finishing blow like that doesn't come  \n\\\u003eWhat gets you is the way your body collides with the door, head slamming backwards into the cold metal  \n\\\u003eNow THAT hurt  \n\\\u003eBut at least she hit you hard enough to knock you from her grasp  \n\\\u003eDazed, you can see Vanessa pulling her bleeding fist back again for another killing blow  \n\\\u003eAnd it happens in slow motion  \n\\\u003eFor once you're grateful to have been belted one  \n  \n\\\u003eThe way her arm pushes forward, a comet's tail of fresh blood streaking off of her now boiling arm and chest and face…  \n\\\u003e…The way the cars begin flying through the air haphazardly behind her, as if tossed by some gigantic child — but you know that's the Behemoth's work as it spreads its madness to the moon and stars…  \n\\\u003eAnd it's in this slow motion that you're able to duck your head and roll onto your side  \n\\\u003eThe doe's triumphant fist punches a hole in the door right in the space where your head used to be, all metal shredding inward like a flower's petals opening  \n\\\u003eYou hit the ground hard, getting a face full of gravel and grime  \n\\\u003eAnd maybe a few pebbles up the nose  \n\\\u003eVanessa rips her hand out of the door, the thin canvas bag dangling in the crook of her elbow  \n\\\u003eShe bellows a deep, scarred-throat shredding roar, as if she were full of hell itself  \n\\\u003eBut you hardly hear it  \n\\\u003eYour eyes are fixed on something else: that swinging bag she's carrying, so tantalizingly close  \n  \n\\\u003eWithout thinking you reach out and-  \n\\\u003eYou get a black boot in the gut as Vanessa roars, the glint of madness long since swallowed by darkness and rage  \n\\\u003eYou can't even see her pupils anymore — just black stones  \n\\\u003eSputtering blood from your mouth, your mind instinctively reels backwards in time, flying at the speed of a warm blood rush  \n\\\u003eYou just want to find a place in your memories that doesn't hurt  \n\\\u003eAnd maybe it's because you're on the rooftop again, but you can't help but find yourself back in the same place you were last week near this time  \n  \n\\\u003eFriday night, one week ago you-  \n\\\u003eAnother stuttering kick in the gut and you're sucking air  \n\\\u003e-You were all on the rooftop drinking and-  \n\\\u003eYour hands grope blindly against the side of the maintenance access entryway, feeling for something — anything to anchor you to reality  \n\\\u003e-And you still had beers leftover and-  \n\\\u003eYou fight against the urge to vomit as the doe clutches you by the throat, your airways pinched off in a vise grip   \n\\\u003eShe starts to hoist you in the air, face-to-face with her, spitting blood through her sharpened teeth, face peeling and sizzling, revealing a mask of muscle and raw skin beneath her velvety fur   \nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQwKWuTrlCY\u0026list=PL9aXlzDRA49QKxgYsOV2JuDd410\\_nI-0J\u0026index=22  \n\\\u003eShe shrieks in a voice not her own, “I WANNA SEE THE LIGHT LEAVE YOUR EYES!\"  \n\\\u003e\\\u003e-The four of you elect to leave the rest of your beers on the roof, right next to the rooftop door, making plans to return again-  \n\\\u003eYour searching fingers find the still full bottle against the side of the access tunnel and wrap around its neck   \n\\\u003eYou feel Vanessa's second hand cinch around your throat like a vise  \n\\\u003eShe lifts you in the air under her own strength, too fixed on your inevitable suffocation to notice the amber bottle dangling in your right hand  \n\\\u003eDark stars all around you  \n\\\u003eSwarms of unconsciousness bleed in around the corners of your vision, stretching inward like ruthless vines  \n\\\u003eYou're very still and limp as she chokes the life out of you, and you know: this is your time  \n\\\u003eSam isn't moving over there on the ledge  \n\\\u003eJenna, Alex, Mike and Stella are still trapped in the gym  \n\\\u003eShe squeezes your airways shut  \n\\\u003eShe squeezes for everything she's worth  \n\\\u003eEverything she's worked for and built  \n\\\u003eEverything you've tried to undo  \n\\\u003eAnd for what?  \n\\\u003eWhat was it all for?  \n\\\u003eFor Sam  \n\\\u003eFor Alex  \n\\\u003eFor Jenna  \n\\\u003eFor Mike  \n\\\u003e  \n\\\u003eFor something that matters  \n\\\u003eYou bring your arm up, the amber bottle shot through with red moonlight; like Excalibur ripped from the lake  \n\\\u003eVanessa's eyes go up, settling on your weapon, its oblong shape reflected in her black pupils like a prophecy from beyond time  \n\\\u003eWith your last moments of consciousness, feeling her bloody fingers pressed tight against your skin, your grip tightens and…  \n\\\u003e…you bring down your arm down in a hammer-stroke, the bottle crashing sharp against the top of her skull  \n  \n\\\u003eThe bottle breaks into heavy shards and a spray of warm beer, leaving you with only its jagged neck as you fall from Vanessa's grasp  \n\\\u003eThe doe throws her hands onto her head and screams  \n\\\u003eYou drop like a cinder block into a heap of blood and cheap costume fabric  \n\\\u003eOne last thing though  \n\\\u003eWith the last bit of lucidity you can still scrounge up from your brush with death, you swipe the sharp remnants of the bottle against the taut strap of her canvas bag with enough force to sheer the fabric  \n\\\u003eIt drops against the rooftop, spilling its contents — and the two books — everywhere  \n  \n\\\u003eYou gasp and suck and sputter, struggling to put air back into your nearly-collapsed lungs  \n\\\u003eThe books are just feet away, while Vanessa stumbles backwards, blood cascading down her face from a now bright red gash on the top of her skull  \n\\\u003eYou'd reach for the books but… you just have nothing left in the tank  \n\\\u003eShe screams and shrieks horribly through the pain and…  \n\\\u003eFuck  \n\\\u003e…Lunges towards you  \n  \n\\\u003eWell, this is all you can do, you guess  \n\\\u003eYou played your last card and you still couldn't stop her  \n\\\u003eYou're sorry to everyone you've let down  \n\\\u003eWhich is… literally everyone on earth  \n\\\u003eBut more importantly:   \n\\\u003eSam, who risked everything for a better life  \n\\\u003eFor Alex who wanted to change the world  \n\\\u003eFor Jenna who… gave up her car?  \n\\\u003eAnd for Mike, who ruined his entire life for you  \n\\\u003eIf he was here, you'd scream apologies, beg his forgiveness  \n\\\u003eBut he's not  \n\\\u003eYou're cold  \n\\\u003eSo very cold now  \n\\\u003eAlone  \n\\\u003eAnd ready to die","series":{"name":"The Leaves of Fall","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1704156-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-22.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1707660-the-leaves-of-fall-act-3-something-that-matters-part-24.json"}}