Chapter Text
Waverly sank to the ground with tears cascading down her face like a waterfall while one single thought continuously circled her mind over and over again, stuck on replay while getting louder with each pass. My real father was a demon. I am half-demon. To end this curse, I must be taken out of the picture. Little did Waverly know that Jolene had been lying to her about her father's decent.
The muffled sound of Jolene's hate-driven voice rang in Waverly's ears; clear enough to understand that Jolene had been opening the door to the only solution Waverly could take to ease the pain, but still clouded enough not to make out the true bitterness behind the demon's words. No matter how much she knew those words shouldn't matter, Waverly still took each and everything Jolene said to heart: flushing out all the memories of her team that tried to fight back.
Looking up with sad, tear-filled eyes and a slowly disappearing heart, Waverly saw the intensity of Jolene's hate spilling out through her wide eyes and grim facial expressions. However, the thing that most caught Waverly's attention had been the knife Jolene held tightly in her hand as the demon slowly handed it off to Waverly. She didn't care about how the blade was facing in the direction of her own heart or how easy it should have been to through it away.
"Nobody loves you, Waverly. Why don't you do the right thing for once in your life," Jolene practically growled into Waverly's ear, causing shivers to chase each other on the way down Waverly's spine. Waverly wanted to take a deep breath, stop time for even just a split second, and think about the position she was in at the moment. But her lungs wouldn't allow her to take more than quick, shallow breaths and time wouldn't stop for anyone.
Glancing down at the knife in her shaky hands, Waverly began to think about how life would change for everyone around her if she would just listen to Jolene. She started to forget about how much Nicole, Wynonna, Mama, Dolls, Jeremy, Doc, and everyone else loved her as the memories of their hatred from the past day took control in her mind. I just make their lives so much worse... by simply breathing near them. If... if I was gone, things would be so much smoother for all of them.
Waverly thought about how she wouldn't be holding Wynonna back anymore from breaking the curse and bringing Alice home. Wynonna wouldn't have to keep looking over her shoulder in order to check if Waverly messed up an investigation or research if she would just do it. Alice's return back to Purgatory, to her parents, and her home would happen so much quicker. Wynonna would never have to explain to anyone how I am only her 'half-sister' or to Alice the complications behind how we are related.
Nicole would be able to do her job to the fullest... Waverly winced as the memory of Nicole yelling at her played obnoxiously in front of her eyes: yelling for not mentioning anything about Mama, especially to an officer, and for always forgetting to keep Nicole informed. If I wasn't here anymore, Nicole would be able to stop worrying about if I was going to mess things up for her job... Nicole would find someone who actually deserves her and is able to say 'I love you' without hesitation.
And Mama... she wouldn't even be in this mess if I wasn't ever born. She would have been able to stay in Wynonna and Willa's lives to protect them from harm... Maybe Willa would still be here if I hadn't been the one to drive Mama away... Waverly felt her hands tighten around the handle of the knife as the thoughts continued swirling inside of her head. Maybe Mama would have been able to help Daddy end the curse long before Wynonna or Willa would have taken over.
As her hands suddenly became sweaty while losing grip against the handle of the blade, Waverly's final thoughts pushed against any attempt the Universe made to save her from the demons. Only seconds passed within reality around her, filled with Jolene constantly reminding Waverly about her being a waste of skin or worse, an eternity happened within Waverly's head as she thought about every other member of the team, how much they wouldn't miss her or would be happy she was gone, and how much her being alive made their lives worse.
And for the first time in what felt like forever, Waverly finally felt the ability to breathe again. As her head ultimately made the final decision, Waverly's heart slowed due to relief and allowed her lungs to breathe in a way Waverly never thought possible. Noticing Jolene's wicked expression morph into a proudly evil smile, Waverly believed she was finally about to do the right thing in her life: she was finally going to make someone genuinely happy.
"Tell them... I did this... to make their lives betters," Waverly began explaining between her newfound breaths and the tears that managed to continue falling how her face. Jolene nodded eerily and eagerly while her eyes started flicking back and forth between Waverly's face and the knife in her hands. "Tell them... that even though they might not have loved me... I did this out of my love for them," Waverly finished as her voice faded, unable to fight anymore.
The knife in her hands started burning with anticipation, whispering through the contact its lust to feel Waverly's blood, soul, and life leave her body once and for all. Jolene's, now, soft-spoken words of encouragement to take that final step also filled Waverly's ears; along with the voices of Wynonna, Nicole, Mama, and everyone else screaming at her to get out of their lives. Their voices yell so many awful things inside Waverly's head, she almost couldn't hear anything else above the non-existent noise.
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Waverly slowly moved her arms away from her body in order to have the maximum distance to build the maximum amount of force possible for when she would drive the knife through her sternum. With her eyes closed, Waverly watched as her entire life flashed before her eyes in a matter of seconds: some memories more clear than others. With her eyes closed and focused on her thoughts, Waverly didn't notice Jolene's growing anticipation or the sound of running getting closer.
She watched Daddy die (her fault); Wynonna get sent away or leave multiple times (her fault); Nicole being shot by Willa and almost dying more than once (her fault); Jeremy being hidden under her shadow (her fault), Doc being sent to hell and losing his daughter (her fault), Dolls attempting to sacrifice himself to save the team (her fault); and Mama having a mental breakdown when she visited the jail (her fault).
Waverly let out one last breath of air as time seemed to slow down around her, causing her senses to become acutely and hyperactively aware of everything happening around her body. The faint taste of all the whiskey, bourbon, and other various types of alcohol kept on the Homestead danced across the top of Waverly's tongue as she could feel each particle of dusk from the old Gibson Greenhouse enveloping her body through the air.
However, Waverly's eyes remained closed and her vision began to fill with the make-believe galaxy people would see when their eyes were shut; different hues of purples and greens striking against the stark black background of her eyelids. And the last thing Waverly coherently heard before forcefully driving the knife through her sternum had been the Greenhouse door busting open and mumbled screams overtaking a single gunshot.