Chapter Text
When the two had first met, they were ten.
Too young to realize the seriousness of either of their situations, but young enough to form something unlikely.
Molly was the one to move in, being the one thrown into a new environment, but from the outside, it seemed the opposite.
The nine-year-old boy was sitting on the porch of his backyard, sitting on a beach chair, sweating. It was summer in Canada and the heat beat down on them, Mike wearing his blue shorts and a singlet. His hair lay back against his skull from perspiration.
He looked over the dividing fence into the backyard. A treehouse! How cool they were, he thought. He had always wanted one, a little room just to himself. He could read comics - he always liked the Indiana Jones ones - play videogames and just lives in his own sma-
“Why are you staring at my backyard”
The voice startled him, enough so for him to fall off the chair he was sitting on. It more so came out as a statement than a question.
The sun was in his eyes and it blinded him for a moment, he could not see who spoke as he covered them.
It took him a moment to compose himself.
“Well? You mute or something?” the voice spoke again.
“Y-you are the one in my backyard!”
“S’pose you're right”
The person offered him a hand up and he hesitantly took it.
It turned out, the individual talking was a girl. A girl that looked to be around his age, he guessed. She stood taller than him, black messy hair that looked like it hadn’t been brushed for weeks fell over her shoulders, almost the same height as her. She mirrored what he wore; flip-flops, singlet. Though instead of shorts, she wore black tracksuit pants.
Mike had no idea how someone could wear pants when it was so hot out.
“Your hand is drenched and you look like a wet dog,” the girl said.
Before Mike could respond to the insult, she continued to speak.
“I saw you looking at my treehouse”
“It’s cool”
The girl walked over to the edge of the porch and looked at the backyard.
“You have a pool, why don’t you fill it up? Then maybe you wouldn’t look like a hot dog”
Mike looked at the glass door that led into his living room, looking at his reflection.
It was true, he did look like a hot dog. He was all red and sweaty like one.
“My mom won’t allow me to do it” he answered, walking to the edge of the pool where the girl now sat.
“Says it’s just a waste of water and time” he continued.
“Your mom sounds like a butt”
“Sometimes she is”
Molly picked up a rock that was in the grass and threw it into the pool, it smashed into pieces as it hit the other side.
“You wanna see my treehouse?”
This question suddenly made Mike’s head perk up, he wasn’t expecting an invitation.
“That would be really nice”
“You gotta tell me something first and I’ll tell you a secret about my treehouse”
“What secret?” he asked excitingly.
“You gotta tell me your name first, I don’t let strangers into my tree”
“It’s Mike”
“Well Mike, you have been invited to my treehouse of darkness”
“Darkness?”
“You gotta see it to understand the name”
She stood up from the edge of the pool and made her way to the bushes near the corner of the fence separating their houses.
“I have a secret way of getting through the fence. You cannot tell anyone otherwise they'll fix it. You aren’t a snitch, aren’t you Mike?”
“N-no!”
“Good. Snitches get stitches and aren’t allowed in my treehouse”
He gulped nervously.
The girl crawled into the bush, grabbing Mike's wrist and pulling him into it along with her.
The kids were small enough to fit inside a groove in the big bush, the small path crushed due to many uses. The girl slid a panel of the fence away, revealing her backyard, and rolled onto the grass. Mike followed. Sliding the panel back and standing up, she spread her arms out in a big sweeping motion and took a bow.
“Welcome, to my treehouse of darkness!”
“There’s no windows” Mike muttered.
“That’s what makes it cool! There is a hole on the roof of it and you can sit on the roof and look at the stars!”, she huffed in annoyance, though he could tell she was excited too.
Mike felt the girl grip his hand for a second time that day, helping him up and leading him over to the tree.
“I don’t have a ladder, just a rope cause then I can pull it up and stop my family from getting in”
“Oh, it reminds me of gymnastics. W-with the ropes.” Mike eyed the rope nervously.
“It’s pretty easy. I can lift you up if you wanna”
All Mike could see was a black mass of hair slinking up the rope, she was fast but still had an air of awkwardness about her.
She reached the top and peered through the entrance hole of the treehouse, her hair flowing down it.
“You look like Rapunzel”
“Rapunzel is a stupid fairy tale, she could have climbed down the tower with her hair and chopped it off at the bottom! But thank you” she smiled down at him. “Now climb up you burnt hotdog!”
Mike anxiously gripped the rope. He had barely ever climbed rocks, let alone a hard rope like this. Lifting his legs, he put his whole weight on the rope.
“There you go! Now you just gotta do the hard part”
It was difficult, but he slowly made his way to the hole. It was one of the most difficult things he had ever done.
“Maybe you should take gymnastics, my sister does and it's super cool”
Mike gripped the edge of the hole and looked inside.
“I’ll lift you up-”
As she went to reach for Mike’s hand a third time that day, his hand slipped as he desperately grasped for the rope, his body not being able to hold himself up. He fell to the ground below the treehouse, his hand burning from trying to desperately grip the tether.
There was a sickening snap followed by a scream.