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Being in the Apocalypse was not an ideal experience, however, being the only living adult in the apocalypse was somehow even worse. Everywhere she turned there were kids running rampant and killing each other. She had taken shelter in the mall, hoping to find something, anything , to quench her appetite. No matter how crazy as she was, and no matter how much she despised them, she refused to eat the brats. Even if the less-than-sane part of her screamed for her to just fucking do it.
Things changed when Josh Wheeler came to the mall. He had brought Angelica, Angelica was her friend. Angelica wanted to help her. Angelica wanted to make her better, and so far, she had succeeded. Angelica’s makeover idea had not been the best call for either of them. When the Witch went to get changed, she realized she didn’t want to recognize the woman in the mirror before her. She wasn’t that person anymore, she was something else. She was a monster, and frankly, she was okay with that. And thankfully, Angelica seemed to understand that too.
The past 24 hours had also brought a lot of other changes. There were new children in the mall, for reasons she hadn’t quite understood, but nonetheless, it was a pleasant change in pace from the mostly empty shopping center. The solitude had not been the best for her already poor mental state, and engaging with them helped her grasp at the reality in front of her. The children seemed to be debating the idea of a redo-dance the previous night, before she and Angelica had gone to their room, a furniture store in the back corner of the mall. She loved dancing. She hoped they agreed to do it.
When she woke up that morning, she couldn’t find Angelica. Her anxiety spiked not seeing her friend on the pull-out couch she had claimed for herself in the days prior. The stuffed toys she had found around the mall as gifts for her friend were there, along with the blanket she used the night before. As she looked around skeptically, frantically, she spotted a note on the end table next to her own couch.
Went to speak with the others-don’t worry :)
She felt herself calm down at the note’s words, however, she felt an uneasy sense inching up on her. She remembered a note left for her. From before. Not a post-it, but a letter. A short letter. She didn’t want to remember that letter.
Please forgive me, I didn’t want to hurt you.
She remembered the hot tears pouring down her face, the humiliation she had felt.
I love you, I just can’t do this.
The violent shaking of her hands, the blurred words on the paper.
She makes me happy.
The implied you don’t.
That letter changed what would be the rest of her life. It determined her move to Glendale, her career, and even her current fate.
In the months after that letter, she had willed herself to forget it. To move on with her life. She ached to forget it. To forget the words, the paper (a tacky Monterey design in the heading; picked up on their last vacation), the tear stains on it.
She forgot before the bomb. She remembered now.
-
She snapped back to the scene before her with a jolt, hearing her friend’s voice echo across the tile walls.
“Don’t be a bitch, Josh!”
The Witch whipped her head up with a grunt. The shouting hurt her ears and her friend seemed distressed, so she found herself being propelled toward the source of continual shouting.
Josh, Eli, and Wesley never really bothered her with their shouting. Stupid boys. Angelica’s, however, made her nervous. The others she didn’t care for, they just happened to live together. She and Angelica, however, spent nearly every waking second together. They were friends. She crept out into the main hallway of the mall to find the children standing in a circle in front of the fountain.
“Do you even realize what that could’ve done, Angelica?” Josh argued, his face growing hard as he held the flamethrower above his head, out of the tween’s reach.
Angelica sighed, jumping up in an attempt to grab the weapon back, “It’s not like anything happened, I won’t do it again just, give me it!”
Wes shook his head and spoke, his voice being the only calm one of the group, “If you had set off the fire alarms, this whole place would turn into a dinner bell for every single Ghoulie out there. It isn’t safe.”
Angelica gave up her attempts to retrieve her means of protection and turned toward Wes, her face red and her voice harsh, “I had to test it out, shit for brains - or did you want me just to blow up when we actually outside?”
The Witch stalked closer, hands flying to her ears, and mumbled, “Stop, stop, stop.”
The Ghoulie’s distress caught the attention of Josh, who lowered his arms from above his head. Angelica turned to see what was going on, noting the fact her flamethrower was now at grabbing-level for herself and began to pull at it. Josh pulled backwards, trying to wrench it from the tiny blonde’s hands. The two began to shout again as they struggled, Angelica trying to wrap her whole body around the flamethrower so Josh couldn’t get a hold of it.
The Witch’s eyes went wide and she released a hiss; anger was the only emotion that motivated her most of the time and was usually the sole force bringing her into any form of conflict. The unfortunate side-effect of experiencing her anger, however, was that it brought out more of her Ghoulie side.
She pushed her way between Josh and Angelica, a scream growing low in her throat as she took the boy by the shoulders and pushed him back. Josh’s face contorted into a look of fear as he began to scramble backward away from her.
“Leave. Her. Alone.” She began to shout on repeat, her hands clenched into fists on his shirt, shaking him.
Wes carefully tread his way over to the struggling pair and attempted to speak over the uncontrolled screams of the Witch, “Hey - hey - let’s just calm down and we can talk this out.”
The Witch turned her head toward the offending teen and let out a snarl, however she released Josh’s shirt and took a step back, “I’m the adult.”
She glanced toward Angelica, who had fallen in the scuffle, and rushed to the ground next to her.
“Okay?” She questioned, clumsily smoothing the child’s hair over. Angelica shakily nodded, swallowing rather hard. The Witch turned around, pointing an accusatory finger at the boys and stated, “Detention, both of you.”
She took the small girl into her arms, practically crushing her in a hug, shooting daggers towards the visibly uncomfortable teens. She took a moment to look Angelica over again before standing up and pulling the girl to her feet.
“Let’s go,” She managed to utter out calmly out at the girl and gave her a tug to follow her. Angelica hastily scooped the flamethrower up off the ground, shooting a backward glance at the boys, and hurried to keep pace with the Witch as she began to walk off.
“Stupid boys, stupid, stupid. Couldn’t pay attention in class, can’t be good.” The Witch muttered as they made their way back to her lair. Angelica tensed as they entered the store as the Witch began to pace back and forth, muttering to herself.
The tween took a deep breath and questioned, “Hey, you okay?”
The Witch paused, ceasing her endless muttering and turned sharply to face Angelica, breathing heavily.
“Are you okay?” She parroted. Angelica shifted slightly, going against her best judgment, and walked toward the other girl.
“No. You. Ms. Crumble, are you okay?” The petite girl asked putting her hands on either side of the Witch’s face in an attempt to get her full attention.
“They were mean to you,” The Witch explained, running her lip through her teeth in an attempt to calm down. “A-and they wouldn’t stop,” She continued, “ I don’t like bullies.”
Angelica’s face dropped to a frown for a moment before she pulled the Witch into a tight hug.
“Thank you.”
-
She went with Angelica to the factory to keep her safe from bad wolves disguised as grandmas. She was an adult, she had to help the kids. She heard Angelica's radio calls to her mother, somewhere in the ocean. She knew that she missed her. She knew she should watch out for her.
But something about the factory instantly made the hairs on her arms stand up. There was an ominous whistling that hurt her ears, and she hesitated walking ahead. Angelica assured her it was okay, that the threat was locked up. She took her hand and they carried on.
She recognized him from somewhere, but she couldn’t remember were. Something was off, something felt bad.
“Feed him and go.”
He addressed her then, not by her name, and apologized for running away at the mall. That he’d been scared to see a ghost. She wasn’t a ghost. She wasn’t even sure of how she knew him.
She knew his face, and that he knew her, but it was blurry other than that. Something in her gut kept telling her to get Angelica and leave.
When Angelica asked them the brash question about their past together , she knew she had to go.
“I’m sorry, this was a big, big mistake. I should not have come here.”
Her stomach started growling, she smelled something metallic, and her hunger got worse as the man droned on.
Suddenly, she was chasing Angelica.
Her mind screamed at her, “No no no this is wrong! Stop it!” But her body continued running. Her body felt like it wasn’t her own. Her body slammed against the door as Angelica locked herself in the bathroom.
Later on, she heard Angelica talking, saying that she had gotten her period, and that was what set her off. But she didn’t think that was all.
Something was very wrong in that factory, and she really wanted to get out.
-
She had walked into his office that morning dressed professional and hoping the smile on her face came off as genuine. She hated job interviews, and high school, but neither of those mattered right now. She needed the money, and frankly, she needed to do something other than sulk around her apartment all day and sing her nights away at a random bar. She needed to get some sense of stability.
Upon first glance, he seemed kind enough. A bit nervous, and he emitted the energy of trying, and failing, to stay up to date on the habits of the children in his care. It made her feel somewhat bad for him. As they went through the interview, she gathered he was just trying to do the best with what he’s been given. Lord knows she feels the same.
“It says here that, uh, this would be your first time as a full-time teacher, so, um, what made you choose Glendale?”
Ah, there it was, the question she’d been dreading. Why here, why now.
“Well, I’ll be honest, after I got my degree, other opportunities crossed my path, and I never got the chance to pursue my work in this field. But now, some personal circumstances have changed and I needed to move to Glendale, so when I saw you were hiring I thought, ‘Why not put my crushing debt to use?’”
“Fuck,” she thought as the final comment slipped out. God, she sucked at interviews. Burr chuckled, however, a pleasant surprise. Still, she wanted to make a good impression. She needed this job.
“Um, plus, well, I’ve always just wanted to be a teacher. All those teachers on TV as I was growing up, they really made a difference to their students. I’ve always wanted to be able to help someone like that.”
Burr smiled and stood up from his chair, “Well, with that being said, I’m pleased to say I think you’ll be a great fit here at Glendale high.”
She nearly jumped up with enthusiasm, both at the news and the fact that the interview was over, and followed him to the door of the office.
“I’ll have Miss Johnson email you with more information about your rosters and classes as we get closer to the beginning of the school year,” He began, sticking out his hand. She shook his hand, and as she did he put a hand on her shoulder.
“I very much look forward to working with you.”
-
She let out a pained moan as reality crashed back around her. Something was wrong. Something burned. She muffled another aching wail as she slowly sat against the bathroom door for support. Her entire back felt as though it were melting off. Inside the bathroom, she heard an uneasy shuffling approaching, followed by a knock on the locked door.
“Crumble? I figured out how to use a tampon.” Angelica’s muffled voice came through the door.
I need help, she thought, unable to get the request out through the pain.
“Maybe you won’t go crazy if you can’t smell the blood.” She had scared her, scared her only friend. She was in so much pain now, what if she refused to help her? “It’s cherry-scented.”
She felt the words finally come to her mouth, weakly exclaiming, “Help. Me.”
“Crumble?” She heard Angelica’s concern and the bathroom door unlocking. She didn’t have the energy in her to move away before the door opened, and she fell to the ground inside the room. She grunted and moaned as she hit the stone floor.
Angelica rushed to her side and grabbed her hand tight. “What’s wrong?” She whispered, worried.
“I’m sorry,” she moaned, clinging to Angelica’s hand. “Please, help me.” She was barely pushing the words out.
Angelica gently pushed the sweater down her back and gasped. Whatever this was, it wasn’t good. The Witch withered into the floor, gasping for breath.
“It hurts.” She said, pain clear in her voice.
“It’s okay.” Her friend said, attempting to comfort her. “It’s okay.”
-
They managed to make it back to the mall, several hours later, the Witch collapsing onto her bed when they finally arrived in their room. Angelica said something about going to get medicine, but by the time she made it back, the older woman had passed out from the pain and exhaustion.
The next morning was spent applying calamine lotion to the aching spots on her back. Angelica assured her it was just bacne, but the feeling in her gut told her otherwise. Though the pain had softened, she knew something was wrong. Her mind had been flashing itself into a sitcom most of the morning, scattering her brain with images of classroom embarrassment and eating her students. She couldn’t even remember her real name.
Angelica told her she would return in five. It had been a hundred and twenty-nine. She needed Angelica to help her. Something was wrong.
She stumbled through the mall, still pained, but was determined to find her friend. She stopped suddenly in front of the Juicy Couture . The mannequin in front of the store wore a striped tank top coupled with gold chain necklaces. She walked over slowly, picking up the heart-shaped pendant attached to one of the chains.
-
Sorry, I have to stay late at work, won’t make it in time for the reservation. See you in the morning.
She frowned reading the text, closing the door she was about to leave through.
You never work Thursday nights, did you change shifts?
A night in it was. She tossed her phone on the counter as she made her way into the kitchen. She was putting on a kettle of water when she heard a buzz.
Picked up the extra shift. Maybe you should pick one up at the bar, we’re low on reception funds.
She sighed and rolled her eyes, leaning against the counter as she put her face into her hands. It was their one free day together this month, and they had planned to go to the new Italian place she’s been dying to try. She’d been looking forward to it through her miserable bartending shifts for the last two weeks. She felt the cooler temperature of her ring, touch her against her eyebrow, and took a deep breath.
“Oh well,” she thought, “they’ll be other times.” She picked up her phone again.
Okay, be safe coming home. Ily xoxo
She poured the now boiling water into her cup, grabbed a bag of Skinny Pop, and walked over to the couch. She placed her tea down on the coffee table before grabbing the laptop from the center of it and bringing it into her lap.
“At least Netflix is never late,” she thought, opening to the home screen. In the corner of the screen lay an open message thread.
They shared the laptop, they needed to save the money.
What she didn’t expect was the love letters to another woman.
She shouldn’t have looked through them.
-
Angelica said she would return in five. It had been a hundred and fifty-two now. Josh Wheeler said he had kicked her friend out. He was a real piece of shit.
She grabbed a bike and left. She was going to find her friend and she had no clue as to how, other than the YWCA. She wanted to be a good friend, she always had. Not that it mattered, before the blast, not many of their friends stayed in touch after the invitations had been canceled.
She walked around the abandoned community center, shouting out for the Cheermazons. She got a ringing in her ears and blinked.
She was at a bar. What bar, where? She was on a stage, oh god , she was on a stage. She looked up and saw Angelica nodding for her to go on.
“What am I doing here?” Panic took over. “I forgot my line.”
She looked around her and saw the familiar scenery. It was the old bar she had worked at, with the string lights and Route 66 memorabilia. It came back to her after that: the band, the lyrics, and the feeling she got from the lack of applause.
She scanned the crowd after she was done and he was there. He came up to her afterward, as she was in the middle of Missile Command.
“Principal Burr! Um, Mike...I didn’t know you liked Morrisey. Or the Smiths, or bars, or having a good time.” The audience of her mind laughed.
“Do students know about this?”
How did he even find her here? She was hours away from Glendale. It was a Friday night, shouldn’t he have been at the football game? Yet here he was, berating her for having a hobby, a hobby that made her happy .
He droned on about the students and what would happen if they found out. She didn’t care. She’d dealt with them before, she could do it again. She shouldn’t have to defend her ability to teach to him just because she had outside interests.
The laughter kept coming, made the butt of the joke in her own mind.
She shouldn’t have to make a choice, she was allowed a life outside of school. She had opened up to him, told him how much this meant to her. If this is what made her feel like her life had some meaning, she should be able to do it.
She remembers him joking. She remembers telling him to fuck off.
Then she’s in his car.
Angelica appears, back in her director’s glory, telling her she’s not committing to the role.
She’s confused. She doesn’t know what happened. Burr told her they had sex, but she didn’t remember anything the next Monday. Burr told her she said yes. She doesn’t know what happened.
She knows it feels like a nightmare.
Then she’s back at the YWCA, like she never moved. She wakes with a jolt, brushing it off. She needs to find Angelica. Now.
-
The Witch had been detained by a group of Cheermazons. She didn’t blame them, they were scared. She was too. She didn’t know what she was becoming. One sight of blood was all it took. She’d tried, really tried to contain herself, but she didn’t have the control. The look on their faces when she looked up. Christ, the look on Angelica’s ? She was a monster, she shouldn’t have come here.
“Crumble?” She heard Angelica cry from down the hall. She was being kept in a bathroom prison, albeit a very fancy bathroom prison.
“Angelica? I’m here!” She heard the girl quickly approach the door.
“Oh thank god, I found you, we don’t have much time between now and the final challenge.”
“Angelica, I’m so sorry.”
“No, please don’t apologize, this is my fault. You said you were hungry and I didn’t listen. We should have left.”
The two sat quietly for a moment, separated yet comforted by the other nonetheless.
“What are we gonna do?” The Witch asked, fear slipping into her voice. She was the adult . She shouldn’t be afraid of some mean girls with inflated egos and bows. But at that moment, she felt utterly worthless.
“We’re going to get out of here.”
-
The day that gained her new name was undoubtedly one of the worst in her life. Second only to the day she read the letter.
She had been teaching at the school for a few months, yet in that time made little to no progress in teaching, or managing, the students.
That day in particular, however, was particularly vile. The kids were blatantly on their phones, eating their lunches, hell even passing notes. While she gave kudos to them for going old school, she was really fed up. She was lecturing on the brain, one of her favorite topics in biology, and had just finally managed to gather the kids’ attention when she went to pull down the projector screen. There she found someone had taken the time to draw a model of a vibrator onto the screen, along with the words “A bio teacher’s date night”. The class went into hysterics.
“Okay guys, ha ha ha , very clever. Except for that caption, that’s a bit bland don’t you think?” She said gathered her last ounce of remaining courage and delivered the joke, trying to show that she was cool and could appreciate a good prank.
“I have a better one,” Jayden Hoyles chimed in from the back, “How about ‘This is the closest thing to pleasure I can get because I’m such a worthless person, even my fiance cheated on me?’”
She tried to keep it under control, she really did, but the tears started coming down her face even as she willed them not to. Everything crashed together. Everything overwhelmed her. She turned away from the students as she fully broke down, the room overcome with laughter. They were chanting now. The name that’s not her name, that’s not her name .
She turned to the doorway she saw Burr standing there, beginning to reprimand the students. It must have been the blurry eyes that made her see a smirk on his face.
After that, someone hacked the school computers and changed her name. No matter how many times she fixed it, it always went right back .
-
Demi Anderson towered over her and asked her the exact question she didn’t have an answer to.
“What are you? How are you still alive?”
She didn’t know, she was just so confused. How did this become her life? Why didn’t she just melt like the rest of them?
Something shiny caught her eye. It was Demi’s necklace, a golden chain. She blinked.
She was in the hallway. Burr was kissing her. She had been bringing sodas down to the Booster Club table when he came up to her. She didn’t exactly like their situation, she still wasn’t sure what happened that night at the bar, but he made her feel wanted again. She went along with it. She told him she had to go
“Patsy will throw a fit if I don’t bring these down.”
She tried to pull away, but he stayed with her and shoved her up against the opposite wall, muttering about how homecoming turns him on.
She saw the gold chain necklace. She asked him where he got it. He deflected, and it came crashing down on her. Demi Anderson and her mother, changing the grades. She felt sick. She’d helped him in his plot. She shoved him away, he’d manipulated her.
He turned on her then, berating her like he did that night at the bar.
Her mind laughed.
He used her morals against her, he made her doubt herself.
She pleaded with her mind to stop laughing.
He brought up the sex, of course he did. She didn’t remember. She didn’t remember. She didn’t want-
“I thought you were a good guy.”
He started ranting about how playing by the rules only gets you bullshit, how kids are assholes, and how he’s taking what he deserves. She had a sick feeling he already did and turned away, walking down the stairs.
He asked if she wants to control her own life, and she does , she does more than anything , but when she glances back at him all she sees is the side of him that she knows now. The side of him that hurt her, the side of him that took bribes, the side of him that ate kids . The kids, whose teachers were supposed to help and protect them.
He called her Crumble and it clicked.
It was all him . This whole time, he’d be the one to change her name and make the kids disrespect her. She told him about her life, about how she felt like she was useless, and he made it worse . He manipulated her, he made her feel powerless, and he preyed on her.
She knew why her mind made her life into a sitcom. They’re charming, good for conveying important messages in a palatable manner. Her mind was shielding her from her past. Angelica was the director, her mind had her there to guide and help, but she was the teacher and she needed to face what happened herself.
She wanted to mean something to someone, she wanted to matter , and he’d used that to hurt her. And she’s played along with it. She helped him willingly. She wasn’t perfect. She was a trainwreck. She was a monster. But that’s what made her human .
She looked back up, and there was Demi, still waiting.
“I’m human.” Tears pooled in her eyes, pleading. “And I need you to know, I know what happened to me.”
She never turned to walk down the stairs that day. Burr showed her a faster way down.
-
Later that night, once they were accepted into their new home and the Witch was convinced to stay, she and Angelica sat in their new bedroom.
“ Shit , it feels so good to have an actual mattress again,” Angelica announced as soon as she collapsed onto the bed. The Witch chuckled, slightly bouncing up and down as she sat on her own bed.
Angelica was still getting used to this new version of the Witch. Slightly less crazy with slightly more control. Quieter, no longer speaking to herself or doll heads, and a bit more composed as well. It was a change, but it was a welcome one. It was hard trying to be an adult, but now she thinks, they can both try to be.
She approaches the subject gently, “So, Burr pushed you down the stairs?”
They hadn’t talked about the Witch’s announcement from today. The evening had been filled with celebrations and a feast that could feed hundreds, complete with a raw filet mignon for the semi-Ghoulie. They danced and laughed, but they hadn’t done much talking since the hallway.
The Witch paused her bouncing, looking over at Angelica. “Yeah.”
“Why.”
The adult took a moment to think of a suitable answer for the 10-year-old across from her. Apocalypse or not, she was still a little girl. She shouldn’t have to hear everything.
“He didn’t like that I stood up to him.”
The younger girl through her hands up in the air, “Ugh, fuck men.”
The Witch snorted.
-
The Cheermazons had let them out on a mission. Their lap-of-luxury lifestyle required them to leave fairly often on runs for supplies. They worked on rotation in order to create a system of fairness for the group, and this time it was Angelica’s turn.
The rule of threes applied to everything in the Cheermazons, and so they had to go in groups of three while hunting and gathering. The Witch, of course, volunteered as quickly as possible to go with Angelica refusing to let the young girl wander off alone. They were also stuck with another young recruit, who seemed to be scared shitless at the prospect of going into horrifically populated areas and having to avoid Ghoulies.
The girl, Laura, didn’t seem too keen on the prospect of trusting a ‘reformed’ Ghoulie as well. Laura had been complaining, loudly , about the fact that they had ‘that freak’ with them as opposed to another normal person.
That’s how they found themselves in this situation: in the middle of the road just outside their target of the pharmacy. Angelica and Laura were perched upon the top of a car and laying on their backs, attempting to stay as quiet as possible as the Witch dealt with the Ghoulies that were down below.
The Witch let out a few shrieks at the other Ghoulies that were attempting to climb up the car. The male Ghoulie swung at the Witch and she bit into his arm, ripping it away from his body with a wet crack. She let out a growl and began to rip and tear at the Ghoulie as he collapsed to the ground, however, the other female Ghoulie began her ascent up the car where the two younger girls were hidden. The monster got a solid grip on Laura’s ankle and began to yank at it in an attempt to pull her down.
Laura sat up and let out a panicked scream, “Oh my god, oh my god!”
Angelica grabbed Laura under the armpits in an attempt to pull her back up on top of the car. Luck was not on their side, however, and Angelica lost her grip sending both girls tumbling to the ground in a pile.
The Witch pulled her head up from the Ghoulie that she had been snacking on and let out a growl and jumped forward, attacking the Ghoulie that had just made her way on top of Laura.
Laura hadn’t been fortunate enough to get out of that unscathed - her breathing came in gurgled, shaky, uneven breaths due to the chunk of flesh taken out of her throat. Angelica let out a scream and put her hands over the open wound on Laura’s neck in an attempt to stave off the bleeding while the Witch began to slam the other Ghoulie into the ground repeatedly.
Then the realization hit her. She knew this person. Well, former person. Why did she know her? Who had she been to her? The Ghoulie below her struggled as the Witch attempted to hold her down, intensely studying every inch of the Ghoulie’s face trying to just place her.
The Witch cocked her head to the side and spoke carefully, her voice filled with hesitation, “I know you.”
The Ghoulie naturally only groaned and struggled against the Witch who shook her and began to yell, “I know you!”
Angelica called over to her, a dread taking over her face as she cradled the dying Laura, “Hey, we need to be quiet!”
Both the Witch and the Ghoulie quickly tore their vision over to Angelica.
In proper Ghoulie fashion, the woman spoke her final thoughts as she began to struggle toward the two younger girls, “I need a Venti Mocha Frappe with almond milk, two pumps sugar-free vanilla.”
The Witch squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. She knew she had heard that before - she couldn’t stand it. She shook her head in an attempt to remove the damned thought from her head and shoved the offending creature to the ground.
She twisted at the other woman’s head in an attempt to snap her neck, just trying to make her die. She hated her, she knew what she had done and was flying into a blind rage, trying to exact the revenge she knew she had earned. Following the snap of the Ghoulie’s neck, the world around them went silent save the heavy breathing.
Then, she did something out of character; she cried. Her hands flew up to her face and began to shake as she sobbed. She was embarrassed. She didn’t want to be crying in front of Angelica. She didn’t want to be called that awful name again. She didn’t want to be Ms. Crumble. She was past that.
Laura had long since ceased breathing, but despite this, Angelica carefully set her body on the ground in an attempt to be gentle with her long-gone friend, and crawled her way over to the Witch and then set a hand on her shoulder, “Are you okay?”
The Witch hesitated in letting her hands drop from her face and bit her lip and shook her head for what felt like an eon before mustering up the courage to reply, “I don’t think I’ve been okay for a long time.”
Angelica brought her hands down to hold the Witch’s and furrowed her brow while asking, “What happened? I mean, you kinda lost your shit there.”
“That was - she was,” The Witch began, clearly struggling with the thoughts that were racing through her mind, “She’s mine .” The shadow of a laugh emitted from her and she shook her head again, “She was mine.”
Angelica pulled her closer and began to wipe the tears from under the elder woman’s eyes and spoke, “What do you mean she was yours?”
The Witch laughed and gave a small shrug, “We were - she - I think we were in love? We used to be.”
The tiny blonde opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally settling on what she was trying to communicate, “Was she your girlfriend?”
The Witch thought hard for a moment before wetting her lips and speaking, “She was my fiancée.”
The shock on Angelica’s face was apparent. “Oh, I’m sorry,” She stuttered out.
The Witch just let out another dry laugh in response and threw her hands up in the air, “She’s not who she was any more than I’m the old me. We’re different.”
The Witch made another small sniffle as she stood up and wiped at her eyes, “We need to hurry. The blood is going to make more show up. Plus, I’m getting hungry.”
She helped Angelica up and twisted her head ever so slightly, making her neck pop. She was determined to ignore the body of their fallen compatriot. She was a good person. She didn’t eat kids.
-
Angelica was on a mission. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the safest idea - but it was an idea. She was going to break back into the mall. It wasn’t that she wanted to stay there anymore, it was just that she had to get a gift. Her surrogate mother-figure had just essentially bore her soul open to her and Angelica wanted to make up for her lackluster response.
That’s how she found herself climbing through the vents of the mall, trying to make as little noise as possible as not to get caught by her former crew. Judging by the map she had stolen, she was above the HotTopic and would be safe to jump down and retrieve the plunder she had come for. She took the risk and managed to crawl out with relative silence, aside from the small clattering of metal.
Angelica surveyed the store and located her prize: the button bins next to the registers. Without any hesitation, she began to rifle through the endless collection of buttons, taking a few for herself, but finally locating the handful she had come for, carefully shoving them into the backpack she had brought with her.
Getting back out wasn’t as easy as she had been anticipated, as she was unable to get back up into the vents. Plus, she had definitely been caught. She only kept running, throwing a middle finger up at every passerby as she forced her way through the mall.
Successfully evading capture from her former crew, she hurried as quickly as she could go back to her real home. When she went back through the gates, she was met with a frantic Witch coming at her.
“Where were you - you’ve been gone for…” The Witch began, looking up in deep thought, “For 210 minutes - wait no- 212.”
Angelica released a laugh and replied, “I’m fine, I just had to go get something. I’m back though. See? I’m just fine.”
“You could’ve been hurt,” The Witch retorted, unable to keep the worry out of her voice as she followed Angelica further into the Cheermazon base.
Angelica turned around sharply, taking the other woman by the hands in an attempt to soothe her, “I got you something.”
“You got…me something?” The Witch asked, straightening up a little and cocking her head to the side.
All the younger girl could do was grin as she dug into her backpack and hid the pins in her hands. She extended her hands out to the Witch and told her, “Hold your hands out!”
The Witch, though confused, did as she was told, and held her hands out with her palm up. Angelica deposited the pins into her hands and the Witch began to examine them. She got a small smile, the realization of what they were hit her almost instantaneously.
They were pride pins. There was a lesbian one, a bisexual one, a pansexual one, and a plain rainbow one.
As she examined them, Angelica began to babble, “I was just thinking about what you said the other day. About your, uh, your fiancée and I - I know I was a real bitch and I wanted to make up for it, but I wasn’t sure how if you were like gay-gay or whatever so I -“
The wind was swiftly knocked out of Angelica as she was pulled into what could be deemed as the tightest hug in all of humanity. Angelica eased out of how tense and nervous she was about doing the right thing for her friend, and instead melted into the hug.
“I love it, Angelica. Thank you. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
-
The Cheermazons were doing their typical morning yoga routine when it happened. Angelica was the only one to notice, and by the time she did, it was too late. The ringing in her ears blared as she opened her eyes and looked around the room, though unable to pick her head up from the floor. She managed to spot the Witch, thrown back into a slump against the wall, but her vision began fading again. She vaguely registered someone picking her up, and she hoped it was only a Cheermazon.
-
As she woke up in one of the cereal factory’s cages, Angelica realized it was not , in fact, a Cheermazon who grabbed her. She attempted to get up in a panic, her ears still screaming, and began looking around for her friend. There was no sign of the Witch, but as she turned around to face the door, her heart skipped a beat seeing Burr standing there, waving the keys at her. She scurried against the chain wall as he unlocked the door and gestured for her to follow him.
She heard nothing as he talked, him and his guards leading her outside of the factory. She looked up, horrified as she noticed the bomb in front of them. As he poorly attempted to communicate his request, her hearing began to return, though she made no note of it, just in case he should see. She played along with his charade of explaining he needed her to detonate the bomb and gave him the universal sign to go fuck himself when he was done.
He didn’t like that.
“Send in the crone.”
She heard the door slam open behind them and the muffled whimpering that followed. Angelica screamed, rushing towards her chained friend, only to be held back by more of Burr’s guards.
The Witch looked at her with panic, her mouth covered in a jockstrap and her body held down to a transport cart. As the guards began to shock her, Angelica watched in horror as her friend cried out in pain before passing out.
She whipped her head back towards Burr, unable to look any longer, and agreed to help him. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she couldn’t see her friend hurt by him anymore.
-
She came too in the bathroom, laying against the stone floor. She felt someone brush her hair off of her face, stroking her forehead gently. It felt nice. She opened her eyes and panicked, seeing him in staring down at her, smirking.
The woman recoiled back into the side of the stalls, and he stepped back, holding his hands up in surrender. He had that stupid smile on his face, the one he had on constantly.
“You tried to kill me.” She yelled at him, though realized she couldn’t hear her voice. She lowered the hand she had raised towards him, slightly cowering into the wall behind her.
He wasn’t behind a cage this time, he was standing free in front of her. She was trapped here with him. He had touched her.
He started to walk closer and she jerked slightly forward, pushing out her hands. “No! No!!”
He stumbled slightly back and she slid back into the wall, murmuring more warnings as she did. Despite her reaction and her still outstretched hand, he came closer. She tried to move further back. She couldn’t.
As he pushed their hands together, her uneasy feeling from her first trip here returned. Something was wrong. She stared at him with a mix of horror, shock, and confusion as he pulled his hand away to reveal their skin had connected. She snapped her hand back as soon as he reconnected them, pulling it close as she glared at him.
A glance down affirmed her hand appeared normal, and she looked back towards him. She needed to know what was wrong. “What are we?”
He crawled over her as she flinched back again, leaning in close enough for her to feel his breath.
“Hungry.” He stated, causing the woman to gasp as her hearing returned. She sat terrified, letting out the breath she had been holding in, as he got up and walked to the door. Her horror only grew as the opened door revealed jocks dragging in a girl- Mona Lisa, she realized.
She huffed and looked away as they dumped the girl down before her, Burr gesturing towards her as he locked the door.
-
Someone opened the bathroom door. They had killed the lights, setting their trap. As the figure walked into the room and stumbled upon the trap, she pounced, screaming.
“Get him, Crumble!” Mona shouted in encouragement, leaping up from her faux-deathbed. The Witch was wrapped around the intruder, attempting to fight him off.
“Crumble! Stop, we need your help!”
“Stop, stop, stop!” She released her grip on the boy at Mona’s words. “We got the wrong asshole. This is just Josh.”
“Josh Wheeler?” The woman exclaimed as she moved to get down from his back and stand in front of him.
“Present.” He said, and the Witch chuckled excitedly. They were getting out.
He explained the situation to them as they walked back through the factory. Angelica needed her help. Angelica needed to defuse a bomb . She needed to help her friend.
They made their way into the factory room just in time to see Burr send Sam falling back down the ramp. She flinched, memories flashing briefly of her own fall at the bastard’s hands.
“Wait!” She frantically whispered, careful not to draw Burr’s attention towards the group. “Use this.”
She reached into her bag, pulling out a jar of peanut butter from within.
“What?” Josh whispered back, frustrated she had stopped him.
“He’s allergic.”
-
Watching the monster slowly suffocate in front of her was more cathartic than she cared to admit. She was a bit bitter Josh had taken her credit. She wanted Burr to know that it was her who did this to him.
He had made a last-ditch comment about her, using that fucking name again, and trying to turn the kids against her. But she shot right back and made her intentions known. She had been clear with him from the start: she wanted to help kids, not eat them.
Watching him die made her feel slightly better, but she couldn’t focus on that now. She had to help Angelica.
-
As the kids around them continued their celebration under the newly-established guidance of one Sam Dean, the young girl and the half-Ghoulie sat together on the back of the homecoming float. The two stared out at the crowd of teens, lost in their own thoughts, but glad to be together.
“I thought you were gone,” The blonde started softly. The Witch turned her head towards the girl, who looked ahead. “I thought I lost another mom.”
The Witch gasped lightly, a realization of what the younger girl was feeling washing over her. The poor girl didn’t have time with her real mother most of her lifetime, and now the adult was the closest thing she had to a parent. Angelica had thought she lost her too.
The Witch attempted to speak, but the younger girl cut her off.
“I know you had to do it. Someone had to, and I know you wanted to save us. You don’t have to apologize for being an adult.” The girl sniffled and wiped her nose quickly on her sleeve. Her voice cracked slightly, “I just don’t know what I would do if you were gone.”
She found herself engulfed in a hug once again and finally let the hot tears fall into the woman’s shoulder as she squeezed her tight. They sat quietly, aside from Angelica’s occasional sniffle and the Witch’s murmured encouragement as she stroked Angelica’s hair.
Another moment went by before the Witch found the words she was looking for, “I’m not going to leave you,” She pressed a kiss to the top of the girl’s head and held her closer before continuing, “Wherever we go from now on, we’ll go together.”
Angelica lifted her head from the Witch’s shoulder and let out a sniffle as she wiped her eyes before extending her pinky out toward her, “Promise?”
With a gentle yet amused smile, the adult took the pinky with her own, giving it a squeeze and mumbled, “I promise.”