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Molly was wide awake. Far too awake for a kid at 3:39 on a Tuesday morning. Far too awake for anyone but the poor janitors and nurses working the night shift. Molly knew what that was like, and she didn't envy them one bit. In fact, she had to be up to prep the floor, make breakfast, and maybe eat a bite or take a shower in approximately 2 hours. It didn't help that the little girl only had 6 hours allotted in her overcrowded schedule to sleep at all. Even under the best of circumstances.
Yet, here she was once again huddled to nearly her mouth in her many different unhelpful blankets. If she could swing enough for a real comforter, maybe she could sleep better. She had no idea. It would have also been nice if she could keep the light on without having to worry about the electric bill. Lorelai and her Dad never cared about things like how much water they used or leaving all the lights on. The only thing the little girl knew she had enough of were the various piles of stuffed animals around the room her Dad had made her over the years, most of them not even bears. Unicorns, cats, dogs, turtles, foxes, anything but bears.
Molly held a disgruntled looking teddy to her chest as tight as she could. The poor thing had seen better days. It was matted and worn from years and years of well-loved playtime, and scotch marks danced across the right arm and leg. Not to mention the amount of clumsy stitch marks made in different colors, but never as clean as the original creator's. Still, it was one of the only things she had from...
Molly winced.
Why couldn't she just go to sleep? Just close her eyes so tight and just let the world melt away for a little bit. God knows she needed to. But recently something sinister seemed to infect her dreams instead of the usual sleep deprived induced blackness. She used to dream a lot more often, but one can only do so much with so little time. Lately even the occasional night where she could hug her Mom turned dark.
Instead, every night the little girl faced nightmares so scary they could make an adult panic. At first they were her normal ones about the toy store or her father, but then the nightmares got worse. They were eerily grounded and realistic, and almost always violent. Sometimes Molly woke up shaking after being chased through dark alleys all night by the same mysterious man with a gun. Another time a sharp heavy axe slammed past her ear, strapping her to a wall as she struggled helplessly. Dark rooms with creepy flickering lights backdropped the cold stained floors she was forcefully thrown onto. Bloody knives and being wrapped and silenced with stinging tearing ropes and mufflers. Sometimes she struggled so desperately she'd wake up screaming and hyperventilating in real life too.
That's not even mentioning the fires.
Even though Molly's eyes grew heavier and heavier, just before she nodded off a sharp chill ripped through her tiny little body. Shivering under the covers, she shut her eyes tight. Molly had no idea what she needed more. She desperately needed to sleep, after only a week or so of this insomnia flare up, her exhaustion and weakness threatened to swallow her whole. Gripping the sheets, the little girl didn't know if she could handle one more night. Maybe she had super powers and something finally would grab her by the ankle as she cried and thrashed for help. Despite her best efforts, the world faded into darkness.
When Molly opened her eyes, a blurry dark decrepit room came into view. Just as soon as it appeared, a large hand furiously shoved her tiny frame against the concrete. Molly's curly brown hair provided some cushion, but not enough to stop the loud thud her head made as it hit the floor. She couldn't see her attacker's face or even anything, but his damaged combat boots kicked her to roll over. Molly gasped for air as the villain violently grabbed her wrist and jerked the little girl forward.
A strong hand forced her chin up to look into the eyes of her assailant. He was an older man, probably old enough to be her father. She didn't know which scared her more - the wild frantic look in his eye or the hungry smile as he licked his lips. He held her aloft, clenching her neck and inching closer and closer until she could smell the rancid smell of dark alcohol on his breath.
Molly wanted to scream and cry, but no matter how much she struggled she couldn't make a sound. Tears stung as her eyes grew wide in fear as the monster tightened his grip on her throat. She didn't even register when he started to do that. She flailed uselessly, kicking until the feeling in her legs started to fade. It was better if she didn't struggle anymore. That just seemed to get her in more trouble, especially with her Father. It was better if she was quiet, silent. Crying only made things worse in her experience. Not like anyone would help even if they heard. The best she could do was numb the pain with her epithet as the guy tied her up with ropes that scratched at her skin.
Time seemed to slow as the man threw her onto a rickety old bed. If Molly had access to her hands she might have tried to shield herself with the blankets. Not that it would have done anything more. She just rolled around until her assailant put a hand over her mouth and pulled the little girl closer against his chest.
"Be quiet," the man said as the room faded to black.
Molly shot up from her covers screaming. It wasn't just tears anymore. Her whole body from her head to her toes were covered in a cold sweat and she struggled to catch her breath as she jumped out of the bed. Quickly her hand reached her mouth as the overwhelming feeling that she was gonna be sick clouded her thoughts. When she finally realized that she was in her own room again, the little girl still couldn't relax. She felt gross, dirty even. Like she had to be doing something wrong to be having these kinds of nightmares. She just staggered backwards into the pile of stuffed animals, shaking like a leaf.
Her eyes twinged in exhaustion, but she didn't know what else to do. Desperately, she looked around the room for anything at all that might help. The time on her clock told her that it was still really early in the morning, almost 4:30 am. Backed into the corner, her eyes rested on her old banged up phone charging on the table. Maybe she could call someone? Who though? Phoenica might be up since she goes to bed at 8 every night, but Phoenicia would just have nightmares of her own explaining would scare her so bad. Trixie was definitely asleep and wouldn't wake up until 10 minutes before school.
Molly shivered, and she knew she probably had to call someone for help. After all, she could barely get out shallow breaths between the river of tears she tried to wipe away. She pushed up against the pile of stuffed animals. They were starting to feel really uncomfortable against her back anyway. Step by step, the terrified little girl made her way to the table and picked up her phone.
Then she remembered one more person that maybe could help. It was a long shot, but Giovanni gave her his phone number the other day after visiting the toy store. Molly had no clue if he was up, but he had been pretty clear. He even stopped goofing around with the fidget toys by the counter and leaned over to get on her eye level. He brushed her hair out of her eyes.
"If you ever are in trouble, call me. Okay, Beartrap?" he told her gently. "Or whenever really, I'm your Boss so union rules state I have to listen to you, Kiddo."
Then he ruffled her hair and smiled. Giovanni had a way of making even things that should be scary fun. Sure he was dopey and kind of chaotic, but whenever she was around him she felt safe. That was the best way to describe it. When she was with the super villain, for once she wasn't in charge. She didn't have to focus on all the work she had to do or the homework she'd have to ignore yet another night. He came up with plans, jokes. When she was with Giovanni was the only time she ever felt like a kid and not a mini adult.
Still, there was no way he was ever going to answer the phone. She had to try though. Before long, she stared blankly his contact picture with a small smile. It was a goofy little selfie where the teenager put his bubblegum pink hair into high ponytails and gave a peace sign to the camera. Looking at her friend's cheerful grin gave her enough courage to hit the call button.
The second it started ringing, Molly panicked as her stomach dropped. What if she woke Giovanni up after a long day? He needed sleep just as much as she did. She didn't want to bother him or anything. He didn't deserve that. Maybe she shouldn't have tried. After all, it was just a nightmare. Little girls had nightmares all the time. If she thought about it, this one wasn't much different. This wasn't an emergency. Barely an inconvenience at most.
"Hullo?" A familiar voice half yawned and half screamed on the other end. "What's up, Beartrap?"
Molly squeaked.
Oh no! She really did wake him up. Shoot! Between her ums and staggered breaths, the older boy must have heard something. The sound muffled through the speaker for a moment like it was underwater or he was moving. What might have been other voices and the music bumped in the background. Then Giovanni's voice came back with a newfound but unmistakable hint of worry.
"Are you okay?"
That was such a hard question. Even though she tried to answer, the lump in her throat just got bigger. She sniffled and shifted her weight, looking uncomfortably at the ground. It was so pathetic, she couldn't even manage to speak up when by some miracle Giovanni had answered the phone. She just watched as big ugly tears rolled off her face and away from view. She was supposed to be better than this. She had to. Everyday. Otherwise...Molly didn't even want to think about what would happen if she couldn't get all her chores and work and homework and everything else done. She couldn't do anything but stand there. She wasn't even sure if Giovanni hung up by the time she let out a weak mumble in acknowledgement. She nodded even though he wasn't in the room.
Giovanni must have somehow heard her cause the urgency and worry in his voice only seemed to grow more and more, even if he was trying to hide it. Giovanni was really bad at hiding it. Molly liked that about him though. It was always so easy to tell what the teenager was thinking, even when he pretended to be such and evil mastermind. The so called criminal genius wouldn't even be able to hurt a fly.
"What's wrong, Molly?"
"S-sorry- forget I said anything...it's dumb."
She felt so small and helpless standing in her old blue pajamas, but at least she was able to breathe long enough to get words out. It was better than before. Molly wasn't exactly sure what scared her so much about telling her Boss about what happened. She couldn't imagine he would be upset or yell or anything. He wasn't that kind of manager. And that didn't help how badly she felt for waking the teenager up. Maybe she should have just stayed quiet.
"Nonononono, no! Beartrap, we talked about this. You're impo-"
Just then Giovanni was cut off by loud excited but indistinguishable cheers as the music roared and the poor little phone freaked out. It squealed so loud that Molly wanted to silence it on the other end, but then she would have no clue when the self-proclaimed souper villain would return above the noise. Instead, she just held her ears and flinched at the noise. Hopefully it didn't wake anyone up.
Instinctively, Molly's eyes darted toward the door, but she couldn't hear any footsteps down the hall. Thank goodness. Lorelai was always off in one of her dreams whether or not she was actually awake, and her father was such a heavy sleeper they would have to jump on top of him as kids. All it takes is one loud noise though for the Blyndeffs to wake up nowadays though, Molly included. Especially if it sounded anything like an alarm.
"Be quiet!!" a frustrated Giovanni whispered loudly.
With those two little words, Molly felt a horrible chill shoot through her spine like a lightning bolt. She felt the phone slip from her fingers, but as her knees buckled she didn't even recognize it. Memories of the foggy dream were already starting to fade, but the sickening feeling won't go away. At those little words, she could almost feel the man's strong controlling hand as she collapsed onto the floor, as if he was still holding her down, pulling her closer and closer. She squirmed as the sensation moved along her sides and down her thighs. Molly wanted to throw up.
Somewhere in the distance, she could hear Giovanni calling what sounded like her name over the call. She barely registered it all. She didn't have the energy to explain anymore. Not that the boy could do anything about it even if he wanted to. It's not like nightmares were two player games or anything. Realistically there wasn't anything he would be able to help with. Maybe she should just close her eyes and give into whatever would happen next. She was so exhausted moving her feet felt like running a marathon.
Then, just as it started the cheers and the music grew distant and Giovanni's gentle calls came through louder and clearer. He sounded so close like if she rolled around he'd actually be there.
"Don't worry, Boys. We'll be right back," he called to someone else. "Oh, take my toilet paper too."
Molly didn't really care though. She just wanted it to stop. Her scary thoughts, the enormous amount of work she still had to do, the nightmares, the awful aching behind her eyes. She couldn't take it anymore. She felt so small as she curled up in a tiny little ball and hoped for all that's good her father wouldn't walk through the door at any moment. She hoped no one would see her like this.
"Molly, are you hurt? Did you have a nightmare?"
"....Y-yeah," she managed to finally admit.
"I'm on my way, Beartrap...just stay strong for me a little longer, okay?" Even the static on the phone wasn't enough to hide the heartbroken crack in his voice.
Molly tried to keep her eyes open. She just couldn't hold on much longer at all. She fought and tried to lift up head, but it was just so heavy. She tried not to cry, but soon once again the whole world feel into darkness. Somewhere in her mind, the little girl prepared herself for the worst.
With the sound of shattering glass, Molly found herself on the floor again. She braced for impact as a deep unfamiliar voice yelped in pain. She didn't have the energy to stand, so she watched wide eyed as the shadow of a villain - larger than the last one towered over her. She wanted to run and her breaths grew shallow and quick against the floor. With the last of her strength, she clawed and dragged herself under the bedframe and tried desperately to escape the big hands that came closer and closer.
Just as it was about to get close enough to grab the shaking girl by the ankle, her assailant picked up something next to her toes instead. It was hard to see in the dark, but in a flash a crimson streak fell from his hands and dripped onto the white cuff under his nice jacket. Molly didn't have time to worry about that as she inched as far as she could away, gripping the leg of the frame as if her life depended on it. She read somewhere that connecting with an attacker, especially by looking into their eyes, could mean the difference between living and dying in these kinds of situations. Unfortunately, big brown bangs covered both of them.
Then the light flickered on and for the first time Molly noticed a second figure in the room. It was hard to see from the angle who it was, but they wore an insane pair of black impossibly high stiletto heels and what looked like the kind of fancy fishnet tights with one of those metallic things to pull them up and a black leather miniskirt.
"Oh my GOD," the other figure wheezed, "It's so much harder to do ANYTHING in these!"
That voice...Sure enough, as Molly cautiously crawled out from under the bed, she could see her attackers fully for the first time. There was no mistaking that bright pink hair despite the look of absolute horror and worry on his face. Though the rest of his ensemble was as surprising as the gigantic heels. From the birthday hat on his head, to the heavy dark makeup around his eyes, to leather corset and the lacy gloves, Molly couldn't help but giggle a little. On anyone else, it might have scared her even more. But he just looked like he raided some Hot Topic on Black Friday. And it didn't help that Giovanni was probably the least intimidating goofball in the entire world.
"Crusher! Be careful!" Giovanni begged the man in the suit.
Now that the little girl thought about it, the teenager looked kind of familiar too. Like she'd met him before...at a museum. She watched his cut hand as he set aside a shard of glass before reaching toward her curly hair. Molly froze for a moment, but fear turned to worry when she saw Crusher pick up another sharp piece of glass practically behind where her ear had been seconds ago. With a sharp inhale, he winced and dropped it again. Cradling his hand in his arm.
"Don't pick up the glass with your hands you goober!" Giovanni muttered, though he never took his eyes away from the little girl cornered on the floor.
"SORRY, BOSS! IT ALMOST HURT HER!" Crusher tried and failed to sort of whisper and keep his voice down.
As Crusher spoke, Giovanni carefully made his way around to the other side of the bed. Hopefully there weren't as many shards of glass from the window, otherwise he most definitely would have tripped on those. She watched as he staggered over to the bed and collapsed on the cushions. As soon as he peeked over the edge of the mattress, he grabbed Molly and hoister her up onto the bed.
"Be quiet!" he reminded his minion Crusher, "We don't want anyone else interfering while we ROB THEM BLIND!!"
Tired and weak though Molly was, as she fell into Giovanni's arms being on the bed wasn't as scary anymore. She didn't have to worry about that anymore because as she clutched around his waist and buried her head into his chest, Molly knew that this wasn't another dream. He was here. Really here.
But wait.
Molly innocently looked up into the super villain's eyes, "If this isn't another nightmare, why are you dressed like that?"
Giovanni looked confused for a second before realization hit and his eyes grew wide. He nervously glanced away and scratched his chin awkwardly, as if trying to decide just how much to explain. He reminded Molly of when adults tried to explain why her Mother was never coming back all those years ago.
"Well, um.. it's a costume for the early early EARLY showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show! We were gonna go to the traditional midnight showing, but Darkstar has work in the morning!"
It probably showed all over her face that Molly was still confused, but that probably was a good thing given the sigh of relief that Giovanni gave afterwards. The criminal pulled her closer and closer against his chest, but Molly didn't mind. In his arms, nothing could hurt her. For the first time in a while, she didn't feel scared. Unlike the nightmare, she was safe. Unlike the nightmare, the teenager held her gently and rubbed her back while she was able to cry. Unlike the nightmare, someone really was here to help. Not only Giovanni, but Crusher too.
"It's okay, Molly," Giovanni whispered, carefully tucking back her curly hair behind her ear, "I promise I'll always be here for you."