Work Text:
Time:4:35 am.
It's dark, and snowing out.
The snow would be everywhere tomorrow, which would be great news for anyone of Lex's age, whether they were getting off school or even work. However, unfortunately, she has a weak immune system and needs the money for food.
Toy Zone recently opened up a night shift, and she took it. Luckily, there weren't many people buying toys at night, besides Sherman sometimes, but she was still too tired to deal with him, even.
She's already finished stocking the shelves and mopping, so all that was left for her to do was stand at the register, half asleep.
Her boss wouldn't let her turn on the heat at night because ‘it was a waste of money’ in his eyes.
So snow and no heater wasn't the best combo. It was obviously cold in there, and Lex’s uniform paired with the jean jacket wasn't cutting it.
She was already shivering and dreading having to go to her car and step through piles of snow.
Cold and wet didn't sound fun to her at all.
She was just about to doze off against a wall when she heard the sound of the doors opening.
None other than Grace Chastity walks in.
Most people knew her as ‘the Christian freak’ or ‘chastity girl.’
Sure, Lex has never really talked to her, but people always called her ‘nerdy’ or ‘a prude,’ and if they were anywhere near correct, she didn't want anything to do with her.
Lex looked the new customer up and down, noticing her winter attire.
A scarf, a puffy jacket, thick jeans that are wet at the bottom of the legs, black boots that looked a size too big for her, and a pastel pink hat with a fluffy white ball at the top.
‘She looks warm. Wish I could afford to dress like that.’ Lex thinks to herself, feeling slightly envious about the warm-looking clothes.
She looks away the second the other girl starts walking up to her.
In the Christian girl's mind, she thought Lex was a guy, and she had plans to kill the poor worker. She couldn't deny that the tired employee was pretty handsome, but she wouldn't be caught dead thinking like that. It was sinful for crying out loud, and grace would never sin, so she continued with her killing plans and continued walking up to the counter.
Grace leans onto the counter and says, “What's a handsome man like you doin’ workin’ this late at night, hm?” Her tone is seductive to most people.
Unfortunately, Lex has never been good with tones, so she replies with “need money for rent, and food. My mom won't let me be a free loader. Anyways. What do you need?” Her tone is dry and sleepy.
Grace is taken aback by it, and stammers for a second, then says, “Well, I was just here to look around, but I clearly found the toy I want most right here.” She tries to maintain a flirty front, so she cringes inside but keeps a strong facade.
Lex glances around, then says, “Cool, would you please put it on the counter so I can scan it?” She's clearly confused, but then Grace grabs her arm and puts it in front of the scanner.
“Darn, looks like it won't scan, I’ll just take it home with me,” the Christian says, then smirks.
Lex actually gets the hint that time, and blushes. She wasn't expecting that from the girl whom everyone calls a prude.
So she replies with “okay, sure. My shift ends in an hour.”
The warmly dressed girl smiles, showing no teeth. Then she says, “Good. Meet me at the back of the building, and I'll have a surprise for you. If you know what I mean.” Her tone is still flirtatious.
She then kisses the other girl on her cheek, leaving behind a small lipstick mark, and makes her way out, leaving Lex alone.
Lex remains at the register, flustered and tired. Lex then mumbles
“Is that really the girl people call a prude?”
She puts her hand on the cheek that got kissed, then mumbles, “She didn't seem like one.”
She stays quiet for a second, then says, “I really need to get better at reading tones.” She sighs and goes back to dozing off.
For the rest of her shift, her mind is on one specific customer, actually her only customer that night.
By the time her shift ended, she was still flustered.
She made it out of the store and to the back, where Grace awaited her.
Once at the back of the building, Grace stands against the wall, drinking hot chocolate from beanies.
Lex walks up to the girl, Lex still slightly shivering.
The snow makes a small crunching sound as she walks. It's snowing heavily now, but it's bearable, at least that's what Lex thinks.
“Hey, uh, Grace. You wanted to see me back here? Something you wanted to say or do?” Lex asks, trying her best not to sound flustered.
“Well, you looked amazing, so I was hoping you could show me what else you’re amazing at besides looking so good. If you catch my drift,” Grace says, her hand gripping her bag with the black book in it.
Lex glances at the wall, avoiding eye contact, then she says, “I do catch your drift, but I can't exactly do stuff like that anymore. I'm still cool with hanging out if you want.”
Grace stares at the improperly dressed girl, then responds with “and why can't you? I’d still love to hang out with you, I just want to know.”
Lex stares at the floor and quietly mumbles, “It's a long story.”
They stand in an awkward silence for a minute, then Grace breaks the silence with “I know we just kind of met, but would you like to come back to my house? You seem cold, and you’re definitely not dressed for this weather.” Her tone is genuinely sympathetic, nothing like what Lex is used to.
Lex stares at her for a moment, then mumbles. “Sure, that sounds nice. Even if I did get killed by you, it’d be with kindness or something,” she tried to insult the other girl, but Grace saw it as a compliment.
“Well, let's get going. I would give you a ride, but I don't have a car yet.”
Grace usually rides her bike during the day, but doesn't at night to avoid getting caught by anyone who recognizes her pink bike. She isn't the only one with a pink bike in Hatchetfield, but she's the only 18-year-old with a pink bike that has a basket on it, so she definitely stands out when she's riding it.
Lex thinks for a moment, then says, “Well, if you can drive, I’ll let you use my car. I really don't feel like driving right now.” Lex’s suggestion hangs in the air for a moment, then Grace responds with “I have my learner's permit, but that's it. I’ll do it if you’re okay with that.” Her tone is filled with slight worry; it's clear that breaking the rules wasnt on her list for tonight.
Lex shrugs, then says, “I don't even have that, you’ll be fine driving.”
Grace’s eyes widen, not expecting someone to do such things. She was very sheltered, to say the least.
“Well, if you’re fine with it, I guess I’ll drive. Mind leading me to your car?” Grace says, still slightly taken aback by the fact that Lex doesn't have a license.
Lex nodded and began walking through the piles of snow to reach her car. Grace followed closely behind.
Once they’re both seated in the car, Grace buckles herself in, and Lex just leans against the closed door.
Lex tosses her keys to Grace, and Grace starts the car.
Grace pulls out of the parking lot, and they’re on the way to Grace’s house.
Halfway through the ride, Lex falls asleep, now softly snoring.
Grace glances over and notices the sleeping girl.
“She must’ve been tired.” Grace mumbles.
She continues driving, her mind wandering.
“Do I really have to kill this guy? I mean, he isn't that bad, and he's kinda cute,” she mumbles, then corrects herself, “no, who am I kidding? I can't disobey the lords in blacks. Is that even a guy?” she mutters, she's now wondering if she made an incorrect judgment just now.
She continues to drive and occasionally glances at the girl sitting next to her.
Once they make it to Grace’s house, Grace parks the car in front of the house and looks over at the sleeping girl in the passenger seat, and contemplates waking her up.
She ultimately decides against it and just carries her into the house.
Once in the house, Grace takes Lex upstairs and gets Lex settled in her bed.
“Maybe I’ll let them get a decent sleep before killing them. I'm sure the lords will be fine with that, I hope,” Grace mumbles, then walks over to her closet and grabs a pair of PJs.
A plain dark blue t-shirt, and a black pair of sweat pants. She’d never usually wear this to sleep, but this was what she stole from Stephanie after that whole incident with Max. It was what she felt comfortable in.
She takes the clothes and steps out of the room.
She walks down the hallway and walks into the bathroom.
She shuts the door and locks it.
She looks in the mirror, hating the sight, then she quickly removes her hat and the clips in her hair.
She removes her jacket and the boots that she borrowed from her dad, and puts the boots near the sink, and her jacket on a small hook that's usually used for towels.
She quickly changes into her PJs, trying her hardest not to look in the mirror again.
She picks up the clothes she was previously wearing and unlocks the door, then she walks back into the hallway.
She walks back to her room and tosses the dirty clothes into her hamper.
She shuts the door and sits down on the edge of her bed, sitting next to the sleeping girl she brought home.
Grace lets out a sigh, then mutters, “Why didn't I just kill it? It's like mom always says, ‘Don't let it sleep around you, you’ll grow attached.’ Guess she was right.”
Grace sighs again, then brushes a piece of hair away from the sleeping girl's face.
Grace can't help but remember that she doesn't even know the girl's name, and she didn't have a nametag on.
“I’ll ask her about her name in the morning. I’ll head to bed for now.”
She lies down on her back, next to the girl who's lying on her side.
Grace glances at Lex, who's still in her uniform, and mutters, “I might let them live. Keep it as a pet or something. I'm sure he’ll, or she’ll be fine if it.”
Grace lays her head on her pillow and falls asleep to the thought of taking care of her like a dog.
Lex wakes up at 12:45 am, still lying next to Grace.
Still being half asleep, she scoots closer to Grace and puts her head on Grace’s chest, and wraps her arms around Grace, who is still sleeping.
She drifts back to sleep, planning to take a nap, but it’s clear she will sleep much longer.
The time is now 3:55 am, and Grace has just woken up.
Grace looks around the room and notices the other girl still cuddled up to her.
Grace's cheeks heat up a bit.
“I should kill her now, but I am very comfy,” Grace mumbles. She pauses, then mutters, “It can wait for a bit.”
She adjusts her grip on Lex and snuggles back into bed.
She grabs her phone off her bedside table and opens it using her fingerprint.
Her phone is old and has countless parental controls on it, but she still uses it often.
She looks at the time and date.
4:02, December 24th.
Tomorrow is Christmas.
“That's tomorrow? Well, it’d be mean to kill someone this close to a holiday. That’d just be cruel,” Grace mumbles to herself.
There's a small thought in her head that says she's just keeping the other girl alive because she likes them. Grace tries to push that thought away as best as possible, but it lingers.
She puts her phone back on her nightstand and rests her head back down on her pillow.
She’d read a book, but one of her arms was currently being used as a pillow by a very sleepy toy store employee.
After a few hours, Lex woke up.
The sky has taken on a slight blue hue, and the sun is rising slowly.
Lex nuzzles her head into Grace’s chest, then mutters, “god, it's warm in here.”
Grace blushes again, then chuckles, and says, “Well, I try to make it cozy.”
Lex jumps a bit, just now remembering she's in someone else's house.
“Oh, right, I uh forgot I was here,” Lex says awkwardly.
“It's fine, I don't mind. You’re not that heavy.” Grace replies, trying to keep the tension minimal.
“Good, I'm glad I didn't make you uncomfortable,” Lex says, also sensing the small amount of tension in the room.
They sit in silence for a moment, then Lex breaks the silence with, “I should get going, I have work.”
She wishes she could stay in bed a little longer, but she knows that if she stays too long, she’ll become unwelcome; her mother taught her that a long time ago.
Grace actually wanted the girl to stay for a little while longer, but she knew they probably had a family to get to. Heck, Christmas was just around the corner, so it made sense.
“Okay. Are you celebrating with your family this year?” Grace asks if the answer is no, she’d ask the other girl to stay, but in Grace's mind, it’d be ridiculous not to spend the holidays with your family.
Lex stares at her for a second, then replies with “No, I was probably just gonna stay in bed. My mom doesn't like celebrating, and my sister.” Lex pauses, remembering the horrid sight she came home to on the night Hannah died. She wasnt ready to spill that to a stranger, so she said, “My sister moved away a while ago, and she doesn't like coming back for holidays.”
Grace's expression softens, and she says, “Well, you could stay here for the day. I’ll ask my parents.” Grace pauses and smells her, then she says, “Would you mind showering first? You smell kinda…”
The word anyone would use would be “funky” or “bad,” but Grace didn't like offending people, so she was trying to think of a nicer word. Then Lex speaks up with “horrible, I know. It's been like a week since my last shower,” she chuckles, trying to ignore the shocked look on Grace’s face.
Grace says, “You can borrow one of my outfits, just please go shower. I’ll go get you something to wear.”
Grace gets up from her bed, still in her PJs, and she goes over to her closet.
She grabs her white undershirts and a different pair of PJs pants, and she tosses them to Lex.
“Go shower. I’ll wash your clothes for you,” Grace says, keeping her tone stern.
Lex nods and takes the clothes from Grace.
Lex exits Grace’s room and walks down the hallway until she finds the bathroom.
She steps into the bathroom and turns on the light.
She looks around the bathroom, the lightly painted walls, everything's clean. She's not used to it.
She pulls back the shower curtain and turns on the water.
She makes it cold; that's the temperature she's used to anyway. There's not a lot of hot water to go around at the gym where she goes to showers.
She takes off her clothes and gets into the shower.
The cold water soaks her.
She shivers slightly, but goes on to try to wash her hair.
She looks to the small counter in the bathtub, revealing soap, the expensive kind. At least it was considered expensive to lex, she usually only buys her soap from a knock-off dollar store, and it's usually hand soap, but she has more important things to spend her money on.
She grabs one of the bottles and reads it.
“‘Shampoo’ that's for hair, it's been a while since I’ve used that,” Lex mumbles.
She opens the bottle and squirts some onto her hand.
She scrubs it into her knotted hair, slightly wincing as she tugs on her hair, trying to wash it.
She scrubs a lot of the dirt coming out of her hair.
She rinses the soap out of her hair and only gets a bit in her eyes.
After that, she grabs a different bottle of soap and opens it.
She squirts it onto her hand.
She washes the rest of her body with it.
She rinses off the soap and hops out of the shower.
She shakes off some of the water, something she's always done.
She's always disliked the way most towels feel, so she started doing that when she was 6, and she never outgrew it.
She quickly gets dressed despite still being damp.
She puts on the pants Grace gave her easily, but she struggles with the buttons on the shirt.
After a few minutes of trying, she only gets three of the buttons buttoned up.
She gives up after getting the three buttons, and she heads back to Grace's room.
She walks back into the room and sees Grace sitting on her bed, reading a book.
“Uh, hey, I'm done showering,” Lex says.
She sits next to Grace, who is now looking at her.
“You didn't do all the buttons,” Grace says, just pointing at the fact.
Lex blushes a bit and replies, “Yeah, I uh did that on purpose, it looks cool.” She attempts to play it cool.
Grace cracks a small smile and chuckles.
Then she says, “You couldn't do it, could you? I can help if you need. I’ve been buttoning those shirts since I was a little kid.” Her tone is warm and kind, nothing like what Lex has heard in a while.
“No, that's uh that's fine.” Lex pauses, then mumbles, “Yeah, sure, I’d like some help.”
Grace smiles again, then moves to button up the shirt.
Lex blushes as Grace buttons the shirt.
She can't tell if she's embarrassed by the fact that Grace is so close, or by the fact that she had to ask for help, probably both.
Grace buttons up the shirt while muttering instructions on how to button a shirt, a thing she's always done. Just mumbling to herself while completing small tasks.
After a minute, Grace completes buttoning the shirt.
“There ya go,” Grace says in her cheery tone.
Lex mumbles a quick “thanks,” then Grace gets back onto the bed and leans against Lex.
“So uh, you hungry? I know how to make eggs if you want some,” Grace says while fiddling with a loose string on her pants.
Lex shrugs and says, “Sure, that sounds nice.” She's still trying to act like she's not a little flustered.
Grace nods, then says, “Come on, you can wait in the kitchen while I make them. Also, I never got your name.”
Lex stands up from the bed and says, “Oh, right, my name is Alexandra, or Lex for short.” She hopes the Christian girl will use the shorter version, as she never really liked her full name.
“I think Lex suits you better, but it’s good to know. Anyways, let's go, I'm gonna go make some eggs,” Grace says while getting up and walking towards the door.
Once they make it downstairs and into the kitchen, Lex sits at the table, and Grace walks over to the fridge.
Grace grabs two eggs and a stick of butter out of the fridge.
She puts the eggs and butter by the stove, and she grabs a frying pan.
Lex watches as the other girl cooks.
Her heart flutters as Grace cooks the eggs.
Grace eventually finishes the eggs and puts them onto a plate.
She quickly grabs a fork out of the drawer.
She puts the plate on the table in front of Lex, then sits across from her.
Lex takes a bite out of the eggs.
“Wow, these are actually really good. Where’d you learn to cook?” Lex asks. The eggs are very yummy to her.
Grace chuckles and says, “My mom taught me, I'm sure you could learn to.”
That was the first time anyone had ever complimented her cooking. She wasnt that good at it, but if someone said something nice about it, that's gotta mean she improved, at least that's what she thought; her cooking still sucked; Lex just hasn't eaten anything decent in a while.
Lex continues eating the eggs.
Eventually, she finishes the eggs and puts the plate in the sink.
“Thanks for the eggs, they were really good,” Lex says, shes grateful for the food even if no one else thought it was good.
After that, they both go back to Grace’s room.
“Y’know, you seem like you’re my age, what school do you go to?” Grace asks while sitting on her bed.
Lex freezes for a second, then says, “I used to go to Hatchetfield High, but I uh graduated early.”
‘That’s great, she’ll definitely believe that one,’ Lex thinks to herself, somehow sarcastically.
‘God damn, why do I care what she thinks? And why do I think shes so pretty??’
Lex’s thoughts are cut off by Grace saying, “Wow, really? Thats awesome. Sooo you’re the smart kind?”
Lex smirks, trying to keep her lie going, then she says, “Yeah, I did. Top of my classes, actually.” She lies straight through her teeth.
“Hm, maybe my parents will actually approve of you.” Grace pauses, then says, “Maybe if you cleaned yourself a bit better.”
Grace says while fidgeting with the bottom of Lex’s shirt.
‘Is she flirting with me right now? I really wish I could tell.’ Lex thinks to herself.
Her thoughts are again cut short by Grace saying, “y’know I wouldn't mind hanging out with you more often if you didn't smell so bad all the time.” She lets out a small laugh and continues playing with the bottom of Lex’s shirt.
Lex’s cheeks heat up as Grace plays with her shirt.
“Well i’ll try to shower more than,” Lex says in reply.
Grace lets out a small laugh, then says, “You better.” She jokes.
Grace leans against Lex and continues playing with the bottom of her shirt.
She glances at the time again, 7:25.
“Wow its late,” Grace says, still looking at her clock.
“You consider seven late? I'm still tired,” Lex replies, only half joking.
Grace looks up at her and says, “Well, you could head back to sleep. I’ll be quiet.”
Lex stares at her for a second, then says, “If you really don't mind, I’ll take you up on that.”
Grace smiles and says, “Go for it, I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”
Grace gets up from the bed and exits the room.
Once Grace leaves the room, Lex lies back down.
She slips herself under the blanket and rests her head on the pillow.
She lets out a small yawn and drifts to sleep.
With grace downstairs now in the kitchen, she walks over to the utensil drawer.
She opens the drawer and takes out a stake knife and a fork.
She places the knife and fork on the table, then she goes into the living room and walks up to the couch.
She leans down and grabs a rope from under the couch.
“So glad I left this here,” Grace mutters.
She goes back to the kitchen and grabs the utensils she got out.
She walks up to her room with the rope and utensils.
She goes into her room and stares at the girl sleeping in her bed.
She sighs and walks up to the bed.
She takes the rope and ties Lex’s arms and legs to her bed.
“I'm so sorry for this…” Grace whispers to herself.
Grace steadies herself and raises the knife, getting ready to stab.
She shakes slightly.
She takes a deep breath and lowers her hand.
“I can't do it. You can live another day, but you’re not moving from this bed,” Grace says to the sleeping girl tied to her bed.
“...not that you can hear me,” grace follows up.
She puts the knife and fork on her bedside table and then leaves the room.
Grace makes it downstairs, and she sits on the couch.
She sighs.
“I'm sorry, wiggly. I couldnt bring myself to do it to her. There's just something different about her. I’ll keep her alive for now, and once we bond i’ll kill her, and I’ll eat the body, you can have her soul… if she even has one.” Grace says to herself.
Shes still adjusting to not praying and instead working with Wiggly.
If Max didn't die, she’d be on her knees right now asking for forgiveness, but shes asking Wiggly for it now.
She leans back on the couch and lets out a huff of air.
“Gosh, I hate how she makes me feel so much.” Grace mutters to herself.
“I'm just gonna try and sleep it off.” she mumbles before flopping onto her side and closing her eyes.
Upstairs in Grace’s room lex finally drifts awake.
She lets out a yawn and goes to rub her eyes.
Her arm is released from the poorly tied knot the second she pulls on it.
She sits up and looks at the ropes.
“Oh, so she was a kidnapper… shes still hot though,” Lex says, just talking to herself.
She frees herself from the ropes and sits up on the bed.
She shifts her legs and feet onto the floor.
She stretches and yawns again, then stands up.
She pushes the knife and fork behind the table, and then she sneaks out of the room.
Lex walks down the stairs and looks at grace who is now sleeping on the couch.
Lex leans over the back of the couch and looks at grace who is softly snoring.
‘Well, I should get going, but it’d be rude to leave without leaving a note.’
Lex goes back up to Grace’s room and grabs a notebook and a pen.
She rips a piece of paper out of the book.
“Had to get back home. Didnt want my mom worring not like she would but just in case she did. anyways love lex, and learn how to tie a not’ lex writes on the paper.
She takes the paper and heads back downstairs.
She puts the note on Grace’s chest while shes asleep and then grabs her keys out of Grace’s pocket.
Then Lex walks over to the front door and puts her boots on.
She leans down and sloppily ties them.
She finishes tying her shoes and then heads outside.
She steps through the snow that hasn't melted, and isn't gonna fully melt anytime soon.
It makes loud crunches as Lex struggles to walk through it.
It goes up to her knees, causing difficulty in walking, but she pushes through.
She walks to the street and to her car.
She takes her car keys and unlocks the car.
She gets in the driver's seat and starts the car.
She buckles her seat belt and starts driving.
After a few hours, Grace begins to wake up.
She sits up on the couch, the note falling off the couch and onto the floor.
The falling paper catches Grace’s attention.
She reaches down and picks up the paper.
She reads the note, stumbling on a few misspellings but she got the message.
“‘Learn how to tie a ot’ lean how to spell knot first!!” grace yells to herself out of anger. Most of the anger is at herself for letting lex get away, but deep down shes a bit upset she didnt get to spend a little more time with the edgy girl.
“Ugh cant believe i let her get away” grace grumbles then continues with a mumble “…am i really that bad at tying stuff?”
Her grumbles and mumbles are cut short when she hears her parents car pulling into the driveway.
She quickly crumples the note and shoves it into her pocket.
She stands up from the couch and straightens out her hair with her fingers and puts on her brightest smile.
Her hands shake slightly with anxiety as her mom opens the door and walks into the house.
“Hi, mommy. How uh how was your day?” grace says, doing her best not to stammer over her words.
“It was good. What’d you do all day? I know you stayed home from school,” Grace’s mother, Karen, says while taking off her coat.
“Oh i just read and studied. School got called off because of the snow,” Grace replies quickly. She knew the lie would go undetected because that's most of what she used to do.
Study, read, pray, occasionally protest, repeat. That was the routine she was fine with for 18 years.
There was always a part of her that resented waking up because of the same routine every day.
It felt relieving to not do the same things every day, and the lords in black definitely gave her a good thrill with the murders.
Her mother gives an approving nod, then walks into the kitchen.
Grace lets out a sigh of relief, then she rushes to her room.
Once in her room, she takes the note out of her pocket.
She quickly uncrumples the note and tosses it onto her bed.
She walks over to her closet and opens it.
After digging through some of her old clothes, which were thrown onto the closet floor, she found the black book.
That's where she hid it. Like she was gonna leave it out for people to see.
She flips it open, trying to find a page that’ll help her get the sinner back, either just to spend time with her or to kill her. She hasn't decided yet.
She continues flipping through the book, then she remembers that the girl has a job.
She could just go there and follow her car.
“Looks like I have plans for tonight,” Grace mutters while smirking.
Grace goes on with her day, lying to her parents during dinner, sneaking 20 bucks from her mom's wallet to get coffee for her later plans.
Once her bedtime hits, she sits in bed until 12 AM.
After that, she gets out of her bed and quickly changes into her winter outfit and sneaks out of her room.
She takes her dad's snow boots and puts them on.
She grabs her backpack and packs the black book, a pair of rubber gloves, a cookbook, a butcher's knife, and the same fork from earlier.
She puts the backpack over both of her shoulders, and she exits the house.
She walks over to the part of her house where her bike is leaning against her house.
She grabs the bike and hops on.
She cycles to the toy store once again.
It's only a half-hour bike ride, so she gets there relatively quickly.
By the time she gets there lex is already in the store.
Grace quickly rides over to where she spots Lex’s car, then she hops off her bike and places it on the ground by the passenger seat door.
She stares at the car and then mutters, “Crud, she works until 6 in the morning, and I gotta get home before then.” She pauses, then says, “I have a better idea.”
She takes her backpack off her back and zips it open.
She takes the butcher knife out and slashes it across the tire.
She repeats it on all the tires and one of the windows.
The car alarm doesnt go off luckily, it's an old car, so isn’t that unexpected.
Grace hides her bike in a bush and grabs her backpack again, then starts walking into the store.
She steps into the store, her eyes immediately look around for lex and not to her surprise, they are dozing off at the register again.
She quickly hides in the aisles, keeping her eyes on Lex, who's dozing off.
“Once shes out, her soul is for the lords, and the body for me… that sounded wrong… I wonder how she’d taste with salt, eh, maybe I’ll try garlic this time, yum.” Grace mumbles to herself while chewing on her lip.
At the register lex leans against the counter while letting her mind wander.
They let out a small groan, then she mumbles, “god, I wish I had some coffee right now… oh my god, there's a coffee machine in the break room. Ugh im gonna go fuck that bitch up right now,” Lex mutters to herself, then she quickly dashes to a different room.
A sign on the door says “employes only.”
its clear who wrote it, and it definitely wasnt a professional.
Grace smirks from the aisle she was in, then she walks over to the register.
She walks over to the room Lex walked into, and she opens the door.
Grace is greeted by the sight of Lex sleeping on the floor.
“Wow, she sleeps a lot,” Grace mutters to herself.
She picks up Lex and hurls them over her shoulder.
“Alright. Back to the forest, my sacrifice.” Grace says while snickering.
Grace carries the girl outside the store and continues walking to find a quiet, secluded spot for the murder.
After a little while of walking, Grace makes it to the first spot shes purposely killed someone.
The woods behind Hatchetfield High.
She finds a spot and drops Lex onto the floor, causing her to wake up.
Lex, who is now on the dirt, sits up.
She lets out a small groan.
“What happened?” Lex mutters.
Grace looks at her. Not knowing what to say, she just stares.
Lex stares right back.
They sit in uncomfortable silence for a bit.
After a few minutes of staring, Lex breaks the silence with “so… why’d you try to kill me earlier? I mean i didnt really do anything.” shes mostly confused and that makes grace confused, ‘who wouldnt be mad if someone tried killing them??’ grace thinks to herself, then she remembers her victims question so she says “well, you’re a sinner. The lords in black would find your soul tasty… and i’d find you tasty too.” thats a fact to grace. The other girl would be tasty if cooked right.
Lex is left speechless for a moment, then she says, “Oh… so you didn't actually think I was cool?” Lex is disappointed at the thought; she kinda liked Grace.
Grace notices the disappointment on the worker's face, and guilt creeps up on her again.
She quickly says, “no, no its not that. You just seemed easy to kill, y’know?” Grace hopes that the guilt will soon go away, but it will always remain deep down. It always does.
“Uh, I wish I did know… anyways, can I leave, or are you planning on killing me still?” Lex asks, trying to get back to work quickly.
Grace ponders for a moment, then says, “Well, I’ll let you live, but you do know what tomorrow is? Or today i guess.”
Lex replies with “yeah, its christmas and the last day of Hanukkah, why? What does that have to do with anything?” back to confused.
Grace smiles, then she says, “I’d like you to join me for Christmas, and if you do that i’ll let you live, deal?”
Lex stays quiet for a moment, then says, “Well, it does sound nice to not be alone for the holidays for once, sure. I’ll be there… You need a ride home?”
Grace doesnt wait to think, so she says, “Sure, I’ll wait till your shift's over if you don't mind.”
Lex gets up from the floor and says, “Sure. I’ll probably clock out early anyway. I usually do on holidays.”
Grace nods, and they both make their way back to the store.
Lex goes inside, and Grace walks around outside.
At 4:37 AM lex clocks out and makes her way outside.
She finds grace sitting on a bench, drinking a black cup of coffee from beanies.
Lex smiles warmly after seeing Grace.
Despite being absolutely freezing, she feels very warm inside in a metaphorical way.
“Hey, Gracie. How's the drink?” Lex asks while slightly shivering.
Grace’s blood goes cold at the nickname.
Both her parents called her that, and so did Blinky. It struck fear into Grace; the nickname made her feel guilty about lying and made her get flashbacks from the night she learned about the Lords in black. It was just a sign of bad news whenever someone called her that.
She freezes, doesnt respond, nothing.
“Uh… grace? You okay? What's the matter?” Lex says after not getting a response for a minute.
Lex follows up with “Not cool with the nickname, huh? I’ll just stick to grace if it bothered you that much.”
Grace turns her head towards lex and she stares.
They stare at each other for a moment.
.
.
.
Grace breaks the silence with “Sorry. My uh, one of my old friends used to call me that, just get a little emotional when others call me that. You can keep calling me that if you want, i dont mind it, just caught me a little off guard,” she lies through her teeth once more.
“Oh, good. I thought you were gonna get mad at me or something. Glad that you aren't, i wont call you it. Its just a name,” Lex said nervously.
Grace fakes a smile then says, “Well, you ready to go? I mean its already… late. Sorry, i dont have my watch, so I'm guessing.”
Lex lets out a small laugh, then says, “Sure. Let's get going.”
Grace gets up, and they both start walking to Lex’s car.
Once they make the car grace gets a deep reminder of the damage she caused to the car, and Lex gets a sight of her, now wrecked, car.
“Uhm, was it like that when you got here?” Grace asks, trying to make herself seem as innocent as possible. She buries the guilt deep down, shes gotten pretty good at it by now. It's basically a daily activity for her.
“No, no, it wasnt. God damn it, it was probably my manager. Im convinced he hates women,” Lex says. It's clear by her tone shes unhappy, annoyed even.
“God, this is gonna cost me so much to get fixed,” Lex murmurs, then groans.
Guilt hits grace like a bus.
“Well, theres nothin’ hard work can't fix!” Grace says cheerfully.
“Let's just walk. My house isn't that far away,” Grace follows up with.
They start their walk to Grace’s house.
They walk past closed stores and houses with all the lights off.
After a few minutes of walking, Lex takes the other girl's hand and holds it.
Grace blushes as their hands connect.
Lex smiles; it's small, but it's there.
They walk hand in hand until they make it to Grace's house.
Once in the house, Grace quietly sneaks up to her room with Lex.
Grace speaks, “Well, I’d let you go to sleep, but not with the way you’re dressed.” Grace motions to the t-shirt and toy zone vest that's way too small for Lex.
“What's wrong with what I'm wearing? This is all the lost and found had, and I left my regular work outfit here,” Lex responds. She doesnt enjoy the judgment of grace, but she does like grace a lot. A surprising amount for lex.
“Well, they look dirty and gross. So you can borrow some of my clothes again for today, so you at least look a bit presentable,” Grace says while walking over to her closet.
She digs through her clothes and pulls out a white button-up and the light blue sweater vest she always used to wear.
She grabs a pair of PJ pants to go along with it.
She quickly tosses the clothes to Lex and then says, “Go get changed. But be quick, my parents usually get up around this time, so” Lex cuts her off with, “Can I just get changed in here? I can be quick.”
Grace’s face heats up, and she quickly says, “Sure, I guess… I’ll uh face the wall.” Grace turns and faces the wall.
Her stomach flutters as Lex changes.
Grace thinks about turning around and watching, but she’d never actually do that.
She has a little bit of respect for Lex.
Grace continues staring at the wall until Lex is done getting dressed, which is taking a really long time.
“You almost done? It feels like I’ve been standing here for hours,” Grace complains, trying to ignore her growing feelings.
Lex responds with “yeah, I'm just” she pauses and looks down at the shirt she's been struggling to button for the past 5 minutes, then she just pulls the blue vest over the shirt and ignores the buttons.
“Yeah. I'm done.” Lex follows up with.
Grace turns around, not noticing the unbuttoned shirt, because it is covered.
Grace nods approvingly.
“Good. Now you may go to sleep. Get cozy i’ll join you in a minute. I'm gonna take my snow clothes off,” Grace says, her tone cheerful once again.
Lex responds with “okay. I’ll be here.”
Lex sits back down on Grace’s bed.
Grace exits the room, gently shutting the door behind her.
Lex lies down in the bed and gets under the blanket.
She rests her head on the pillow.
She closes her eyes and attempts to sleep.
Out in the bathroom grace finishes getting dressed.
She stares in the mirror, barely recognizing herself.
“Gosh, what happened to me? A few weeks ago i would never have gotten butterflies in my tummy for another girl, and now I am getting them,” she pauses, then mutters, “hopefully the lords approve of this.”
She quickly rinses her face and heads out of the bathroom.
Grace walks back into her room, trying to be quiet.
Her gaze falls on the now sleeping girl in her bed.
Grace sits on the edge of her bed.
She runs her fingers through Lex’s hair as she snores lightly.
Grace climbs over her and gets comfy next to her.
Grace rolls onto her side and stares at Lex, who's lying on her stomach with her face in the pillow.
“Can she breathe like that?” Grace mumbles to herself.
“I hope she can't.” Grace mutters, then she rolls onto her back and tries to sleep.
At 5:34 PM lex starts to wake.
She sits up and looks at Grace, who is still asleep.
“Cool, she didn't try to kill me this time, maybe we could be friends,” Lex mutters, then she follows up with “hopefully more.”
Lex gets up, she exits the room, and heads downstairs to see if there's any food she can take without anyone noticing.
The second she sets foot into the kitchen, she is standing face to face with Grace’s parents, who can't tell the difference between the two.
“Gracie, you’re up late. Especially on a day like this. What were you doing last night?” graces mom, karen says.
In a panic lex says, “I'm not Grace. Just uh just” shes cut off by Grace’s dad, Mark, saying, “Who are you then? You sure look like Grace.”
Lex thinks for a moment, then says, “I'm her friend.”
Karen nods, then says “well, you dress nice and you seem kind… you look familiar. Do you have a job?”
Lex quickly says “not yet, im still in school. You probably just saw me there, its a small town.”
Karen nods aprovingly then hands the girl two gingerbread cookies.
“Here, you can head back upstairs. Give one of those to Grace and send her down here, too.” Karen says. She kind of approves of Lex.
Lex nods, then heads back up to Grace’s room.
Grace is now awake.
“Hey, Grace. Your mom wants to talk to you. Oh, and here's a cookie she made.”
Grace takes the cookie and bites it. A sense of anxiety looms over her as her mother gets brought up.
“What time is it?” Grace asks, trying to not seem worried.
Lex looks at the clock on graces bedside table.
“Its 6, why?” Lex responds.
Grace's eyes widen slightly.
“That late, really? Well, I’ll uh be right back.” Grace exits the room.
Lex sits back down on the bed and chomps down on her cookie.
“Hope her mom doesnt go too hard on her. God, my mom would kill me if I did. Eh, my mom probably forgot I existed again. At least i dont have to worry about her beating my ass.” Lex mutters, her mouth still filled with cookie.
She continues eating the treat, slowly becoming more worried the longer Grace takes.
After grace comes back, lex imedietly jumps up from the bed.
“How’d it go? No one hit you, right?” Lex asks, worry clear in her tone.
Grace's expression softens as she replies with “no, no im fine. Just got a stern talking to, hope you weren't too worried about me.”
Lex lets out a sigh of relief, then says, “oh thank god, I thought you were gonna get hurt. My mom did that to my sister, and uh, my sister never really got better from it.”
Grace’s eyes widen, then she exclaims, “How bad did she get hurt? Is she okay now?” Her tone is filled with pity, the thing that used to disgust Lex; she didn't mind it anymore.
Lex responds with “she didn't make it… Sorry for bringing down the mood. We can change the subject.”
Being vulnerable was one of Lex’s biggest fears. She hated it. She hates feeling weak. She hates being seen as weak.
That was something Grace and lex had in common. The fear of being seen as weak.
“We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. So, sure lets change the topic. You want another cookie?” Grace says with a small smile. She holds out another cookie for the girl to take.
Lex cracks a small smile and takes the cookie.
She takes a bite out of the cookie, then says, “Wow, these are really good.”
Grace lets out a small laugh, then says, “Finish chewing before you speak.”
Lex listens and finishes eating.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Lex says jokingly.
Grace's heart gives another flutter as she tries to fight her feelings.
“Gosh, you’re so pretty,” Grace mutters, attempting to say it to herself.
Lex’s face flushes, and she stammers out, “oh uh, thanks. You’re not so bad yourself.” Grace smiles, then says, “Is this your way of flirting? ‘Cause its working.”
Lex’s blush deepens, and she says, “Really?... I mean, good.”
Grace chuckles, then says, “real smoothe there, Lex.”
Lex rolls her eyes and mutters, “Whatever.”
Grace lets out a small laugh, then she gently cups Lex’s cheeks and says, “So red,” while giggling a bit.
Grace was great at distracting people and changing topics quickly. Too good sometimes.
“Well, uhm, what now?” Lex asks, trying to play it cool. Shes failing hard right now.
“How ‘bout you finish your cookie,” Grace says jokingly.
Lex shoves the rest of the cookie into her mouth.
“Yummy,” Lex says happily while chewing her cookie.
“Finish chewing before you speak,” Grace says, for a second time today.
Lex rolls her eyes again, then shuts her mouth to chew.
“How’d it taste?” Grace asks after Lex’s cookie is done.
Lex replies to Grace’s question
“It was great. It's been a while since I’ve had homemade cookies.”
Grace replies with “Well, next time my mom makes some i’ll bring you some,” with a warm smile on her face.
“You better,” Lex says, followed by a chuckle.
“Anyways… you wanna go play in the snow? I do it every Christmas,” Grace asks, excitedly.
Lex usually hates the snow, but the thought of spending time with Grace made it sound nice.
“Sure, I’d love to,” Lex replies, happily.
This was the first time she was excited about snow.
They both head outside, Grace in her usual winter attire, and Lex in her usual jacket.
“So what do you usually do out here?” Lex asks.
She's never really played in the snow, and when she did, it was either with Hannah or her manager framing shoveling the parking lot as playing.
“Well, you wanna build a snowman?” Grace replies cheerfully.
Lex shrugs and says, “Sure. Sounds fun.”
Grace smiles and exclaims, “Yippie! I’ll get started on the first ball, you work on the middle one.”
Grace grabs a handful of snow and packs it into a ball.
She gets on her knees and rolls it around on the snow,
Lex copies.
Grace pushes around the now large snowball.
Lex pushes around the slightly smaller snowball, shivering in the snow.
After an hour, they finish the first two snowballs.
Grace looks at Lex and says, “Can you stack them? I don't think I could lift that.”
That was a lie; she just wanted to see Lex lift it.
Lex replies with “Okay. im sure I can do it.”
Lex stretches, then leans down and picks it up.
She places the smaller snowball on top of the bigger one.
Grace smiles and says, “Okay, I’ll go get some rocks and sticks for the face and arms, you make the head.”
Lex nods and says, “g-got it. I can do that.”
Grace walks off.
Lex shivers in the snow, her cheeks turning pink.
She shakily makes another ball and pushes it around in the snow.
Grace walks around the yard looking for sticks and rocks.
After a little while lex finishes the ball and puts it on the top.
Grace walks back over, holding two sticks and a few rocks.
Lex quickly puts the ball she rolled on top of the other two.
Grace sticks the two sticks into the middle snowball, then arranges the rocks to make a smiley face on the top ball.
“There we go! It looks awesome,” Grace announces.
“Y-yep, definitely.” Lex stutters out.
Grace looks up at the now on street light.
“Wow, it's dark out. We should get goin’ inside,” Grace says, noticing the time that's passed.
Lex wraps her arms around herself.
“Yeah, yeah, let's get goin’ inside.”
Grace smiles again and says, “Good idea. I’ll make some hot cocoa for us.”
They both head inside.
Lex sits on the couch, still shivering.
Grace heads to the kitchen.
In the kitchen grace boils water.
She grabs two cups out of the cupboard and places them on the counter near the stove.
In the livingroom lex sits on the couch, still shivering.
Her face was still red, not from being flustered this time.
She slouches against the armrest as Grace walks into the room holding two cups of hot cocoa.
She hands one of the cups to Lex.
“Thanks,” Lex says, then takes a sip.
Grace sits down next to Lex and puts her cup on the coffee table.
“Cold?” grace ask, her tone slightly concerned but still cheery for what that matters.
Lex nods while drinking.
“I’ll go grab you a blanket.”
Grace says, then gets up from the couch.
Grace soon returns with a thick, fuzzy blanket.
She wraps the blanket around lex, who just finished her hot cocoa, tightly.
“There. All warm. Now, you can stay for one more night but you have to leave early tomorrow. See you at 4 am sharp.”
Grace says, then gives lex a small kiss on her forehead then she heads up to her room.
Grace makes it to her room and throws her jacket to the floor, she does the same with her gloves and hat.
She flops onto her bed face first and wiggles into the middle of it.
She rests her head on the pillow and goes to sleep.