Chapter Text
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The air was filled with a chill. Droplets fell from the sky, diving upon the pavement dramatically. Small puddles had started to collect up, and the rain showed no sign of stopping.
“It was deserved. Orel, you know that you shouldn't put up with being called a ‘faggot’ constantly, right?”
Tiana grumbled, wiping the rain-contaminated blood from her nose with a tissue. Tiana was sitting outside her well... former school, accompanied by her twin brother, Orel and "best friend" Eleanor. All three of them were bloody and bruised. Tiana held her glasses in their hands, observing the shattered lens.
“Do any of you guys have a mirror?? I need to make sure they didn't break my nose or anything.”
"Good job they knocked them off your face before breaking them- glass in the eyes isn't desirable- possible permanent damage- all of that stuff. Dad isn't gonna be glad. Those glasses weren't cheap. And we're expelled. Good job, yall. And yes, I totally carry a mirror on me specifically for these situations…. It's bloody freezing..."
"So we're the worse ones in this situation then??" Tiana looked at Orel with a disappointed expression.
Orel sighed, fiddling with strands of his hair. He was arguably the least injured. He had some bloody spit on his shirt… most likely not his own.. and some bruises. He kept glaring at the others. God, what the hell was wrong with these guys?! “... I appreciate yall trying to help me but...He was younger than us all. I wasn't gonna fight a bloody child-This is so unhygienic. I'm gonna get hypothermia. Eugh. I'm changing when I get home.
"He's like- fucking 14. He should probably know better. Look on the bright side! Maybe this'll make him think twice before calling anybody else that." Eleanor stretched her arms before letting out a yawn. "Maybe his parents will have a talk- or won't. Honestly, I think they'll just enable his ass."
"You do know you didn't need to fight Simon. It was just words. Sure they hurt, but look where we ended up.”
Orel attempted to reason with the two, only for Eleanor to elbow him, completely disregarding the fact she was covered with scratches.
“Ow- shit! I shouldn't have done that-”
Eleanor exclaimed, before chucking slightly.
"He honestly had it coming though. Bastard deserved pain. Please tell me that once the entire time he's been mocking you, you've not thought of violence? I don't care that it isn't the answer. If someone's an asshole, they get what's coming. That's what my mother always told me!”
She pulled herself upright onto her feet, kicking up a stream of water from a puddle while stretching.
“I'm gonna head to my house, if you guys wanna come. Get cleaned and dried up. Hang out. Whatever. It's not like we'll be having to come back. Thank goodness. And I thought we'd never see the end of this place."
Eleanor offered, before holding her hand out to Tiana, who grabbed onto it. Eleanor's hands were shaky, but she returned the grip that Tiana had on her hand, grappling onto her before helping her get up.
“We'd be happy to visit!”
Tiana's face lit up as she attempted to regain her balance, grabbing onto their shoulder.
“Oops uh- sorry, nearly fell on you there.”
Tiana looked away, hiding her face. “That was stupid of me. Sorry. I'm an idiot."
Orel nodded. He wasn't interested at all in hanging around with his sister's.. girlfriend?? He didn't really know. He never really interacted with Eleanor. He didn't really interact with anybody. But, there was nothing else to really do.
“I'll take that nod as a yes, then- No need to apologise, Tiana.”
Ellie noted. She turned away from the school. “Come on then. Let's get out of this hellhole.” She grabbed back onto Tiana's hand and started leading the way, leaving Orel to run after them.
"ELEANOR- GOD. WAIT UP.'
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Eleanor's house was a rather strange place, at least in Tiana's eyes. It was located across the street from the house of the Reeds. The house was painted a deep red. The yard out front was rather small. A small bike was dumped there, laid upon the grass. It had laid untouched for many years, gathering up rust.
The inside was covered head to toe in specimens, plants and taxidermy. Both of Ellie's parents had been avid collectors. Tiana always remembered the black widow. It terrified her. Ever since she'd first moved there and had been friends with Eleanor. Listening to Linda, Eleanor's mother, explain how her wife gifted it to her. It felt wrong. There were no living spiders in the house, strangely enough. It should have comforted her. But no. Every time she looked upon that thing, it filled her with dread. Tiana had never been afraid of spiders. And she couldn't care less about the idea of being bitten by anything. But it filled her with dread. Going into the kitchen to see it floating in its capsule. The idea of a being that would kill its mate, which knew how to protect itself being so.. dead. It frightened her. Her hatred of it had lessened over the years, but looking upon it filled her with discomfort. It felt so powerless. So weak.
Tiana stood at the doorway leading into the kitchen, staring into nothingness. She was knocked out of her zone by Ellie, who had softly elbowed her in the shoulder.
“GUH- oh uh. Sorry.” They exclaimed, running their hands through their hair.
“You're still creeped out by that thing?”
“Of course I am. I'm not a fan of it. Soulless.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a rather amused sounding Orel, who had a goofy-ass grin on his face.
“... So you enjoy trying to bring stuff back from the dead, but not spiders??”
“It's different! That was a one time thing!” They glanced down at the floor. "It wasn't 'bringing things back from the dead' by the way, it was soul swapping, except the rabbit was already done for soooo-"
“Only because you've been under constant supervision every October since… and it's not like that was the only time you tried.. God, and you call me a bloody know-it-all."
Eleanor coughed loudly, trying to break up their bantering.
“Soo-. about that nosebleed-”
“Its stopped now. My nose still stings slightly, but I don't think it's broken.”
Tiana replied.
“So, where's your mother??”
“I think she took Sawyer hunting, I'm pretty sure. She did say I needed to sort out the attic when I came home earlier so uh-” They started subconsciously licking a scratch on their hand, before accidentally catching it and pulling their face away quickly. “Owch-”
“I could always help. Orel could head back to my house and try to explain to dad when he gets back what happened-”
“Yeah. I'm not staying here anymore. Let me know if you find anything of use up there though.”
"Are you scared or something??"
Orel looked at the grin on Eleanor's face.
"On another thought, I might stay.... and i'm not scared of anything!"
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