Chapter Text
Natalie Scatorccio wakes up on a Sunday morning, dreading her arrival back home. She knows her team lost, everyone and their mothers informed her. She’s been told by Jackie and Coach Ben Scott that she was the reason the Yellowjackets lost, but she didn’t even feel like she was in the game. Instead, she felt like around twenty years went past. And when Natalie woke up, it felt like she died.
She feels like the real Natalie is long gone. Why does she think this? The dream was too vivid. It wasn’t really a dream though. It was a sort of vision because she was hanging on by a thread after the incident. A hallucination as she reached for death’s hand. In that dream, the plane to Seattle crashed, cannibalism was the final resort, and she was one of the few that survived, then she died from a lethal dose of phenobarbital years later. Like fuck she knows what it is, but apparently it was enough to kill her. After that it was all fuzzy.
Natalie checks her phone to see a message from Charlotte Matthews, her ‘girlfriend’.
LottieBall3: Us losing wasn’t ur fault, I believe every word u said!
She ignores the message and searches through the news app to see if the word was spread. She closes the app in an attempt to conceal herself from being known as the second biggest failure of her family, her asshole father wearing the crown. Natalie Scatorccio’s father was an abusive mess who deserved every inch of what happened to him. Natalie mourned her dad in three different ways when that shotgun destroyed him. First, she mourned him with tears, and denial. He was gone within seconds. Secondly, she mourned him with rage. She was so fucking mad at him for getting away with all he’d done. Sure, her mother and her could speak up, but who would listen to a recently single woman and her teenage daughter? Thirdly, she mourned him gleefully. His reign of terror was over. The sick bastard had it coming.
Natalie Scatorccio isn’t dating Lottie Matthews. It’s just an idea Lottie created so that Nat and her mother had somewhere to sleep. Sure, the new trailer was more spacious and comfier, Mr. Scatorccio’s blood wasn’t splattered next to the front door, but it didn’t feel deserved. Natalie is hardly kind to Lottie, so why would she do that? She’s apart of the richest family in the state, sure, but she doesn’t have to do this. Give Nat even more pity than she needs. And anyway, aren’t rich families meant to be classist and despicable? It seems to be an anomaly in her eyes.
Who Nat does want to date, however, is Misty Quigley. She’s got blonde, curly hair, and glasses Natalie finds cute. Unfortunately, Quigley is crushing over Coach Scott, who is in a happy relationship with his boyfriend. He told Nat when she came forward to him about a previous problem in her relationship with Travis Martinez. It had its ups and downs, but she stopped classifying it as love when she had those strange ‘dreams’. Jackie Taylor claims that she’s only with Jeff, her boyfriend, who’s fucking Shauna Shipman, but everyone on the team knows Jackie and Shauna are in a relationship. Taissa Turner is with the Bombshell, the one and only… Vanessa Palmer! They broke up before, but it lasted for less than a week. Then you have Lottie. She’s madly in love with Laura Lee, but it can’t work. It’s never gonna work, it’s against her faith.
Natalie gets up after seven minutes and five seconds of staring blankly at Lottie’s text. Her room is luckily shared with no one, because it’s a horrible mess. It’s been less than a week and the floor is already a sea of Monster cans and other shit. She realises she doesn’t want Misty to see her like this, so she starts cleaning up lazily, even though she’s shown her worse. Last summer break she didn’t even realise Misty was cleaning up her “house” while her room looked like it had an entrance to hell itself. It would fucking embarrass a pig in a farm. Natalie likes talking to Misty. She’s extremely unhinged at times, but she’s the sweetest person. She faces so much hate too. It’s sad. It truly is.
Nat picks up like five cans and some shirts that have taken more damage from bleach than her hair. The shirts are bleached so heavily because after that big bad dad of hers died, she wanted to start experimenting. Her dad died ages ago though. The only reason she finally decided to bleach her hair and dye it blonde was because Van said she’d look so pretty being blonde, and she wanted to impress Misty because a little birdie (Her Delusions) told her that it’s her type. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Sure, people gave her a shit ton of compliments, but her target audience wasn’t pleased. Misty actually hated the blonde. Or maybe she was pissed off at Natalie for being woken up at three in the morning just to look at her hair.
Natalie gives up on trying to clean up her mess, mainly because she’s gotta get dressed and meet her team in the hotel restaurant. She contemplates just going as she is right now, but then Coach Martinez will lecture her because everyone else came in proper clothes, while Lottie will give away her stupid fucking blood money jacket to keep her warm. Maybe if her dad wouldn’t die, Coach Martinez might be nice to her. Him and Mr. Scatorccio used to be great friends. Then obviously, one of them died. Fast forward to now: He rarely has anything nice to say to her. If he does he makes Coach Ben say it. Maybe he’s worried that if he gives Nat a proper compliment, he’s gonna be dragged to the deepest, darkest pits of hell by his own left foot.
Natalie needs to make a decision. Get changed into warmer clothes, or Get unwanted attention from absolute strangers.
LottieBall3: r u coming? everyone is worried 4 u…
Natalesbian69: yeah just gimme a min idk wut to wear.
Less than five minutes later there’s someone at the door. Nat checks through the peephole and it’s just Lottie. She unlocks the door and she can’t even breathe before Lottie gets to work.
“Okay so If you want to go for an emo look I recommend you keep the shirt and just put some jeans on…” Blah Blah Blah “Maybe this would be nice, It just screams at me, and then mix it with some of your shi-” Lottie goes on and on but silences herself the same second Natalie stops paying attention. Honestly, Lottie didn’t even realise she was standing in front of Natalie. “Sorry… I guess I got carried away.” Lottie blushes, a smirk appearing slowly.
“It’s fine Lots, I just need your help. I wanna just go like this, but Coach is gonna skin me… What’s your opinion?” Nat asks, hoping so hard that Lottie doesn’t pull a ‘I think you should choose for yourself, or we could play a card game, whoever picks the Queen of Hearts wins. Or we could flip a coin.’
Lottie doesn’t even hesitate when she answers. “Who cares what Coach thinks. He doesn’t own you. Your body doesn’t belong to him.” That makes Natalie smile. Not the fake smile she does when Mr and Mrs Matthews try to compliment her, a proper one.
“Thanks Lottie… I just have a quick thing to say…”
”Hm?”
”I like your pilgrim hat.”
Charlotte Matthews does not hesitate to throw a pillow at her. “It was one time! just let go of it already!” The pillow misses and actually flies through the window.
“Is daddy Matthews gonna pay for that?” Natalie giggles.
Lottie’s smile drops. “Don’t call him that. He’s my father. Do you think I would call your father daddy? We’ll never know!” She regretted saying that as soon as it came out.
”Get out.” Natalie whispers “Get the fuck out.” Natalie pushes Lottie towards the door. “He was a fucking asshole, but he was still my dad. Get out.”
“Nat I didn’t mean to say that, it just slipped out.” Lottie stumbles while she tries to make her way through the doorway.
“Either way, get the flying fuck out of my room!” Natalie violently screams out. She locks the door on Lottie before slumping to the crappy chair. She wanted to throw something. Preferably not herself through the window.
Natalie needs to get to her team. It’s been too long. She can’t afford to accidentally crash into Lottie and suffer the walk of silence, so instead she has a bright idea. Climb outside the toilet into the Fire Escape staircase. That way she can lie and claim that she woke up ages ago and she was just exploring the city.
Nat doesn’t bother to change, fuck what Coach says. The weather is wetter than a witches coochie though, so she probably won’t be convincing. Unless she jumps into a river nearby. She finally comes to the conclusion that the only way to fix the story is to jump into a lukewarm bathtub a bunch of times.
Natalie Scatorccio grabs a plain black pair of converses and shoves heavy things she can find in them. While the bathtub is filling, she soaks the shoes in the sink.
When the tub is full, she gently sits down, before holding herself under the surface until she sees her thighs go lavender. She can hardly see properly, but it did the job.
Natalie opens the crappy, wooden door in the bathroom, leading to a rustic staircase that has seen death in a thousand different forms. Her descent begins, and like predicted, she does get useless attention from fifty-year-old men.
She wants to speak out. She wants to say that she isn’t a legal adult yet, so they stop. Yet her voice fails her. She tries to speak back at them, but all she sees is her father. Her dad is in every person that stares. She goes silent. She gives up. She gives up because she knows that if she spoke the way she was about to in front of her father, he would kill her. Not just hit her until she had to cover up her scars and bruises with makeup. He would hit her until the police sirens blare. Neighbors complaining about the noise. Police stepping inside the old trailer. Searching the place inside out. Eventually Mister Scatorccio will make an excuse saying his daughter had a horrible accident during football practice. Then everyone will believe it. He would abandon his wife after Nat is gone, leaving her to fend for herself. He would feed her to the wolves.
Nat shudders and almost falls from the decaying balcony. The railing is jagged and unrecognisable from its state a century ago. She can’t do it. She climbs back up instantly, her heart pounding with all its energy. When Natalie makes it to her room again, she notices something different about the bathroom. The mirror that’s suffered years of trauma and pain from previous guests appears different. The surface is crashing into its frame, as if it’s an ocean.
She tries touching it, and when she does her hand slowly pushes through the liquified barrier. It feels like running water, nothing else. Natalie grabs her phone and pushes her left hand deeper. It doesn’t end. It just sucks her in. Nat tries to pull herself out, but the force it carries is way too strong.
The entrance process isn’t harmful. It isn’t irritating, it feels like bliss. It feels like she’s achieved full peace in life.
Suddenly, her mind starts to spin. Her eyes are twisting and turning. Her skin feels slimy. Her hearing is heavily distorted, she can’t speak. Then, within seconds, it ends. She can stand normally. She can hear like she never has before, she can use her words. It’s finally over.
Behind her is a door, a door that has experienced alcohol abuse, tears from the fear of human free will. It’s similar to the one her dad bolted open in his final moments. There’s a plaque next to the door, reading out:
“Welcome to the Mirror Realm. Anyone is welcome here, and you are in Layer two.” The sign continues about the Layers system, and what the door does, and how it’s a different door for everyone.
There are four Layers in general, but the bottom layer was closed off after extreme thermonuclear tests took place there. The third Layer is where most people go to search for answers for events in their lives, and the fourth layer is mainly for closure. The second Layer is similar to Earth, like an exact replica. The only downside is that in the Mirror Realm, crime is not real. Meaning there are zero laws. Meaning crime does happen, it just isn’t classified as illegal or legal. The plaque ends with something about a 1:1 scale of a close one being their guide throughout their journey here.
”Hello Natalie.” It’s fucking Lottie. Natalie’s guide is Lottie fucking Matthews.
Natalie rushes to the plaque, banging on it aggressively. “Hey, Eye in the Sky, Door handler, Whoever you are! Can I get someone else? Like Misty, I’ll even take fucking Van! Just not her!!!”
Fake Lottie goes blank. Her eyes die, and her voice shifts to a strange one. It’s unrecognisable. “I seem to not be a part of what happened. Why not Lottie? You are not even mad at her for the ‘Father Incident’. So why not Lottie, Natalie?”
“Because she fucking pisses me off. She says some stupid fucking spiritual shit about stars and talks about how fucked up it is that I’m poor and fatherless.” Natalie spits at the floor.
“Natalie, What if that is not pity though? What if she was just trying to make you feel better?” It questions.
”It’s fucking constant. I’ll show you every message she sent me that goes along those lines!” Nat barks back.
It snaps its slender, glimmering fingers, and when Natalie steps back up, she’s has no anger towards Lottie. Not a single ounce. It feels like all the hatred in her blood just vanished.
Natalie doesn’t remember the way It looks, mainly because it looks like it swallows the sun whole for breakfast. Lunch and dinner are definitely another story.
Fake Lottie says that even though Nat can leave at any time, she can only leave through this layer. Travelling up a layer to another can be done through entering any mirrors, while going down a layer isn’t mentioned.
She wants to leave, she truly does, but she wants to explore this strange place.
”You should explore here first, you won’t forget it in your world.” Fake Lottie remarks.
”How did you hear that? I never said anything.” Natalie sputters out.
”I am a guardian, but I share a braincell or two with you.” She replies.
“I want to go… up. How do I do it?”
”Hold my hand, and come with me.”
Natalie does as she says, and surprisingly, she doesn’t end up battered and in a ditch. There’s even a point where they teleport somewhere. Fake Lottie finally stops floating, and then it’s there. A mirror, a tiny little mirror. Like pocket mirror small.
“Excuse me. Hello!” Nat doesn’t want to call her by her real name. It’s not the real Lottie, so why should she? “How am I meant to fucking fit in there? A bitch ass condom wrapper is bigger than this.”
”Just try.” Fake Lottie passes on an angelic wink shortly after.
“Are you gonna come through too?”
”I don’t need to, silly. I’m not human. I’m just your guardian. You experience, I watch. Understood?”
Natalie nods shakily before dipping her fingers into the surface. Suddenly, the frame expands to swallow her whole, before shrinking up again.
Her head feels uncomfortably warm after she finishes her journey to the next layer.
“Hey L-Lottie?” She gags when she says it.
“Hm?”
“This is dumb to ask, but is my dad here, like in the realm? I wanna ask him why he was such an asshole…”
“He’s in this layer, it seems he is running from something.”
There’s a crash and a gunshot in the distance, causing panic in the realm.
“Holy shit… What’s going on!?” Natalie cries, trying to get a better view of the source of the noise.
Mari Ibarra is here, somehow. “There’s some guy with a shotgun screaming about how he’s going insane… Hey Nat, Lottie.” Mari’s guardian is some kid from her class.
”Oh no that’s not the real Lottie.” She turns to the shapeshifter “Sorry dude.” She turns back around. “Anyway the guy! What’s he doing?”
”He says that his wife just melted into some mirror juice then tried to kill him or something. He’s definitely high.” Mari sighs. Mari runs off when it happens.
The man starts stumbling towards Nat. His gun is loaded and aimed at Natalie’s chest.
“Holy… Dude back away! I’ll give you money…?”
He presses the gun against her. “I need to get outta here… You’re my ticket!”
”Sir, is there any way we could sort this out? Like non-violently?” She tries backing away, but he grabs the back of her neck.
”None of this is fucking real! My wife isn’t even real, it’s all a fucking lie!” The man grabs Natalie tighter.
”Natalie Scatorccio, this is your father.” Lottie whispers in Nat’s ear.
The man can’t see Lottie, because he needs to have a guardian.
There’s a brief silence.
“Dad…? Is it really you…?” Natalie whimpers, trying to hold back the tears.
”I don’t have a fucking daughter! My wife said she aborted the baby!” He’s shaking aggressively, almost accidentally pulling the trigger on her.
“How old are you?”
“I don’t know… I’ve spent so long in here I forgot my age… I need to escape…” Mr Scatorccio turns the gun around towards himself.
“Dad, don’t do it… There are alternative methods to leave here, please don’t kill yourself…”
He hesitates. “There’s no point in trying. I’ve been trying for years. The longer you stay here the quicker you forget yourself.” He holds the shotgun tighter.
Natalie lunges at her dad, trying to get her hands on the weapon. “Just… Fucking…” She grunts. “Sorry… Just let… go! LET GO!!!”
A deep boom shakes the surroundings. The ruckus comes to a halt. Natalie is lying on the floor, next to her father, covered in blood. Her ears pop from the blast, she doesn’t want to open her eyes. She knows that one of them has a hole in them.
When Nat opens her eyes, she sits upright, before searching for her dad.
He’s bleeding way too much, he’s going to die within the next few minutes.
Mr Scatorccio is literally choking on his own blood, his lung has been affected by the shot. At this rate, he’s going to rely on fate.
“Crap… Dad… Can you hear me? I’ll get help…” Natalie sobs, she’s lost her dad before, but she won’t lose him again.
“No… Leave me here… I’m over due this anyway…” He gurgles, barely keeping eye contact with her.
”Dad, I can’t lose you. Everyone deserves a dad… Please, just hold on a little longer.” She grabs a bottle of vodka from her bag.
“You know how… how to… party… You really… are… my daughter…” He smirks.
“Stop messing around, it’s for the wound…”
He manages to snatch the bottle from her. “Listen, daughter of mine… It’s too late… for me… How about… I go out in style?”
”You aren’t thinki-“ Natalie cries.
He takes a sip before spitting it out. “Bloody vodka… Kinda shitty… Never was much of a drinker…” He passes the bottle to his daughter.
What changed then? Why did he abuse alcohol while she was growing up? Was it her? Was it his financial status? What changed in him?
Natalie takes a swig from the bottle and passes it back. “Y’know, in my world, you kinda made me like this.”
Her dad chuckles, not understanding she wasn’t joking. “What, am I abusive too?”
”’Was I’” Natalie can’t look at him. “Not ‘am I’, dad.” She gulps. “You died.”
He starts choking aggressively on his blood, probably in terror. “Shit…”
”Yeah…”
”What… What’s your… name?”
”Natalie. You can call me Nat though, it’s not like you’ll remember.”
His breathing is becoming more and more intense. “Well then.” He begins. “Nat… Natalie… I am so grate-grateful… to have met you… In this world… Hope… I wasn’t… An asshole… here.”
”Don’t give up, I need you, dad. Please… Hang on a little tighter.” Nat’s voice is shaky.
”At least… In… Final moments…” His vocabulary is shortening as more time passes. “Drink… with… My beau… …ful… fun-funny daughter.” He smiles, his bloody teeth leaving an imprint in Natalie’s brain.
”Here… Take…” He hands her a silver locket, drenched in blood. “Nev… …er… forget… me…”
”I… lo-lo-o-ve y-yo-you… Tell… Ver-Vera… Lov-love ‘er so much…” His pupils shrink as he takes his last breath.
“Dad, please… Don’t go to the light… I know that you were an asshole on Earth… But please, please stay with me…” His body starts slowly disintegrating. His body starts fading away in her arms. “Pops…?” The ash is slipping through her fingers like sand. “No… No… No no no no no no… No!”
Natalie Scatorccio’s heart is filled with rage. Her father died for a second time, this time in her own arms, and he’s being taken away from her. Again. She’s covered in her father’s blood, but there isn’t a trace of him left. Sure, he took photos and recorded videos with her while drinking the vodka, but she doesn’t have proof he was here. Nowadays it would be accused of being AI-generated (Boo!) The only physical proof is the locket.
When she opens the locket, she finds a picture of her Mother, and her Father before the abuse began.
Lottie’s voice lights up the darkness Mr Scatorccio left. “You have finished your investigation here. You shall be transported to the main layer.”
Natalie doesn’t even notice the pain. She doesn’t notice because she’s been through the biggest heartbreak of her life. Killing the kind, innocent, father she never experienced back at home.
“Lots, get me the fuck outta here… Please, I’ve had enough!” Nat begs, her tears dropping to the floor.
”Your wish is my command.” Fake Lottie snaps her fingers, and the big door opens.
Natalie runs through, and she wakes up back at home. Well, at the hotel room. Surrounded by her football team.
“Holy smokes… Nat are you good? You look like you’ve been through hell and back!” Jackie claims.
Natalie doesn’t care. She’s got the memory of her dad. She opens her phone, the pictures are there. The locket is in her pocket, and she has the vodka.
“Natalie, should we call the police? You’re so bloody!” Lottie exclaims.
“No… I feel amazing.” Her dad could finally be remembered as someone else, not just the asshole of Wiskayok.
Mari Ibarra enters the room, unaware of what’s so important about the bathroom. “Nat is your dad okay? Did you make peace?”
Natalie Scatorccio nods, smiling at her team. “That shit was… something.”
Maybe the mirror realm isn’t so bad. Maybe she can live life more there. It doesn’t always have to be bad, does it?