✧ A twisted trick for the mind ｡*ﾟ+
Chapter #001 | Winter Break
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Synopsis of TTM : The story of a girl named Trick, desperately trying to find a way back home to her mother after being trapped in this twisted wonderland. With her secret being unraveled by concerned friends bit by bit, how long will she be able to keep this silly little facade up?
Warning : TTM will contain sensitive topics such as mental health, self destructive behavior, child harm, and different forms of abuse. Please refrain from following the series if these subjects cause you discomfort. Also some of the boys will act in ways which causes unintentional harm towards the mc, and worsen her mental health (NOT YANDERE..). So heads up for those who dislike seeing their comfort character do such things.
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"And the child would weep, knowing it will never
truly be loved the way it wishes to be."
Despite the cool wether, the morning sun still shown brightly, ready to rob any poor sleep deprived person of their nap. Cracks between the windows' carelessly hammered together boards allowed easy entry for the giant star's bright rays to slither in, going right through the tattered, voile curtains, beaming into the room of Ramshackle's two snoozing residents.
The first to arouse was Grim, the direbeast stretched his little paws out as the colorful world came into view again. Sitting up, he turned to the only human in the room, still sleeping soundly. Trick had always possesed a problem of getting out of bed, yet Grim expected her to atleast be a tiny bit more awake today, as it was winter break. Not only does that mean there'd be no classes for a whole beautiful week, but with Crowley out vacationing somewhere instead of finding Trick a way home, it'd mean that Trick was also free of dumb unnecessary duties birthed from the headmaster's fear of responsibility!
After great effort, Grim does eventually get his tired friend out of bed, and ready for the day. The foorboards creaked beneath her feet as Trick trailed down the rickety stairs along the worn yellow wallpaper, avoiding a large hole between the steps - the same hole that suspended her mobility for weeks from a sprained ankle. Allowing the victory from not tripping down the stairs blind her, she nearly walks straight into a cobweb, getting quickly redirected just in time by one of Ramshackle's residential ghosts. One would think living with the dead would be a taxing experience, but luckily for the duo, their roommates carried the air of being gentlemen.
Led to stand beside Grim after narrowly avoiding her morning being ruined, Trick expressed her thanks as the helpful ghost floated off to join his undead friends who were extening polite greetings towards their breathing roommates. The undead gave the two a quick reminder to be careful, and were off to do whatever the dead do to kill time. Trick plopped herself into one of the more adequate sofas the dorm had to offer, slipping on a pair of thick winter boots.
A loud creak sounded through the dorm as the entrance was swung open, Trick propped it to stay open with her foot as she called out to her furry companion. Grim quickly ran out the entrance, slipping past her in the blink of an eye, off to excitedly explore the snow like a cipper child would, without even waiting for his supposed 'henchhuman'. The girl expresses no sense of betrayal or care at her 'boss's actions, she's grown quite used to the direbeast's manners.
Trick glanced back at the dust covered, run down, ramshackle dorm. In doing so, an odd feeling started building inside of her - It's almost as if she won't be seeing her substandard dorm again for a while. Odd. It's likely just lack of sleep, shutting the door behind her, she catches up to the ditch, the pair fully leaving behind the run down excuse of a castle they called their dorm once they stepped out of its eeire gates.
Drops of snow fell down, bit by bit, clumping together to form large lumps of snow that cover the earth, winter truly has taken over. The crunching of snow could be heard beneath the soles of the boots Trick wore as she trudged through the now, snow covered NRC. Familiarity with the terrain was the only thing keeping the duo from getting lost.
Grim was enjoying his time in the snow, making snow angels along the way, as Trick rubbed her gloves for warmth, noting how uncharacteristically quiet the area was, missing the hectic, bustling flair the college once had. The majority of her troublemaking schoolmates had all left to visit home just yesterday, leaving the area to be quite desolate.
Unlike the unconventional non-mage's way of transportation - cars, buses, trains - NRC gave way to a quicker means to return home. A giant, human sized magic mirror with green light emitting out of it, anyone who steps in gets teleported to their desired location. This magical artifact sat at the center of the mirror chamber, large windows and walls decorated, lined up with more irrelevant simpler mirrors while black coffins - doorways - floated around the room. Students entered the mirror, one after another, with luggage in tow.
The crowd of students grew smaller and smaller with time, as each waved their friends a temporary farewell before allowing the glow of light to consume them as they stepped into the mirror. Overtime, what was once a crowd turned into a group, and what was once a group, turned into a few remaining students scattered around, finishing up sevens knows what.
A small grunt slipped out of the girl as she finally got to drop the load she was carrying, a tall stack of boxes, all varying in shape, color, and size. Upon doing so, a chuckle let out beside her, the source being from a friend - A hybrid hyena named Ruggie. Ruggie's hand found its way on her head, ruffling the large yellow spot of her blonde blue hair, acting as if that head pat alone would suffice to repay her for helping him move his stuff.
"Alright cut it out." Trick muttered, gently pushing the hand off her head, "How'd you get your hands on this much food for free anyways?"
"The cafeteria usually throws it out at the start of every break, I asked, and they agreed to give me everything. We can't let good food go to waste now can we?"
"Ofcourse not...You plan to give some away back home right? Even for you, I doubt you'll be able to finish this all."
He nods, smile evident on his face as he loaded the wagon with the boxes Trick had carried. "This isn't even enough to feed them all, the kids back at home don't have much to eat, they'll devour this all in no time."
She figured that'd be the case, Ruggie may have been a sly thief, but he's rather kind to those he's close-knit with. Even she herself has experienced a few moments of kindness from her wily friend.
Ruggie placed the last of the boxes into the small wooden wagon, he's about to leave when he notices a small rectangle in Trick's hand. "Trick! Why didn't you tell me you got a phone?"
Trick blinks, only now remembering the device she held, "Oh, Crowley gave it to me earlier. For emergencies."
"About time you got one!" Excitedly, Ruggie tore off a piece of parchment sticking out of one of the boxes, scribbling down his phone number and shoving it into the girl's pocket. "Bet I'm the first to give you my number! Besides Crowley of course. Hey, that should earn me a treat! You can treat me to a meal once break is over."
"Actually.." Trick lifted up her phone, its screen lighting up, showing her contacts, "Ace and Deuce have already beaten you to it." As a response, Ruggie made a sound which can only be interpreted as unwillingly accepting defeat. Trick held back a giggle at his unceremonious reaction, which her friend caught onto immediately.
Though he never points it out, he's noticed how she has significantly let lose more compared to when he first met her. A feeling of fond relief crept inside of him, he's glad. He gave her head one last ruffle - slightly more forceful than the last, messing her hair up completely - not allowing her to fully recover or process anything before quickly walking into the giant mirror, "See you after break!"
Trick blinked, slightly stunned, he left as quickly as he entered her life. "Bye..."
Trick was trying to rearrange her hair back to the state it was before being messed up two times in a row, all was well until she heard her name loudly yelled out by a loud shriek from an agitating, grating familiar voice. Floyd. Trick snapped her head back, easily spotting the tall eel among the remaining students, predictably, beside him was his more sophisticated twin brother. They were looking for her. Crap. She quickly checked the time, their boss is probably out to get her for a meeting. Wait a minute... There isn't meant to be a meeting today though.. Did something come up for Azul to send them after her? Is he trying to goad her into signing some other contract? Are the twins just bored? Ah shit, it's most likely the latter.
Her train of thought derails and crashes straight into a wall when lanky hands drapped over her thin shoulders, trapping her in a tight hug, preventing the opportunity of iniciating any of the hundred escape plans she could've been planning the moment she heard his voice from afar.
"Cuttlefish!" Floyd happily greets, there's a hint of fondness in there that would've been sweet if the person receiving the greeting wasn't well aware of who the leech was, and all he, and his twin, were capable of. His less than tolerable brother circled around the two and placed himself in front of the girl, his smug grin screaming of someone ready to add more salt into the burning wound.
She tried to straighten herself up properly, not allowing the duo to size her up, yet Trick failed miserably as Floyd squeezed her even tigher, completely throwing her off balance. She would've collapsed on the ground if Floyd wasn't still holding onto her a way akin to how a child would strangle their dolls out of cuteness aggression. Trying to salvage what dignity she had left, the girl inquired how it was rather late for the two to not have gone through the mirror by now, home tormenting some other poor victim they want to dig entertainment out of. Jade decides to humor her poor attempts of situation control, explaining how the oceans have frozen up making returning a hastle for anyone who lives underwater.
"Therefore, we and Azul will be staying behind." Jade made a strong empasis on the 'staying behind' part, ensuring it's drilled into the girl's skull that she's likely going to be their entertainment for the following week. Giving up on even trying to pretend she could protest, she sunk into the floor, or uh, Floyd, as he was still holding her.
And here she thought she was finally going to know peace. Well its what she should've been expecting when she.. Nevermind. Forget it. It's not relevant at the moment to think back on, the embarrassment is something she wishes not to recall.
Jade snickers at Trick's quick surrender, rubbing her head as if she were some little child, "At the very least, your days will have more color now with us around, won't our company provide more entertainment than just you and Grim alone?" He made a contemplative gesture, "We should go hiking in the mountains, there's bound to be some interesting mushrooms poping up with winter here. Any protests?"
Trick simply groaned, Jade knew full well that was likely a 'no, leave me to rot with my own devices' yet he goes on, "Oya? No protests? Then it's settled, we can start first thing tomorrow."
"Huhhh no way I'm joining. That kinda stuff's boring.." Floyd protests at Trick's expense, Jade having to patiently stop his brother from causing Trick to suffocate, noticing her phone in the process. Thanks to the element of surprise, he took it without much resistance, the other responding far too late to attempt taking it back.
"Manhandling a fellow student is against the rules." Warned the strawberry headed student approaching the trio, his authoritative tone not really matching his height, but that's something best not discussed in front of him with his temperament. His presence alone seems to have made Floyd's dampened mood immediately chippen, quick to start provoking Riddle, "Goldfishie! There you are! I saw an apple the other day and it was reallll red. Just like your head is when you get mad, does that mean your head is an apple? Ah that'd mean I can bite it!"
As usual, Riddle took the bait, his face flaring up with anger, ready to have the eel's head. Trick raised her two hands up, a gesture that warranted a desire for the situation to deescalate. She'd really rather not be caught trapped between the two's back and forth... As she was trying to stop either side from the further provocation of each other, which was thankfully, yet barely successful as Riddle tried to restrain himself, Jade slipped her phone back into her hand. Then adjusted his coat as if he had just made a business deal with some unfortunate naive soul and was ready to pack up.
"Ah- Finally!" She mumbles under her breath, stared at the still open screen. He'd added his contact in, likely when she was busy settling down the burning feud. Jade simply acted as if he's done the most casual thing in the world, signaling to his brother that it'd be best they leave now. Although extremely reluctant to do so, Floyd agrees, complaining as he unhanded Trick. The twins leave, not before they both turn their heads to leave an ominous farewell Trick would have to dwell with in bed beside her life decisions.
"Don't forget, mountain hiking, first thing tomorrow. Ah, I'll even bring some mushrooms from my previous hikes for you to try."
"Oh and Cuttlefish, Azul wants a meetin' with ya over at the lounge... So don't forget that as well.. Or do! Then I'll get to squeeze ya hehe."
Trick just nods grimly, watching the two finally exit. Riddle approached her the moment the two disappeared, giving her a once over, eyes filled with worried concern,
"They didn't trouble you too much did they?"
"They troubled me as much as Jade and Floyd trouble goes." Riddle chuckled, quick to stop himself mid-laughter. He shouldn't be laughing at her discomfort!
"No, no, it's fine.. They're annoying, but they don't make me feel uncomfortable. If...that's what you're thinking that is."
Riddle sighs, relieved. "I see.. still though, with you staying back at school alone with them, if they, or Azul ever disturb you too much you should be able to seek out help from the Scarabia dorm. I heard they'll be staying back as well to revise their dorm practices, Kalim is a friendly dorm leader, he'd love to help. Don't let those three push you around, you can always try avoiding Azul's meetings by.."
Ever the worry wart. It's weirdly endearing for him to be so worried over her comfortability with the twins, despite his own active avoidance of Floyd he'd always jump in if he felt Floyd was bugging her. A gesture she both appreciated, yet felt a contradictory discomfort towards.
"Where's Grim? Why isn't he with you?"
"Hm? Oh Grim? He went off to say goodbye to a friend of his. Uhh.. think his name was... 'Hornton'??"
"Hornton..? Who's that? Are you certain that's the real name of a schoolmate we have? Such a..peculiar word, I would've definitely remembered a name like that."
"Grim's words, not mine."
"Then he must've heard wrong, your direbeast's ears need checking. As the dorm's perfect Trick, you should be regularly checking up on your member's well-being!"
"You make it sound like he's my cat... Well maybe Grim's ears are naturally bad at hearing? Ever thought of that? He's not human after all."
"Still, it's in your scope of responsibilities to check on him. If you ever need help with learning more on direbeasts and their health, I could be of assistance! We can meet up in the library and.. study.. together.."
His voice trails off as a light pink dusted his cheeks, suddenly growing very avoidant of making eye contact with his friend.
"Studying together... Ah you mean like back then? Yeah, that does sound fun. Butttt I've kinda.. been getting busier as of late." Trick ponders, looking up at the intricately painted ceiling, failing to notice Riddle's subtle disappointment, "Though it has been a while since we hung out huh, after your overblot and all.."
Riddle bristles at the mention of his gooey meltdown, she quickly realizes what word slipped out of her mouth, and immediately changes the subject entirely. Bringing up a time her two troublemaking friends - Ace and Deuce - blew up her kitchen with dough flying everywhere when they attempted baking a cake with magic. It seemed to work, as Riddle let out a tiny giggle, yet now also concerned about the state of her kitchen.
The two carry on with their talk, Riddle listening attentively to every story and word Trick had to share. All his earlier worries just seemed to fade as they continued talking, tension finally leaving his shoulders. It's as if he can finally relax now. Even if it's just a short while.
His relaxation is eventually cut short when Trick asks about the elephant in the room. Why was he still there? You'd expect someone like him to be more punctual with his time and be home by now.
Riddle struggles to form coherent sentences, hesitation evident, slowly mumbling something related to his mother. Ah, so he's been stalling returning. Well, Riddle's mother most certainly isn't someone any normal person could tolerate being around, let alone being her son, so Trick understands his reluctance to return. Not being the best at offering comfort or reassurance, Trick could only give her condolences. Riddle nods, appreciating the poor attempts of consultation, composing himself, as he prepares to properly face his mother.
To make him feel better, Trick offers to clear out a day on her schedule for them to catch up once the break is over, something Riddle insisted she didn't need to do if she had her hands full already. However despite his protesting, the excitement was evident, even if he tried to hide it. Now he's able to part ways from a helicopter parent free life with genuine smile on his face. Before he leaves though, he nervously glances at her phone a few times. After being caught staring for the 7th time, the bashful boy pulled out his own device. Straightening up, he calmly asks,
"Would you be interested in keeping in touch?" Trick marveled at Riddle's ability to somehow balance out the anxiety with his authoritative poise, finding his formality in casual situations quite humorous.
"So you just wanted my number? You could've asked straight away without overthinking it.. the others and I have already exchanged contacts aswell."
"I..I see. Well I wanted to be sure you would be ok with it first."
Trick chuckled at such an idea, and Riddle could feel heat rising up the tips of his ears. The moment she finishes typing in her number, Riddle quickly took his phone back and extended a sloppy good-bye. Trying to hide his flustered face as he entered the mirror, Trick wishing a happy farewell behind him.
Now alone, Trick scanned around to see if she recognized any of the remaining students in the room. Having not seen a single familiar face, Trick turns to leave.
Upon doing so, she casts back a glance at the mirror. In the middle of the mirror was a mask possessing a rather sour expression, it's the mirror's only means of communication. It was a face Trick has, unfortunately, grown very acquainted with. She grimaces at the idea of needing to ask for its assistance again, then swiftly left, dreading the future of when she'll unavoidably try conversing with it again.
The cafeteria was a rather grand place, sure it's still just a place for students to eat, but it still had some pleasent architecture and interior design going for it. With its hints of purple creating a nice contrast from the more pleasently muted shades of brown and grey. Tables lined up the entire place, with a fireplace standing proudly at the center most wall. Trick and Grim wandered in, descending the cemented steps as they looked around to find the food Crowley promised he'd provide.
Upon further inspection, it would seem that majority, if not all, the wooden tables reminded empty, no speck of sustenance in sight. Just as the two were about to lose all faith in their headmaster, an aroma of food flowing from the kitchen caught their attention.
Curiosity had led the pair to check, discovering a group of students gathered who were all busing themselves with the act of cooking. There was a tinge of tension lingering in the air as the students rushed to chop, boil, and prepare their dishes. Once done, they all ran to a student for confirmation - likely the guy right at the heart of this operation. He had an expression that was similar of Trick's, a look that screamed of the exhaustion caused by being overworked. Though, as much as she'd hate to admit, he carried that look with an air of presentability. Something Trick clearly hasn't been bothering herself much with.
The newcomers did not escape his sight, spotting the kitchen's anomaly almost instantly, he shoots a welcoming smile at them. "Hello there, I'm Jamil. What do the two of you need?"
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AHHHH I FINISHED WRITING IT... THIS SHIT TOOK ME AT LEAST TWO WEEKSSSS 😦 And then I abandoned it in my Tumblr drafts for at least a month...
TQSM FOR READING!! I suffered writing this... Proofreading... Is...hard...ack... 😔
My writing certainly isn't great or the best by any means so I'm open to getting any constructive criticism wether in writing or characterization 💥💥
Anyways.. that's all. Byee! 🦈🦈🦈
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