if you could hear the dead whisper, they’d tell you there was never any doubt.
i was destined for this, i was born to carry the jaws of death in my heart
...right until it was hungry enough to swallow me whole.
Triggers: car incident, blood, murder, emotional distress, mental collapse, death
Mentions: Abaddon, demons, police, Ethan, her dog, Spud.
Location: abandoned warehouse/pool
Time: 6th December, 3AM
Word count: 1′794
There was a knot in her stomach as she sped across the roads, bare feet on the peddles, just a t-shirt covering her skin. The moon was lighting up the streets and Harley tried to call Ethan, tell him something was incredibly wrong. Her skin was buzzing, her heart was racing and she couldn’t think for the chaos inside her head. "Shut up, shut up!” She croaked out as her eyes were brimming with tears. Whatever she was heading into, she was not prepared for - but if she could save someone? She had to try. The call to Ethan rang twice before it failed thanks to the crap service and that should have been her warning sign. Harley slammed her foot on the breaks when a figure appeared in the road but it was too late. The body collided with her windscreen and made her swerve with a screech, her tires leaving burns on the road. The front crashed into the wall and the airbag released, trapping her against the back of her seat until she ripped through it with a pocket knife. The collision had her in a brief daze and she tumbled out the door, falling onto the floor before she managed to catch her feet. “Oh god, no. Oh please no,” staring at the heap on the ground, she was praying she hadn’t just killed a man on her way to try and save one. Crawling towards him, the fear on her face was evident. “H-hello?” Harley stepped around to see their face, only to be met with a pair of black eyes and hands on her ankles that swiped the ground out from under her. “That almost hurt, bitch.” He cackled, grabbing her wrists as she kicked and struggled against him. “What the fuck! Get off me!” Harley couldn’t focus enough to use her power, the war in her head was still there, telling her this was far from over. The demon slammed her head off the ground, successfully knocking her unconscious. When she woke, she was the one in a heap on the damp ground. “Ow,” she whispered as her gentle fingers touched the wound on her head. The second thing to distract her was the smell. Had it not been pitch black, she would have realised exactly what it was. “Hello?” Harley’s lip quivered, she was freezing, how long had she been here? Why was it so wet? Had it rained? Hearing a few chains rattle forced her to her feet like she was ready to defend herself. “Who’s there?” The flicker of some bad lighting lit up the warehouse and if a heart could actually fall to someone's feet? Hers just did. The ground was wet with blood, the chains had bodies attached to them. Limbs and hair, clothes and tools everywhere. Naturally, just the sight of it reduced her to her basic instinct. There was no warning and no stopping the window shattering scream erupted from her lungs. Loud enough to shake the ground, smash through the glass and echo for miles. Harley fell to her knees breathless, her hands were pressed tight against the sides of her head as she choked out a sob. Why hadn’t the whispers stopped? Usually, it was silent after she wailed but this time? It was like it had increased in volume and pressure.
“Cute trick. You’re the kid Abaddon was protecting, right?” Two demons strolled leisurely towards her almost like they owned her. Harley was trying to block out the noise but there was something different, something so deafening about this noise that was actually painful. “Why?” She whispered, in reference to all the dead bodies. “To get you to scream. We had to be sure you were what we thought before we used you.” One demon answered. Harley shook her head, not understanding. Her eyes were squinted, the lights were so bright, the whispers were tormenting her, making her scrape her own nails off the ground as if that would help her focus. “Do you have any idea what we could do if we had a banshee in our pocket?” The laughter made her feel sick, but she wasn’t about to go down like this. “I’m a little big to go in your pocket.” Harley climbed to her feet with a sway in her stance. “I’d rather sever my own vocal cords than be your lapdog.” Apparently, that wasn’t the right answer. There was a dirty cloth being stuffed in her mouth and even dirtier hands on her pale, blood-ridden skin, dragging her into another room in spite of her efforts to stop them. The redheads' eyes grew wide in alarm as she looked at the swimming pool. What the fuck? There were body parts floating around in the red water and the smell... Oh god, the smell - it made her eyes sting. Without another word, there was a fist in her hair, pushing her forward until her head was under the blood ridden water. She struggled to no avail. The rag slipped out and she was gasping for air when they pulled her back up. “If not you, there’s another in Portland. Think wisely, Harley. Choose us or end up like them.” As if he expected her surrender, he let go of her hair and stepped back, giving her enough time to cough and turn around on wobbly legs. The redhead barely registered what he said to her, there was a suffocating lump in her throat that aided the erratic beat of her heart. Harley’s eyes began to dart around as she saw visions of people, running, colliding, yelling, wow. “Stop. Oh god please stop, please!” She was shaking her head and covering her ears, as if that would help. The two demons were stood in confused amusement but to the banshee, they weren’t even present right now. There was a literal war playing out in her mind and through her vision and she couldn’t handle it. It wasn’t like she had the most stable of thoughts at the best of times, but right now? Her whole world was caving in on her and she’d never been in such a fragile state. “I c-” she stopped as her eyes fixed onto five souls running right towards her. She squeaked, panicked and stumbled backwards, falling over the edge of the pool and into the deep end of the pool. Even the water that filled her ears didn’t stop the screaming, the chlorine and blood in her eyes didn’t stop her seeing the body parts. Harley was trying to scramble and swim back to the surface - she nearly made it, but her hands hit something solid, something cold and... Fuck. There was a dead man in the water with eyes that appeared to look right at her, bringing a lengthy, banshee scream from her already strained lungs. Harley was soon breathing in water, choking on it even after she surfaced. Her energy was gone, her mind was broken, it was like she hadn’t even registered the policeman who was trying to aid her.
It took a few minutes for her to stop spluttering and then came the tears. The literal sobs of grief for all the bodies she’d seen, all the death fixed under her skin. The demons were nowhere to be seen and Harley was sat on the floor in a state of defeat as the officer called for backup and presented her with her mobile. “I found this, is it yours? Is that your car out there? Can I call someone for you?” He offered as he wrapped his jacket over her shoulders. “... Ethan,” she sniffled, allowing him to be the one to call, her hands remained like dead weights on her legs, her tears soon drying out just to be replaced by an empty void in her head. “Hello, Ethan? It’s Darren Renolds,” he began and gently explained the situation they were in and that Harley needed him. Both Ethan and Harley knew Darren, he was a good cop, a nice friend. “He’s on his way, Harley,” the officer crouched to the floor in front of her once he’d hung up the phone. “There’s also police and an ambulance on the way too so just hang in there, okay?” He smiled. “You’re very kind,” Harley whispered - void of all emotion in her tone and her expression. She was numb. “If only kindness could save me.” She added as she clambered to her feet. “I don’t understand...” He frowned at her. “I didn’t either... But I do now. The noise is gone. The whispers, they’re all gone...It’s because I understand.” A silent tear slipped down her cheek. “I can feel it... It’s under my skin, like I’m already cold... I can feel my death,” she choked back a half laugh, half sob. Of course, she always felt death, but to feel her own? It was as unpleasant as one could imagine. “Ethan needs to know I love him. Please. Tell him for me. Tell him I really did love him and he made me the happiest I’ve ever been... And that Spud needs a home now and.. And that- that he or.. or you, you couldn’t have saved me,” Her breathing was shaky and her words were broken as she took a couple steps back from the very alarmed officer. There was absolutely no fight left in her, this entire ordeal had left her with a broken mind. That’s not to say she wouldn’t have fought if she thought it would work. She just knew better. She was a banshee, after all, she knew when death was absolute. “Please don’t let him see me. Don’t let him in here. Don’t let him see me lifeless, Darren.” Not to mention she was covered in cuts and bruises and blood from both her head and the pool. She didn’t want Ethan to remember her like that. “What is here?” Darren asked, being well aware of the supernatural and also knowing she was a banshee. Harley just shook her head and clenched her fists as if she knew what was about to happen. “Tell him I’m--” She didn’t manage to finish as she was suddenly swept up in black smoke... The two demons had left their vessels, but they were sure not to leave her alive. The entities swept her up and cracked bone after bone until they were satisfied with her screams of agony, and then... SNAP. The last bone to break was made by an inhumane twist of her neck. The light in her eyes was gone in an instant and as the black smoke left,
...her body hit the ground in a mangled, l i f e l e s s heap.
Ben furrows his eyebrows at her. “Pft. What are you talking about? I’m chill.” The male on the ground said, clearly not very chill at all from the expression that appeared on his lips. He took her hand and pulled himself back up. “No, you’re not scary. Scouts honor and all that. You know what is though?” He pointed to where her bow and arrow was. “You scared the crap out of me with that thing. Are you at least stealing from the rich and giving to the poor?” There’s a very obvious joke in that despite his serious tone.
“If you’re chill I’d hate to see you panic,” she pulled a face and helped him up. Once he was on his feet, she frowned at the fact she had to tip her head up to look at him. “Well, I think I prefer you when you were down there and I was the tall one.” Harley broke into a smile and shook her head. “Don’t tell anyone you sussed my identity, the world would be shook to know Robin Hood is a woman.” She chuckled, picking the bow back up. “I’m Harley,” she handed it out. “Go ahead, give it a go. It’s actually very therapeutic.”
“ trying ? oh, i don’t have to ‘ try ’, sweetheart,” she smiled softly, throwing a nickname right back at the auburn-haired girl. “ how about you tell me what you’re doing out here and i won’t kill you ? ” olivia had never threatened someone before, but she found that it actually felt good . it felt good to release whatever anger she had within her on someone who wasn’t expecting it.
“Oh goodie, I so hoped to run into an entitled bitch today,” the sarcasm dripped from her tone. Death threats? She’d heard enough of those to not let it shake her, even if the threat itself was real. “What does it look like I’m doing out here?” Harley frowned, thinking that was already obvious as she gestured to the bow and the target sheet. “Just FYI, if you try to put one of your skanky fingers on me, I’ll scream... And believe me, you don’t want me to do that.” The threat was hidden, given the fact, there were no obvious tells to a banshee, she just looked like a weak human.
“My basket?” it was in that moment that her sudden hatred for that pathetic toy basket she had to carry around Halloween night, really set in, again. “Long gone.” she laughed.
“A shame. You looked adorable with a side of sass,” she chuckled, happy to be, well, happy. It was good to be calm for once, archery always helped. “You wanna try?” Harley gestured to the bow. She imagined her aim would be good, given her status.
“What the Hell man!” Ben shouted at her as he puts his hands up in surrender before stumbling back and tripping onto his back from a large trunk. “What are you doing, Robin Hood? You’ll freaking poke someone’s eye out with that thing! Does everyone around this place carry murder weapons casually like you do?”
Spinning around when she heard the shouting, she probably should have lowered the bow first, maybe then he wouldn’t have fallen. “Uhm... Okay, well firstly just... Chill, okay?” Harley put the bow on the ground. “And secondly, I’ve never murdered anyone with this bow,” she tilted her head and broke out into a laugh. “Thirdly, it’s just a hobby, I’m hitting paper bulleyes, not actual eyes. Breathe.” Stepping forward, she offered him a hand. “I’m not that scary am I?”
“ you could certainly try, ” she took a step forward, threatening the space between them - especially because the auburn-haired female still had the bow pointed towards her. “ but i’m pretty good as well. ”
“Are you trying to be intimidating, blondie?” She so hated bad attitudes, they really messed with her calming thoughts. “How about you just lose the tude and we’ll start again?” Harley put down the bow, it wasn’t like she actually needed it to defend herself.
“Yeah, makes a change.” she quipped, meaning no offence by it. Continuing to stand behind, she watched as Harley released the arrow, hitting her target straight on. It was safe to say she was impressed. “Took a detour,” meaning on her run, going through this way was better than through the town of Mystic Falls. It was quieter.
“I shouldn’t be shocked,” she put down the bow. “You were little red riding hood for Halloween, right? I guess the woods are your territory... But where’s your basket?” Harley teased.
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