Hi! I'm Aspen, and this is my side blog for writing. FOLLOW MY MAIN @normallyaspen Current list of ocs: Maya Coleman, Rowan Coleman and Maya Williams. Profile picture Flipped updates Wednesday and Sunday Any triggers will be tagged as tw: trigger
Yancy x GN!Reader
March of Pain 2026
Day Fifteen Prompt: Overwhelmed
Word Count: 811
Content: angst/comfort
You’d woken up in a bad mood. You weren’t sure what caused it but you were just done with the day before it even got started. You were trailing behind Yancy to the cafeteria. He was saying something about a new song he was working on but you weren’t paying attention. It wasn’t that you didn’t care, you did. It was that you weren’t in the right mindset to focus on whatever he was saying. A soft grunt left your lips when you collided with Yancy’s back, stepping back and looking at him to find him already looking at you.
“Youse okay?” he asked, raising a brow at you. You stared at him for a moment before registering that he had asked you a question.
“Uh yeah, yeah. I’m cool.” you told him but he wasn’t buying it. However, he didn’t push the subject, grabbing a tray and going down the line to get food with you following suit. You were functioning on autopilot as of right now, everything felt like too much. The lights seemed too bright, the noises around you felt too loud, the feel of your uniform made your skin crawl and made you want to crawl of them, and scent of the food being placed on your tray made you want to turn up your nose and not eat it at all for the rest of the day. You automatically followed Yancy to your usual table, sitting beside him but you didn’t move to start eating your food.
He took notice of this and frowned a little, taking himself out of the conversation that his friends were having to focus on you. He gently nudged your shoulder, watching you snap out of whatever trance you were in and look at him before offering him a small smile.
“Are youse sure? Youse just poking at your food.” he pointed out, making sure not to draw attention to you. You dropped your gaze to your tray as your smile faded, a shuddering breath entering your lungs as unexpected tears filled your eyes. Yancy’s concern only grew when he noticed how your eyes gained a glassy look to them, his words catching in his throat when you suddenly stood and left the table, heading to the cell block. He closed his mouth and watched you disappear around the corner, wanting to go after you but deciding that you probably needed some space.
You reached yours and Yancy’s cell, stepping inside and going over to the bunk where you climbed onto the top bed, your bed, and curled up on your side to face the wall. The tears started to fall and you attempted to stay quiet so you didn’t catch the attention of the guards or passing inmates, remaining in your bed for the rest of lunch period and into free time. You picked up on the sound of the door of the cell opening and closing, soft footsteps approaching the bed and the slight creak of the metal bed frame.
“Wanna talk?” Yancy’s voice was gentle, carefully not to break the remaining bit of your patience that you were barely holding onto. You stared at the wall for a while before slowly rolling over onto your other side, meeting Yancy’s gaze while sniffling and wiping at the tears that trickled down your cheeks.
“Everything feels too much. From the moment I woke up today, everything has been getting on my nerves and overstimulating me.” Your voice trembled slightly as you spoke, hands gripping onto the blanket beneath you. Yancy crossed his arms on the edge of your bed and rested his chin on his arms, frowning softly.
“What does youse want?” he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly, maintaining eye contact despite you looking away from him. You were silent for a moment, thinking over his question and chewing at the inside of your cheek before you met his gaze again.
“Can we cuddle?” Your voice was small and the sound of it made Yancy’s heart clench in his chest.
“Of course.” He climbed up the rest of the way while you shuffled over to make room for him, watching him lie down beside you before you tucked yourself into his side, your head settling on his chest and listening to his heartbeat while his arm loosely wrapped around you and gently drew mindless shapes against your hip. The steady beat of his heart helped ease your mind, your breaths syncing with his while the two of you laid in silence, simply enjoying each other’s presence and holding each other.
“Thank you, Yancy.” you muttered softly after lights out, feeling sleep starting to drag you down as your lashes fluttered and eye lids fell shut.
“Youse is welcome.” He answered right before you fell asleep against him, feeling so much better than you had earlier that day.
fish n chips is ALREADY CANON if u just peel off the romance. two homies who're just friends who love eachother so so much WE ALREADY HAVE THIS!!! PUT UR ARO GOGGLES ON RIGHT NOW SO HELP ME JOBE
watching buffy makes me feel like i'm darwin on the galápagos islands but for pop culture vampires. like obviously louis & lestat are the first (popular) iterations of the modern vampire but angel & spike are the crucial evolutionary step between them and every other sexy vampire that came into existence in the 2000s. for example it's hard to see much of louis in edward but then when you realise it went louis -> angel -> edward it all makes so much sense you forget 9/11 even had anything to do with it at all
TRIGGER WARNINGS: CANCER, HOSPITALS (let me know if there’s anything else I should add)
Let me tell the story of how Eve’s life changed.
Eve had gotten up early that morning, having felt ill through the night. Her skin, pale and sickly, was covered in a thin veil of bronzer and blush to maintain her healthy glow before she left the house for school. On her way down the front steps, she waved to her neighbor, Virgil, who she took the bus with everyday.
"Hey Virge."
"Hey Lena. You look as bad as I feel today, what's up?"
"Oh nothing, I'll be coming down with a bug or something from school, I'll be fine!" She gave him a hug and they linked their hands together as they walked to the bus stop.
Eve had never enjoyed the bus ride to school, but that day it felt less bearable than usual, and being squashed between Virgil and the window was cramped instead of cosy.
School went by in a blur, lessons dragging and smudging together, until it was almost the end of the day. By now, Eve’s head was pounding, her blood felt like gum in her veins, and having had two nosebleeds already, Virgil finally convinced her to go to the school nurse. Standing up to leave the classroom, the treacle blood rushed to her head, and before she could move away from her table, she was crumpling to the floor.
A few hours and scans later, Eve woke up in a hospital bed. Her parents by her side, a strong unit that could outlast anything.
“Evie!” Her mum, Maisy, exclaimed, shuffling towards her daughter and squeezing her hand tightly. “How are you feeling?”
“Foggy...” She tried to lift her arm to rub at her heavy eyes, but it felt like lead. “What happened mum?”
“You passed out at school baby. They had to call an ambulance because you wouldn’t wake up. They took some blood tests and scans to find out what’s wrong, but you’ll get through it because you’re our strong and beautiful baby girl.” She planted a gentle kiss on Eve’s forehead before moving back to her husband.
“The doctors wanted to know when you woke up, they’ll be here soon to explain everything.” David, Eve’s dad, sat down next to Maisy, and everything felt peaceful. Until the doctor came in.
“Hi Evangeline, I’m doctor Granger. How are you feeling?” Despite being a tall man, doctor Granger wasn’t imposing, and he stood semi-awkwardly inside the door.
“Icky,” Eve half laughed, “and heavy.”
He scribbled it down on a clipboard that was folded inside the tray at the foot of Eve’s bed. “I’m sorry to hear that Eve. I’m also sorry that right now I don’t have a lot of answers for you either. Your x-ray shows some swelling in your chest, and you have some abnormalities in your blood test results, so I have referred you to a haematologist who will be able to get to the bottom of the problem for you.” He smiled kindly. “They should be here to see you by tomorrow, but in the meantime we are going to keep you in overnight if that is okay, just so we can keep an eye on you. Great! I hope to see you fighting fit tomorrow ready for discharge.” Placing the file back in its place, doctor Granger left.
“What does he mean? Why can’t I go home?”
“I don’t know kiddo,” David comforted, “But we’ll stay with you all night.”
“We will, but I’ll also go home and pick you some bits for the night. Is there anything you want?” Maisy stood.
“Can you bring me my bear?”
“Of course sweetie. If there’s anything else you think of, let your dad know and he’ll text me. I’ll be back soon. I love you so much.” Another kiss on Eve’s forehead and Maisy left. Whilst she was gone the haematologist came to see Eve.
“Hi Eve, I’m doctor Brown, but you can call me Amy. I’m going to be your haematologist, so I’ll be investigating the abnormalities that appeared to get to the bottom of what made you pass out today. If you would like, I can go over in a bit more detail what we found that we want to investigate?” David nodded, Eve starting to drift asleep. Noticing, Amy started to talk to David instead.
“Okay, so the x-ray returned that there was some swelling around her chest and neck, specifically where we would consider her lymph nodes. This in itself isn’t a huge worry, but there was also a deficiency of red blood cells in her sample. Again, on its own this wouldn’t be anything to worry about, but because of her age, we just want to rule out some more severe possibilities. At this point I would say it is too early to be worrying too much.” She smiled reassuringly.
“What are these possibilities?”
“Well, mainly cancer. The symptoms demonstrated are parallel to those of a specific form of leukemia, but it is extremely rare, so it’s most likely no cause for concern.”
“Okay...” David was slightly in shock. “What’s the course of action now, then? There’ll be more tests?” Amy nodded.
“Yes, in the morning, I’ll be back to talk it over again with Eve and Maisy as well, answer any questions they have, or that you may have thought of, and I’ll take a sample of bone marrow from her hip before she is discharged. I understand that you are going to be worried, but try not to, as of now there is no real evidence that it is leukemia, we just want to rule it out as quickly as possible.” Another friendly smile before she left David and Eve alone. Maisy returned to a sleeping Eve and a crying David.
Amy returned the next day to take the sample of bone marrow, which she did quickly, and she took another sample of blood for further analysis. Then she was gone again. And then came dr Granger, who discharged Eve from the hospital, with a time arranged for when her test results would be back so they could be expecting a phone call.
Eve continued to bounce through the days, half maintaining her usual energy. It was her phone that was meant to get the call, so all day she carried around the note, brandishing it to each teacher at the start of the lesson. And eventually, at eleven forty seven AM, it rang in the middle of french. Dashing out of the classroom, Eve answered it.
“Good morning, is this Evangeline Miller?”
“Yep, that’s me.”
“Hi there Eve, it’s Amy Brown. I’ve got your test results back today. If it isn’t too much trouble, I would like to talk them over with you in person, if your parents could bring you through?” Why couldn’t she just say it over the phone? Didn’t that mean something was wrong? If everything was okay why would she have more to say?
“Yeah, yeah they’ll bring me. What time?”
“As soon as possible, if that’s okay?” Something was definitely wrong if she was urgent.
“Yep, I’ll be there soon. Thank you.” The line buzzed silent, until it rang. Her mum would be able to help.
“Mum?” A lump had formed in Eve’s throat.
“Evie baby, what’s the matter?”
“It’s the doctor, she wants to speak in person, asap. Can you pick me up?”
“Of course, I’ll be there in ten.” Once again the phone went dead, leaving Eve in the silence of the corridor. She was going to have to go back into the class eventually. Nobody knew, but she was still scared of being asked what was wrong. But it was barely a few minutes until her mum would be here, and she didn't want to keep her waiting, so she balled up the lump in her throat and pushed it into her stomach, trying to imagine it into courage. She had a feeling she was going to need a lot of that. In the classroom, she packed up her things, earning strange looks from her peers and a sympathetic glance from her teacher, who wandered over while the class was working in its groups.
“Is everything okay Eve?”
“Peachy, I just need to go.” She walked off, not wanting sympathy as if she was already dying. There was still a chance she wasn’t.
Amy met them at the hospital reception, walking them to a private consultation room. It was cramped with four people in there, but Eve felt empty enough to make up for it.
“Okay, the reason I wanted to give you your results face to face Eve is because I didn’t want you panicking.” Eve looked at the paper on the desk, but she couldn’t read upside down. “The sample of bone marrow came back, and it revealed cancerous cells. From the bone marrow and the blood sample, we’ve confirmed that you do have acute lymphoblastic leukemia.” Everything froze, silent and cold. Eve heard her parents stop breathing, she felt the tears welling in her mum’s eyes and the fear in her dad’s mind. But she felt nothing.
“So what does that mean? Is there a treatment?” Maisy was panicking, so much for that plan.
“Acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a type of blood cancer, and it’s quite rare, that makes white blood cells enter the blood before they are ready, taking up space for the rest of the important bits of your blood. But just because it is rare doesn’t mean it is terminal. We have caught it early enough for it to be treatable; the majority of patients live a healthy life for at least five years. We’ll need to take some more tests to confirm the best route of treatment for you, but it will likely be based on chemotherapy and blood transfusions until we can get it into remission.”
“Okay."
"How long until treatment starts?” More panic. Eve wished that they would stop panicking.
“I’ll take the samples I need now, and then treatment should start within a week. If you would like, Eve, I can connect you with some charities and sources of information that should help you to learn more about what you’re going through?”
“No thank you, not right now. I think I just need to let it sink in. Thanks though. Can we just get the samples taken so I can go back to school? I have drama this afternoon.” It was the most she had spoken, and it snapped right out of her.
“Of course, right this way.”
The sample was taken, and Eve returned back to school just after the start of drama.
“Sorry I’m late.” She dumped her bag in the corner and joined the circle sat on the floor.
“No worries Eve. As I was saying, today we are learning about emotion memory and context. Does anybody know what emotion memory is?” A few people put their hand up, and somebody answered, but Eve didn’t pay attention to who. Maybe she didn’t have emotions, that was why she was so calm about all of this.
“Eve!” She looked up to see everyone on their feet in pairs working. She hadn’t even heard the assignment.
“Sorry sir, what are we doing?” She climbed to her feet, trying to muster the amount of energy she normally had.
“Right now Eve, you and me are going to have a little chat.” He walked up the few steps to the back row of seating, watching the students pretend to break up and give bad news. “What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing…” That was a lie. “I’m fine.”
“Is it a school thing?” She shook her head. “A home thing?” She shrugged. How could she even begin to categorise what kind of thing was making her upset.
“Is it a thing that a coffee would help?” She shook her head. At least for now, a coffee and a chat sounded like the worst thing in the world. While Eve waited for Mr Derbyshire to think of anything else to offer, she thought about what was happening at home. Were her mum and dad crying? Had they gone back to work, trying to ignore it? Were they sitting with coffee trying to figure out how to tell people close to them that their daughter had cancer and it might be terminal? She didn’t know.
The bell rang, and everyone clambered for their bags. Eve hoped that lesson was the only one of its kind.
The phone rang. It rang again and again and again until his familiar voice sounded through the speaker.
“Hey, it’s me, although you probably knew that. Leave a message if you want, or send a text.”
“Hi, it’s me. Sorry, Emma. Forgot you can’t see me. But you have my number so you probably know who it is already. I’m just calling to say hi, don’t worry about calling back or anything. Yeah...
“Okay, so the thing is right, I really like you. I know we haven’t known each other very long, and I don’t even know if you have a girlfriend, and we’ve never even hung out together without the others, but I don’t know. There’s just something… cool… about you. Sorry, this probably sounds really creepy. You just make me feel so at ease you know, like I could talk about anything with you and you would never judge me. God, I sound like I’m trying to hire you as my therapist or something. I guess what I’m really trying to say is: I want to get to know you better. I feel invested in you, do you feel the same? I just want to know about you and your parents and all the stupid stuff like your middle name and what pets you have and whether you prefer peanut butter or nutella or if you have a nut allergy, and what type of bread you prefer, because I know you eat a load of bread because you’re always carb loading for the gym. Maybe you would take me sometime? What am I saying, I could never keep up with you, you work out three hours a day.
“Sorry I’m talking so much, I’m just so nervous. I need to shut up. Call me back maybe if you want to? If I haven’t scared you off. I should never have done this.”
A message lit up my darkened phone screen. It was him.
Hey! You rang? Just checking you’re okay, since it’s pretty late. Call me back if you need to x
Suddenly I was so glad I hadn’t left that message.
Prompted by the procrastination of writing the actual canon epilogue.
“Are they still bullying you?” Kenna nodded, mascara stains still fresh on her cheeks.
“It’s not that bad, not like it used to be.” She had watched Maya go through hell, and even now she didn’t want to worry her.
“You came to me crying. They made you cry. I won’t let them hurt you any more!” Maya pushed herself up from the floor, starting to pace aggressively. “Who did it?”
“Just the norma—”
“I need names!” Maya interrupted. “Just please K, give me their names and I can make them go away.” She took Kenna’s hands, staring into her eyes with her own, pleading for the names.
“I won’t let you hurt them.”
“Why not?! They hurt you without a second thought, why can’t we hurt them back?” Fresh tears led new tails down Kenna’s face, but she said nothing, waiting for Maya to stop. “They deserve to know how it feels, how you feel! Maybe then, when they aren’t so untouchable, they won’t hurt others as much.”
“You’ve changed May.” Kenna was quiet, a whisper compared to Maya’s yelling.
“What? Just because you won;t admit that I’m right you are saying that I’ve changed?!”
“You’ve become one of them. One of your uncles.” At that, Maya stopped pacing. For a few seconds she stood silent, before slumping onto the floor and sobbing.
“I’m sorry, sorry, they… I...” Kenna moved to sit next to her, but didn’t make any moves to comfort her.
“I know you’re trying May, but this isn’t something you can work through on your own. Tell your therapist next time you see them.”
“I… I can’t. They think… think that I’m do… doing so well.” Maya could barely talk between the sobs, but Kenna still couldn’t help her.
“If you won’t then I can’t be with you anymore May. I can’t be with you when you’re like this. If you choose me, then you tell your therapist.” Maya nodded her head, and Kenna pulled her in tight for a hug. “It’ll be okay May-bay, you can get through this.“
...
So, this was actually inspired by Heathers, because I’ve been really into that recently. And about the epilogue... it will come soon, but it is currently about ten words long.
But, because this is something I’ve been meaning to say forever and I am the worst and I keep forgetting, I am going to say this here, and at the end of the epilogue: a huge huge huge thank you to @honestlyitsjustkenna for letting me take Kenna, her oc, and mould her into my story. Big preesh, and go check out her story the price you pay. Big love to all, but specially her, love you K.
TRIGGER WARNINGS: GUN VIOLENCE, MANIPULATION, HOSPITAL SCENES, DRUG MENTIONS
Surely the emergency line couldn't be this full, Kenna thought as she waited for an operator to pick up the call.
By the time she returned to the kitchen, nothing seemed to have changed. Maya’s uncles were still attacking Anti on the floor, and Maya was still twitching as she started to wake. Nobody even noticed when Kenna crossed the room to hold Maya, petting her hair and covering her ears so she didn’t have to hear Anti’s pleas and cries.
Maya slowly started to regain her senses, but Kenna kept her hands covering her ears, preventing her from turning her head to see what was going on. But that couldn’t last forever, and when Maya started glitching Kenna let go.
Everyone was so concentrated on attacking Anti that they didn’t notice her regaining consciousness. Maya knew this, and she knew there was a way that this could be stopped.
“Kenna,” she whispered, “In Chase’s recording studio, there’s a fake panel, two in from the door hinges.” Maya fell back on the floor, as if she had never woken up, and Kenna left to the dining room, knowing she would be safer that way.
She ran through the corridor; luckily Maya had given her a half-tour, showing her the library and important rooms to avoid. Chase’s recording studio was one of the latter.
In the room, she counted the panels and tried pulling them off. On the fourth attempt, she found the right one, and there was a small hole inside the wall. Reaching inside it, her hand touched something cold, and as she pulled it out, she saw what it was.
A gun.
She hid it inside her jacket and ran back the way she came, meeting Maya in the dining room.
“How did you know about this?” Kenna questioned as she handed the gun to Maya.
“I-I don’t know, it’s just something I knew. I never knew about it before though, nobody ever told me.” Maya was glitching as she held the gun. Anti had taught her how to use one, knowing that his brothers would always be around and dangerous, but in the heat of the moment Maya was struggling to remember. After fiddling with it for a few minutes, she had it, and she unclicked the safety.
As calmly as she could manage, she walked out back into the kitchen, and holding the gun in both hands, she screamed, “Stop! Everyone stop it!”
They all turned to look at her, laying off Anti as they realised what was happening.
“You don’t know how to use that Little Duck, put it down before somebody gets hurt.” Maya shook and glitched, but the shaking of her head was an obvious no.
“Don-” Anti coughed and spluttered, “Don’t be so… so sure… I taught her a lot...”
Chase tried a different approach to Jackie, hoping that their hold on her was still strong.
“Now Little Duck, what have we told you about glitching?” She turned, pointing the gun at Chase as he spoke, but it was clear she was conflicted.
“No, you lied to me… you lied to me...” her voice was soft, her mind trying to find fault, who was wrong. Everything was so wrong.
Whilst everyone was frozen, Anti managed to climb to his feet. Having basically lived with Kenna for the past few years he understood as she signed “police” over her stomach.
“Together?” He replied, keeping his hands low and his movements small. Kenna nodded.
“May,” Kenna took a step towards Maya, and placed her hand on her shoulder. Maya glitched in shock as she felt the touch, enveloping Kenna’s hand in her static for a split second.
Kenna understood how scared she was, and gently took her shaking wrists, pushing her arms towards the floor.
“Pumpkin,” Maya didn’t respond to her pet name, shattering Anti’s heart.
“Maya, it’s Anti, it’s papa. Everything is okay now,” he took a step towards her, glitching through the crowd of enemies. “I’ll protect you.” More steps, each time whispering words of comfort. All he had to do was get to her before the police showed up. That was all.
As the sirens sounded down the street, he was a pace away, but he managed to grab the gun from her hands and point it back at his brothers before they could start to move.
The brothers, once again held at gunpoint, started swearing, and continued to try and coerce Maya into returning to them.
“Little Duck, we can protect you, we can protect you from everything.” Jackie started, knowing what was about to come.
“We know where you live Little Duck, you’ll never be safe unless you’re with us.” Marvin continued.
“Think about all the questions you’re going to have to answer, they’ll think you’re lying Maya.” Maya looked up at Chase’s final blow.
“I… I’m not… I’m not lying… You lied, you all lied...” Slowly she started glitching, stronger and stronger. Slowly she became less tangible, a flickering ghost. Slowly she moved, becoming stronger inside the circle of her uncles. And as she calmed, she became human again, this time with the gun held loosely in her hand.
It was perfect. Jameson took the gun from her hand, as Chase hugged her. “You see? That wasn’t so hard was it?” Maya shook her head as he let go. “And this is what you get for it.” Jameson passed the gun to Chase, who shoved it into the side of her head.
Before anything else could happen, the door burst down, and police swarmed in.
“Police, put your hands where I can see them!” Six pairs of hands went up, Chase holding Maya still as he kept the gun pressed against her head. Shielded by the others, the police officer couldn’t see the danger Maya was in.
“I said hands where I can see them!”
“Like this then?” Chase turned the two of them around, showing the officer the gun and hostage.
“Sir, put the gun down.” The police officer tried to reason with Chase. “Let the child go.”
“Hmmm, I’d rather not. My life ends either way, why not ruin some others?” He gestured with the gun as he spoke, forcing it further into Maya’s head as he finished, causing her to whimper.
“Please Uncle Chase...” Maya pleaded. It was the first time she had ever referred to any of them as her uncle, and it took Chase by surprise. “I forgive you.”
“Forgive me? I’ve done nothing wrong little duck! You must be confused! Isn’t she, she’s confused!”
“Okay then, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t the niece you wanted me to be when you kidnapped me. After all of this we can fix that.” Chase didn’t know that the house was now surrounded by armed police.
“Really?” He loosened his grip on Maya, turning her to face him. She nodded, and he pulled her in for a hug. Anti turned to Kenna, utterly confused, but turned back at the strangled cry of Chase, who’s stomach had just met Maya’s knee.
“You little shit!” He doubled over, and Maya pushed through the other’s racing for Anti. Before she reached him, Chase had grabbed the gun and shot it.
“Maya!” Anti closed the final few steps, cradling Maya as Kenna grabbed a towel to press on the wound. The bullet had entered her chest, but they didn’t know if it had hit anything. Armed police raced in after the gunshot, tackling Chase to the ground and putting him in handcuffs. Next came the paramedics, needing to get to Maya. All the while, the uncles stood in silence, while Anti and Kenna huddled together, watching the paramedics placing Maya on a stretcher and moving her out of the room.
After that came the rest of the police, coming to question the witnesses and secure the scene.
Anti cared about none of that, he only cared that the second he had got Maya back his brothers took her away again.
Anti and Kenna were taken to the hospital after their statements were taken. When they arrived, there was no Maya to see though, for she was in surgery as they tried to remove the bullet.
As they waited, a nurse came out to speak to them. “You must be Miss Williams’ family?” They nodded. “Okay, would you like to come with me.” She led them to a small room. “Maya is in theatre for her gunshot wound. The bullet entered just above the heart, but went straight through her left lung. It then rebounded off her rib and got stuck in her collar bone after shattering some of it. The bones won’t be too hard to fix and should have few repercussions into the future, however the lung, whilst not being fatal, will take more time to heal.” Anti nodded.
“Okay, but that’s it? That’s not too bad.”
“No, considering where the bullet was aimed she has been very lucky. However, there are some other things we need to inform you off.” Anti knew that this was going to be the list of damage caused by his brothers. “Well, firstly, she has a build up of scar tissue around many of her vital organs, without having any visibly scarring on the surface. She also has a small fracture in her skull, and bruising on the muscle and flesh of the head. As well, she has traces of flunitrazepam, a common date rape drug, and phenothiazine, a drug used for psychosis. Do you have any idea why she might have these in her system?”
“It will have been my brothers. They kidnapped her. Does the psychosis drug have sedative properties?” The nurse nodded. “They’ll have given them to her.”
“Mr Williams—”
“Murphy, Mr Murphy, please.”
“Of course, Mr Murphy, you understand that we will have to report this to the police?”
“I would hope so, it was one of them that shot her.” He stood up. “Is that all?”
“Yeah, that’s all.” The nurse was still struggling to get over the shock of what he had just told her.
“Then I would like it if we could return to the waiting room to wait for Maya.” Anti placed his hand on Kenna’s shoulder and guided her out.
...
So... that ending huh? There will be an epilogue coming out soon, but this is the final chapter. This is the first big project I’ve ever completed and since coming up with the idea I have absolutely fallen in love with all the characters, as well as you guys who share your reactions with me. Vanessa and Sam, I adore seeing what you put in the tags, and Kate, I love seeing what you say outside of the tags. Just thank you, thank you thank you thank you so so so much. ~A. Xx
TRIGGER WARNINGS: PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, SEDATION WITHOUT CONSENT
Maya was kept in the lab for a while, still under careful supervision, despite being fully healed.
The next day she was let out though, and everyone went back to work. It was only her and Kenna in the house, and they were happy to spend time together after not seeing each other for a few days. Maya even made pancakes for breakfast.
However, when they were eating, there was a knock on the door.
“I’ll get it, it’s probably just the post or something.” Maya stood from her stool and walked to the door. Unlatching it, she opened it slightly, seeing who was outside before she let them in fully. Stood in front of her, alive as ever, was her papa.
“Hello?” She realised that she hadn’t yet fully opened the door, and had just been staring at him through the sliver she had opened it by. Scared, she slammed it shut again and went back to the kitchen.
“Who was it May?” She hadn’t looked as Maya as she re-entered the room, but if she had she wouldn’t have spoken so nonchalantly, seeing how pale Maya was.
“It was papa.” The words were barely a whisper, but it confirmed something to her that she hadn’t realised before: everything was a lie.
“Okay... do you want me to go and open the door? You can stay here.” Maya nodded, and Kenna helped her sit on a stool before she left. Opening the door, it was Anti that stood in front of her.
“Where’s—” he stopped short, not expecting a pleasantly familiar face to greet him. “Is Maya here?” Kenna nodded.
“What about anyone else? Any adults?” Kenna shook her head, not sure what she should say and what would get her into trouble.
“Can I come in?”
“I don’t know.”
“Scared they’ll hit you if you do the wrong thing? What about if I just come in? Then you had no part in this.” Kenna nodded.
“Okay.” Anti walked in. “So Kenna, why are you here?”
“I don’t really know. I think I was a present for May, but they never told me anything.”
“Cool, they kidnap kids now, that’s a fun progression.” Kenna took the lead as they walked in silence, until they reached the kitchen where Chase was now standing in front of Maya, facing the door as he tried to calm her down.
“Get the fuck away from her.” Anti growled, pushing Kenna behind him.
“Hey there little bro! I would say it’s nice to see you again, but since you upset our little duck, that would be a lie.” Chase straightened his back, shushing Maya as he walked out of her view. “See what you’ve done to her?”
”No. You did this to her when you took her away from me.” No matter how true it was, Anti hated throwing the blame. Even after all those years, he was still conditioned to fear them.
“What was that? It’s all your fault and you’ll leave her with us? That’s what I thought.”
“Not this time.” He was glitching sporadically now, it was as if there were three of him. That only encouraged Chase to call in the final four brothers.
"Isn't this nice? A family reunion. It even looks like you're gonna give us a few rounds for old time's sake, huh?"
Chase's smile was sadistic as they started to close in around Anti and Kenna. Maya stood frozen, unsure of what to do, until Chase pulled his arm back.
"Wait!" Her fear cut through the tension, and everyone faced her.
"Leave papa alone!" Chase dropped his arm, and while he stayed far too close to Anti, Marvin stalked over towards her.
"Why for, little duck? Don't tell us you care for him over us? After all we've done for you these past months. Who healed you? Who comforted you while you grieved?" Maya dropped her head.
"Who fed and clothed you? Got your girlfriend here when you asked? Cared for you with all our hearts?" Slowly, Marvin's hand snaked around Maya's shoulder, and left him with two options. It was on Chase's command. After a pause, he spoke.
"Who used dangerous magic to heal you?" The command given, Marvin's hand sent a pulse of magic through Maya, who crumpled to the floor.
Anti screamed and pushed those surrounding him, trying desperately to reach his baby girl.
Helpless: Kenna stood and watched as the mob pushed her out and turned on him, and he was soon crumpled on the floor like his daughter.
In the commotion, Kenna saw Maya start to stir from across the room; she was waking up; she couldn't wake to this. Kenna had to do something. There was only one thing she could do, and it was risky. She had to call the police.
Everyone learned of Henrik’s outbreak as they returned to the house throughout the day, however no one was able to reprimand him for it until evening, as he spent the majority of the day trying to “fix” Maya.
Eventually, after the others had eaten a very tense dinner, Henrik emerged, tired and annoyed, but safe.
“She’ll live.” He declared, before turning to leave the room.
“You do not get off that easy Henrik, you know this. I don’t care that you fixed her, if you hadn’t, we would have lost the only reason that Anti is coming here.”
“Yes, yes I understand. Get it over with.” Everyone stood, and formed a line around Henrik. Jackie, the eldest, threw the first punch, before leaving to sit down again.
The order followed down their ages, Marvin, Chase then finally Jameson. As Jameson sat back down, Henrik left the room, going to find some food before he went to bed. He didn’t care if Maya woke, or even if she was in pain: it was her fault this had happened.
Surprisingly, Chase had given in to Kenna’s pleas, and allowed her to see Maya. Maya had been half awake when Kenna had entered, and she had made sure to let her know that if she needed anything, to wake her. Not that she slept. She spent the whole night too scared to even doze. Every night she had been there had been plagued with nightmares, and Maya holding her was the only thing that would help to ward them off. But now, with Maya in the hospital bed, she couldn’t hold her, and Kenna couldn’t sleep for nightmares.
As well as this, Maya woke frequently in the night, almost like a clock, every three hours when one set of her painkillers had worn off. Really she should have been on a drip, but Kenna didn’t want to say anything, knowing that Henrik had done this to her. So, when Maya woke her up, she would give her painkillers, and help her get back to sleep, often clutching her hand.
Kenna woke up in bed, Maya nowhere to be found. It took her a moment before she remembered that she was in the hospital. But she had been there with her, who had moved her? She didn’t remember falling asleep, but maybe she had. She glanced at the clock, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. It was almost midday! She jumped out of bed, swapping her pyjamas for clothes and rushed to the door. Wait, she had never put pyjamas on last night. A shudder ran through her as she thought of one of Maya’s uncles changing her, but she tried to suppress it; she wanted to get back to Maya. She turned the door handle and tugged, but it wouldn’t budge. Pulling harder, she started to panic. Someone had locked her in!
“Let me out!” She banged on the door, making as much noise as she could. Eventually it opened, a tired looking Marvin on the other side.
“Look, just shut up okay. Nobody got any sleep last night, just because you did, doesn’t mean you can start causing a scene.”
“I…” Marvin’s abruptness startled her somewhat. “I just want to see May.”
“Later, okay? She’s asleep and we want her to stay that way; she kicked up a real fuss after you went to bed, bust all her stitches, and didn’t let any of us sleep. She needs to calm down on her own.”
“Okay.” Kenna went to move around Marvin and out of the room, but he continued to block the door. “Can I get some breakfast?”
“No, to make sure you don’t disturb her, we’re going to keep you here today. We’ll bring you food when we eat, but that’s it.” Before Kenna could argue, Marvin had shut the door, and she heard the lock click.
Meanwhile, the rest of the uncles were sat in the kitchen, discussing Maya.
“We know Anti is coming; he could show up any second, so we need Maya to be ready.” Jameson said. “And right now, she isn’t.” Everyone nodded.
“There is nothing more I can do for her, it will take time for her to heal.” Henrik spoke, defensive over his earlier outburst.
“We know, but Anti can’t show up with her like this, otherwise he could just take her away. We need her on her feet and fighting for us.” Now Chase was almost yelling: they didn’t understand the importance of this.
“Look,” Jackie spoke, “I’ll talk to Marvin, see if he can help speed up the process and what the cost would be.”
“Good, go and do that, sooner rather than later.” Jackie stood from the table, and left to find Marvin.
“Hey Marvin,” Jackie waved awkwardly as he walked towards him.
“What do you want?”
“Well, Anti is going to be here by the end of the week, and Maya isn’t going to be ready by then. We were wondering if you could maybe sort that for us?” He laughed nervously.
“You want me to heal her? Is she still that bad?”
“Yeah, she’s still completely out of it. Henrik said she died twice when he tried to save her. She’s really lucky to be alive, but we need her fighting in a few days.”
“It’s a powerful spell, you know, so it will be costly.”
“And what will it cost?”
“A life. An animal should do, like a dog or a cat. On second thoughts, best keep it a dog.”
“How soon can you do it?” Jackie was hesitant, the idea of killing a dog mildly upsetting him.
“How soon can you get me a dog?” Marvin smirked, and Jackie left.
A few hours later Jackie returned, half dragging a dog behind him. It was so old it could barely walk, and the shelter had been days away from putting it down.
“So this is what you brought me?” Marvin smirked.
“Look, it was going to get put down in a few days anyway, and it’s a living breathing dog, so it will work, right? What’s the difference?”
“Nothing, nothing at all. It’s just strange seeing you so compassionate.”
“Shut the fuck up.” Marvin cut off his laughter, trying to keep a straight face as Jackie covered the dog’s ears and kissed it’s head.
“Alright, help me get him up the stairs and I’ll leave you alone.”
The spell started, and Marvin took some of the blood in his hands, lifting it above a candle before letting it drip into the flame. He muttered some words, drawing symbols, before the dog disappeared, and he felt a surge of power rush through him. It wouldn’t last long, these forces were out for what they could get. He rushed through to Maya’s bedside, and chanted some more words, watching as the pallor of her face softened, before letting Henrik check that the wounds were fully healed. They were.
