(no subject)

[full_ofwoe]

Despite Goody's healing, I was in a state. There was blood on my uniform, the white cuffs of my shirt drenched with it, blood on my hand where Laurel had cut me, blood on my head where she'd hit me with the shovel.

Finally. Real blood. I felt like the prom queen.

I didn't have time to enjoy it, though, I had to get back to the school. If I didn't, there was every chance Crackstone would destroy Nevermore and everyone within its walls. Try as I might not to care, it turned out I kind of hated the idea of the rest of the Outcasts suffering. So I ran.

The sword felt like the best weapon. The same sword my mother had once held, I told myself, and I hefted it in my grip, then ran to the courtyard where Crackstone had already begun to rain fire upon the Outcasts. He was shouting, damning them to hell, and I approached from behind, sword in hand.

"Howdy, pilgrim."

He turned, his pale face twisted into a sneer at the sight of me. I was used to it.

"How canst thou heart still beat?" he asked. "What demon sorcery is this?"

"Stay away from her!" The words came from behind me and I turned to see Xavier standing on the steps, his bow raised. The shot was perfect. I moved slightly to allow it to pass by and it should have buried itself in Crackstone's black heart, but he raised his hand and the arrow stopped inches from him. It turned slowly before, with a flick of his hand, Crackstone sent the arrow flying back at Xavier.

I couldn't let that happen. I stepped into the path of the arrow and it slammed into my shoulder, a bright flare of pain that shivered pleasantly down my spine. I smiled as I fell, even as Xavier ran to my side. I looked at him, shook my head, and said, "Get them out of here." He hesitated, looking at the others. "Now!"

Even now, he trusted me. I still didn't know why, but he did and he got to his feet and did what I said as I yanked the arrow from my shoulder and grabbed the sword from the ground. No more hesitation. I was going to end this.

Crackstone fought back, as I knew he would. My sword met his staff over and over, I dodged, I ducked, I kicked his ugly pilgrim hat off his head. But then the staff slammed into my sword one last time, breaking the blade into half a dozen shards that rained to the ground and left me standing with little more than the handle.

I was distracted. It was a mistake and Crackstone took advantage, using his magic to slam me back against some wooden boards. His sneering face loomed close and I could smell his rotting teeth as he growled, "I will send you back to hell."

Whatever magic he had, it hurt. Not in a pleasant way for once, in a way that made me afraid, and I gritted my teeth against it, wildly trying to think of how I would get out of this. I didn't know what I could possibly do and then Crackstone suddenly cried out, his magic releasing me as a shard of the blade ripped through his chest from the back. Behind him stood Bianca and he growled at her, then hit her hard enough to send her flying.

It was enough. I was on my foot and I grabbed for the nearest part of the sword I could find, the very tip, and then Crackstone turned back to me, I buried it in his heart. His pale eyes went wide and I my lip curled as I shoved the sword deeper, then twisted, ignoring the cut to my hand as I did. I could see his disbelief. Once again, bested by an Addams.

I shoved and Crackstone stumbled back. Then, with a cry of pain and rage, he began to burn. Like he had burned my ancestors.

He was gone in moments and Nevermore remained. I remained. I was breathing hard, my hand aching, and I dropped the shard of sword before I turned back to the entrance to the courtyard, knowing Bianca would follow.

Only the entrance was no longer there.

Instead, I was standing on the steps of an entirely different building. The plaque next to the door read Darrow's Home for Children and I frowned at it, knowing I had never seen it before. I turned back and as I suspected, Bianca was gone as well. I was alone, bloodied and filthy, wearing my Nevermore uniform on the front steps of a building I didn't recognize at all.

Maybe I had finally gone mad. My lips curled into a smile at the thought.

If I hadn't gone crazy, then I had probably been transported here for some reason I didn't understand. There was nothing to do but work it out, so I pushed open the door and walked inside. This was wrong, all of it, but what else was I going to do?

Comments

[astheocean]

It's the weirdest fucking thing. One second, Jules is heading down the stairs into the lobby of the Children's Home, minding her own business, backpack slung over her shoulders. She'll be out of here soon enough, but until then, she intends to spend as little time within the walls of the building as she possibly can, which is exactly why she's going out now. All thoughts of that are temporarily pushed from her head, though, when a girl walks through the front door, seemingly about her own age, wearing what looks like a school uniform but splattered with blood. Jules's eyes go wide, and she hops down over the last couple steps to head over to her. She could just keep walking past and go out like she intended to, but it would feel like a dick move. Better to deal with whatever is going on here.

"Holy shit, are you okay?" she asks. "You're not, like, seriously hurt or anything, are you?" It would feel painfully naive not to assume that some of this blood belongs to the girl in question. Still, if they're going to need an ambulance or something, that's something to find out sooner rather than later.

[full_ofwoe]

For a painful second, I thought she was Enid.

An easy mistake to make, between the blonde hair, the clothes, and my exhaustion, but this wasn't Enid standing in front of me. I was too weary to recoil from the riot of colour and concern and instead I exhaled slowly, a sigh that seemed to take with it much of my strength.

"I'm alive," I said. "Which is a bit of a disappointment."

There were many days I longed for the cold embrace of death, my body being eaten by worms, turning to decay. The mere thought of that waiting for me was what kept me going most days.

[astheocean]

"Fuck, that bad, huh?" Jules asks, brow raising. It isn't as if she can't understand the sentiment; she has scars, faded though they are now, from times she thought she would rather not be alive. Still, she hadn't expected a response so blunt, especially from someone who looks like she's really been going through it, worse for wear in ways that don't strike her as self-inflicted.

"Look, why don't you, um, sit down, and I can... get you some water or something? I don't want you to, I don't know, pass out or whatever."

[full_ofwoe]

While it was true many things had changed since my arrival at Nevermore, I remained as uncertain as ever in the face of kindness. Why should this girl, bright and pretty as she was, bother with me? I couldn't say I would do the same.

"I won't," I said, but I did at least look for a place to sit, choosing a chair not far from the entrance. "What is this place? Besides an orphanage, which is honestly a solid point in its favour."

No parents, just guardians paid to make sure children were fed and housed and not much more. I imagined they were understaffed and overworked, unable to pay attention to everyone and more likely to leave the self-sufficient people alone. It was a dream come true.

[astheocean]

"I mean, that's pretty much the gist of it," Jules says, huffing out a laugh with little mirth behind it. For her part, she hates that about it — hates the constant supervision and having people to report to and total lack of personal space, being treated like a child when she hasn't felt like one in a long fucking time. It reminds her too much of the Unit. She'll be out of here before long, still counting the days, but knowing she'll be leaving soon just makes her that much more impatient to get the hell out and live a life of her own.

None of that really matters much right now, though. This girl is hurt, and doesn't seem to know where she is, and Jules can only guess at how much worse this would be to hear from one of the staff members.

"But, uh, I'm guessing you were really somewhere else entirely a few minutes ago."

[full_ofwoe]

"Nevermore Academy," I answered with a slight dip of my chin. "In Vermont, just outside of a small town called Jericho. This isn't Jericho."

While it was true Principal Weems had kept a close eye on me, she hadn't prevented me from properly exploring Jericho when and where I needed to. The small town hadn't had an orphanage, it hadn't had any buildings with the same architecture this one presented, and a simple look around on the front step had proven this place to be a bigger city than Jericho could have ever hoped to be.

"So either I've lost my mind, which seems too good to be true, or I've been transported somewhere else through some sort of magic I don't understand," I continued. "If there's a third option, I haven't figured it out yet."

[astheocean]

"I mean, you could have lost your mind, but if you have, we all have," Jules says wryly. She should probably be a little less flippant about all of this, with a new, injured arrival, but it isn't as if she can pretend it makes sense when it doesn't. It helps that this girl, whoever she is, has somehow hit the nail precisely on the head of what's going on here. While she hasn't been in Darrow terribly long herself, she's pretty sure that has to be some kind of a first, or at least a record time set.

"You're, uh, right on the money with option B, actually. Here is Darrow, it's... not really anywhere, and every so often, it just kind of yanks people out of their lives and drops them here instead."