Atrophy

R E D U X .// 2047 //.

Maysah frowned as Arbiter dissuaded any thoughts of a less obvious approach. Going loud was out of the question. While she imagined she could easily level the entire building if she had too, the innumerous amount of casualties immediately ruled that out—not to mention how it’d utterly destroy their precious drone. It was becoming apparent that Peterson’s plan, as haywire as it was, might be the only option they had with such short notice.

“Oh, I can keep you here all night if that’s what you want,” said Maysah as Peterson asked if there were more questions. She leaned forward and propped herself up on her elbow. “But we do have a delivery to make so I won’t do that. I have just one more question.”

She jutted one finger for emphasis and continued, “Suppose the stars align, your intel is good, and your man is impressive as you say he is. Once we have the drone, where do we meet up to make the swap?”

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

---

---

Penny had fucked up.

When they had all piled into cars to head to Miami, Penny had fully intended to stick with Isla—until another girl took the front seat before Penny even had a chance to call shotgun. Socially awkward situations were uncomfortable, but sitting in the motion sickness of being stuck in the backseat was worse. So she had thought, anyway, as she climbed into the front of Maya’s car. Perhaps she’d find that she had plenty of things in common with the witches riding with her, or at the very least she’d get to learn a little more about their operation. None of that happened.

Instead, Maya’s threat to blast any backseat drivers out of the car immediately set the tone, and her decision to just blare music as loud as possible cemented it. Penny squirmed and leaned her head against the window. She had faced axe-murdering school bullies, dimensional-travelling cultists, world-eating abominations, but none of them compared to the harrowing experience of being stuck in this car for several hours. The girl in the backseat did nothing to ease the pain as she popped in headphones and proceeded to practice with her abstraction. Penny watched the ball bonk her in the face and smiled. Amateurish control, but they all had to start somewhere. She remembered her afternoons spent hiding in a janitor’s closet blasting coins at makeshift targets.

Right now, as they swerved in and out of traffic to an ear-shattering, utterly incomprehensible rap song, Penny kind of wish one of her coins had ricocheted off of the target, bounced off of the ceiling, and lodged itself in her brain, effectively rendering her comatose for the rest of her life. Unfortunately, she couldn’t go back in time and become brain dead, so she did the next best thing and pretended to be asleep. She pulled her hat down, slumped in her seat, and prayed that they hit the oil tanker next to them, gulfing them all in a fiery hellstorm to put an end to this torture. Life was cruel, however, and they passed by the truck without even a singe.

“We’re stopping for a break.”

Penny let out an audible sigh of relief and had already unbuckled herself before they pulled into the gas station. She had to use every ounce of self-restraint not to just throw open her door and tuck and roll out of the still moving vehicle. The urge back even harder to deny as she overheard Emily’s jerkoff comment. Readjusting her hat, Penny sat up and turned to Maya. She was about to offer to get the girl something when Maya spoke up.

“You know what, it would be pretty great if one of you got me some coffee. I am driving you all free of charge and it would be a shame if I fell asleep at the wheel.”

“I feel like we’ve already been made to pay,” muttered Penny, a look of disgust passing over her face.

“And something to wash down painkillers,” continued Maya.

"... And Trevor. You probably have a lot of him left in your throat, " added Emily.

“Oh god,” said Penny, stepping out of the car. She did not want to continue to be part of this conversation. “You know what? I’ll get us some coffee.”

Penny had never been happier to hear the jingling of bells as she crossed the threshold into the gas station, separating herself from Maya and Emily with an actual physical barrier. It was like a weight had been lifted from off of her shoulders. Unfortunately, the gas station didn’t have real coffee. Oh, sure, it had a few pots of drip coffee burning away next to some paper cups, sugar packets, and crusty looking syrup bottles, but that wasn’t coffee. She scoped out the coolers, hitting the jackpot as she came across the motherload of Starbucks frappuccinos. She grabbed enough for the girls in her car and hit the checkout. She bought herself an extra pack of cigarettes despite already having a full one, knowing that she’d need them before the end of the trip.

As she left the store her phone buzzed.

Kimberly Walton
Please keep me posted on everything that's going on in Miami. If anything goes wrong, say the word and I'll be right there. I don't trust Dollhouse but I have no other options.

Me
It’s already gone to shit.
I just spent two hours listening K-Rap.
K-RAP!
They know it’s so bad they named their own genre of music crap!

Me
Anyway, I’ll keep you posted. Enjoying the beach house?

Penny pocketed her phone, cracked open one of her shitty coffee drinks from the horde she had hiding in that little black plastic bag, and lit a cigarette...which meant she couldn’t possibly head back to the car without risking the lives of others. She’d have to stay her, a respectful, safe distance away, and away from the bickering girls. What a damn shame. She found herself a nice corner to duck behind, again, just to respect the rules of the gas station, and leaned up against the wall.

Penny locked eyes with Madison as she got out of her car. Surely, Madison would be able to find room for her, because Penny couldn’t go back to Maya’s car. They couldn’t make her. She could sit on somebody’s lap. She’d ride in the fucking trunk. Hell, tie her to the trunk. Anything! Staring at Madison like a shell shocked soldier returning home after the war, Penny pressed two fingers to her temple, mouthed “help me”, jerked her head to the side, and then shot an angry glare at Maya’s car.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

---

---

Penny looked down at the offered cowboy hat, then up at Mariah, and then back down at the hat. Her eyes betrayed the mental arithmetic that was running through her head as she tried to determine how she’d look in it, the chances that it might contain lice, and the likelihood that Kimberly would ridicule her for performing a hatswap with a complete stranger. She settled on the fact that she’d look absolutely awesome in it, Kim could easily delouse it in a snap with her abstraction, and that her friend wouldn’t dare pass up a chance to knock Penny down a peg or two. Plus, her hat was just a skosh cuter. With a click of her tongue and apologetic smile she shook her head no.

“You pull it off better,” she said, politely lying as if she had intentions for running for office someday. She glanced across the pool, trying to eavesdrop on the other group while playing the part of the handshaker and the baby kisser. She was only able to pick up bits and pieces.

“Welllll… You know, I don’t have a passport or anything that identifies me so I get the feeling they’ll take one look at me and throw me to a random country. I’d rather stick around America with some company than be thrown out elsewhere, you know?”

“I’d say it would depend on the company,” said Penny, folding her arms as she side-eyed the rest of the Coven. “Now I ain’t much of a gambler, but I think the odds are that you’d get deported somewhere better than fricking Florida.” Although, considering they had a nice beach house, perhaps not. It sparked Penny’s curiosity. “Hey, how’d y’all even afford a place like—”

“I’m gonna join that!” blurted out Isla before vanishing, reappearing on the other side of the pool to get in on the daisy chain.

Unable to control the roll of her eyes she hid them behind her shades instead. Penny turned to restate her question to Mariah...who had drifted off towards the deep-end of the pool. On further assessment, she had drifted off in the deep-end as well. Frowning, Penny pulled out a cigarette from her fanny pack and lit it, watching as the Coven crowded around Kimberly to join in on the Recollection. She noticed the girl who’d caused a ruckus was now sitting silently away from the others, sulking. It appeared like she didn’t want to partake. Penny drifted over to the main group, sidling up to Rowan.

“What’d I miss?”

By the time the others were done with their Recollection, Rowan had caught Penny up to speed on the matter at hand. Ashing her cigarette, Penny tilted her chin up and glared down at the Coven, as if she was calculating how capable they actually were of doing what Kimberly had asked of them. Penny took a drag. Really, it was on par with going to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. If it was something truly daunting, Kimberly would’ve trusted her to do it. They couldn’t possibly cock it all u—a cloud of smoke exploded out of Penny’s mouth as she failed to prevent the bark of laughter that she let loose as one of the girls fell on her ass. She pulled down her hat and bit her lip, thankful that her sunglasses had hidden the twinkle in her eyes.

Yeah, no.

Penny pulled herself together in time for Kimberly to make her statement of intent and her promise to the Coven. There was nothing there that Penny could disagree with in her words. She flicked her cigarette. As her friend finished her spiel, Penny clasped a hand on her shoulder. It was a show of deep respect and unbreakable support. But more importantly, it allowed her to get close enough to whisper into Kimberly’s ear without seeming suspicious.

“I’m going to join them. Make sure they don’t fuck this up,” she said in a low voice so that only Kimberly could hear her. She even turned her head to hide her lips from the others.

It wasn’t just incompetence Penny was concerned about. One of them had voiced her belief that Annabelle was beyond saving. Honestly, Penny felt the same. However, if Kimberly meant to save the girl, then Penny would see to it that it got done. That meant making sure the Coven picked up the correct cure, instead of something that would make the Hunger easier to take out. She cast one final uncertain stare at Lyss before changing her expression and removing her sunglasses. Smiling, she stepped forward to join Kimberly at her side.

“Think of it like we’re saving all of the people,” said Penny lightly, correcting Quinn’s statement to Isla. Obviously, she wasn’t serious; she waved her words off with the back of her hand. Besides, one girl had for certain survived the alleged end of the world. “It sounds more important that way.”

“Oh, I’m coming too,” said Penny. It wasn’t an offer. Snickering, she added, “Honestly, I just need to see what helping the living shit out of someone looks like.”

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

@silvermist1116Glow up Stacey is blowing my mind.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

---

---

Penny was going to miss. She never missed. Sigil glowing, her finger course corrected as Mariah lifted Isla out of the pool. However, she had to snap her hand back as she felt her weight begin to shift. Any further and she would’ve thrown herself into the pool, and frankly Penny didn’t put as much value into a good booping as other people rightfully did. Yet she still felt the disappointment. She adjusted her sun hat as she stood back up, readied a mock scowl to throw at laundry day cowpoke who’d “saved” Isla that immediately broke as the Scotswoman started rambling.

Penny was trying to find a way to get a word edgewise when all of their attention was drawn to the shouting at the other end of the pool. Some girl in a headscarf was yelling and gesturing wildly between Kimberly and Jordan’s cousin. Madison, right? Penny raised eyebrows graduated into a single laugh as she saw the tired look on Kimberly’s face. She gave her friend an unhelpful thumbs-up. It was becoming a trend where each time they offered to help someone they got yelled at instead. At least Kimberly wasn’t getting threatened with a gun. The shouting girl began to back down, but Penny kept an eye out just in case things turned ugly. She wouldn’t let Kimberly stew in witch drama if she didn’t think Kimberly couldn’t manage it.

"Or you? Who're you? What--" said Mariah. "--y'all ain't just secret members of the coven I ain't met or somethin', right?"

“I’m Pen—”

Isla, quick as ever with her tongue, beat Penny to her own introduction, “She’s Penny. Definitely ain’t a coven secret member, she’s way too competent for that, no offence to like everyone here.”

“Yeah I’m beginning to get that impression,” said a distracted Penny, her narrowed eyes relaxing as the situation at the other end of the pool seemed to diffuse itself as other members of the Coven came forward to put a stop to the drama. She shook her head and focused her attention on the two in front of her. “Anyway, yep, I just can’t get enough of this supernatural shit. Helping a friend hunt down a man eating monster in return for her helping me investigate a doomsday prophecy. You know.” She shrugged. “The usual.”

Penny’s eyes drifted over to Mariah as she spoke. Momentary confusion over her bizarre wardrobe faded as she smiled and gave a head nod up, “Thanks for saving my friend from the pool. I told her she needed to start wearing floaties everywhere after the boat incident.” Penny paused as she focused on the top of Mariah’s head, her brow knitted. She was pretty sure she had the same one back in the day. Shit, it was definitely gone now. “I like your hat.”

“And hold up, did you say you Florida was nice? Is that what drove you to joining a bunch of witches instead of just getting a plane ticket home?” said Penny, turning her attention back to Isla.

---

---

Madison unleashed the verbal assault as Vashti closed her eyes, her finger tracing the ridges of the quarter. She wasn’t trying to keep the Leviathan back. The Leviathan was in deep hibernation, unwilling to come out while Kimberly was present. Vashti just didn’t want her crying to be as obvious as it was while Madison hit her with brutal accusations. She was shocked by the remarks because of how deadly accurate they were. They pierced right through her scales and cut her deep. What had been her gut reaction just now, as Madison berated her? To cry, to play the victim, and to complain about how Madison always targeted her.

No, fuck that, this was unfair. She was a victim. Madison had assaulted her. Before that, Madison had insulted her, bullied her, picked on her. Kimberly had abandoned her to a pick of uncaring bitches that operated under false pretenses of being a sisterhood. She had been cursed to turn into a goddamn monster, and it was all because of some jerk from the internet. She had agreed to only meet with that asshole because she wanted to...Vashti choked back more tears. She was standing on a dangerous precipice. Not many people survived falling from the pedestal that had been built upon the refusal to take responsibility for their actions. She froze.

And took the verbal lashing in silence, still frozen on that edge.

Madison left. A pyrrhic victory if there ever had been one. The quarter was cutting into her flesh now. She hadn’t been pushed over. Not yet. Emily was the one to do that. Instantly, Vashti felt like pleading, backing up to say that she wanted to find a cure for both her and for Emily’s—somebody. Vashti let out a ragged breath. Emily had told her and Herik about needing to find a cure for a curse in private, and Vashti had practically forgotten about it entirely. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand as Emily called for Herik to come get her as if she was a bratty child throwing a tantrum that was incapable of taking care of herself. She was falling now. She wasn’t a child. She just wanted to know why everybody was always being so mean to her when all she had ever been was supportive and nice and friendly and any time she wasn’t it was because her curse made her do it and really they should appreciate all she has done for—

“Oh my god,” muttered Vashti, horrified, as she hit the bottom.

Opening her eyes, she shrugged off Herik, walked over to a deck chair as Emily and Lyss saved the situation, sat down, and, finally, kept her wayward mouth shut.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

---

---

Don’t start a fight.

Those four words were the only thought that repeated through Vashti’s mind as she rubbed her fingers of her left hand over the ridges of Herik’s quarter. Normally she favored her right hand, but with her arm in a sling thanks to the Jaws lunching on her joints it made that a little inconvenient. The mantra echoed through her head as the sun beat down on her, the pleasant heat doing little to warm the coldness she was feeling towards the Coven for even allowing Madison to attend this stupid meeting. Don’t start a fight. At least Madison was wise enough to keep her distance. It didn’t stop Vashti from giving her the evil eye, so the girl closed her eyes instead.

Don’t start a fight.

She shouldn’t have come today. She should’ve forced a transformation earlier. She should’ve stayed in the hospital instead of lying about how hospitals violated her beliefs to get discharged early. Only she couldn’t. If she had stayed, she would’ve been a threat to the hospital staff and patients if the Leviathan woke up. If she transformed, she would have no control over when it’d end, where she’d go, what she’d do, and what it would mean for her fractured elbow when she reverted. If she didn’t come today, then she wouldn’t be able to defend herself against any accusation thrown her way—and she fucking knew that Madison would try to blame everything on her if she wasn’t present.

Still. Don’t start a fight.

Vashti could feel Herik scoot closer to her. It was calming and nerve wracking at the same time. She tried to listen in but could hardly parse out the conversation over her mantra. She pretended to be sunbathing, as if her thick jacket could even allow a single UV to penetrate through to her skin. She pretended to be asleep, as if her knitted brow or twitching lips suggested anything but buried anger. Despite the storm brewing inside of her, Vashti knew she could keep it under control as long as she focused on the quarter, her breathing, and those four little words: Don’t. Start. A. Fight.

---

---

It didn’t matter how many times she had been ported by Kimberly, the arrival always caught Penny off guard. Thank god for the cheap dollar store sunglasses that hid her startled expression. One second they had been inside of a crummy motel room, the next they were standing by a pool next to a lavish house surrounded by a ragtag group of witches. She sucked in her bottom lip as she tried not to let envy instantly color her opinion of the Coven, who must’ve been loaded to afford such a swanky place. The silence let her hear the sound of the waves crashing on the nearby beach. Wait, this place was beachfront? Goddamn! The Coven must’ve been doing something right.

Penny turned to Kim expectantly, ready to see how she’d handle breaking the ice when it was a crowd of rich witch strangers.

"... Hi."

Masterful. Penny chuckled as she removed her sunglasses to get a better look at the Coven that, somehow, needed their help. They had a Thor cosplayer taking a day off, a brand cowboy trying to avoid fainting, and a mall goth dedicated enough to commit to the dark clothes even in this freaking heat. Continuing the trend of inappropriate summer gear was a girl wearing a winter cap that was knitted and yell—oh! Penny beamed brightly as she recognized the girl in the yellow beanie. Her smile quickly died as Isla locked eyes with her, yelped, and fell backwards into the pool. With none of the others going to help the girl out of the pool, Penny sighed and began briskly walking around the edge.

"Why don't you introduce your two friends,"said one of the Coven members who’d been giving them the stink eye. "So we know they're not going to try anything. We can do the same, but there's a ton of us and only three of you."

Penny shot her a look, smirked, and forced herself to hold her tongue. C’mon, they ask for help and then threaten them? If they were going to try anything it would've already been over, and if the loudmouth tried anything then it would most definitely be over for all but the three of them. Penny wanted nothing more than to challenge the girl, but she had told Kimberly that she’d let her do the talking so she let it slide. Water off the back. She was so damn untouchable not even words could get through. But, Kimberly had failed to introduce…

“Penny Lawson. Don’t mind me, just here for the pool,” said Penny loudly, dismissively waving away the girl with the back of her hand. She squatted down with her hands on her knees in front of where Isla was splashing, kicked on her abstraction, repulsed the little flecks of water away from her sundress to keep it dry, and smiled a shit-eating grin.

“Hey stranger, how about you just try standing?” she asked dryly.

She gave Isla a second to stop floundering, and then with a click of her mouth her finger went in for the kill, targeting a fatal boop towards Isla’s nose.

---

---

Don’t start a—Kim?

Vashti’s eyes snapped open at the sound of a voice she’d heard hundreds of times before coming out of a laptop speaker. Kimberly Walton? The Kimberly Walton? She was here? She had come? She was so excited she nearly dropped the quarter, fumbling and catching it at the last moment before it bounced into the pool. There was a fleeting moment of anxious terror as she stood up, nearly knocking over her deck chair, but it was gone within the second as she set her eyes on Kim. The girl had sealed the Leviathan once, she could seal it again. As long as she was here, things were safe. Thank god!

“We were hoping that you, with your large network of supernatural simps, could help us find someone with that ability."

“Dude! Don’t be a dick just because you only have one superlame simp following you around,” said Vashti, managing to critically fail her attempt to hide her fangirling giddiness. She pointed at Kim. “Kimberly’s cool. She really helped me out. If it wasn’t for her I…”

Vashti’s head tilted as she trailed off, her finger drooping ever slightly. Since Kimberly had sent her to the Coven, her life had only progressively gotten worse. She’d almost been hunted down by the FBI, got stuck in an elevator with a drunk jerk, never really got to enjoy the fine cuisine of a Red Lobster, was nearly killed by a ghost lady, was nearly killed by a drunk jerk’s ghost dinosaurs, and lost a game of capture the flag. A look of confusion crossed her face. She let her hand drop. The excitement in her voice faded. In a way, wasn’t Kimberly kind of to blame for this shit?

“Bro things have totally sucked since you sent me here. Maya’s under exaggerating. You didn’t...you didn’t stop this thing in me at all and it made me attack them and then this girl”—Vashti gestured at Madison—“who is...who is your friend!? What! Your shitty alcoholic friend tried to kill me and these girls are just cool with pretending like it didn’t happen and, and, and…”

Vashti inhaled deeply, paused, and exhaled slowly. Her hand rose and fell with her breathing like she was conducting a band, playing out the stress and anger before something bad happened. Don’t start a fight. Where was that quarter? She fished it out of her pocket and gave Kimberly a chagrin smile.

“I’m sorry. We’re all just a little on edge because bad shit keeps happening to us. First it was outsiders, which we could handle, but now it's each other. Honestly, if I could I would’ve left but I know it would just make me come back and I really don’t want to hurt anybody because of my curse,” said Vashti, shaking, her voice raw. She glanced at Madison. “It’s the same, right? You can’t control yours either, can you? That’s gotta be why. That’s gotta be why.”

“Look, I know what we need, I just don’t even know where to find it or what it even really is, but we need someone who can use blue...light?” she said to Kim, looking over at Emily and Herik for affirmation. “Just help us find that. I know you’re busy but, please, you gotta help us find that. And then we go on worrying about the asshole ghost who stole Elise’s body and the monster bitch that fucking ATE Izzy and you can go do your famous person thing. But, seriously, you need to help us,” begged Vashti, her eyes watering.

Then she stepped forward and jabbed an accusatory finger at Kimberly’s face, her words growled, spit flying, as she added, “Because when I kill your fucking asshole friend, it’s going to be your goddamn fault!”

Vashti stepped back, shocked at her own tone.

Don’t start a fight, dumbass.

“I’m sorry. Please don’t leave, we need you. Really. I’m so sorry. I’m scared. Please help us. Don’t go, please,” she said, her words drowning in desperation as she began to back away, continuing to apologize under her breath. Vashti prayed that this wasn’t real, that it was a dream. She prayed that she was still in the hospital. Better yet, the Jaws had killed her, this was all a dying delusion, and she hadn’t just cursed out her idol.

Either way, she probably wouldn’t be able to get a signed photo after this.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

My intention is to bring this rp to a close around October.

@The Ghost Note

October 2024.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

---

---

“Vashti, are you okay?”

She wasn’t. Vashti was never okay after coming out of a Leviathan onslaught anyway, but the panicky feeling was amplified by knowing that the people it had just tried to eviscerate now surrounded her weak, shellshocked body. Her response to Claudette was only a rapid increase of her breathing and her hands digging into the mud as Madison approached. She flinched like a chihuahua with an anxiety disorder as Madison reached out to her and drew her knees in tighter, bracing for the immediate hit.

Only there wasn’t one. Madison was offering to help Vashti up. For a moment Vashti began to feel control return to her body as her breathing slowed. The Coven didn’t seem outright angry with her; they seemed concerned. Perhaps Herik was right about them after all. She owed them all an apology, especially Madison. If they could get through this, maybe they could pave over their past tiffs. Perhaps they could even become friends. Maybe Madison would buy her booze! She looked up at Madison with bright, hopeful eyes that envisioned a future of water bottle vodka and shitty lagers.

The look quickly turned to horror as her dark eyes reflected the triumvirate of the Jaws snapping towards her. Her scream shattered and broke into a rattling gasp as the heads began to rip at her limbs. Vashti’s one free leg ineffectively kicked at the ground, trying to push herself away from the woman who was trying to murder her. Goddamn it, why wouldn’t her body let herself blackout? She felt every tooth as it shredded her useless scales and ripped at her flesh. The pain was unfathomable. She had to hit a threshold at some point, but the roof kept rising and rising. For once in her life Vashti wished for the Leviathan, but it wasn’t there. Didn’t it realize that if she died it would too?

Wouldn’t it?

The world went silent and the tearing stopped thanks to Maya’s handy work. Briefly, Vashti thought she was dead, ascending to heaven as she was lifted from the ground, except the continuing pain proved that she was still alive. Alive, but delirious, judging by the giant construct that was playing keepaway with the increasingly miniscule Madison. The not-quite iron giant set her down as the sound returned to her ears, although the noises made no sense and the world was all but fuzz and blobs by now. Something touched her. The Jaws? Vashti kicked at it. "Hey, hey, hey, take it easy," said the blob. Vashti felt a sting and then some pressure on her arm, followed by the same feeling on the other. It wasn’t pleasant, but when compared to being chewed at like an overcooked steak it was delightful. She let the world start to go black.

"Vashti, we're going to take care of you, okay. You'll be alright," she heard Herik say as she began to drift away. He almost sounded like he believed it. In a way, it was kind of sweet. If she was going to be lied to like that, at least Herik sounded genuine about his bullshit. But he always did, didn’t he? He shouldn’t worry about taking care of her anyway. She was a big girl. Rather, he should really worry about how Vashti would take care of Maidson. Dreams of sharing cheap beers with the girl were now dead. New dreams, vivid and dark, began to creep out from the shadow of its tombstone.

Vashti smiled.

And then passed out.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

@silvermist1116 what if he joins Kimberly's "faction"?

@The Ghost Note

What if he has important Annabelle information due to his time as the Forgiven rock god?

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

---

---

The Leviathan squeezed, waiting to hear that satisfying pop of Madison’s spine snapping. She turned to watch the life fade from Madison’s eyes, hissing as the Jaw’s trifecta of skulls appeared. It mattered little. Three fucking boneheads weren’t going to save this girl’s life. Madison would be snapped in two, and then there would be nobody left in the Coven who could face her. The summoner would feed the Leviathan its creations to keep her sated. The siren would sing songs of her praise to the pathetic primates of Floridaland. The shadowy pretender would polish the bones of the Jaws that the Leviathan was going to take as a trophy or be drowned in the swamp. None of them could hope to stand up to the mighty Leviathan.

Except one.

Lyss’s barrier appeared around the Leviathan and the Jaws. Fear appeared in the Leviathan’s eyes as it jerked its head around to seek out the deceitful necromancer. How the fuck was this possible? The Leviathan growled. Her stupid fucking vessel, in all of its excitement for the Coven’s child game it had failed to notice Lyss’s arrival. The necromancer spoke to her, its lies polluting the air. The Leviathan was too smart to fall for her tricks. The Leviathan wouldn’t be trapped ever again. She would escape from this barrier and tear the necromancer limb from tiny limb.

Only, that would be after she killed the dinosaur bitch right next to—no, no, no, no! A bloodcurdling, high pitched scream was ripped from the Leviathan’s throat as the Jaws tore clean through her tail. The Leviathan spun and swiped blindly at Madison, its mouth snapping as it tried to take a bite out of her. Kill, kill, kill! However, without her tail she was off balance and crashed to the ground. Still, she swiped and bit at invisible enemies, kicking up mud and tearing through roots as the indifferent storm above raged on. How? How? How could she lose to this fucking Coven?

She had to run. Cool rain tinged off her scales as panic began to set in. Run. Madison might’ve been trapped in Lyss’s Abstraction with the Leviathan, but the Leviathan had all but forgotten about her quarry. Run. She scrambled on the ground, trying to find her footing but never quite getting it, as her head darted back and forth. Run. The Leviathan saw Lyss, the monster keeping her trapped in her, and charged her. Run! She slammed into the barrier instead, bounced back, and rushed it again. Run, run, run! Blood splashed against the barrier as the Leviathan kept smacking into it, screaming like a banshee. Fucking run! A dark cloud swam up from the ground and engulfed the Leviathan, silencing its ear shattering scream.

If Lyss was worried that Claudette’s order to drop the barrier would result in her getting tackled and torn to shreds by a rampaging Leviathan, her fear would soon be quelled. Before the necromancer had a chance to respond a muddied, bloodied, panicking beast sprung through the barrier, bumped into Lyss, and fell on its rear. Looking up at Lyss, the creature began shrieking nonstop as it started to scoot itself away from the girl. Meanwhile, the rain began to let up as one dying rumble sounded in the distance.

---

---

It felt like her heart was going to explode. It felt like she couldn’t breath. It certainly felt like she was dying, and if she wasn’t actually dying, then certainly they were about to kill her. God, if she was going to get murdered, she really wished her body would stop screaming. Face death with a little dignity, right? No, there was no way the Coven would just outright murder her gangland style in the middle of the woods. That was just the fear talking. She just had to be rational, take a breath, and calm herself down.

No fuck that calm shit Madison's skull boys were going to eat her, Claudette was going to freeze her, Grace was going to electrocute her, and Lyss was gonna put her inside of a necklace or some shit!

Terror had gripped Vashti’s core and it controlled her now. She kept scooting away from Lyss on her ass, screaming, every now and then attempting to push herself up and falling back down again. Tears streamed down her face as she continued to panic. She felt like she was about to pass out. She wish she did; it would’ve been much better than being awake for all of this. She clasped her hands over her mouth to mute her shrieks and curled up into a sobbing, shaking ball. Vashti rolled to the side and felt something poke her. She peeked through her splayed hands to see the flag, right where she had left it. Nobody had (rightfully) bothered to even grab it. She stopped screaming and continued to stare at the flag with clenched teeth and a horrified look on her face.

So...they lost?

Or was it a draw?

Didn’t a draw just mean that everyone was a loser?