Shock hadnât expected Anthony to fucking die on them. This was--a problem. Honestly, now that she thought back on it, she had no idea what the fuck the point of all the chaos had been. Was Anthony planning to sweep in and play hero when the dust settled? Was he truly just that chaotic? (And, for the record, if he was, RIP to a chaotic king.) Had he just been in it for the #drama?
Either way, it was clear he hadnât thought about her or Lock or their brother, at all, in his after plans, whatever they were.
And she was pissed about this, because Shock loved a bit of chaos, but she also had meant what sheâd said in all her stupid campaigning. Shock liked Swynlake. She liked how batshit insane it was--all the dreams and scenarios like last night. And, she also, really did feel like she belonged here in a way sheâd never felt like in Hallowtown. At least, here in Swynlake, the Adamsons could carve out a name for themselves. They didnât have one hanging over them.
Shock would be damned (ha.) if they were booted out of here just because of Anthonyâs failed power trip.
So, sheâd called an emergency family meeting in the destroyed interior of Anthonyâs mansion. She sat at Anthonyâs mahogany desk in the library, her elbows on the edge as she leaned forward, looking very proper. Books were scattered about the room, having fallen off broken shelves in the chaos of the fighting. She was scowling.
âI donât think weâre royally fucked, but before we start talking strategy, I need you both to tell me if there are any other surprises we should be worrying about.âÂ
Her eyes flicked from Lock to Barrel and back again. Shock, of course, wasnât going to mention her growing concern about Phil and the lads. That was for her to deal with.Â
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First Anthony, now Lock--this town had it out for vampires and Shock was desperate. And she was scared. She would never admit these things but she was. She was scared that she would end up just like her brother, no matter how much she scoffed and would tell people she was smarter. And she was scared that her remaining brother would end up just like her. Barrel wouldnât survive with a target on his back. It was better if he wasnât a vampire and if he wasnât associated with them either.Â
Besides, Shock had always wanted to travel the world, hadnât she? This was the perfect opportunity. Sheâd do it for the both of âem. Her and Lock. Mei had given her the watch that was supposed to be his. Shock hadnât known what to do with it except put it on and then head out into the big, wild world.Â
Saying goodbye to Barrel hadnât actually been on her list of things to do today, but--well...it wasnât like she wanted to lose touch with him.Â
So, here she was, leaning against the porch railing of the Qinsâ house. She didnât want to go inside. She wasnât staying long. (She was scared of what would haunt her if she stepped over that threshold.)Â
âHey,â she said when Barrel appeared and stood up properly, both feet on the floor. âIâm leaving.âÂ
Best not to dance around it, Shock thought. Easier this way, Shock thought.
Shock was leaning against the wall of the Secondary, smoking a cigarette, sunglasses settled snug against her face. It was overcast and misting, because this was fucking England in the fall, but the sun was still bright enough to cause a headache if Shock was outside for too long. Also, the sunglasses made her look cool and conspicuous.
The bell rung and students started flooding out the front doors like cattle. It didnât take Shock long to spot her baby brother, head ducked down, moving along with the crowd, as was his habit.
She zipped easily through the crowd, as if they were all standing still and she was the only one moving. Her arm snugged over Barrelâs neck as she appeared next to him. Her head was very close to his neck this way and she could see his pulse jump in the vein in his neck but--
Shock just smiled. âHey, baby bro,â she cooed at him, mussing up his hair before letting her arm fall back over his shoulder. âHow was your first day of school?âÂ
It was then she noticed he was walking with the baby Qin. Her eyebrows raised.
âBeat it, kid,â she snapped and then turned back to Barrel and smiled.Â
[tw -- house fire, violence, cancer, thoughts of death]
Shannon has cancer.
Cancer: the kind of monster that hides under beds. The kind of monster that sheâd stopped believing in a long time ago, deciding she was going to be scarier than her motherâs wooden spoon or her fatherâs screaming, drunken shouts.
Sheâs scared of this, though. Shannon wonât admit it to anyone, but she looks between her pale mother, who holds her close and strokes her straw hair, and Shannon has the sneaking suspicion that sheâs doing it for herself and not Shannonâto her father who grunts once and says: how much is this going to cost me? And Shannon realizes this is serious. She canât laugh it off, like she couldnât laugh off when Lucius had kicked her in the leg and it had hurt and hurt and hurt until she was in tears and couldnât walk and had to go to the hospital, her father yelling her about how much it was gonna cost them for her to get an X-Ray and to stop being a little pussy bitch about it.
Shannon is not a pussy bitch, but it felt like her leg was shattering over and over and over again. What was she supposed to do?
They leave the hospital and Veronica takes them to the grocery store, when Wade goes back to work. She lets Shannon buy a chocolate bar and Shannon slips a box of black hair dye into the pocket of her sweater. At home, she pours the black goop onto her head and imagines itâs the chemo and itâs gonna heal her. It doesnât, but she thinks she looks badass in the mirror.
There is still a fist in her chest where her heart should be.
âYo, what the fuck happened to your hair?â comes the nasally voice of Lucius, who is sitting on his lazy ass in the living room when Shannon steps out of the bathroom.
âI dyed it,â Shannon scoffs at him.
âLooks like something died on your head.â Lucius goes back to his book. Nerd.
Brandon is sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the couch that Lucius is laying on, watching cartoons, but he looks at Shannon and smiles. âI think it looks nice.â
âShut up, Brandon.â Shannon makes a face at him, but she touches the black locks, pushing them back from her head. She wonders what it will feel like when her head is smooth. Once sheâs a bald fuck whose hair has all fallen out. God, sheâs gonna look so ugly. But, hey, maybe sheâll let Lucius color on the back of it with permanent marker. Veronica would hate it.
That is, if Wade decides to pay for treatment.
They could just let her die.
That fist in her chest punches against her ribcage.
âI have an idea.â
This catches Luciusâ attention. His blue eyes flick up to hers and he closes over his book, using Bradonâs head to pull himself into a sitting position. Â
âOh?â
âYup!â
Shannon didnât, but she figured she could come up with one as they went. It needed to be good. Something that would really go down in the history books. (The history books being, of course, the Hallowtown town paper.) Maybe someone would die. Maybe if she sacrificed someone elseâs life, sheâd get a free pass, right? Thatâs how that shit worked. Magic or whatever.
Was worth a shot.
But how to kill someone without going to jail?
âWhatâs the plan then?â
Shock was wandering over to the kitchen. It was only a few steps away, so she could still hear Luciusâ annoying pestering. She rolled her eyes as she opened up their junk drawer (really, they were all junk drawers). She plucked the long matches that Wade used to light his grill when he felt in the mood to try to kill them all with food poisoning.
Shaking the box, she lifted them suggestively.
âAre we gonna make sâmores?â came Bradonâs voice, he had crawled up onto the couch next to Lucius and put his round chin on the back of it. âI saw you had a chocolate barââ
âAnd if you touch it, you fucking die,â she threatened.
Lucius popped him over the back of head for her. How sweet.
âNow, yâall know that house thatâs crawling with those annoying kids down the street?â
Lucius nodded at the same time Brandon shook his head.
Shannon wandered forward. âWeâre going to light it on fire.â
Luciusâ eyebrows jumped up and he tilted his head slightly. âWoah.â
âWoooah,â Brandon said, much more empathetically.
âYeah, I saw one of those little assholes kick a dog the other day. They fuckinâ deserve it.â The lie came easily to her lips, knowing that both her idiotic brothers would take offense to that.
âFuck that Delbert kid, I knew he was a dickwad,â Lucius said hotly.
âWhy would he do that?â Brandonâs eyes were wide as saucers.
âBecause heâs a dickwad,â Shannon said with a bright smile. âSo, weâre gonna light his house on fire.â
âBut where will they live?â
âOoooh, my god, stop asking questions. Itâs a prank! Theyâll figure it out. Itâs not like weâre going to burn the whole thing down.â
So, the boys got off the couch and the went to their rooms, zipped up their boots and pulled their hoodies up over their heads. Gloves tooâeven though there were holes in the fingers for some of them. It was better than nothing. Next, they went to the kitchen. There were plenty of glass beer bottles scattered about. They filled Brandonâs backpack with them. Next, they went to the garage. In one corner was a pile of dirty clothes that needed to go to the laundromat. Shock grabbed a pair of scissors and one of Veronicaâs blouses and started ripping it into strips. Lucius found the gasoline can that Wade kept on hand when he inevitably ran out. He had to hide it in a different spot every time, since Shannon and Lucius kept finding it. But, thankfully, their father was an idiot.
Once they had all the elements, they needed they got on their bikes. Shannon climbed onto the back of Luciusâ standing on the pegs, claiming that she needed to hold the gasoline (the other around Luciusâ ribcage to keep her steady.) The truth was it hurt too much to pedal.
It didnât take too long to get down the street. They pulled off a few houses down, hiding their bikes back by the creek. They knew this neighborhood better than anyone else. Brandon stayed with the bikes, keeping them upright for a quick getaway. Lucius and Shannon sat in the grass, dribbling gasoline all over their hands as they tried to get it in the bottles. Brandon was in charge of stuffing the strips of cloth into the top, something that even he couldnât fuck up. They laughed and elbowed each other, and laughed even harder as Brandon dropped one of the bottles and doused himself in gasoline.
Once they had enough, they tripped up the side of the creek, towards the house. The yards were small, which meant with a good arm on âem, they could get a few through the windows, if they tried hard enough.
Shannon struck the first match and the scent of burning fabric filled her nose. When she tossed it through the air, she made a wishâlike it was a coin in a wishing fountain.
It slammed through the window and she heard someone scream.
Shannon laughed and tossed another. Then another. She wasnât even paying attention to if Lock threw any at all. When they were out, smoke was drifting through the window, thick and black.
The next day, in the paper, the story didnât make headlines, but it was thereâa little paragraph, like an obituary. Only the mother suffered some second degree burns, but the house was nothing but ashes.
Shannon figured that was enoughâconsidering sheâs still here.
