#dca slasher

“ Yvaine invited me to go house sitting with them. Well, it’s more like dog-sitting. Their boss’ brother or something just really needs someone to watch the house while he’s gone on a business trip for like a day or something.” Kiana wiped down the inside of the windows, the rain preventing them from cleaning the outside. It was a cold November day, though it seemed like every day was cold.

It was a cleaning day. She had gotten used to her bosses’ antics by now or at least as used to as one could get. They still noticed all the injuries, even taking a few that seemed particularly bad. The month had rendered the arcade in a desperate need of a deep clean, or that’s what Sun said anyway. To Kiana, it looked the same as it always did at the end of the month.

Sun had been busy taking off some of the flyers on the bulletin board and replacing them with either newer copies or different flyers entirely. He nodded on with what they were saying, making a sound or two.

Kiana narrowed their eyes at him, thinking of what else to say– they couldn’t help but wonder if he was listening or not. “ Do you have any plans for tonight?”

Sun turned to face her, his orange hair pushed back by a teal hair band. There was something about his hair that she had noticed, it was lighter at the ends, which could’ve been its natural coloring but they were beginning to suspect that he needed to change his shampoo; it took everything in Kiana not to tell him this however.

He hesitated for a second. “Oh, well, I was going to go to Chica’s and do some exercising, but it’s closed because of the storms.” He shrugged. Pinching a thumbtack between his long fingers, he pinned a paper to the board. When he moved out the way to grab another thing of paper, she could see what was written at the top. “ MISSING PERSONS” and then a list of information and phone numbers. They could also see Sun try to suppress a smile, whether it was at the missing person's flyer or the one in his hand, she didn’t know.

“ I thought you said you didn’t plan on hanging any missing flyers to not scare the kids.”

“ Well, I did, but a lovely police officer named Sheyrall came by and convinced me. Who am I to deny the law? It’s high enough where the really little kids would have a hard time reading anything but ‘missing person.’ I won’t be the one to explain it to them, their parents will.” Sun’s smile was now strained, as if the thought of the police or hanging up the flyer pissed him off. “ Oh, and Star?”

“ Yes?”

“ Be careful out there, especially with the storms. I wouldn’t want you out in the rain and getting into a crash, probably wouldn’t be too good for your health.” He chuckled softly to himself, pinning the last of the flyers. He smoothed out his pale yellow button down shirt and dark vest –which Kiana could only think about how it matched the color of her backsplash– , as if it had gotten any wrinkles at all from just pinning stuff. “ Whose house did you say you were going to?” He had paused before he spoke, an eyebrow raised.

They shrugged, spraying the top of the window with the glass cleaner. “ Oh, I don’t really know his name. He just has one of those big houses on the other side of town, I’m sure you know the ones.” Barely inside the town limits were these large houses that weren’t quite suburban but not quite mansions. They always had large yards and some type of pool and enough porch decorations to prove they were upper-middle class. “ Yvaine is actually picking me up from the arcade and taking me.”

“Hm, wait, I thought you weren’t friends with Yvaine anymore.” Now, he truly looked puzzled. Sun folded the lid of the thumbtack box, holding it gently in his hands for fear of spilling it.

“ No, I’m not friends with Lotte anymore. Yvaine was my friend first anyway, so they’re not really attached to her… It’s just a little messy.”

“ I think we’re mostly done here, I’ll get the vacuum.” Sun sounded almost bitter, and it was likely that he was. Their old vacuum had broken the month before, causing them to have to buy a new one. It was only a matter of time anyway, – the thing was like a million years old anyway. So much so that none of them even knew where and when they had gotten it, and Moon had half joked that it came with the building like some ghost.

Kiana went to the staff room, nearly walking into what seemed to be a sleeping Moon. They slipped their jacket back on and wrapped their most comfortable scarf around their neck. They tossed their messenger over their shoulder, trying to be as quiet as they could without disturbing her boss. Though, that didn’t seem to work.

“ When you leave, turn off the lights; they’re killing my eyes.” He covered his eyes with his arm as the other dangled, touching the floor. He was lying on the metal bench, which probably meant that the next day, he would be complaining about back pain like some old man.

She made some sound of agreement before moseying on out, though not before turning off the lights. Just as she was going to walk on out to the parking lot when Sun stopped her. “ One more thing before you leave, can you sweep the kitchen floor?”

“ Um, sure,” Kiana replied, dropping their stuff at the door and jogging her way to the staff room once more to get the broom. They flicked on the light, causing Moon to hiss almost as if he was in pain.

“ Sorry, so sorry.” They quietly walked to grab the broom and dustpan, mentally cursing themself. “ I’m just trying to get the broom.”

“ Get out the damn room,” he growled through his teeth, sitting up from his spot on the metal bench. She was half expecting him to throw something at her as she left.

She pushed open the door to the kitchen, the one place in the whole arcade hardly anyone used. There were parts of it that not even Kiana was even allowed to go into; Sun and Moon always claimed that they simply hadn’t repaired the kitchen fully and that it was a danger. The kitchen seemed void of any aesthetics besides the checker patterned floor tiles that were rather large. Everything was colored with greys and metal; it was depressing compared to everything else. But, Kiana supposed that’s how kitchens were supposed to be in a public place. They were supposed to be sterile and clean, if only because of food regulations. The only thing she could assume her bosses added was the speckled foldable table and the microwave sitting in the middle of it.

Kiana began to make small piles of dust and dirt before sweeping into the dust pan. As she did so, she hummed the melody to the song, playing on repeat in her mind. Chills ran up their spine. The cold seeped from the half open freezer door, which at the right angle looked like the mouth of leviathan, or well the closest a cold metal door and room could. Their fingers ghosted over the textured surface, itching to pull it open enough to take a look. It would just be a little peak, just to satiate the nosiness inside of them. They bit the skin around their fingers, questioning the morals to do such a thing. Sun had made her promise not to go back there, going on about its danger and how expensive keeping a freezer was. Just as their fingers gripped the handle – feeling as if that if they kept their hand there long enough they would eat frostbite– long, impossibly loud thunder filled their ears, almost piercing in nature. It shook the walls and lingered in their ears longer than it actually was. The door sat there forgotten as the whole world went dark. It was only for a second before the lights came back on, but in that second, the only sound was of the storm fighting against the building.

“ Did the power go out in this room, too?” Sun peeked his head through the kitchen door, seemingly already knowing the answer.

“Yeah.”

“ I figured… Anyway, I think it’s best if you leave now. The storm is letting up just a little bit, and I don’t want you walking out while it’s too bad.”

“ Um, okay, I’ll be out in a second.” They dumped the dustpan and set it next to the staff only room– if they had to bother Moon again, then they were sure he would skin them alive. They grabbed all their stuff next to the door, undoing their lady bug themed umbrella and stepped outside.

Yvaine linked arms with them almost immediately. “ We better hurry before we miss the bus, and we end up more soggy than we would be.” Looking at them, it was clear they had failed to get inside before it had gotten bad. Their clothes stuck to their bodies, and some of their makeup was running down their face. Outside, it was only a sprinkle, but that was sure not to last very long.

Both of them were speed walking, just slow enough to not slip on the wet concrete. The street was familiar to the both of them since it was only a block away from the Arcade and about two from the music store where Yvaine worked. The bus stop sign was bent at about a 70-degree angle when Savannah Hale ran it over about three years ago; she still hadn’t lived it down. When they made it, the rain started up again. It wasn’t pouring down yet, but Kiana’s umbrella didn’t seem to be doing any good. Still, Yvaine stayed close, their shoulder brushing against hers.

“ Okay, so the guy who’s house we’re going to say we could bring our own DVDs since we couldn’t use his and stuff like that, but there would be money for pizza.”

“ Hmm, pizza is nice.” Kiana looked at the road. The roadkill on the other side of the street still wasn’t gone, but most of the flesh had been picked off by bugs and other animals. They were surprised that it was completely gone; it should’ve been gone. “ Do you think anyone is gonna get that possum off the road?”

Yvaine tilted their head just before they answered, “ No… I don’t think people care enough… and I’m over one hundred percent sure that it would be a safety hazard.” Their grip on her arm was firm, knowing their friend well enough to know what they wanted to do.

“ It feels wrong just leaving it on the road. It was a living thing, you know. We’ve killed it!”

They sighed, looking away from their friend for a second. “ No, Ki, we did not kill that possum. We were not the ones who ran it over with our car because it would’ve been dangerous to stop.”

“ That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Possums aren't built for urban areas. I don't think people realize that when we make things. Also, you haven’t used that name for me in ages, what’s up with that?”

Yvaine cracked a smile. “ It’s not wrong to solve problems… I just felt like using it. I think it’s a better name for you than ‘Ana’ was.” They paused for a moment, looking up at the dark sky as rain fell from it. The cool droplets falling onto their face. “ The bus is near. I can hear it.”

Kiana stayed silent, rocking back and forth on their heels until the bus came. They climbed on board, taking seats directly in the middle. The felt seats against her wet back felt like a crime; it made them want to crawl their skin off. Though, the idea of leaving that poor animal on the road somehow felt more wrong. It deserved a proper burial or to be at least placed on some grass. She placed her bag in her lap, mentally praying that her sketchbooks and other things hadn’t gotten soaked.

Yvaine and Kiana danced together like they were when they were teens. Evanescence was playing in the background – specifically Tourniquet. Yvaine mumbled the lyrics with a large grin, then attempted to dip their best friend. The most important word being attempted. With a giggling shriek, Kiana fell to the ground with a thud.

“ OW!”

Both of them burst out laughing. Somehow, Yvaine, too, ended up on the tan carpeted floor. They crawled next to their best friend, still laughing. They rested their head on her shoulder, hands reaching for the coffee table to try and get up, but failing.

After a moment, both of them rested there, laughing subsided. It was Yvaine who spoke.

“ When I picked you up, I saw your bosses–well, I saw one of them– and I gotta say… he was kind of hot. I would totally get with one of them.” They grabbed a slice of pizza from the box. “ I bet they think you’re pretty too.”

With a mix of annoyance and joking, Kiana pushed their face away from them, rustling their saggy dark hair. “ Yvaine Nedbalkova, you can't just say that to somebody! You wouldn't want me saying that about your boss!”

“ Well, it’d be impossible to call my boss hot. Have you actually seen him before?” Their face twisted in confusion, looking up with their mouth agape.

“ That seems very rude to say about a person, Y.”

“ Just because I don’t think he’s not attractive doesn’t mean he’s not a decent boss and good person.” They paused for a second before offering Kiana another slice of pizza.

She shook her head before asking, “ When do you think the guy will come back?”

They looked at the analog clock on the wall, trying to do the math to see what time it was. “ Probably like in the next twenty minutes or something, so we should probably clean and take the dog out one last time.” Both of them stood up. And, while there wasn’t a lot to clean, they did try to do something.

The front door was pushed open, and a man wearing a grey tweed suit stepped inside. Dutchess, his black German shepherd dog, came running to him before coming to a halt and looking up at him, gently wagging her tail. He had a wide smile on his face with a rather sad beard on his chin. “ Hello.” He had a smooth voice, but something felt strange about it. “ Hope nothing burned while I was gone,” he joked.

“ Nope, and Dutchess was very well behaved.” Yvaine uncrossed their arms to pick up the pizza box. They turned to Kiana, motioning them to follow them out–though Kiana was still trying to wrestle on their shoes. The man stepped in front of the doorway, blocking their only exit. He stared both of them down; she looked away and held her arms as if he had wounded them.

“ Where are you two going so fast? I mean, it’s still so early. You can stay awhile,” the man declared. That's when Kiana noticed the golden bee pin on his suit.

“ Ah, naw, I think we better leave now. We’re not sure when the rain will start up again.” Yvaine adjusted their stance, looking up almost in defiance.

“ Oh, well then, the least I can do is drive you two home.”

“ Hey man, can you just give us the money I was promised and leave us alone? We don’t take car rides from random people.”

The man sighed and pulled out his wallet, handing a couple of bills to Yvaine. The pair stormed off, of course. That wasn’t before they pushed the man out of the way. The rain had stopped an hour ago, and there was still water in the air. Everything was wet, and it wedged between them like an axe.

“ I don’t know why you shoved him. He seemed nice enough.” She huffed as they climbed up the hill while pushing their hair back.

Yvaine looked at her like she was crazy. Flicking their friend’s forehead, they scoffed. “ Because, Ki, he was fucking creepy! Did you see the way he was looking at us? At you? I don’t want to end up on one of his DVDs because I guarantee you that's why we couldn’t watch them!”

“ No, of course I didn’t see how he was looking. I don't make eye contact… ever! Also, where in God’s green earth did you get that idea? He may just like his DVDs and not want them to get scratched or something!” Kiana crossed their arms, looking to the side opposite of Yvaine. They began to bite and pick the sides of her fingers, blood once again making a familiar appearance.

They slid in front of her, grabbing them by their shoulders. They took a breath before replying, “ Listen to me, you got to start realizing when you’re in danger. That suit guy is probably dangerous, and hey, even if he wasn’t, that doesn’t mean the next person won’t be either. Even if someone has the best intentions, doesn’t mean they’re going to listen. I just don’t want you to get hurt. Can you at least try to follow your instincts? Please?” Yvaine slid their hand up to her cheek; she leaned into it, the comfort of an old friend.

Kiana chuckled softly, “ You know for a fact that I don’t have any. Wouldn’t be surprised if I ended up like Mariam. Can you imagine that? Me on some missing person flyer?”

“ I think you’d be the prettiest missing person there ever was and will be.” They began walking again, nearing the bus stop, though not before stepping in at least three different puddles.

Kiana went to touch their Saint Dymphna necklace, though the chain and charm couldn’t be found, just as they made it to the bus stop. “ Well, fuck. I have to head back.”

“ What?!”

“ I think I must’ve dropped my necklace?”

“ Just leave it! It’s just a necklace. You told me yourself that you hate materialism with a burning passion.”

“ I got it when I was at St. Thomas Aquinas so no, I can’t just leave it!”

“ Fine… I guess. Just– do you have your pocket knife?”

“ Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“ Just checking.”

The walk back seemed a lot longer than walking away from it. The residences of the town’s wealthy looked over her, though she didn’t mind it. They were very beautiful houses colored in whites and blues and greys. They all looked similar but with small differences that made them sort of charming in a way. When she had moved to the town, her grandparents would often drive through to get to the market, and each time, Kiana fantasized about being inside of one of those houses. To have what seemed at the time, all the money in the world to do whatever they wanted. The houses were older now, much like that oh so familiar car just out of eye sight.

The white door of the tweed suited man’s house was ajar. They’re dark eyebrows folded together as they silently pushed it open, and seemingly, all the humidity left the air. Their heart raced, mind racing with all the terrible things that could be happening to that man, and somehow, in each of these images, they were to blame. They stuffed their hand into their bag, pulling out their pocket knives, turning the blade to face outwards. With shaky breath, they neared the living room to be met with the loud sounds of something struggling. At first, they thought it was an animal;it was not

A sun-masked man was laying down a tarp while another –this one’s mask in the shape of a moon– was subduing the tweed suited man, though his suit jacket was off. The man’s hands were tied with rope, and his face battered. A loud gasp escaped Kiana, catching the two strangers' attention. Her legs moved faster than her mind, though not faster than the stranger with the sun mask.

The wind was knocked out of her as his body slammed into his, causing her to clash to the ground. He turned her over. The ground was cold and sticky with mud, only shocking her for a second before she was kicking. She was hitting his face and the side of his head, unknowingly loosening his mask until…

Sun looked down at her with his blue eyes, and for a moment, they stood still, almost as if they were taking each other’s appearances in. She gave him one last large kick in the stomach, pushing him off of her. She got back up, knife switching between the two of them. She didn’t even know she was sobbing until she choked.

“ Oh God. Not you. Please… why’d it have to be you two?” She made a noise somewhere between a choke and a whimper before laughing a little bit. “ God really has forsaken me, hasn’t he?” It was barely audible. Her back was against the wall, beyond trapped and cornered.

Sun held his stomach, huffing a bit before looking up at them. His eyes were filled with things, emotions. Hate. Love. Anger. Pity. Enjoyment. He slowly got up, still holding his stomach, looming over her. “ Let's be reasonable here.”

“ Reasonable? None of this is reasonable, Sun!”

“ No, no, don’t say that,” he gripped her hands, ghosting over the knife in such a gentle way before sliding up to her wrists, “ We’re doing this for a reasonable cause. We’re saving people. We’re preventing deaths and trauma and hurting those who hurt people. That’s reasonable.”

Kiana shifted her gaze to the wall beside her; she half expected him to snap at her for not making eye contact like every other person in her life.

“ What if he decided to hurt Malie or Eden? Malie goes drinking on friday, right, Moonie? Same bar as this guy. Found that out by accident, really. ”

“ Yup.”

“ Eden goes to therapy, and you know who’s office he goes to? We could always go through all these DVDs, and we probably won’t find ‘em all.” He was getting giddy now, like he was letting her in on a little secret.

Sun was closer now, lowering her arms with one hand and the other moving all of her hair to one shoulder; Kiana flinched. She stared at Moon and the man, everything shaking.

“ I think… she should take a stab at it.” Moon let out a wheezing laugh, now holding the Man off the ground a little, and leaning a little bit into the wall.

Her breath hitched. “ A stab at what?” Nothing was running through her brain anymore. How could it?

“ Him,” Sun answered with a curt head tilt. He led her to the edge of the tarp where Moon and the man were now standing– Moon’s hand covered his mouth.

Her knees felt like they were about to buckle. A million thoughts ran through her head, but so did nothing. Their thoughts turned to TV static, but flashes of nursing school and that horrible mistake lingered. Part of her wondered if the man’s flesh would quickly buckle under the pressure the the knife and if the blood would slowly bubble up before turning into rivers of crimson. Somehow, she couldn’t picture him dying on the carpet. No, she could only picture his blood running through the vines of the tiles, much like hers had.

“ Where should they stab him?”

“ I don’t know, their the one who went to nursing school. I think they should choose,” Moon replied.

She looked at the man’s chest, thinking of what would be the most painless place to put it. She wasn’t seeing red yet, no, that would come later. She counted the ribs, counted the organs near the front, and stuck him with the knife between the two halves of the rib cage, pressing until the skin popped and then some. Mentally, she prayed she had hit the celiac artery, though it’s exact placement had long since faded from her mind. She let go of a breath that she didn’t even know she was holding.

“ God, what did I do?” The pocket knife dropped from her hand.

Moon let the man fall before turning him onto his back. “ Aren’t you going to finish him?” Moon pressed his heel into the wound as he handed her a new weapon. A much larger knife that must’ve been taken from the kitchen. “ Go on.”

Sun rested his chin on her head, a large grin on his face. “ Think of all the people you’re saving. All the people he hurt that he can’t anymore. It’d be such a shame if he survived and went back to hurting people. It’d be your fault, you know?” He let her slide down, getting on her knees, and she pushed her hair back. Her breath uneven as she raised the knife, her head turned and eyes closed as she plunged it in once more. And then again. And again. And until her eyes were open and warm stickiness. Until the man was painted a red that was almost sheer in nature.

The knife dropped to the ground. “ What did I do?” She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, which only served to spread the blood.

Sun picked her up from the ground by her arms. “ Oh, you did what you had to do, Star.”

“ You’ve killed a very, very naughty man.”

“ And, now, it’s time for everyone's least favorite part of this. Cleaning. If this wasn’t so messy, then I’m sure we would do it so much more often.”

“ I’ll pull the car around to the front. You know what to do.” With that, Moon was rushing back outside with car keys jingling

She stood there as Sun began to wrap the body in the tarp where most of the mess was contained. The man’s blood pooled in the tarp, reflecting the light. He grabbed the cleaning supplies from a black bag, beginning to scrub away any traces of blood. He even cleaned the knife with the bleach, picking at any fleshy bits, wiped off the fingerprints, and tossed it into the tarp with a little noise. Moon came back saying something to Sun –though she wasn’t listening– and they both picked up the tarp wrapped body and carried it outside. The body dipped like a ‘v’, letting the blood pool in the middle. She followed them to the door, watching as they gently placed the body in the back of the car.

Moon got into the passenger seat, while Sun linked arms with her, guiding her to the car. He seemed so proud of himself, like he had just finished his magnum opus. He opened the door for them; she could’ve swore that he mentioned something about not wanting to get blood on the door. She didn’t even realize she was in a car until they were driving off. The leather stuck to her body, a mix of blood and humidity.

Bile rose into their esophagus, but their throat closed up. Tears pricked their eyes, but they dared not to flow. Their mind raced with pictures of the crash. The images of twisted metal and breaking glass. Her mother crashing through the windshield, and the seat belt did nothing to stop it while her father had so much glass in him that it was hard to tell who it was. Colored flashing lights and ringing in their ears. They hadn’t been inside of a car since they were fifteen– leading to one of their most embarrassing memories.

They placed their shaking hands in between their legs as an attempt to not start biting them. Their eyes went to the window– a distraction. Trees and those fancy houses passed them by. It was a deep night by then with light pollution hiding some of the stars. The moon was nowhere to be seen either, as if even it couldn’t bear to see what they had done. Soon, the houses gave way to pure, dense forest.

They rolled to a stop, the boys getting out with grunts and some stretching. To Kiana’s left, she could see a hole a good ten feet away from the car. It was in front of two large trees with twisting branches. Sun and Moon opened the truck and pulled out the tarp. They waddled to the hole, talking about something that she wouldn't understand. What they did understand was that the tarp was slipping out of Sun’s arms just as they made it to the hole. The body dropped and sort of unrolled itself from the tarp. From the sudden impact of the ground, the organs popped out. Intestines messily woven together like spaghetti. Kiana gasped; their mind began to become a haze, and so did their vision. They made a sound akin to a whine and a scream. The man’s arm hung into his grave, and so did some of the organs. Sun and Moon just rolled their eyes and kicked the body into the grave. He fell into it with a sickening crack and thud, his face hitting the edge of the grave. They began to grab their shovels and fill the grave with dirt and rocks, and when they reached a certain point, Moon threw something else into the grave before filling it all the way.

The whole ordeal must’ve taken thirty minutes or so because they were back in the car, seemingly talking joyfully –or at least Sun was. He turned on the radio, softly singing the lyrics. It was the song Beautiful by Julie Doiron; Kiana didn’t feel very beautiful.

“ So, should we go to our house or yours?” Sun questioned as if she didn’t just kill a man.

Kiana looked at him blankly for a moment before answering. “ I-I don’t know.”

“ Moon, what do you think?”

Moon seemed to think about it for a moment, pulling out a piece of hard candy. “ I vote we go to Star’s apartment. It’s their big day, after all.”His voice sounded almost cruel.

“ Star’s apartment it is then!” There was a trill to his words, joyful and somehow sounding more cruel than Moon’s.

Kiana couldn’t tell how long the rest of the card ride was, only that it was around midnight. They drove past the park, a few –probably high– teenagers playing on the swing seat along with her favorite restaurant. The tears were rising again when they finally made it to the apartment building, pulling into what would be her parking space if she had a car. She unbuckled her seat belt and zipped up her black jacket before getting out of the car with the both of them. She stood outside in the cold air and took in deep breaths. The wind and blood made her shiver; the strong metallic smell finally registered.

They walked in through the side door, climbing up those depressing concrete stairs. The sickly yellow light came in from the frosted lamps. Like normal, she counted the doors to her apartment before opening the door to be met with darkness. Flicking on the light, the semi-messy appearance of the room came into view. Kiana took note of nothing besides the disappointed looks of the Saints on her walls. Each one of them knew the sin she couldn’t come back from.

“ I’m going to take a shower.”

She walked off into her bedroom, flicking on the lights only to be met with more disappointed expressions. The small statue of the Virgin Mary on her dress, which she normally used as a necklace holder, looked down in an expression mixed with shame and sadness. Kiana took off her hearing-aid, finally, before plugging it into its charger. She grabbed random items of clothing, taking towels from under the sink. When they set their clothes down on the counter, that’s when she saw herself. Covered in blood, bits of something in her hair, and a puffy red face from crying. Their clothes were wrinkled and stiff, and only then did they realize how much everything itched. She quickly got undressed and turned on the water. When they stepped under the water, it burned, but they didn’t turn it down. No, they stood there and watched the blood run down the drain. No matter how much they washed, she still didn’t feel clean. Everything still felt itchy, even if she scratched at her skin. They spent what seemed like hours just washing their hair. Though part of the shower just involved uncontrollable sobbing and tearing at the skin around her nails and scratching at the palms. They bit their hand, trying to focus their thoughts on the pain and not the murder.

“ Oh, God, what did I do?”

Kiana only got out when the water started to get cold. They got dressed and braided their semi-wet hair before stepping out into their room only to find Sun and Moon. Well, Sun was near the closet while Moon was standing near the bathroom door, who seemed to be telling him something. She didn’t even pay attention to it, really. Sun face seemed to light up as if he remembered something and practically skipped over.

She had to lip read what he was saying but guessed it was something like, “ Look what’s behind your ear!” He then proceeded to reach behind her ear and pretend to grab something; when he showed off his hand, the metal pendant glinted in the light. Kiana looked back up at his mouth, reading what he was saying, “ I found it on the floor of that guy's house.” She snatched it out of his hand.

Kiana shook her hands as if she was drying them off or trying to pick something up but didn’t know how to. “ I–I… I think I’m going to bed now. You two need to go. Just go. Just get out of my room.” She scratched at her palm before opening the door for them. “ You can stay for the night or something since it’s late but go.” They couldn’t look at the pair anymore. Her whole body was tense, even as they left. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was shaking. When they left, she slammed the door and locked it– if only for privacy.

They began to pace, picking and peeling at their hands. There were whispered sorrys and signed ones. The tears couldn’t start up again, but by God, did she wish that they did. There was no amount of repentance that could absolve them of their actions. They knew that. Maybe that's why they grabbed their bag. It was a rather large messenger bag, and they had gotten it a few days before they had gone to college and almost immediately dyed it a dark brown. It held a lot of stuff, but there was one item that they were looking for. Kiana propped the bag up in one of her arms, fingers searching for the familiar plastic of their box cutter. They borrowed it from Malie since she was tired of asking Sun and Moon for one–the only one being in their office for safety reasons. They stopped just before they could grab it and dropped the bag.

They dug their palms into her eyes before shaking them out. She exhaled deeply, trying to calm themself down. ‘ You’ve gotten better. You’ve worked through this. Just got to bed,’ they signed to herself before turning out the lights and laying on the soft blankets on their bed. They knew they wouldn’t be able to sleep; they didn’t deserve sleep, but at least they could rest. They wrapped their arms around one of their pillows, pressing their cheek to it. The cool fabric felt almost like an ice pack. Kiana hadn’t realized how much everything hurt and how much they were tired until they laid up with their muscles seemingly made of stone.

—

I hope you liked this one! It’s even longer than the last one, but I’m significantly more proud of it. Again, this is AU @wyervan 's AU. Also, new writing or art for anything DCA related will be slow since I plan on working on my OC’s backstory and working on my other fandom works.