Rattlebones (bxbxb)

Death Boy

Death was not to be taken lightly. For as much as it fascinated and enthralled me, one thing remained clear,

It would always come for its victim, in any way, shape, or form. And who we were, or no matter what status we held, it would knock us down like small children standing on the building blocks of society, trying to reach a cookie.

So there I sat outside of Rainbow Lewis's burning mansion, the flames sizzling as gentle rain uselessly licked at the inferno. When I had arrived here I wasn't sure, but I held Eugene Wilder in my arms as if he were a sacrificial lamb, his chest rising slowly as he breathed, his arms limp. 

Nobody seemed to notice us, they were too busy screaming and crying. 

"Oh my God!" Rainbow screams and his glittery body comes into view a moment later, standing several feet away. "My parents are going to cut my fucking throat!"

I was pleased to see that his face hadn't melted off during my little episode, and I silently thanked Nigel for whatever magic he had spun to return everything to mostly normal. Without him, dozens of my classmates would have roasted like eighteenth-century martyrs, including Rishi Kumar and James, who I didn't really blame for ratting Eugene out. 

"Darcy!?" 

I hear a familiar shout cut through the chaos, and suddenly Iggy is there, pushing and shoving his way forwards when he spots me sitting on the ground in the middle of it all. Terror cuts across his expression, and then relief at the sight of me and Eugene.

He oddly enough seems to have no memory of saving me from my destruction,

And maybe that's a good thing.

I can't speak, let alone run to him, my body feeling weak and feeble. 

Iggy falls on his knees in front of us and he reaches for Eugene's face, holding him in his hands. "What happened?" He questions, and then he looks up at me and he reaches to touch my cold, undead cheek. "Darcy, why are you...?"

"It's a long story, Igor," I manage to reply, my voice slightly raspy from exhaustion. "Just know that it involved a ouija board and me burning down the house in a  fit of violence."

Iggy is silent for a moment, and then he reaches down and he takes hold of my hand, lifting it so that I can see it for myself. "Darcy, you do realize that you have no skin, right?"

My boney fingers come into view, cracking slightly when I clench my fist. My digits are a brilliant white, free of skin and fat, and when Iggy pushes up my sleeve, I see that it extends up my arm.

No, no, no.

I throw my head back and scream into the void of despair. 

In my eagerness to strike a bargain with Nigel, he had taken my humanity with him as punishment for what I had done. It would have been nice if he had warned me before sending me back and stripping me of my flesh, but as it was, Hell didn't exactly have sympathy for the damned, or Darcy Brown.

"My beautiful skin..." I sob uselessly into Igor's shoulder while he holds me. "What am I going to do, Iggy?" I ask him, my voice small and frightened.

Iggy holds me while I cry and he rubs my boney shoulders. I'm still wearing my Halloween costume, but it sags on my frail form. "You know what?" He asks me after a moment.

"What?" I sniff a little and rub my face. 

Iggy pushes me back gently so that I'm looking eyesocket to eye with him. 

"You're going to own this, Darcy." He tells me. "Whatever this is? It's you. It's always been you on the inside."

"Igor, I'm not sure if you know how anatomy works," I reply. "But we all have skeletons on the inside. Literally."

"Mhmm..." Eugene groans from where he's laying in my arms and then he shifts around a little. "Why the fuck are your knees so boney, Darcy?" He grumbles a little. 

Iggy and I trade a look, and then Eugene opens his eyes and he comes face to face with my grinning skull and hollow eyes with the twin purple flames.

The scream that he let's out could not be described.