The twelve Zodiacs all live together at a boarding school, but all that changes when Gemini claims she saw a magical airship hovering over the academy. The other eleven protested that there was nothing but despair and clouds in its place, but when t...
a/n this is going to be a short chapter -- its only 1.1k words so it'll be over quick --BUT ITS IMPORTANT
*time skip*
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Cancer POV
I woke up suddenly, staring at the ceiling. My mind was somehow running through every sentence that'd been said to me in the past day or that I'd heard and it was picking out one word and only one word.
I remembered Aries giggling, saying, "After all, every brat needs a noticeable look!"
And Leo, grumbling, "Why is it that after every shenanigan, I'm always the one that gets blamed?" while Sagittarius and Taurus cowered behind him in front of a clearly broken jug.
And Capricorn, calling back to Libra, "You can do that after you find out where Cancer went."
Oh yeah -- I was hiding from Libra!
But my mind kept running through that one word: after.
Why?
I had no fucking idea.
Excuse the curse word.
Suddenly, the image of a horrible, mutilated doll with blood leaking out of the eye sockets flashed in my mind and I screamed, burying my face in my pillow, but it was no use. Whenever I closed my eyes I would see it, so I opened them and traced the rays of moonlight that had landed on the ground from my window.
I saw the doll again.
I squeezed my eyes shut and finally remembered why it was there; I'd had a nightmare about Annabelle a few days back after Taurus had suddenly gone on a happy-movie-ending strike and forced me to watch a bunch of horror movies with him.
I opened one eye and looked around my dark room, then shivered even though I had a really thick comforter. I gently pushed it off and got up, tiptoeing on the carpeted floor to the to door. The knob felt cold when I opened it.
I'll just make some hot chocolate or something, I thought, shivering as I walked under the AC. I took the stairs down to the floor below, where the kitchen was, and turned on the light. It cast out into the dark living room and I shuddered as I saw my shadow move as I went to get a glass.
It was really quiet. Like, super quiet. My ears were ringing, full of silence.
I put the glass down with a clink and froze as I sensed a presence in the living room. Slowly, I took out one of the giant kitchen knives that Capricorn never let us use but always somehow kept finding themselves in Aries and Sagittarius's hands, and pointed it in the direction which I sensed the presence.
It moved closer, closer, closer, until --
"AHH!"
I dropped the knife and stared at Taurus. He had his hoodie that was three sizes too big on (like normal) and his arms were folded. I was just thinking that he looked adorable when he reached out and slapped me with his hoodie paw. "Were you about to stab me?"
"You were the one that creeped up on me," I protested, putting the knife back.
Taurus's hands were hidden in his hoodie sleeves, so the ends of each sleeve hung out as he opened the pantry and pulled out a packet of Chips Choy.
"What are you doing?" I inquired, curious as Taurus padded over to the cabinet that held the glasses.
"Getting a late-nigh-snack. Duh."
I hid a smile as Taurus turned to me with his cookies and his favorite glass in his arms. "What are you doing?"
"Making hot chocolate," I said, deciding not to tell him that I got nightmares from the movie he forced us to watch. "I couldn't sleep."
Taurus raised an eyebrow. "Really? I just woke up because I got a sugar rush and couldn't sit still. I snuck out some ice cream last night while you guys weren't looking," he explained when he saw my confused expression.
I hit his arm gently, an amused smile on my face. "So now you're just gonna eat cookies?"
"And bingewatch A Lull in the Sea," he smiled innocently.
I blinked. "Why're you watching anime without me?"
He shrugged. "I didn't think you were up. But now that you are," he gave me an evil smile, his green eyes glinting. "Make me hot chocolate with marshmallows and rainbow sprinkles and whipped cream on the top in a swirl and oreo bits that're basically crumbs with chocolate sprinkles too."
It was amazing that he said that all in one breath.
I rolled my eyes playfully. "You know that I've gotten your hot chocolate recipe memorized, Taurus."
"I know." He kept his innocent smile as he pulled five more packets of Chips Choy out of the pantry and went into the living room, dumping everything on the coffee table as he turned on the TV.
I sighed and started making our hot chocolate.
*time skip*
"This is the fourth time I'm watching the fourth episode," Taurus mumbled, stuffing another cookie into his mouth as the TV screen played, the only light in the darkness.
I looked at him in disbelief. "How are you not fat?"
Taurus froze with his mouth still full of the cookie and looked at me, his eyes saying, Really, Cancer?
"I'm a Zodiac," he mumbled through the cookie in his mouth. I switched my gaze from him to the almost-empty Chips Ahoy packet -- the first of many to suffer the same fate.
"That still doesn't explain it," I said, furrowing my brow as I sensed something again.
Suddenly, I whipped my head around and looked at the windows on the other side of the room. They were floor-to-ceiling, and I almost had a heart attack when I saw the shadow lurking behind the glass.
"Cancer?" Taurus asked as I set my cup of hot chocolate -- not hot anymore -- down slowly. I got up.
"Hold on a min, will you? I need to check something."
Taurus nodded and grabbed another cookie as I got up and went to the window. My heart was hammering faster than Sagittarius when he saw a clown as I peered through the glass -- but the shadow wasn't there.
I frowned and looked outside. I could see the moonlight illuminating the trees beyond and there were shadows from the upper floor, but . . . there was no one there.
"Cancer, come on," Taurus called from the couch. "You missed the part where the guys spilled Manaka's dish."
I took a last look outside then said, "Coming," to Taurus.
I went over to the couch and plopped down on the blankets, still casting looks over my shoulder as Taurus ate his cookie. He noticed. "What is it?"
"Nothing," I assured him. "I think I just saw something."
But as we moved onto the next episode and I hugged my knees to my chest, I couldn't help but think, Did that shadow have anything to do with . . . After?
A/N ok this is a short chapter ik but it's important
