DYING MOURNINGS, original

nine : ken doll

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𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 : 𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐃𝐎𝐋𝐋

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Ken laughed.

Loudly. Like it was a boom just his chest, thunder clapping.

It made me want to kill him slightly more than before. His stance shifted entirely with the news that we would kill him. His hands found his pockets, his shoulders hunched forward, even his head hung lower.

"We're serious, dude," snapped Winker with a growl. "We're here to really kill you."

Ken was wiping fake tears from his eyes. "I doubt it," he said between a hiccuping laugh. "This was a good joke, like, honestly, but John–" He looked around. "–if you're here, come out, man! This was really funny, but jokes over!"

A scowl worked its way to my lips as hope crawled into my head. He worked for John. He knew him, personally it seemed. "John isn't here," I snapped, holding up one of the knives. "This was a set up."

The door upstairs slammed shut and the sound rattled and echoed off the cold walls. With the slam, Ken flinched, noticeably. His eyes shifted from between the three of us, skeptical.

"Really? Three, what? Twelve year-olds are going to kill me?"

Blondie scoffed with a gasp. "Are you serious? I'll have you know I'm eighteen, asshole. Luke is too and Blaire–well, Blaire was held back a year so, guess what, dick? She's nineteen. You're gonna get killed by seniors."

Ken's face shifted. A menacing scowl replaced his doubting mouth and his brows furrowed downward, casting a dark glint in his shifting eyes. "I don't care how old you are," he hissed, "but I'm not going to be killed tonight by some reckless kids clearly experimenting. I'm bigger, I'm faster, and I'm stronger than the three of you combined. Some silly knife won't scare me and neither will you."

"I don't think you're really grasping the situation here, man," said Winker with a glare. "Do you have any idea who she is? Do you know who you're even fucking speaking too?" When Ken didn't speak, Winker took a step forward and snarled, "Has John told you nothing?"

He fixated on us with a perfect scowl, clearly not taking the bait and guessing. Did he really not recognize me? Had John not told them who I was? What I looked liked? Or was he playing dumb? Or did I look that bad right now?

Winker let out a laugh. "She's the necromancer, you moron!"

I was knocked back in the matter of seconds and I guess he was right. Ken was stronger and faster. I was on the ground before I could've even said a word, my back arching with the impact as I gasped. The knife was lost somewhere on the ground and I heard the metal skit away from my grasp. Beside me, Ken knocked Winker off his feet and down onto his side. The impact left a groan escaping the boy as Blondie raced forward with the second knife.

Ken pressed his arm against my throat, batting Blondie away with his free hand as he snarled in my face, "John has told me a lot about you, actually. Even said we weren't allowed to kill you, but he didn't say anything about your friends." He looked up with a wild gaze. "I'm going to have so much fun with you two."

I slammed both hands against his shoulders to try and relieve the pressure but he wouldn't budge. He had both knees pressed deeply against my sides, digging into my ribcage as he wacked Blondie back for a second time with easy strength. She landed awkwardly on her butt as Winker wrapped an angry arm around Ken's neck, trying to pull him back. It eased Ken up slightly, the arm on my throat giving me just enough room to breathe properly.