You And I: Expanded Edition (A Helluva Boss Fanfiction)

Chapter 10

The human world.

The champagne flowed like a river down Lucas Wilkes' throat.

He swallowed and put the glass back down on the counter, the soft tink of the glass hitting the marble counter breaking the eerie silence.

He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, where he turned on the TV to a random news station. Lucas absently looked out of a window, where the light of the moon worked with the streetlights to illuminate that street outside.

Settling onto the couch, Lucas closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep, the sound of the tv working as white noise.

Lucas didn't hear the sudden sound of gentle footsteps in the kitchen. And he didn't hear when a kitchen knife was drawn out of a drawer.

He was only aware of the intruder when from behind him, a woman's hand thrust the knife into his right shoulder.

Lucas howled and turned around, grabbing at the knife in his shoulder. He only got a brief look at his attacker before she pounced on him, slamming him hard to the floor.

As his eyes met those of Loona's rage-filled ones, she tore the knife out of his shoulder and raised it.

Lucas only had a moment to raise his left hand to stop the blade before Loona plunged the knife straight through his hand.

Warm blood dripped down onto Lucas' face. Screaming in pain, Lucas grabbed Loona by the shoulders and threw her to the side.

Lucas got to his feet as fast as he could manage and began to run to the kitchen, where he had left his phone on the counter.

However, he didn't get very far before Loona tackled him to the ground again, the bloody knife gripped tightly in her hand.

Lucas yelped in pain as Loona slashed him across the back. He could feel the wound opening up and the hot blood pulsing out.

"Why the fuck are you doing this?" He cried out.

A growl escapes Loona's lips. "This is for what you did to Maxine."

Lucas paused. "So you're Loona, I'm guessing?"

Loona stopped, taken aback. "What?"

A sadistic grin spread across Lucas' face. "She screamed for you when I-"

Loona dug the knife deep into Lucas' back, rage roaring through her veins.

Shut up Shut up SHUTUPYOUSONOFABITCH

Lucas cried out in pain and head-butted Loona, causing her to fall backward as he scrambled to his feet and ripped the knife out of his back, wincing at the agony. The knife clattered down to the kitchen floor

In the kitchen, Lucas used his bloody fingers to grab his phone. Before he could punch in the numbers to call the authorities, Loona slammed into him from the side, the knife again in her hand. The phone fell out of Lucas' hand and onto the counter, and he fell against the stove. As he got back up, he accidentally turned the stovetop onto the highest heat setting.

Loona quickly drove her knife through the phone.

Lucas roared in anger and leaned over the stove to grab a knife out of the open drawer, but Loona saw that the stove was turned on and took advantage of the moment.

Grabbing Lucas by the back of his head, Loona slammed his face down onto the searing hot stovetop. To others, the sound of Lucas' face burning would have been disgusting. To Loona, it was euphoric.

Lucas screamed in agony as the stovetop burned his skin. Flailing his arms around, he blindly grabbed a knife from the drawer.

And he stabbed Loona in the stomach with it.

Loona gasped as the knife entered her gut. Letting go of Lucas, she stumbled backward and fell to the ground, lying against the kitchen island.

Now unconscious, Lucas also fell, bleeding and burned.

Breathing heavily, Loona looked down at the blood pouring out of the wound.

No. Not like this.

———

Hell.

Maxine's apartment was silent, save for the sound of her brushing her teeth in the bathroom. After spitting out the toothpaste and putting the toothbrush back into its little holder, she returned to her bedroom, where her phone sat on the bedside table.

Upon picking up her phone, Maxine noticed that there was a new notification from the app for the local newspaper from her former hometown. The notification announced breaking news. After arriving in Hell and getting her new phone, she instinctively installed the familiar app as a way to hold onto her old life.

Maxine opened the notification, leading the app to open to the breaking news article.

Her breathing stopped as she read the headline. And tears began to roll down her face as she saw the woman in the attached photo.

"Jade," Maxine whispered.

Maxine clamped a hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. Her sobs shook her entire body.

Not Jade. Please, not Jade.

Jade. Her best friend. Her protector in high school. The woman who loved her.

Jade. Who always put her friends before herself, Who, even though she was heartbroken from Maxine's rejection, still put every ounce of effort into being the best friend she could.

Jade. Who didn't deserve this.

Maxine fell to her knees. She opened her eyes, tears clouding her vision.

Goddamnit, please no.

She wanted her best friend to be alive. She wanted Jade to be happy.

And, as guilty as she felt for thinking it, Maxine wanted Loona to be here. She wanted to feel Loona holding her close, her arms wrapped around Maxine, keeping her safe. She wanted to feel Loona's lips on her forehead and hear Loona's voice telling her that everything will be okay, that I'm not letting you go, that you're safe, that I love you.

Her fingers shaking, Maxine opened the contacts app and pulled up Loona's contact. She pressed the call button and held the phone up to her ear.

The moments went by like hours as she waited for Loona to pick up. Finally, Maxine's heart lifted as she heard Loona's voice. Then it dropped again when she realized that it was the voicemail message.

"FUCK!" Maxine screamed, throwing her phone across the room.

Maxine curled herself up into a ball on her bed and cried.

She cried because her best friend had suffered a horrible fate.

She cried because she didn't have the comfort of the woman she loved.

Maxine cried until sleep overcame her and led her by the hand into a dream where Loona held her and Jade was alive and everything was perfect.

Chapter 10: End.