I Wanna Be Yours : Tyler Galpin

13: The Point of No Return

It may have not been Friday the thirteenth, but it indeed felt so–as Victoria and Xavier were helping Ajax set up for Wednesday's surprise birthday party in Joseph Crackstone's spooky crypt.

She'd been there by herself for an hour until Xavier and Ajax had finally arrived to help while Enid was distracting Wednesday, while leading her to the crypt.

"Would you hurry, Victoria, Wednesday's almost here!" Xavier scolded. "Where's your magic when it's most needed?"

"Magic doesn't work like that, Xavier."

She was on a ladder, hooking on a long poster that Xavier had painted a few hours before. And because she was the most useful of them both, she took the initiative to start hanging things as they cleaned the place for a cake.

"It's too far to the right," Xavier complained. "You might have to untie it and do it again."

She sighed. Her arms had been hanging in the air for quite a while now and she was getting tired. It was almost midnight too. She scooted over, trying to reach for the string of the poster again when her foot missed a step and she lost her balance.

It happened in a flash as she grasped onto the wall, her weight and gravity pulling her down as she was dragged against the rugged wall. As she fell onto the floor on her bum. She felt a sharp pain on her dominant right forearm.

There was a six inch gash cut clearly through her skin like a slice of cake. She breathed heavily, rolling down her sleeves and pulled against it as it bled.

At least the ladder had broken her fall.

"Oh shit, are you badly injured?" Ajax questioned as he helped her up.

"Hush, you two, Enid just texted she's here," Xavier hissed as he blew out the candles and grabbed the cake.

Victoria turned to Ajax. "I'm okay."

As her arm was stained with crimson.

"Wow, sorry to hear I missed it," Tyler said sarcastically through the phone as Victoria laid in bed.

Wednesday's party was a very brief moment of celebration, as she stayed for the cake (seemed to enjoy it), discussed that she wondered how many more birthdays she had left before she actually would start to enjoy them (which was never), and then nonchalantly thanked Thing before leaving (not before saying she'd get him back though.)

She'd just arrived back to her dorm from Crackstone's Crypt and it was nearing two in the morning. She then called Tyler, remembering that he asked her to notify him when she got back as she told him everything that happened—well, almost everything.

Though that was before she cleaned her cut and bandaged it as best she could.

"You're very much a night owl, aren't you?" Tyler asked through the phone.

Truthfully, she just liked to speak to him. Speaking to Tyler was easy.

"I like to think I can pull off both," Victoria said with a laugh. "I'd stay out more if not for Nevermore. Plus it's a small town so there's not much to do."

"I know a spot or two," Tyler said sneakily. "If you're up for it, we could go haunted house hunting... or something of the sort."

Victoria grinned. "Is that a date?"

"Only if you say yes."

She grinned. "Then yes. I'd love to go haunted house hunting with you. Even though there's no such thing as ghosts."

- - - ᡣ𐭩 - - -

"The mayor's in the hospital?" Victoria asked Wednesday and Enid, seeing if she heard them correctly, as she laid in her bed, waiting for Tyler's text.