By The Lantern-Light (A CherriSnake AU)

V - The Light In The Window (TW)

Warning: This chapter contains imagery that some readers may find upsetting. TW// alcohol consumption; depictions of violence & gore.

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"So he had like, three bills in front of him, but it took him thirty minutes to read them. His eyes are so shit," Angie said, kicking a rock along the path to downtown.

He used his fingers to tousle his short blond hair, his heterochromatic eyes glancing at me. "Hey, sugar tits. Ya good?"

I looked up at him with a confused expression. "Yeah, why?"

"Ya been silent this whole time. You didn't even agree with me when I was complainin' 'bout Valentino."

"I'm tryna forget."

Anthony made an understanding face and placed a hand on my shoulder, pulling me towards him. I snuggled into him, smiling faintly. "He ain't findin' ya any time soon, trust me," he reassured with a soft voice. "We gonna get out of this shithole togetha'. Then you an' I, we gonna rule this fuckin' world."

I giggled. "King Angie and Queen Cherri, their worst fuckin' nightmare!"

"Bring out the guillotines!" We burst into laughter, holding onto one another for stability.

The scenic route to the downtown area was a pretty boring one, but it was comforting how secluded it was. Tall oaks and even taller pines lined the edges of the dirt path, their leaves barely allowing the dying sunlight through. The path was winding and took several sharp turns, making it one of the more dangerous roads to drive a carriage on.

I was used to this path; I would walk along it every time I left from tormenting Pentious. There were a few notable spots where some of my explosives were deployed, knocking down young trees and coating them in sticky glitter, or where the edgelord's bullets had failed miserably to hit their intended target. We had certainly left our mark.

Nearly half an hour passed when we reached the outskirts of town. My hole-up was relatively close. A giant crumbling brick building that had been split by level, and my bit had one of everything: one bed, one kitchen, and one window. Seriously.

The two of us made it inside just as the last bit of the sun set beyond the horizon. Anthony cracked open one of the bottles in my stash, taking a swig of lager before handing one to me. I took the drink and tipped my head back with the opening to my mouth, enjoying the flavour as well as the buzz to come.

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"You know what we need?" I pondered, laying on my back in the bed next to Angie.

"Money?"

"Nah; we get along just fine without that." I set an empty bottle in the corner, where others had been placed that night. I was on my fourth. "What we need is to get outta this place."

"So, we need money." Angie chucked his own bottle to the pile. The sound of shattering glass rang through the room.

I gave him a high-five. "Nice aim," I mumbled.

"Thanks. Been practicin'."

We laid in silence for a few minutes, when a thought pushed itself into my head. "Shit," I groaned as I sat up.

Anthony lazily turned his head to face me, and made a questioning hum.

"My fucking powder flask. I dropped it at ass-hat's place."

"Can't ya get it tomorrow? It's kinda late; not a good idea to be goin' outside, 'specially not drunk."

"No, 'cause if he gets his hands on it, he's gonna dangle it over my head for weeks. He did that last time."

"What an asshole." Anthony shifted himself to lay on his stomach. "Still, though. It's dark outside. I can help ya get it in the morning, 'kay?"

"What, you sayin' I can't handle myself?" I was starting to feel annoyance creep into my brain as I thought of how often I had been working at the dead of night, and came home alive and in one piece. Anthony of all people should know that I was nobody to fuck with.

"I'm just saying-"

"Angie, I can fucking take care of myself."

He now looked up at me, furrowing his brow. "Cherri, it's a bad idea."

I rolled my eyes and stood. "I'll be back in an hour." I tied my hair half up and pulled on my pink waistcoat and white shorts, then my boots.

"Clar-"

I slammed the door on my way out, cutting him off. Drawing in a deep breath of cool summer night air, I began my trek back to Pentious' property to retrieve my gunpowder flask.

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I never remembered the road being this long.

I had travelled on it so many times; it was never this daunting. It may have been the alcohol in my system, or the shiver down my spine at the thought that maybe Anthony was right.

My hand on my revolver eased the growing paranoia as I turned the last curve. I could see Pentious' house, and the lights in the windows were on.

A snap from behind me.

Shit-

I swung around, firing blindly, before the figure lunged.

I threw a fist into their abdomen, and that bought me some time, but they recovered far too quickly. My weapon was rendered useless as it was torn from my hand and tossed aside.

It was so dark. I couldn't see a fucking thing. I had a feeling I knew exactly what they wanted; I wasn't going to let go without a fight.

I was knocked off balance with a kick to the back of my knees. Landing face first in the dirt, I screamed despite myself. The figure twisted me onto my back and I attempted to push them off with my feet. They violently shoved my legs aside and shifted their weight to keep my legs down.

Clawing at whatever skin I could make out did nothing.

A pressure was applied to my face. I cried out again, praying someone could hear me.

It felt like my skull was about to cave in. The left side of my face was hot with pain.

No, they're - they're going to fucking kill me!

I let out a visceral scream as the pain heightened, burning blood gushing down my face. I instinctually shot up a defensive hand, but something held it down. My wrist was forced down beneath the attacker.

The sound of a gunshot was the last thing I heard before the world turned black.

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No More Tears (Extended Ver.) by Ozzy Osbourne

(This story will be available on AO3 within a week of publishing this chapter! Updates may be inconsistent at first.)