Snow Day

Dab On POV: McKinnon

all i could see was figures hunched over in the dark. and, well, hopefully they were my friends. and not the slitheen.

  "hey, whose shoulder is this?" jane (maybe) whispered loudly. she was hoping that it was a shoulder.  it was not.  "um, jane... c-could you stop molesting me? you're not uncle joe..." leah squeaked, forcing a laugh and  pushing the embarrassed jane away. "i'm kidding... but, why were you grabbing me in the first place?" 

jane, probably looking like a tomato, sputtered out a response while jenna cracked up. "i-i only wanted to stand up, and, you know, im so short i n-needed to like... i guess, sorry, um i.. what was i saying?"  i tilted my head to the side. this wasn't like jane; i guess she's really shook about this, and i guess the nerves were getting to everyone. 

I suddenly remembered that i had brought some chocolate with me and crawled over to my duffel bag.  i hoped it was mine; i'd seen earlier, when there actually was light, that courtney had a similar one. i fumbled with the zipper to test the ownership.  aha! eureka! i've got it!

it's my bag. i could tell from the newt scamander pop vinyl keychain hanging off the pull tab.  as i crawled back to my spot against the wall, i heard sniffles and crying.  "is everyone okay?" i tentatively asked into the darkness, breaking off a square of chocolate.  a chorus of mostly positive answers filled the tight, choking, anxiety-inducing silence.

"avery, stop tickling me!" mary brannen exclaimed, holding back a giggle.  "uh... i'm not next to you anymore." avery answered, 6 feet away from mb.  "then who the hel-" jane started, but jenna's hand clamped over her mouth. jane rolled her eyes. "heck, jenna. heck. who the heck was tickling mb?!?" 

and suddenly mary brannen was shivering next to me. she reached over and took a piece of my chocolate, took another, and handed the second over to courtney, who miraculously appeared beside her. 

"hey, how about i do a stupid thing and go look over there?" i asked, my voice shaking. "knock yourself out, but don't make it like gavroche all over again!"  avery replied, then courtney made a joke about how i was only going to look at my eddie redmayne photos that are supposedly with me at all times.

i pushed off the ground and got to my feet, instinctively reaching into my back pocket for my phone.  "oh frick. it's still dead." i muttered to myself. how else was i supposed to read fanfiction and cry over photos of eddie??  breaks my heart.

  why was i doing this? me, of all the people? me, who can't even send an email about a book without crying? normally i'd tell myself i'm getting too worked up, but this time... it feels normal to be so scared.  i gathered up all the courage i had, which was exactly nothing. is it possible to have negative courage?

anyway. i walked quietly over to where mb had been sitting, silently wishing i'd gotten twinkle toes.  i strained my eyes to see nothing.  "are you sure you were being tickled?"  "yeah. 100%." 

i sighed, pushing my bangs back behind my ear. my hair must look horrid, but at least it's dark. but the tickler must've been... i racked my brain for a possible answer. total throwback to when this happened to me at a play.

then i felt a tug on my sleeve, a clammy hand over my mouth, and i was suddenly being dragged into the kitchen.  why am i so weak??!? my heart rate sped up about 300%. tears were silently pooling in my eyes, and flowing out the corners and over the strange hand (that smelled like cheetos) like a steady river. i was panicking harder than ever before.

i couldn't think straight, i couldn't think straight, i couldn't. think. think. think. i thought, harder and harder as i was being forced to stand up. i tried my best to lick the person's hand, hoping i could get it off my mouth.  yep, definitely cheetos. but i still couldn't speak.. wow. this person—being—thing??!— must have experience with cats or something. how purrfect. DARN!! THIS IS NO TIME FOR JOKES YOU'RE BEING KIDNAPPED, YOU IDIOT!! 

i snapped out of my stupid pun-filled thoughts and saw that the kitchen sink was full of water. water, of course, at the perfect amount to... wash the dishes. (my inner optimist was trying to brighten things) and drown someone.  (there it goes) i was faced with this fact as i was held down with my face lowering into the water.

it was so cold... nearly instantly numbing. i immediately regretted trying to breathe as i sputtered and coughed water back into the nearly overflowing sink. oh, god, this was it.

i struggled. i pulled. i used all of my strength to try to rid myself of this horrible person as my salty tears mixed with the tap water. wails of anguish were trapped in my throat, burning me from the inside out. screams were held deep inside of my lungs, never to be heard.  it was cold. and i was numb. and i could no longer breathe, but i could barely tell. 

after a while, i was losing consciousness. i knew what this meant as i was finally let go of. my head banged against the floor, surely causing me a lot of pain that i couldn't feel.  i could only feel emotion. every regret. i never met eddie. the biggest pain of my life... my life flashed before me. there one moment, gone the next.. i could see a sliver of the moon through the blinds. it was fading.  cosette... the light is fading! it felt so warm. i was so cold, and i was drifting into the warmth of what felt like sleep.

i was unaware yet too aware, barely able to fear what was to come after the end. and on my last breath on this earth, in this life....   i dabbed. and i was gone.