Enlightened

Chapter Six: A Good Ass Day

A/N: Smut(ish), just a warning

Cheryl returned back to Thistlehouse at 12:06am in tears, but alone this time.  She was exhausted, but couldn't sleep.  All that ran through her mind was the Black Hood, the note and Toni.  She wondered if she had overreacted.  Should she have said what she did to Toni?  I mean, the pink haired girl was just trying to protect her.  But still, was Toni not going to fight for her?

These thoughts spun through her mind at a million miles per hour.  She lay on her canopy bed and stared up at the ceiling.  The Black Hood was back.  The man she'd shot with an arrow all those years ago.  Only, it wasn't the same man.  The killer who forced her to replace her bedroom door was back, for her specifically this time.  Tears streamed down her face and she curled up under her blanket in the fetal position.  She turned and faced the empty spot in her queen sized bed.  The red head wished someone was there with her.  She wished Toni was there with her.  

The thought of Toni laying in her bed made her happy, then the realization that that will never happen hit her and she started crying again.  Eventually, the red head crawled into bed and drifted off into an shaky sleep.  

~

Toni arrived home numb.  It was a miracle that she arrived home alive, as there were no feelings anymore.  No pain, no joy... nothing.  She parked the cruiser in the driveway,  The pink haired girl walked up to her house and unlocked the front door.  She didn't even look at what she was doing.  

This brought a terrifying thought to the young girl's mind.  "Is this all just routine?  I tell people I love my job, but do I love the job itself or do I love the predictability of it?"  Toni thought to herself.  She took her shoes off, leaving them right in front of her door and hung her keys up on their hook.  The Sheriff walked right upstairs and sat down on her bed in the dark.  

Everything was hitting her at once.  All of the stuff that'd occurred in the past... well, day.  She'd managed to fuck it up with Cheryl twice, her predecessor had been killed and there was a killer (or order of killers) stalking her secretary.  She felt her demon clawing away at her mental walls once again.

"You managed to fuck up that bad in a day Topaz?  I bet you Cheryl won't even look at you tomorrow.  The Black Hood is going to take over the city.  YOUR city.  YOUR responsibility.  This was expected though.  You can barely take care of yourself, let alone an entire city full of people.  You're pathetic."  Toni's self doubt spat at her.  Tears streamed from her eyes.  It was right.  She was pathetic.  But she couldn't leave now.  She was going to post that letter tomorrow and her city needed a strong leader to lead them through it.  Plus, Cheryl needed protecting.

After a quick shower the pink haired girl slipped into her pajamas, still maintaining her lack of emotion.  She laid in bed and let the apparition in her head break her down.  It felt like nothing could save her.  The only thing keeping her sane during her torture were thoughts of the red head.  Her smile, her laugh, the way she had perched her hands on her chin during dinner; small acts that salvaged the pink haired girl.  Her demon whipped the insides of her skull with reminders of failure and messages of discouragement for what felt like an eternity.  After threeish hours, the pink haired girl slipped into sleep.  

The Sheriff and her secretary both slept uneasily that night.  Both being haunted by threats of destruction, both staining their cheeks and pillows with tears and both craving each other.

~

Cheryl woke up at 5:45 AM the next morning fucking exhausted.  Maybe she should've taken that day off and taken the day to sleep in.  She pulled herself out of bed to see that she had 26 messages.  All from Veronica.  Sure, the two had had their fair share of run ins in high school, but they were over that.  The mayor had become one for Cheryl's best friends.