Kasdeya clawed at her father's wrist, her vision going spotty from the lack of oxygen. She began to cough underneath the water, inhaling it as she tried to breathe. Her grip loosened on his arms, and Kasdeya felt herself drowning. Jerry stopped holding her under the water, Kasdeyas thrashing coming to a halt for once and all. He picked her up out of the water, her body limp as he held her up. He only chuckled, he was finally able to kill the little shit. Her eyes were closed, Jerry not having to look into the amber eyes that they shared. What he didn't see was Kasdeyas claws growing longer as her hands dangled beside her body.
In one quick motion, Kasdeya brought her claws up to his neck, slicing open the skin. And the carotid artery. Jerry dropped Kasdeya, her body slamming against the ground, the wind being knocked out of her. He wrapped his hands around his throat, choking on his blood as he took steps back. He fell to his knees, Kasdeya watching as he died in front of her. When his body hit the ground, Kasdeya rolled onto her back, her body growing cold.
"Mountain," she whispered, her body shivering as she felt her body heat leave. Her lungs were still filled with water, her chest feeling heavy and contracted. Kasdeya heard her heartbeat thumping loudly throughout her body, it was slow, slow, slow. Her eyes grew heavy, she was accepting her death. She prayed to Satan that Mountain would understand.
"KAS!" Her eyes flew open, meeting the cold, dead eyes of her dad. The dead eyes of her father. She looked at the gash on his neck, the cut that she caused that resulted in his death. But he was above her, wrapping his hands around her throat. He picked her up and slammed her head against the ground, her skull smacking hard. He strangled her and continued to beat her against the ground. Kasdeya could feel her head starting to bleed, her head screaming in pain. Kasdeya was sure she was screaming. She felt the tears running down her face, begging with what little air she had for him to stop.
"Kas!" He screamed.
"Kas!"
"Kasdeya!"
"Kassy!"
Kasdeya shot up in bed, not being able to breathe as she clawed at her chest. She rubbed at it up and down, gasping as she was still choking. She felt hands on her face, then pulling her to look at him. Mountain sat there looking scared out of his mind as his mate was having a panic attack before him.
"I- I can't- can't breathe," Kasdeya gasped, her vision blurred by tears.
Mountain ran his hands through her hair, "Kas, breathe with me, okay? In deeply through your nose, out through your mouth slowly." Kasdeya shook her head, still hyperventilating even after Mountain wrapped his arms around her. He held her tightly, knowing that holding her tightly would help. "Breathe with me, Kas, follow with me." Kasdeya listened to his heartbeat, hearing the steady beat as she breathed with Mountain. Her hyperventilating slowly turned into hiccups, Mountain slowly rocking her back and forth just like he had the night before, and the night before that, and before that.
"What was it this time?" He asked, pulling her back against his chest as he laid them back down in her bed.
Kasdeya swallowed, taking a few deep breaths before she spoke. "I saw what I saw when I killed him, but he was still alive and strangling me. He was choking me to death while slamming my head against the ground. He had a dead look to his eyes, well, because he is dead." She stammered, hiccups still escaping her lips.
Mountain pressed a kiss to the top of her head, laying his cheek on top of her head. "I'm right here, Kas. He's gone forever, he will never get to you again."
Kasdeya wanted to believe Mountain, but she knew that he will always get to her. Dead or alive. She let him hold her throughout the night, but Kasdeya couldn't fall back asleep. She stared at the alarm clock on the nightstand, watching each hour go by until it was seven in the morning. She detangled herself from Mountain, allowing him to sleep in. She changed her clothes, walked to the common room, and seated herself on the couch. She had Kovu on her lap, holding her cat to her chest as she bundled herself in a blanket.
"Kasdeya?" She jumped when someone came up behind her, holding Kovu even tighter to her chest. It was Copia. Kasdeya had put her mask on before she left, knowing this conversation would come eventually. "Sorry, I did not mean to frighten you."
"It's okay, Copia." He moved around to sit in front of her on the ottoman.
"Kasdeya, I know this is probably the last thing you want to talk about right now. But, the board thinks it's best if we bring your mother up here, so she can take the body back." Copia said with a frown on his face.
"My mother?" Kasdeya screwed up her face, clutching onto Kovu to keep herself at bay.
Copia gave her a weak smile, "I know it's not something you want to relive, but there are rules that have to be followed when ghouls are not properly summoned. They either have to be returned to hell with their mate if that is an option, or by a ghoul of the same element. Or they have to be burned to ash and back poured through a pentagram."
"So my mother has to come up to bring him back?" Copia nodded making Kasdeya lean back against the couch. "I haven't seen my mother since I was nine. She left because of all of that and you want me to bring her back here because her daughter, whom she left behind to take the abuse, killed her mate because he was trying to kill her."
Copia reached forward to grab Kasdeya's hands, "She's gone, she won't be here for two weeks. I'm sorry about all of this."
Kasdeya nodded, "Bring her up here, she deserves to know. Can you tell Dewdrop for me?"
Copia gave her a small smile, patting her knee as he left the room. He passed Rain who greeted his Papa, the Water ghoul seeing Kasdeya on the couch. He grabbed some snacks before he plopped himself down next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "He refuses to get out of bed."
"This is the first time I've been out of my room." Kasdeya pulled her knees up to her chest.
"He feels like he could've prevented this. Like he could have saved you." Rain rubbed her arm, Kasdeya lolling her head onto his shoulder. "I'm gay."
"Oh, so we are doing this now." Kasdeya looked at him, opening up the pack of gushers.
"And I feel with pull with Dew." Rain admitted, taking a pack for himself. He gave Kasdeya the green ones, and her giving him the red ones.
"Do you think he knows?" Kasdeya asked.
"I hope so," Rain murmured, opening another pack for himself.
"I think he does. Have you seen the way you two act? My brother would be stupid enough to not be with you." Kasdeya smiled at Rain, both of them have taken off their masks, leaving them on the table. "I love you, Rainy." She pressed a kiss to his cheek, Rain pressing one to the top of her head. He turned on a movie, and the two of them sat there until the others joined them. Everyone but Dewdrop. Mountain took Rain's spot, the Water ghoul went to Dewdrop's room.
He pushed open the door, seeing Dewdrop facing the wall. "Dew, she's not mad at you and doesn't blame you."
He heard a sigh, an exaggerated one for that matter. "Rain, not now."
"No. You did save her, she almost died and you saved her." Rain walked toward the bed, standing at the edge of it.
"I failed her!" Dewdrop shouted as he spun to face Rain. "I should have protected her, Rain! I almost lost my sister! She was the one that had to kill him! Kas did, not me! I always told her it would be me to do it!" Dewdrop's voice made Rain flinch, but his heart broke when he saw the Fire ghoul slowly break down in front of him. "I told her I would do it. Kas took the beatings when we were kits, not me until I tried to stop him when we were twelve or thirteen. She protected me when I should have protected her."
Rain sat down and wrapped his arms around Dewdrop, holding him to his chest. "But you did protect her, you would stop him and get you two out of the house to a safe place."
"I should've done more," he whispered in a shaky tone, clutching onto Rain tightly.
"You saved her that day, he was going to strangle her to death if it wasn't for you. She's alive because of you, Dewdrop." Rain felt tears dampening his shirt, feeling Dewdrop shake in his grasp. "I love you."
Dewdrop stopped shaking, pulling back to look into Rain's eyes. They were closed, he was afraid to look him in the eyes after he whispered those three words. "Open your eyes," Rain did, his blue eyes finding amber ones. "I've always loved you, Rain. From the moment you were summoned, I knew."
"It's been years, Dew."
He chuckled, his head hanging as he did. "I know, and I'm an ass for that. But I was scared, I didn't know I was-"
"Gay?"
"Yeah."
They both looked at each other, Dewdrop cupping Rain's cheeks. "I love you too." He closed the gap between them, Rain melting into the kiss. Rain wrapped his arms around Dewdrop's neck, Dewdrop forcing his tongue into his mouth, exploring it as their teeth collided. Rain let out a small moan which made Dewdrop growl, he laid Rain down on his back, crawling on top of him as he pressed their lips back together.
-
"I just passed Dewdrop's room, who the fuck is he going at it with?" Swiss asked, coming back from his room with an extra controller and Knox.
Kasdeya grinned, now sitting on Mountain's lap as the group was about to play Mario Kart. "Trauma does weird things," she said while looking at Swiss.
Phantom walked in, his D.S. in one hand as the other scratched at the back of his neck. "Who the fuck is going at it at twelve in the afternoon?"
"Raindrop has finally bloomed," Kasdeya grinned, patting the spot next to her and Mountain, inviting Phantom over. Cumulus giggled at Kasdeya's comment, making the Fire ghoulette look at her. "What?"
"The ship name for them is adorable. Do you do this with everyone or is it just them?" She smiled and snuggled up against Cirrus underneath a blanket.
Kasdeya rolled her eyes, "Come on, it's Rain and Dewdrop, how do you not make Raindrop out of them?"
"You could do Raindew," a new voice added.
They all looked to see Jinx walking in, sitting on the big beanbag. "Hi Jinx," Aether greeted, his arm thrown over the back of the couch. He was conveniently seated beside Sunshine, and she was laying rather close to him and he couldn't help but smile when she snuggled closer to him.
"Who's he?" Jinx asked, motioning to Phantom who was playing on his D.S.
"Jinx, this is Phantom, Phantom this is Jinx." Kasdeya introduced them, Jinx pursing her lips. Neither of them were playing this round, but both were given controllers next.
Phantom scrolled through the characters, finally picking one which made Jinx look at him weirdly. "Wha?" He said with a mouthful of popcorn.
"Princess Peach? You choose Princess Peach out of all the characters? I mean come on, her out of Yoshi?" She screwed up her face, tilting her head to the side.
"Would you rather have had me pick Yoshi? No, so I picked her because I always pick her or Dai-"
"You probably picked her because you're into girls like that." Phantom closed his mouth, getting all flustered by her comment. Jinx noticed this, grinning as she said, "I'm joking, Phantom, good luck, you'll need it."
By the end of the four races, Phantom ended up in second and Jinx ended up in last. The Multi ghoulette was pouting, sitting back in the beanbag. "What was that about needing luck?" Phantom mused cockily, Jinx glaring at him. "Seems like someone needs to practice."
"What the fuck does that mean?!" Jinx was glaring daggers at him, Phantom only chuckling because of how easily he got her riled up.
"Okay children, no fighting," Kasdeya and Swiss said at the same time, the two younger ghouls passing their controllers to Aether and Mountain.
Each time Phantom and Jinx would play, Jinx would take dead last and Phantom would always be in the top five. It lead to them arguing constantly which Kasdeya tensed up at because it reminded her of her parents. "Hey, go for a walk, both of you." Mountain shooed them out, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.
They went for a walk, arguing still as they did some laps. "I don't suck!" Jinx grumbled, her pink eyes glowing brightly as she glared at Phantom.
Phantom jokingly saying: "Well, at least you tried. Or I think you did."
"That's bullshit! I always win when I play against Swiss. I always end up in the top five." Jinx defended herself.
"And what place is Swiss in when you play?" Phantom asked, leaning slightly over Jinx which made her take a step back.
"Deadlast." She mumbled, casting her gaze downward.
"So clearly Swiss sucks more than you," he began to walk again, Jinx jogging after him.
"Hey, you don't get to say my best friend sucks, only I can." She said, walking alongside him, speaking dramatically with her hands.
Phantom glanced sideways at her, "Fine, JJ, only you can say Swiss sucks. Swiss is Satan awful at Mario Kart."
Phantom began to walk again, Jinx pulling him back toward her with a gust of wind. She spun him around, keeping him in place. "First of all, only Swiss can call me JJ, no one else. Secondly, you just said the same thing but worded it differently."
"Well, Shorty, you clearly stated that only you can say Swiss sucks. You never said I can't say he is awful at the game." Phantom said with a cocky grin on his lips.
Jinx's eyes grew a brighter pink, absolutely hating the nickname that Phantom had just called her. "You are fucking four inches taller than me! And well, Phannypack, no one can say he sucks at Mario Kart in any form other than me."
"Oh, Phannypack now? I seem to be growing on you if you already gave me a nickname." Her wind trance broke, and Phantom was freely able to move but he didn't. He stayed towering over her, wanting to fluster Jinx now.
"You're not going to fluster me, Phantom," she rolled her eyes, walking past the Quintessence ghoul, bumping his shoulder as she did.
"Oh yeah?" Phantom followed after her, she walked out into the woods and climbed up a tree which made Phantom nervous. "Are you sure that's a smart idea?"
"I've been doing this since I was a kit, don't be such a buzzkill," Jinx said while hanging upside down from a branch.
"Satan fuck," Phantom breathed out, he was ready to catch her at any moment because even though they just met he hated seeing people get hurt. "I'm not a buzzkill, I just hate seeing people get hurt."
"Because you're a buzzkill," Jinz said in a singsong way, pulling herself up. She climbed higher on the tree, standing up on a branch and walking on it.
"Jinx, don't fucking do that!" Phantom shouted, scared she was going to fall.
She let go of the branch she was holding onto, "Relax Grandpa, I'm invincible!"
Jinx's foot slipped, her hand failing to grab the branch above her. Her body fell, slamming against branches on the way down, and breaking some on the way down. Phantom shouted her name, not able to get to Jinx in time as she slammed against the ground on her side.
"Jinx!" He ran to her, sliding down on his knees next to her. "Oh my god, Jinx are you okay?" He rolled Jinx over, the ghoulette beginning to laugh hysterically. "You bitch!"
She started laughing again, slapping Phantom on the arm. "Don't call me a bitch, bitch. I just fell out of a fucking tree."
"Yeah, a 30-foot drop! Are you okay?" Phantom asked again, seeing cuts covering her arms and a few on her face. "You're covered in cuts and I don't see any broken bones but the minute you move something can snap. And don't get me started on any internal injuries."
Jinx sat up, moving her wrist, arms, and legs all around. "No broken bones," she breathed in deeply, not wincing, "No broken ribs, and I have a very high pain tolerance so I can't feel half of that shit. And my Quintessence abilities do a good job of healing anything internally. I was taught how to use them from a young age, I'm a very clumsy person and prone to getting hurt."
"What was one of your parents a Quintessence ghoul?" Phantom asked, "Give me your arm, I can heal your cuts. But that's the most I can do now, I highly suggest going to the infirmary or seeing Omega."
Jinx gave him her arms, watching Phantom be gentle with her. "My mother was a Multi ghoulette as well, the first one in the church. And I will not be seeing Omega about further injuries, I trust my powers as it is."
"What is Omega your father? He would have been in his twenties to have you, because - what - you're my age?" Phantom asked, moving up to the cuts on her cheeks and her forehead.
"Year younger, I'm eighteen," Jinx mumbled, wincing as he went near the left side of her cheek.
Phantom glanced up at her when he noticed her shift movement. "I thought you had a high pain tolerance?"
"The left side is sensitive, it has been since I was a kit." She hissed when he closed the cut, Phantom giving her an apologetic smile.
"Why?" He asked, standing up and offering a hand to Jinx.
She didn't take it, standing up on her own. "Why so many questions? I just met you, I'm not going to start talking to you about my past." She started to walk away, Phantom standing there, stunned as she shut him down.
Phantom jogged up to her, "Hey, I'm just trying to get to know you. You don't have to tell me anything that you're not comfortable with. But I am concerned that you might have a concussion?"
"Oh come on, I told you, I will be fine." Jinx said while spinning around, tossing her arms up to the side.
"Shorty, you just fell out of a tree," Phantom said, pointing out the obvious.
"Why yes, Phannypack, I just fell out of a tree. I'm walking, talking, breathing, I'm fine-" She tripped over a tree root as she said the last part, Phantom wheezing as he stood above her. "See, I'm clumsy, you knew this."
"And dumb as fuck, there was obviously a tree root, what is it with you and trees?" Phantom wiped the tears that were forming in his eyes.
"Good thing I wasn't related to an Earth ghoul, or I don't think I am. I don't know anyone besides my parents." Jinx shrugged, rubbing her chin which took the worst of the fall.
"Wanna get food?" Phantom asked, the two of them walking through the corridors.
"Sorry, Phannypack, I'm going to crash in my room," Jinx said, turning in the direction of her room.
"Maybe don't sleep, you might actually have a concussion, and you shouldn't sleep if you have one. Why don't we check with Aether and then I'll leave you alone?" Phantom offered, making Jinx groan.
She looked at him with annoyance in her eyes, "You won't leave me alone until you make sure I'm not dying." Phantom nodded, saying that she was correct. "Fine, we will go to Aether."
They walked to Aether's room, Phantom knocked on his door which surprised the older ghoul. "Phantom, right?" Phantom nodded, Aether leaning against the doorframe. "What can I do for you?"
"Someone here fell out of a tree," Phantom pulled Jinx into Aether's view.
"You fell out of a tree?" Swiss' voice made Jinx cringe, not wanting her best friend who was basically her brother to know about her getting hurt. "JJ, what the hell? You climbed a tree again?"
"This has happened before?" Phantom asked Jinx as she went to open her mouth to say something but she closed it when Swiss started to speak again.
"Aether, is there anything wrong with her?" Swiss asked, Aether's eyes glowed as he looked over at Jinx.
"She's fine, looks like there were a few cuts but those were taken care of. Phantom, did you do that?" Aether asked, the younger Quintessence ghoul nodding his head. "Good work, if you ever want to help to advance your healing abilities, find me or Omega, we are both very willing to help."
"I'll keep that in mind," Phantom nodded, "but no concussion?"
"No concussion," Aether said, saying goodnight to the three.
"See, both of you, no concussion. Now leave me alone," she spun around, walking toward her room.
"Has she always been like this?" Phantom asked, looking at Swiss as he watched her walk away.
"What? High strung? Invincible? Cold shouldered? For as long as I've known her." Swiss said while crossing his arms, "JJ is one of my closest friends, I'm always worried about her, so are you I see."
"What?" Phantom asked, not understanding what Swiss was implying.
He smirked, "You just met Jinx and already care about her enough."
Phantom shook his head, "She fell out of a tree and was laughing, I thought she was in shock and was scared because if I let her get hurt and you found out, I was scared that you would kill me."
Swiss walked forward, patting his shoulder. "I'll kill you if you do anything to her. But I won't kill you for looking out for my little sister. Have a good night, Phantom."
"Goodnight." They went their separate ways, Phantom staring at his ceiling until he fell asleep that night.
-------
sorry it took forever, i had writers block. anyway, more phantom and jinx content. she seems to think that nothing can stop her, and she's not a fan of phantom.
rain and dewdrop are mates! yay! thoughts on that? did you see it coming?
kas, dew, and mountain arent over what happened and the twins mom is coming up. thoughts on that?
hope y'all enjoyed and see you soon (hopefully)