Chapter Twelve; 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬
(pls comment and vote)
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They were back in their uniform, clad and scowling. Well, Wednesday and Morana were. Enid, the blessed pastel blonde werewolf was an absolute beeming mess as she stood between her roommates, more than pleased with the fact they had won. She couldn't help but glance at her friends and beam even more so, knowing it was with their help that Ophelia Hall won this year's Poe Cup.
"The first Poe Cup took place in eighteen-ninety-seven-" Weems began, standing proud as she spoke to the rest of the school. Everyone was watching the announcement and the winning team, even those that lost. "-as a way to not only honor Nevermore's most famous alumni, but to celebrate those values that all outcasts share." Morana found her dark eyes gravitating towards a boy that stuck out amongst the rest.
His black uniform gleamed in the clouder weather and made him easy to pinpoint, whilst his mop of brown curls shook with his head. Their eyes, both of which were equally dark (although Morana's had a slightly lighter hue of brown) met and she watched as his darkened when they settled on her face. She had forgotten about the bruises cheekbone, the broken and bloodied nose and split lip.
She knew, immediately, that she was screwed as she watched an murderous anger arise within the boy, his chest heaving in a desperate motion of calming himself down.
"Community," Weems' voice was only a few seconds apart but it made Morana jump in her skin. It had felt like such a longer amount of time than that. "Perseverance, and determination. And we certainly saw those values on display today." Morana could see Enid glancing towards her, and so she glared and silently threatened for Enid to not say a word. The werewolf pulled her lips into a thin line, nodding almost desperately. She wasn't wishing to die today.
Enid beamed even wider as the large black and shiny trophy was placed into her hands, a symbol of her dreams coming true.
"Whooo!" She screamed out, shaking the trophy and eliciting several cheeps and claps from the crowd that were gathered within the quad, watching the display.
"Congratulations to Ophelia Hall!" Morana sucked in a deep breath in a singular attempt at keeping her patience from the loud cheering, her nerves becoming irritable at the unnecessary noise. "As a former resident, i will be happy to see the cup back on the mantle after all these years."
~
Everyone was sat, now discussing anything they pleased and yet Morana stayed glued to her place. Her eyes were staring at Khaos, as though it kept him at bay and stopped him from advancing too far forwards. She wasn't ready to confront him, whether it be for her appearance or part to play in the Poe Cup. Morana didn't know, nor did she wish to find out, but it seemed the boy had other plans.
He began to saunter towards Morana with an unsettling pace. His eyes glowered furiously, his nose slightly curled upwards and lips formed into a rather harsh snarling manner. He kept one hand in his pocket, but his hands were clenched into fists. His strides were quick, and it took practically nothing at all to grasp Morana's arm and force her to walk with him, away from the quad and prying eyes.
The girl couldn't help but stumble before yelping in pain as Khaos grasped her bruised wrist once she had turned to walk beside him. The noise caused him to immediately drop his grip on her, but he instead placed his arm around her shoulders and continued to guide her away, knowing that something had happened.
Her battered appearance only made it more clear to him of such a thought.
"You should be glad i'm not doing this in front of everyone." His voice was deep, broody and threatening. It help a promise of pain towards the culprit that had done this to her, but yet she couldn't fully comprehend why he seemed to care so deeply. She could've fallen down the stairs, for example.
"I should be glad?" She couldn't help but scoff, a sarcastic laugh erupting from her throat just milliseconds afterwards. "You're lookin' like you're about to murder some dude."
"Ah, so it was a man." The tone that Khaos used made Morana's blood go cold. She faltered in a her steps as her eyes glanced towards Khaos' in an attempt to read his mind and understand what thoughts were rapidly speeding through it. But his expression gave her nothing.
"Khaos-" he tugged her to a stop and stopped her from speaking. She gulped and stared at him as the Addams boy walked around her, standing so that they were face-to-face. He tried to search her eyes, to find something that would give him answers for his unspoken questions, and yet he couldn't see a thing.
Worldessly, Khaos grabbed onto her arm with a careful touch before he raised his opposite hand towards her face. It took only seconds, if that, but Morana leant into his touch when his calloused and yet slightly soft hand made contact with her bruised cheek. He allowed her to feel comforted by his touch for a moment before his thumb gently caressed her bruised cheek. He didn't look intent on murdering anyone anymore, he was now looking at her like she was a broken toy and that she was his favourite one. The sadness was immeasurable and it held Khaos with a vice like grip, unwilling to let him go.
"What happened, Morana?" His tone was more soothing, but Morana grasped onto his hand and pulled it away. There was a dull ache spreading throughout her face and wrists, and yet she sighed and just held his hand. The pain didn't matter to her, it never did once she was free, but what did matter was how weak she had been to have been hurt at all.
"It doesn't matter." Her voice was as weak as she felt, and yet it told Khaos Addams a thousand things.
"It does." He persisted, smiling softly as though that would help to ease her pain. "My family may not be too concerned with death, or pain, or murder...but by the Gods above, Morana, i would murder anyone that lays a hand on you. I would do so with a grin." It was a confession. A beautifully macabre, deadly confession that had the power to make or break the pair of them. The words swirled within her mind, playing on loop and filling her soul with a burning, enraged fire.
She felt at home...she felt safe.
"And yet that shall be a blessing." Morana's hands grasped onto Khaos' arms, tightly, and as though the motion was to ground herself. The more they stayed there, within the close proximity and one where they would not willingly seperate themselves from, the more they felt as though they were spiralling down a path they could not crawl from.
And they wouldn't.
The warmth, the safety and the comfort that was a constant whenever they were around each other meant the most to them. It was rather addicting, and it only grew with the time they spent together. It was a feeling that enveloped them like a warm hug.
"What did he do?" Khaos asked, his voice cracking.
"You don't want to know." She denied with her head shaking side-to-side in denial. It was always going to be better if he did not know. A boy wouldn't die, and she wouldn't be deprived of his appearance and the feeling she got when she was besides him. It felt like she was always meant to be there, with him, and-
Khaos leant his head down, his forehead resting against hers as his eyes shut tightly. He was trying to come to terms with the fact that Morana Devoe would not tell him of what had happened, and yet he knew he would eventually find out. He had a means of doing things, and this was something he would definitely exploit.
It was mainly interrogational torture, and he wouldn't stop until he found out who had done this to his Morana, his little bud of death.
"I'll be okay." She sniffed but then hissed in pain, knowing her nose was - for a definite - broken. Khaos couldn't help but roll his eyes, shake his head and take a step away from her. Immediately the cold and crisp air surrounded him, choking the oxygen from his lungs out, but one glance to Morana had it all rushing back to him.
"Ma chérie....i can't believe you won't tell me." His tone was of a much more light-hearted manner, his mind already made up in how he would find out precisely who had injured Morana, but he wouldn't let her know. Not until the damage to the culprit was already inflicted. He would do the same to the boy, but he would do it ten times worse and until he was an inch from death, to which Khaos would further leave the boy to writhe and beg for death.
"Oh don't start that bullshit!" Morana pointed a finger at Khaos, a grin settling onto her face as she let out a soft chuckle before shaking her head. "Jesus, you're really something."
"He can go fuck himself."
"Oi!" Morana slapped Khaos on the chest before huffing, another shake of her head entailing such. "You can't say that."
"There's no one here?" Morana looked around, her eyes falling to those that read the words upon the screen. She sucked in a breath, mouthed an apology on his behalf, before she turned towards the boy she was rather fond of.
"No...but there's always people watching."
~
a/n
thought the very last paragraph thing was funny, my apologies. How was the chapter?