A/N: so I'm taking a break from jojo and starting this... whatever it is. I've kinda always wanted to write one of these fics, but I'm also taking this opportunity to attempt to write a mentally ill main character. With that being said, there will be some serious themes and such, based off some things I've been through myself (not saying which of them tho).

so, yeah. that's it. I'll shut up now.

"Unhappy is he to whom the memories of childhood bring only fear and sadness."

-H.P. Lovecraft

Plink. Plink. Plink.

Heavy raindrops continuously hammered against the single window of a dimly-lit room. Willow huddled in the corner of her shanty bedroom, watching a broken board from the roof practically pour out water. She'd nearly forgot that Silvia, her aunt, had a tantrum the other day and threw a heavy paperweight hard enough to make a hole.

'I should fix that once the rain stops...' she mused. It wasn't like anyone else was going to do it.

She shivered and hugged herself. Drafts were pretty common in her quarters, so it couldn't be helped. Pulling out her phone from her jeans, she looked over at her messages.

Ava, her best and only friend, had texted earlier asking if they were still meeting up for movie night. Willow hadn't responded yet, as she'd been thinking through millions of excuses.

Maybe she should be blunt and say she just didn't feel like it...? No, no. She needed to get out of the house more, even if she felt uncomfortable.

As she started typing, headlights of a car flashed from outside. Her phone buzzed, and a new message from Ava appeared on the screen:

'hey lol I'm outside! let's go!'

A small laugh escaped from the teen's mouth. As expected - leave it up to Ava to give her a boost of motivation.

Willow quickly replied that she'd be down in a moment. Grabbing her oversized grey hoodie and a pair of boots, she cautiously tiptoed downstairs. If she was correct, Silvia should be asleep in her room, so she had to be extra careful - her aunt was an extremely light sleeper.

Willow's footsteps echoed throughout the creaky house as she crept out front door and into the frigid night. Thankfully, Ava had parked pretty close to the house so Willow wouldn't get rained on.

"Hey, Will! What's good?" Ava cheerfully asked as Willow climbed into her friend's vehicle, which was a beaten up black mustang.

"Eh, the usual..." Willow said with a tired sigh, "...You know, with Silvia and stuff."

She didn't need to go into anymore details, because Ava already knew as soon as she spotted the green and yellow bruises on Willow's cheek.

Ava's happy face fell as she let out a frustrated groan.

"For fuck's sake! Did she hit you again!?"

Willow remained silent, averting her gaze away from her friend.

"Christ... Will, why do you continue to live with her? Why don't you move in with me?"

"I can't... I can't just leave her... She's-" Willow tried to explain.

"-Yeah, yeah. Your only family..." Ava scowled, but then shook her head in disapproval. "You have a big heart, yunno? I don't think I could ever stay with a person like Silvia."

A worried frown appeared on Willow's face as she fidgeted with a lock of her hair. "Sorry! Sorry for being such a joy kill..."

"Girl, you need to stop apologizing for everything, too! Sorry this, sorry that!" Ava blurted, causing the other girl to reflexively apologize under her breath a few more times. "But... You know what? We can talk more later, 'cause the movie is about to start and we haven't even arrived at the theater!"

Like the usual times they would drive to the movies, they turned on the radio to their favorite rock station, sometimes starting up a conversation. It was shyly silent, as Ava had stated once a long time ago, but she fully understood that her friend didn't talk much.

Willow kept her eyes focused on her window, watching the droplets of rain hit against the glass and made her reflection appear as if she was weeping. She mentally scoffed at herself.

Inside the theater, Ava ran off to get snacks at the concession as Willow chose their seats. As she entered the correct showing room, the nostalgic scent of stale popcorn and sweaty gym socks hit her like a ton of bricks to the face. Gross as it was, it reminded her of all the times Ava would practically drag her here to watch every new horror movie.

Willow traveled to the back of the theater, selecting what she felt that would be the best seats - the second to last row of seats from the top. As soon as the copper haired girl sat down, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that a couple of girls walked up the aisle and took the row in back of her.

Out of this whole gigantic room, they had to choose right behind her? Willow pursed her lips together and inwardly sighed. She didn't exactly blame them, mostly because the back seats are the best.

But as she waited for Ava to arrive, Willow couldn't help but to overhear the conversation that took place behind her.

"...My mom, like, was totally busy with her boyfriend that she didn't even notice I walk out the front door. I bet she won't even notice that her wallet is gone, dumb bitch!"

"Ahaha! Oh my god, Megan! You're soooo mean, haha!"

Willow uncomfortably shifted in her chair. Those voices sounded familiar... Maybe she should move elsewhere? The previews, which were mostly about upcoming movies and sponsored advertisement, had barely started so she figured that there was still time to find a different seat.

She stood up to move elsewhere, but the moment her eyes came in contact with the group of girls, her heart dropped.

"Hey, look! It's little Willie!" a rather slim girl with hair as blonde as a lemon drop grabbed Willow's attention.

Oh. Oh, no.

Willow's stomach lurched with fear as she faced her peers from school and of course, Megan H. Darlinghurst... The only daughter of Sherry Darlinghurst, the woman who ran the shoe store where Willow worked. How did she fail to recognize that shrill voice before?

She couldn't turn and run like her flight instincts wanted to do, only stand in place like a statue.

"Willie, that hat you're wearing is god awful. You should take it off!" Megan said as she clasped a hand over her chest, feigning concern.

Willow patted the top of her head in confusion. "U-Um, what? I-I'm not wearing..."

"-Oh, wait! That's totally your hair!" Megan jeered as the girls next to her howled with laughter, pointing at Willow's head full short auburn curls.

"Ahuhuhu! Nice one Megan! If I had to look like her, I would honestly rather have myself thrown off a building."

"Oh my god, hahaha!"

A bright blush appeared across Willow's face as she felt tears welling in her hazel eyes. She knew that she should've stayed home!

Before she knew what she was doing, Willow felt her legs running towards the exit of the theater. It's not like she had a chance to do anything, anyway. One wrong move and her job was on the line.

She could only try to get as far away as possible, and run like the coward she was.

"Hey, where are you and why'd you just ditch me like that!?" Ava's voice rang through the receiver of Willow's small phone.

Willow looked over her current surroundings. For some reason, she ended up on an underground subway going to... Where exactly was she going?

"I'm s-sorry! I just-I can't... I needed-" she tried to explained in a weak whisper, then took in a large gulp of air to help calm herself down. "...I'm on an old subway train. Just, um, call me again later, a-alright? I need a little time to cool off..."

There was a pause on the other side.

"Okay... I understand, Will," Ava finally responded with disappointment in her voice. "See you later, I guess-"

-Click!-

The phone seemed to have ended the call early. Willow checked her phone, finding that all service was gone in an instant. She sighed, leaning back into the slightly uncomfortable seat she sat on.

Suddenly, a small tremor shook throughout the subway, causing the lights to flicker.

Willow clenched her hands on the edges of her seat anxiously. This was a normal thing to experience underground... Right? She didn't really ride underground transportation, so this was all still unfamiliar.

Peering over to see if anyone else had noticed the tremor, Willow came across an uneasy realization:

There was only one other person riding in the subway train with her.

They wore a dark emerald cloak, long enough to conceal their entire being. Their face was hidden beneath an oversized hood, so Willow couldn't exactly see what their face resembled like. Maybe they were cosplaying as a cultist, or perhaps a fictional warlock character from a television show? She didn't know; she wasn't into the whole 'fantasy' genre on TV.

What struck this as odd to Willow was that the time surely wasn't past one in the morning, so shouldn't there have been more people on subway going to or returning from work?

Another tremor shook the subway, but this time with much more force, causing the girl to break away from her thoughts. A surge of panic went through Willow when the lights started to flicker again - and out of the corner of her sight, the robed stranger appeared closer next to her seat.

Willow kept her eyes focused on the ground as she ran a sweaty hand across her face. She could almost feel the eyes of the unknown person burning into the side of her head.

Mustering as much courage as she could, Willow whipped her gaze up at the stranger. Her attention met with another girl, her eyes such a brilliant green that it was almost unreal.

The girl had a youthful round face with freckles sprinkled across her beige skin. A dazzling smile revealed the coral glow at her cheeks. Pulling down her hood, she put to light her curly juniper hair that was being carefully held in two pigtails.

The strange girl spoke suddenly in an unknown dialect.

"...I's faoo oallharo, hoas' a?" she asked, her bubbly facade faltering for a split second.

Willow frowned, but as she opened her mouth to say anything, a deafening boom erupted from the front of the subway. The ground below rumbled as if an earthquake were occurring, and billows of smoke began to pour into the subway.

Where was the conductor? She could have sworn that she'd seen a person in front earlier...

Pure terror began to spread in Willow's mind as she realized what was happening. The subway was on fire, and she had nowhere to run. She couldn't call for help either because all service went kaput underground.

...Would she die here?

The thought caused Willow's stomach to churn.

More sparks shot out from the subway's control center. The glow of orange-red embers grew as they slowly crept towards the end of the train - and to where Willow and the green-haired girl sat.

Willow didn't even bother to move. There was absolutely nothing she could do. She was trapped along with some poor foreigner who probably got lost on her way to a convention.

As tears ran down her face in utter despair, Willow felt an unfamiliar hand grab her by the arm. The strange girl gestured Willow to follow her with an assuring smile.

Not having much of a choice, Willow shakily stood up as the other girl pulled her closer towards the tail of the subway train.

All happening in whir, the stranger girl turned around to face the flames. From the smaller girl's mouth came a chanting of melodic words as she held her hands towards the flames:

"I oarr auna' ho ra'aum rla's ghmoa'aus gha'ccossos, I oasnn ra'm iya'au a' roc aus iya'aum na'llom! Roaum aus! Roaum aus a' Hiymauro!"

At first, Willow thought the girl had completely lost her mind, but her jaw nearly dropped to the ground when she witnessed a glowing light emitting out of the girl's hands.

"What's going on...! Who are you!?" Willow demanded, but the girl didn't bother to turn around as continued on to chant under her breath.

Brighter and brighter, the light soon enveloped around the both of them. Soon, it was almost like standing in front of the sun. Willow tried to scream out louder when she started feeling a strange burning sensation in her body, but her breathing hitched as her vision became hazy.

With her legs suddenly giving out, Willow toppled to the ground. The last image she saw was the concerned face of the green-haired girl, seeming to have made a mistake.