Hey guys!
Just giving a shout-out to a friend of mine PurpleMuggle who does excellent Violate and American Horror Story work!
Go check out their channel and tell them Friction sent you ;)
Enjoy this chapter!
And after this one I'll be updating my Murder House work
Thank you :)
It was the morning of the funeral, and Kyle didn't sleep the night before. He didn't know if it was because he was stuck in bed the whole day before, or the other reason. He just wanted this day to be over, but he knew it wasn't going to go that way. Cordelia had organised the funeral to be in the early morning, just so nobody public would bother them or ask questions. Because the last thing anybody would want today, is questions. Kyle was already half-dressed in his suit when Zoe was waking up, already bringing worry to the start of her day.
"What are you doing up?" she asks. "The funeral isn't until another four hours?"
"I know," he sighs. "I couldn't sleep."
Zoe found her out of their bed. She was wearing one of his shirts that went down to her hips, revealing the lacy purple underwear she wore the night before. He couldn't help but stare as she strutted her way towards him.
"Show me your wounds."
She opened his jacket, revealing his shirtless torso and the bandages stuck to his skin. The scars on his shoulders and the one underneath his eye was no doubt permanent, but she had to be sure that the wounds on his shoulder, back and stomach weren't going to leave scars. He looks at her and smirks.
"I meant unbandage them, asshole," she giggles. "But seriously though, take the bandages off."
Kyle whined as he tore off the bandage on his shoulder, and even more when he reached the one on his stomach. The former wounds were now completely healed, not even scarred.
"Good," she smiles.
The whole academy had arrived at the funerary grounds. Some of the girls found their own rides, some with their boyfriends, other just bought out a couple taxis. The rest took the rental trucks Cordelia had organised, everyone but Kyle and Zoe, who took their own ride there. Everyone was wearing black, which didn't really matter, black was both funeral and witch tradition. Rhi's burial was going to be beside Myrtle Snow, Nan and Misty Day. Even though she knew nothing about those women and didn't even meet them, Cordelia thought it would be best if she laid beside others who were special to the coven, and everyone agreed to those terms. Queenie and Zoe were to be beside Cordelia the whole day, which was something that made Kyle nervous. Not only because some of the girls watched him murder those men, but for other, more complicated reasons.
The funeral had begun, and Cordelia had started her speech for and about Rhi. Queenie and Zoe were also expected to have a speech planned, but Zoe didn't. And it was making her worried and panicked. She didn't like being permitted to a speech, especially one relating to a funerary one.
"We all lost Rhi. All of us, and far too early. She had gifts, real gifts. She really was one of a kind. And it's overwhelming, knowing that's gone from us this soon. And the one thing I wish I could have changed, is having enough energy to resurrect her, so I guess it's one me," Cordelia pauses, breathing in a sigh. "May she rest peacefully, and may she sing with that beautiful voice of hers in the heavens."
Queenie was up next, and it was clear she wasn't as confident as Cordelia was. Nobody was. Her voice was shaky, and her tone was shrivelled.
Zoe was trying hard not to look at the crowd of girls, instead, focusing on one of the only people that makes her feel better. Kyle.
He was acting strange. Really strange. He was shaking, constantly looking down at his feet and the tattoo on his arm. She could feel something bad coming off of him, and she wanted to find out what was wrong. And that's when she noticed it. The one thing she should have realised the entire time, the thing she could have known sooner. It was Rhi that was bothering him. He swore to himself that he could have saved her, but that wasn't the full story. Rhi was someone else, someone close to Kyle without even knowing it. Her name was Rhi. Rhi Spencer.
She turned and looked at Kyle, who was staring back. Her eyes told him that she knew, which caused his face to turn grey. He swallowed hard as his breathing grew heavy. He turned and fell himself away from the crowd, walking back to the car, which caused Zoe to panic. She rushed away from the walled grave and through the crowd of girls. She didn't care about the whispers and voices calling to her, all she wanted was to catch Kyle, and each step brought her closer and closer to that objective.
But he wasn't aiming to leave the funeral altogether, only to find some distance away from it, but Zoe didn't know that.
"Kyle, wait!" she says, finally catching up to him.
Kyle faced the car and leaned into it, tears flowing down his face as he tried to catch a breath. He was having an anxiety attack, the first one he'd ever had since his resurrection, which was causing Zoe was panicking with him.
"I'm- I'm sorry. I couldn't take it, I couldn't-"
"Shhhh. It's okay, it's okay," she caresses his face, pulling him towards hers. "I'm here, it's okay."
Kyle was desperately trying to catch his breath, but it wasn't working. He felt like he was suffocating, slowly. He used to get anxiety attacks all the time when he went to high school, but never told his mother about them. Never. Every time was the same; the feeling of suffocation and the taste of blood in his mouth. He hated feeling weak like this, he thought it was worse than reaching a rage, but he preferred it as an alternative. He felt like a high school student again, but he actually had someone to help him, he wasn't alone.
"Kyle?" Zoe gasps, seeing his face starting to turn greyer. "Look at me! Look at me!"
Kyle's eyes somehow trailed their way to her, fading slowly. She had one more trick down her sleeve to snap him out of it. Just one more.
And that's when she kissed him. Her lips softly pressing against his, trying to bring back the life that was hidden away from her. His lips were weightless at first, but were starting to become stronger and more equipped. She could feel his body shock as he was beginning to breathe normally, his chest beating against hers. She could feel the warmth falling off of him, like a fresh sunset after a cold winter. He was starting to return to her, and she knew for sure when he pulled back from the kiss and gasped.
"You okay, baby?" Zoe says, hugging him.
Kyle took in a few breaths before speaking. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm okay."
He took her in his arms and hugged her back, kissing her on the top of her head.
His breathing was starting to calm down, and his heart was slowing.
"I'm so sorry Z-"
"It's okay," she stops him. "I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner."
Kyle wiped the tears from his face and shrugged, feeling the sadness again but not as intense.
"She was my second cousin. I mean, it sounds stupid and all. But family is family," he pauses, sniffling down the swelling in his face. "Especially when they've all forgotten about you."
He was right. None of his family knew he was back, which would be hard to explain in the first place. For all they knew, he and his mother were both brutally and realistically, gone.
"It's not stupid," Zoe kisses him on the cheek. "You've lost someone. Did she-"
"Know? Of course not, I wouldn't have let her. I'm sure we met as kids, so I wanted her to continue to think that Kyle Spencer was dead," he explains.
The explanation makes Zoe hug him tighter and tighter, crushing his body like a twig. He didn't care too much, all he cared about was that she was with him. Even though probably the last family he'll ever meet is gone, he was caught the moment. This world was a strange and destructive place. People died without real reasons, some couldn't die, and others did die. It was a puzzle with a missing piece, the same as Kyle. But as long as Zoe was with him, that puzzle had found a piece to replace what was once missing.
The funeral beliefs were eventually over and everyone headed back to the academy. The girls had the week off, so not all of them were in their ways back to the house. Kyle was driving Zoe back to the house slower than normal, he was more careful and didn't find joy in driving the Porsche like normal. His hand didn't leave Zoe's grasp though, which was always a good sign. He was devastated, and she knew that. Even though the coven had lost so much; Myrtle Snow, Nan, Misty Day, and even Madison to a point, a loss like this was something Kyle would take time to adapt to.
"Kyle?" Zoe sighs, gripping his hand tighter.
"Yes?"
"Do you remember your hell? Like, when you died, do you remember what you saw?"
"Every day," he says. "It really is the worst."
"What was it?" she asks, eye brows waving up in curiosity.
Kyle took a very deep breathe before speaking, indicating that this explanation was going to take some time.
"So, when I used to take a lot of drugs, I was never myself. I only ever did it to escape the pain, but sometimes I just brought more. I was aggressive, and hard to control. Probably worse than the death-temper I struggle to contain at times. But my own personal hell, was losing it. Taking drugs, a lot of them, and doing something I'd never even thought about doing, ever. I'd head towards a school, with guns, and shoot up the place. But that wasn't the scariest part. The scariest part was that, you were there."
Zoe's eyes swallowed him like an uncontrollable fire. She wasn't horrified, but she couldn't have imagined what he had said next.
"I killed you. Over, and over it replayed. The shooting the school, killing people, including you. I was a monster, and the noises, kind've like whistling. It was driving me mad, but I absolutely couldn't control my actions. I know that I had only just met you a half-an-hour before I died, but somehow you were already my weakness, my own little brand of ecstasy. And when I was brought back, I was torn from that hell, and I never want to go back there."
"Don't worry," Zoe says, kissing his hand. "You're never going back there, again."
Kyle turned and smiled at her. His own personal hell was the worst experience ever, he hated even thinking about it and definitely speaking of it. But there was something about this world that was kinda' worth living. Sure, they'd both lost a lot, some would say too much. But their lives weren't theirs to control, they were dedicated to something, to something that would either hold them together or tear them apart. Each other. Both of their own personal hells were soul-piercing, but when they had each other by their sides. The world they stood in together managed to become something better. Their own personal heaven.
