Do I have any regret for writing and posting these back-to-back because I want to catch up and not leave you guys any time to review?
Not a single one. I'll update this when there are reviews to reply to.

On to the fic!


Day Twelve:: Withersickness AU - Unhealthy

Jesse used:: female 1 (I use her a lot xP) - Pairings:: Jesse/Lukas

Very sad tone - I would not recommend reading when depressed.

Jesse was sitting crouched in the darkness.

Alright, so there was a torch somewhere above her head, but she was behind a bookshelf and that made it a quiet space, which in her mind made it a dark space so there.

She had her arms wrapped around her legs, and was staring blankly at the seam where the floor met the wall. The line of a song she'd heard recently playing in her mind. 'see the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me'

Her fingers clenched and unclenched, almost rhythmically. 'and no one knows, how far it goes'

She'd just learned something she could never, ever, tell the others.

It made her a hypocrite, her entire speech to Petra had been 'you need to tell the others, they deserve to know!' and now she was the one hiding in the dark, hiding from her friends who were no doubt starting to worry about her. Even Reuben. Especially Reuben.

But she couldn't have anyone knowing about this, not even her precious pig. If anyone knew, then who knows what they might do. It wasn't anyone's fault that she'd gotten the short end of the stick. It was just fate.

Jesse took a shuddering breath. She needed to find a way to hide it. She tugged on her sleeves, though she already knew they weren't long enough. If she changed her outfit, then that would raise suspicion.

But if she left her arms bare...she'd seen Petra's skin, the usually pale tone was darkening to a violet shade of purple underneath her shirt sleeves. Of course, her Sickness wasn't on her arms.

It was on her neck, creeping slowly upwards towards her face. It wasn't a matter of longer sleeves, it was a matter of masking her entire face.

There were other options.

She could run away for one, why did SHE have to be the one to save the world? She was just some kid who lived in a tree because she had a massive phobia of crowded spaces. She hadn't even been good enough to win the Endercon Building Competition. Of course her build had burned down, but in all past years she'd lost, so why would this year have been any different?

She could also find some makeup, but the thought of covering any part of her skin, with any kind of paint would just remind her of clowns and clowns were absolute nightmares, possibly even worse than the Witherstorm, or maybe even Phantoms!

Not much could top a Phantom...unless the Witherstorm somehow combined with Phantoms, that would be the absolute Nether.

And finally, there was her third option. She could find a way to stop the sickness. But she'd checked. No known cure. Milk could be used to slow it, sometimes even stop its progress, but the sluggish movement, slowed mental ability, they were all permanent. The only known way to get rid of it...was to die. There were bound to be plenty of weapons in Soren's stronghold, surely there could be something to use to kill herself. Even if there weren't any actual weapons within her reach, Jesse could always jump.

It would be quick, painless. Or, at least a lot less painful than it was to feel dark energy crawling up her neck, marching towards her brain, preparing to kill her as easily as she breathed.

It would be so simple, and if she did it right, her friends would never know. Victims of Sickness, when they died, in every recorded case, lost the visible effects of the Wither Sickness after they died.

Jesse clenched her fists, ready to stand up, to go find someplace to end her life, when she heard it.

"Jesse?"

It was Lukas. He sounded...heartbroken. Like he was genuinly worried about Jesse.

And then the thoughts of how her friends would react if she did kill herself swamped Jesse, and she slumped back to the floor. How could she even consider the thought of death, even allow it to cross her mind even once. It would destroy Axel and Olivia.

And Lukas...who had shown her nothing but kindness, even if he had turned a blind eye to Adrian's bullying. If she killed herself, or even died on accident...it would ruin him. Maybe even enough to make him want to die as well.

No, she couldn't do that. But she also couldn't tell them...

Not yet.

She had to find the words, the way to explain that...that she was dying.

Petra would kill her when she found out, but that would be alright.

Because once they knew, then any death would be just a little bit easier, a little bit more manageable. A little bit easier to bear.


And that's a wrap.

Guys, killing yourself is NOT ok, if you are ever depressed enough to even consider it, then know there are people who love you, people you can talk to.

I am always here if you need someone to talk to, and there's also the depression hotline.

Killing yourself never solves anything, it only makes more problems.

~Savvy