Walking Dead: Dark Burdens

Chapter 9 of my Walking Dead story, the last chapter of building before we reach the action so to speak, be ready.

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Boris Yeltsin: Thanks and well, of course not obviously, we've barely begun :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or its characters.

Chapter 9: Party Time

Returning home, Amy Adlon let out a tired sigh as she prepared herself. She was preparing herself to go to her third job, she had already dressed, in dark blue pants, a white shirt with the nametag on it and black shoes. She just needed to pick up some things from home before she left. She opened the door to their apartment and the first thing she heard.

"For fuck sake!"

Was her husband raging. She shook her head, walking through to where Graham was standing, glowering in the direction of their daughter's door, his phone clutching his hand, his clothes were rumpled as usual, dark jeans, a worn out blue shirt and black boots. She sighed, wondering how the man she married became this.

"Graham." She said, her voice short, sharp.

He turned to her, glaring darkly. "About bloody time you got home, that girl is out of hand, we need to-"

Amy sighed heavily, shaking her head, already feeling the beginning of a migraine coming all from her husband's ranting. Judging from his breath he had surprisingly not started drinking yet too.

"What is Violet supposed to have done now?" She queried, making it quite clear by her tone just what she thought of her husband's actions.

Clearly away of that he growled before replying. "Stupid girl thinks she can just go off to a party this Friday with some of those 'friends' of hers."

"So?"

"So she isn't going. I put my foot down, told her so." Graham snapped. "She had the audacity to blow me off, said she was going anyway."

Amy shook her head. There was no doubt how that conversation went, Graham thinking he could boss everyone around simply by virtue of being a man.

While a little put out at not finding out about the party until now, and rather surprised that her daughter, the epitome of shyness, was going to one, she was very firmly on Violet's side here.

"So, what legitimate reason did you give for her not to go?" Amy asked sharply.

Graham froze at that, incredulous.

"I...I said so, I'm her father, she doesn't have my permission and-"

"Violet is eighteen, Graham." Amy snapped. "She's a legal adult, she can make her own choices!"

Graham went red, livid. "What, you're supposed to be on my side, she is defying us!"

"You just think everything should be your way, without exception, that's not how the world works." Amy countered. "Violet defies you because you make no effort to understand her or engage with her, just insult her, put her down and order her around."

"I'm trying to fix things, in case you haven't noticed she is clearly up to something...unholy." Graham burst out. "She has turned away from God and to say nothing of her being impure, I'm sure of it, she-"

Amy shook her head, she'd heard enough. "Listen to yourself, this is ridiculous. When did religion become part of this argument!?"

"You've betrayed your faith, you are nowhere near enough to understand the dangers of her sins." Graham yelled. "I may not have proof but I'm certain. Our daughter is a goddamn dyke and you do nothing about it, it's-"

"How dare you say such a thing!" Amy cried. "That is a disgusting thing to call your daughter. This 'faith' of yours is clearly different from mine, I follow the TRUE, values of my religion. Love."

Graham scoffed but Amy shook her head.

"Yes Graham, love, you knew it too once." She told him. "I may not be around much, but that's because I'm trying to keep us from being thrown out. But I know, no matter what, I love my daughter and nothing will change that."

With that she turned, grabbed what she needed and left for her next job.

Graham glared furiously at the front door as his wife departed. Meanwhile, hidden behind her own bedroom door, Violet was frozen in disbelief at what she had just heard her mother say. While she tried to process this, Graham moved to his own bedroom and quickly dialled the number on his phone.

"Graham?"

"Markus, it's worse than I thought." He explained. "My daughter is impure, I'm sure of it now. I just need to find the final proof. But I'm sure she needs to spend time at your camp. To fix her."

Markus paused for a moment before replying. "Ah, I see...very well. I will make arrangements, Saturday should be fine. I'll call you back with the details."

"Thank you." Graham replied.

With that they both hung up.

XXXXX

Putting down his phone, Markus leaned back in his seat, smoothing down his black shirt, along with matching smart black pants and black polished shoes and his white collar. He looked towards the others in the room. Simon was present of course, dressed smartly in grey pants, a white shirt and black shoes. Also standing before him was a woman, a couple of years younger than himself with long auburn hair with hints of grey at her temples, brown eyes and fair skin. Next to her a man the same age with dark blonde hair, green eyes and light skin. Both clad respectively in a long dark grey dress with grey flats and khaki pants, a white shirt and black shoes. This was Markus' sister Alyssa and her husband Troy Hill. Troy's younger brother Eric, a tall muscular man with the same green eyes but light brown hair, clad in identical clothes to Troy, also stood present in the room. All those present in the room, along with Markus' late wife, were the founders of Delta, sometimes referred to, in jest, as The Big Five. Only five since Markus' wife did not live to see Delta become the successful church it was today.

"So, it would seem we will be having another sinner delivered to us on Saturday, Graham Adlon's daughter." He announced. "We must be prepared, for the usual...procedures will need to be followed."

The others nodded and then Troy spoke up.

"Do you wish Alyssa and I to gather the, necessary materials to ensure our plans will work?"

Markus nodded. "Yes, let's make sure we get, professional help. One of our people on the outside, our more, recent convert. He has considerable skills in that way. We will employ his talents to get us what we need...we have all week to do so, but it seems there is to be a gathering on Friday that will be...especially useful to us."

They all voiced their agreements and soon their plans were underway.

XXXXX

Violet let out a slow sigh, glad that it was lunch time on Friday, just a few more hours at school and she'd be free for the weekend, providing she made it through the party that night. She was nervous no doubt about that. But encouragement from Clem and her hopes of at least spending a good time with her friends gave her the courage to go. So too did the still surprising news that stayed within her all this time, the truth about how her mom felt about her. Smoothing her skirt under her as she sat, her hand linking with Clem's under the table, she looked around.

'Everyone seems to be in good spirits, guess they're all looking forward to the party.' She mused. 'Although, some still seem to have, issues…'

For she noticed that Sarah and Becca were still notably not talking to each other, Minerva still seemed to be on edge too. Nevertheless there was some matters that had clearly improved, such as Ruby and Aasim, now happily holding hands and talking together, their love for each other finally realized.

Louis then cut through her pondering. "So guys, we all ready for tonight, you all can make it to the party?"

There were various affirmations around the table, Clem then spoke up.

"Sure, I'll be there." She squeezed Violet's hand. "Just dress your best for it, right?"

Louis nodded. "That's right, just, not over the top please, it's still a party after all, not a formal event."

They all laughed and Violet felt her confidence increase.

"I'll be there too, promise."

The others smiled at that. Sarah and Becca were especially eager now they knew Gabe would be at the party, both hoping that this would be their chance to finally win his heart.

Finally however, the topic of conversation turned, becoming more serious as Brody spoke up.

"So um, I don't know about you guys, but something weird has been going on this week. I've felt...watched, especially when I was changing my clothes and such." She said. "It was so creepy, I couldn't see anything but, I still felt…"

"No way?" Clem burst out. "I've felt the same way. Also when I've been out, just by myself…"

The boys looked troubled by this but the real kicker was the horrified expressions on the faces of the other girls except for Violet.

Then Clem realized what it meant. "No way, you mean...all of us? Except, Violet?"

"I...kinda felt it too, but only ever in the gym locker room when we were showering or getting changed…" Violet admitted.

The others confirmed they felt it there too and soon they had a new worry on their hands, one they had no idea what to make of. It now seemed there was some sort of pervert at the school or at least nearby. With lunch over they made their way to their next classes, all feeling immediately wary, in case said pervert was watching them even now.

XXXXX

Returning to the bedroom after her shower that evening, clad in a pair of red lace panties and a matching bra, Minerva was preparing herself to go to the party, all the while hoping she didn't get another call from her tormentor.

"Sophie?"

She was startled to see her sister standing by the window, already dressed for the party in a dark pink spaghetti strap knee length dress with matching flats. But she was in fact looking out the window with a distressed expression on her face.

Turning around Sophie bit her lip. "Minnie…"

"You okay?" She asked. "You look a little, freaked out."

"There's someone out there. I'm sure of it." Sophie explained.

Minerva froze at that, her heart rate speeding up. "You mean…?"

She approached the window warily and peeked out.

Sophie shook her head. "I'm sure I saw someone out there, with a camera, taking pictures of me through the window."

"No way, seriously? Urgh, must be that creep we spoke of at school." Minerva replied; but inside she was terrified. 'Or worse, it's...it's them. The one who keeps, tormenting me and, and. Must've made a mistake, thought Sophie was me and...no that's ridiculous.'

She knew such an error was impossible; she and Sophie were twins yes, but their appearances were still different, with Minerva keeping her hair short after all.

Trying hard to push those thoughts away Minerva hurried to get dressed, pulling on her dark red dress with it's fashionable slit up the left side of the skirt, up to the top of her thigh. She began pulling on her dark red heels when she saw Sophie's expression. Sophie had seen hers and was guessing what was going on.

"Minnie, what's going on, something about this is bothering you, I can see it." She said. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Minerva insisted. "This is just some weird creep, like we discussed at school."

Sophie narrowed her eyes. "Then why are you so frightened? Minnie, if this has something to do with what's been bothering you, I-"

"There's nothing to talk about there, okay." Minerva snapped suddenly.

"Minnie, I'm trying to help you." Sophie insisted. "If you'd please just let me in, I-"

Before Sophie could reply another voice cut in.

"Please, stop it." It was Tenn. "Please...I hate it when you guys fight."

He stood fidgeting, in danger of rumpling his khaki pants and blue shirt. Without shoes he wore only white socks on his feet, he was looking at them both, eyes wide and sad. The sight was enough to make both sisters relent and so, after some final preparations, they left their home, heading to the party, but both still with worries in the back of their minds.

XXXXX

Heading to the party herself, Clementine smiled, certainly looking forward to a good time with all the others. She had dressed up well too in black skinny jeans, a brand new dark yellow shoulderless top and black flats. She felt it was a good look and couldn't wait to see Violet's reaction. But as she was walking a car pulled up beside her. She rolled her eyes, groaning, her good mood spoiled as she recognized the car, the police cruiser, right away.

"So, out looking to cause trouble again." Abel sneered at her.

"Obviously not as I haven't even caused trouble before as you well know." Clementine snapped back at him. "Now are you done wasting my time?"

Abel scowled. "You watch your tone, girl. You don't talk to me that way, especially a girl like you."

Clementine returned his scowl with equal intensity, knowing full well what he meant by that. Bad enough he was using no doubt any excuse he could think of to torment her just for her skin colour, but to also target her for her gender too.

"You're a disgrace to the uniform and badge, you know that. I'm surprised you even got into the police force." She told him firmly.

"You just watch yourself." He replied sharply. "Keep on going like this and I'll have just cause to arrest you, like you deserve."

Clem rolled her eyes at his blatant announcement of his intentions to abuse his 'authority'. Not even dignifying his delusions with an answer she continued on her way, heading to the party and trying to get her mind back to the cheer of the wonderful event she was anticipating.

XXXXX

Violet smiled lightly to herself, trying to remain calm. She had even got new clothes for the party, fresh jeans without any rips or holes, a white blouse and new black sneakers. Everybody else was up dancing and enjoying themselves.

"Hey, hope I've not come across you moping." The delightful voice of her girlfriend suddenly said.

Turning to Clem's smiling face Violet smiled too. "No I...I was just waiting for you, wow, you look...amazing."

Clem grinned. "Thanks, I hoped you'd like it, c'mon, let's get out there and join the others. This song's good and before you start any of that can't dance stuff, I wouldn't call anyone here brilliant dancers. Just look at them."

Violet sighed but finally worked past her unease. "You're right, c'mon, let's go."

With that they linked hands and made their way to the dance hall, almost at once coming across Brody, looking lovely in a cream sundress with cream heels and dancing beautifully, already in the spirit of the party.

"Nice moves Brody!" She called out over the music.

Brody laughed. "Clem, you finally made it, great. Hey Vi, c'mon, join us, it's already shaping up to be a great party."

Violet smirked. "Sure, why not...if I can stop laughing at Louis trying to dance long enough."

The other girls laughed too as they observed Louis, clad in khaki pants, a dark brown shirt under a grey waistcoat and black shoes, dancing in a rather corny, cringe-worthy fashion. Standing nearby, laughing were Marlon and Omar, clad respectively in jeans, a dark blue T-shirt under a black leather vest, brown boots and black pants, a white shirt and black shoes.

"I think Omar and Marlon are just encouraging him." Brody laughed.

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's show Louis how to really dance." Clem said.

With that she and Violet made their way deeper into the dance floor, accompanied by Brody.

Fixing his designer jeans, white shirt and dark blue sneakers, his head crowed by his usual orange beanie, Gabe sighed as he broke out of the dance floor, heading for the snack table. He looked over at where Brody was dancing and sighed to himself.

'I...wow, she's so beautiful, I wish I could just…' He found himself thinking. 'But I can't find the courage to just tell her, dammit.'

He stopped back the snack table, instantly realizing he wasn't alone, for also standing there was Duck, clad in cargo pants, a white T-shirt under a dark orange flannel shirt and white shoes, and Mitch, wearing fashionably ripped jeans, a black shirt under a black leather vest and dark brown boots.

"Oh um, hey guys." Gabe greeted them, biting his lip, awkward.

Mitch sighed. "Gabe."

Duck just nodded and Gabe sighed, knowing why they were being so cold. He was aware of their crushes on Sarah and Becca, who were still fighting over him. Glancing around he spotted them. Sarah in a dark blue mid-thigh length dress with matching flats which Duck could scarcely tear his eyes from. Mitch meanwhile had to tuck his tongue back in his mouth whenever he spotted Becca, who wore a black ankle length dress with slits up both sides of the skirt to the top of her thighs, revealing sheer thigh-high stockings and black heels.

"I'm sorry you guys are having to cope with all this." He said.

That startled both of them, they stared, confused.

So Gabe clarified. "I know it's confusing and there's issues because of how Sarah and Becca are behaving…because of me. I want you guys to know. I don't actually feel for either of them that way, I just wish they could see it and stop fighting. I just wish they would give you guys a chance."

Both blushed at that.

"Oh um, thanks…" Mitch mumbled.

Duck nodded. "Yeah, that's...wait, you don't...then who-?"

It was Gabe's turn to blush as he admitted. "Brody."

They gasped at that, but suddenly, while still trying to figure out how to resolve things, the air was much clearer between the three boys than it had been before.

The music had segued into a slow dance tune and despite being away that they would be almost the centre of attention as one of only two truly committed couples present, the other being Clem and Violet, Ruby and Aasim smiled warmly at each other, dancing together. Both dressed up nicely, Ruby in black pants with a purple tank-top and black flats and Aasim in Khaki pants, a red shirt and dark brown loafers. They didn't say much as they smiled, lost in each other's eyes. But then, they didn't need to, it was obvious to all watching that they were happy and those watching were happy too, having seen their crushes on each other for a while and now they were finally together.

XXXXX

Outside the party venue, taking advantage of the shadows within the trees and the wide, sometimes floor length windows of the building, three figures clad in all black with raised hoods shadowing their faces stood.

"So, you're certain what you've done is sufficient?" Alyssa asked the third figure.

Said third figure was taking pictures with a specially designed camera, photographing the female party goers, with the exception of Violet, at certain key moments.

"Yes, of course." The figure said. "I have plenty of pictures from throughout the week. These are the last ones we need."

The other figure, Troy, grunted. "I hope so, we have a strong purpose for needing these pictures after all."

The photographer nodded. "Yes, I know, don't fear, it will be more than sufficient."

With that they smiled and began to take more pictures, this time focusing mainly on Clementine.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.