"I got your text, what's the emergency?" Sidling into the quiet aisle of the library that Kirby was situated in, Liam sunk down into a squat to be closer to her eye level. Squinting at the worn title of the book in her hands, and then slowly surveying the various books splayed out around her on the floor, he cleared his throat. "You planning on joining a coven?"
Closing the copy of The Exorcist's Handbook that she was holding, Kirby looked up and fixed her boyfriend with a sympathetic look. He wasn't looking at her, though, and was instead getting comfortable on the carpet and reaching for another book.
"Out of the Devil's Cauldron ? The Dictionary of Demons ? Seriously, Kirby, what is all of this?"
"We should talk."
Liam dropped the book he was holding and looked up, his face suddenly much more serious. Concern laced his features and it made Kirby want to ignore all logic and hug him. Everything she was about to do was burning her from the inside out, but she steeled her resolve and put her own book aside.
"It's about Fallon," she began, feeling guilty as relief spread over Liam's features. He obviously thought she was there to complain, or vent, or express some kind of worry - she savoured the last moments she had of his obliviousness.
"What about Fallon?"
"I think… No, I know that she killed Evan. And Culhane."
Liam's features hardened. He'd finally stopped bringing it up after a while, and Kirby didn't like being the one to remind him, but it had to be done.
" And that kid from MGH," she added, as an afterthought.
"I'm supposed to believe that a 110 pound girl not only overpowered two huge guys, but that she killed them? Kirby, they were convinced that Culhane was killed by a wild animal until they found more evidence. Not to mention they haven't even found Evan, but… it looks like something was eating him."
"That's just it!" Kirby insisted, trying to keep her volume low enough that no one came back to shush them. "She is eating them. At least, I think so."
"You think Fallon Carrington is a cannibal?" Liam was verbally pulling away from her now. She could hear the confusion and disbelief being replaced with concern - but not the typical empathy-laced worry that he usually held for her. This was concern for himself. She wondered if he was mentally mapping out an exit strategy from the library.
"No, she's…" Kirby sighed, watching Liam's eyes flick around the books once more. "I thought she was… changing. I guess she is, but not like I thought. I know she killed those boys, Liam, she told me."
" Oh ," he leaned back, clapping his hands onto his knees. "She told you. Why didn't you say so?"
"Don't be a dick to me right now, I'm seriously freaking out!"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. But you know she didn't do it. You have to know she couldn't have. Besides, didn't you say that you saw her the night Evan went missing?"
"Okay, you're gaslighting me, now."
"No," Liam chuckled, a humorless, disbelieving little sound as he shook his head. "No, I'm not. That isn't even what that means . Kirby, I think you seriously need to talk to someone."
"I'm talking to you right now, and you aren't even listening to me!" She could hear herself growing more shrill, but it was impossible not to begin feeling trapped and start reeling.
"That's not what I meant. I mean a professional." Raising his hands in defence before Kirby could react, Liam continued: "I don't mean like in an asylum, just… a therapist. This year has started off on a really fucked up note, and my therapist always tells me that stress can manifest itself in really weird ways if you don't treat it. You saw something terrible, and so did Fallon - and you never even got to process any of it before more terrible things started to happen. Fallon's messing with you. Maybe she's just going through something, too. Maybe… she thinks she killed Evan and Culhane like… symbolically. Evan was looking for her that night, and maybe if the cheer team had actually been outside at practice, they'd have seen Culhane and stopped him from going into the woods."
"This isn't… no , she admitted it! She said she went into the forest after she came to my house and she killed Evan. I think the guys in that band really hurt her, Liam, something is seriously wrong with Fallon!"
"I heard you, I heard you." Glancing around to make sure that no one had heard her outburst, Liam reached over and touched her knee, but she shied away and frowned.
"She told me everything. I think she's… a demon, or something."
Liam looked into her eyes for a moment before dropping his gaze to the floor. Kirby could tell that, despite his worry, he was biting back a mean comment.
"Look, Liam, it isn't safe for us to… be together. I'm sorry. I just need to make sure that Fallon stays away from you while I figure out what to do about her."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what does this have to do with me?"
"I think… she went after Evan and Michael because of me. I don't want you to be next."
"What about the kid from MGH?" Liam pointed out.
"I haven't figured that one out, yet. But I will." Kirby lifted up one of the books in gesture.
Exhaling heavily and sitting up on his knees, Liam shook his head.
"You think your best friend is a demon who is killing boys twice her size and eating them, and so you need to break up with me."
"Okay, when you say it that way, it just sounds like an excuse, but I -"
"Right before homecoming."
A heavy weight settled in Kirby's chest, guilt making her feel sick for a moment.
"We can still be friends?" She tried.
Liam seemed distracted, though. He stood up and dug in his pockets for a moment before pulling out two tickets to the dance, and holding them up for Kirby to see.
"If you want to still go, as friends, after you've talked to Fallon, let me know. I wanted to talk to you."
Kirby rolled the idea around in her mind for a moment before nodding.
"That's probably okay."
Turning to go, she sighed.
"Liam, wait. I am sorry."
Liam turned, almost smiling.
"It's okay. Promise."
The weight lifted, and she relaxed into herself, just a little.
"I'll let you get back to your exorcism."
Huffing out a single attempt at a laugh, Kirby shook her head and went back to her books, digging through them once more.
Just as she was beginning to feel hopeless - all of the books had plenty of information on killing demons, but none on managing it like an illness - a wave of giddy anticipation washed over her.
It wasn't hunger - or rather, it was, but the sort of hunger that would immediately be remedied. This wasn't a stomach growling during a long study session, this was the moment that she sat down at the table for Thanksgiving dinner after waiting for hours.
It didn't feel like her, though. It felt like she was watching herself feel it through some kind of emotion-vision TV.
Where was Fallon?
Parking lot.
She ran the entire way, ignoring the strange looks she got from everyone else in the halls as she juggled her occultist books and barely managed to keep her bag over her shoulder. Crashing out the front doors and running towards where Fallon's car was parked, Kirby tried to slow herself to a light jog and appear as nonchalant as possible.
Leaning against the top of Fallon's car and partway into the window, Kirby recognized one of the boys from she and Fallon's shared Lit class.
She'd never spoken to him, or even bothered to remember his name, but she could practically feel the way he was looking at Fallon. Straightening her own posture and walking with more purpose, Kirby appeared behind him and cut him off midsentence, leaning around him to look at Fallon.
"Hey, I tried to text you but I didn't have any phone service. Can you give me a ride home? Are you leaving right now?"
Fallon turned her attention sharply to Kirby, giving her a withering glare.
"We're sort of in the middle of something, Kirby."
"It's an emergency," she insisted.
The boy turned to Kirby curiously, and she watched as his face went from total enrapture to calmness, even confusion.
"Sorry," Fallon snapped. She hit the automatic window button on the door panel beside her, jolting the passenger window up a half inch - enough of a warning for both Kirby and the boy to get off of her car and stand back. "I have to go, too. Call me later, babe."
Her comment had been directed at Kirby, but the boy waved too as Fallon reversed her car and then sped out of the parking lot without another word.
Feeling relieved, and dully annoyed, Kirby gave the boy beside her a single disparaging look before hiking her bag up further.
"Get a grip, dude," she snapped, readjusting her books and turning to head back into the school.
"Hello?"
" Can't let me starve, babe ."
Fallon's words were a chilling substitute for 'hello' as Kirby answered her phone call.
Sitting upright at her mirror, Kirby dropped the hairbrush she was gripping, wincing as it clattered loudly onto the surface of the vanity.
"Are you kidding? Order a pizza. Jesus."
Fallon's laugh made Kirby grow more tense, clutching her phone to her ear as if worried she was going to drop it, too.
"You know I can't do that. What else did we learn, today?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, so we're lying to each other, now?" Fallon sounded surprisingly annoyed. "I didn't realize. I wish I'd known that before I told you everything. I saw the books, Kirby, I'm not stupid."
Glancing that the pile of library books on her bed, Kirby sighed.
"I'm sorry. I guess I just forgot."
"Another lie." Fallon was almost stage-whispering. Kirby could picture the look on her face perfectly. A wicked, curious look of amusement that normally made her completely weak in the knees. She was thankful that the conversation was taking place over the phone - she wouldn't have lasted nearly as long with Fallon there in front of her to tear through her defences.
"I bet you've been reading them all over and over again since you got home."
She had been reading them all over and over again since she'd gotten home. Feeling an uncomfortable chill run up her spine, followed by the prickly feeling of being watched, Kirby climbed up quietly from her vanity seat and made her way over to her window to peer out of it.
" Now I bet you're checking to make sure I'm not spying on you." Fallon's voice was crackly through the phone receiver.
"Are you?" Kirby asked, not sure that she wanted to hear the answer.
"Well," Fallon dragged out the word, laughing again when Kirby let out a quiet, nervous whine of protest in response. "No, not exactly. I just know you. We've always had a connection, you know that."
Kirby was quiet for a moment, and then finally spoke again.
"I broke up with Liam today."
"Ooh, that's too bad, Kirby, I'm sorry." she sounded surprisingly genuine, and the softness of her tone juxtaposed against her earlier taunting flirting was jarring. "I never liked him, anyway. Plus he was ugly."
"No, he isn't," Kirby pointed out.
"No," Fallon sighed, "You're right. He's a very pretty boy. Especially now that he's filling out. Maybe he still has time to try out for football - I hear there's an opening."
"That isn't funny."
"Yes it is," Fallon laughed. "Lighten up."
"Fallon," Kirby groaned. "We have to get a handle on this. You're going to get caught."
"You mean you're not going to kill me?" Fallon sounded surprised.
"What?" Kirby spluttered, "Of - of course not."
"That's what all your little books say to do, isn't it?"
"No! Well… yes, they do. But I'm still trying to find something better. I don't want you to spend the rest of your life in prison, or have some freaky evangelicals show up in town with pitch forks and torches."
"Okay, now I think that you're really confusing me with a werewolf," Fallon hummed. "What are your ideas so far?"
"Like I said, I'm still working on it." Kirby insisted. "I need you to keep your head down, until then. Please?"
"Kirby, I'm hungry."
"Fallon, please promise me."
The pleading in her tone must have had the right effect, because after a moment to decide, Fallon sighed.
" Fine. "
"Thank you. I don't want anything to happen to you."
That was clearly the right thing to say, because she heard Fallon make a soft, endeared sound in the back of her throat.
"I love you."
"I love you, too. I have to go."
"Send me pictures of your homecoming dress!" Fallon insisted, then hung up.
True to her word, Fallon had kept her head down and stayed out of trouble. Every day that Kirby saw her in class, she looked worse for wear, though, so she spent most of her free time scouring the internet and library books for more information to try to relieve some of her suffering - just in a more ethical way.
Fallon made sure to complain as much as possible whenever Kirby was around, too, trying to feed into her guilt of leaving her hungry and sore and tired. The worst part was that it was working. Kirby found herself staying up later, ignoring her school work, and chugging coffee throughout the day to try to come up with a solution.
By the time the homecoming dance rolled around, Kirby was exhausted. Liam's mother, thrilled that he and Kirby were only going to the dance as friends , had rewarded him by lending him the car for the evening. As Kirby climbed into the passenger side seat and made sure that her dress was fully tucked in before shutting the door, she realized it was the first time she was ever driving with him.
They'd missed a lot of firsts, she realized. She felt a little guilty for not focusing on their relationship as much - enjoying it as much - while it was still in one piece.
Fallon was nowhere to be seen once they walked into the dance, and it left Kirby feeling paranoid - but the hunger was still gripping her entire body in its claws and she knew that for Fallon, it must have felt even worse - which was a sure sign that she still hadn't fed yet.
"You okay? You seem a little distracted." Liam took Kirby's hand and squeezed it reassuringly, but unlike before, he dropped it immediately after.
"I'm fine," she promised, "I… don't see Fallon, do you?"
Liam didn't even look before shaking his head.
"Do you want something to drink?"
"Uh, sure." Kirby watched him walk stiffly away. He seemed jumpy, now that she was paying better attention.
With Liam gone, Kirby turned her attention back to the crowd dancing and squinted, trying to make out Fallon among the other people. She hadn't sent Kirby any photos of her own dress, so she had no idea what she was looking for. Everyone blended together in the dark lighting, and just as Kirby was beginning to feel hypnotized and tired, Liam reappeared with two red plastic cups and handed one to her.
"You said you wanted to talk?" She tried, tilting her head and trying to catch his eye.
"Yeah, uh," Liam finally faced her. "I do. Not… here, though. Can we go somewhere quiet?"
"Of course," Kirby sipped from her cup as she followed him, trying to get a read on him. She was almost worried that it was about Fallon, paranoia seeping into her mind and screaming ' HE BELIEVES YOU' over and over again. It couldn't have been that, though. He had asked her for this talk at the same time she'd told him about everything.
"Is everything okay?" She tried, following him out of the gymnasium and down the hallway.
"Uh… yeah." Liam's voice sounded higher than usual - a rare nervous tic that she didn't see very often. "Yeah, it's okay. I just have to talk to you."
He led her out of the back doors of the school and towards the football field. It was colder now than it had been when they'd arrived, and that had hardly been long enough ago to warrant such a dip in temperature. Shivering, Kirby couldn't help but stare at the trees. They'd looked more inviting in her dream, the one she'd had the afternoon that Fallon had killed Michael.
"Are you cold? Here." Shrugging off his jacket, Liam quickly draped it over Kirby's shoulders. It reminded her of Evan, and she felt another pull in her chest.
"Thank you," she mumbled, watching him check the grass for dampness before sitting on the ground and putting his back to the trees. Following suit, Kirby sat close to him and pressed her thigh to his, waiting for him to speak, first.
"I'm sorry for not listening to you before. When you were trying to talk about Fallon." Despite his words, Kirby could hear a distinct 'but I still don't believe you' in his tone. She ignored it, turning to face him as he continued. "You've been going through a lot and I… have been sort of dealing with some stuff too. I should have just told you and then been there for you. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, Liam." She grabbed his hand gently and squeezed it, this time continuing to hold it.
"I haven't been totally honest with you," Liam admitted. "I… sort of planned to do this closer to graduation, but the timing never felt right and then you just… dumped me in the library, and I realized it's now or never."
"I'm sorry, I -"
"No, I have to say this, please let me finish." Liam turned away from her again, but continued to hold her hand. "I… wow. Kirby, I'm gay."
Blood rushing in her ears made everything sound muffled and muted for a moment.
"Kirby, are you listening to me?" Liam continued. The confidence from saying it the first time clearly opened the flood gates, because he repeated: "I'm gay. I… I'm gay. I'm sorry. I'm gay."
"I heard you the first time!" She insisted, feeling her cheeks flush. She quickly backtracked, realizing how terrible it sounded. "I… I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. I'm… that's fine. Obviously. I'm glad you told me."
"I just didn't want you to think that maybe this break thing was temporary, and I didn't want us to graduate and try to make plans for college or something without coming clean about this. I should have said something, but I was still figuring it out."
"It's okay," Kirby insisted again, squeezing his hand once more. "I um… I love you. You know that, right?"
"I love you, too," he promised. Relief softened his features and she had to resist the urge to hug him - to collapse into him and start crying, and let the stress from the last few months just melt away. Her own confused thoughts were the least of her concerns now that she had Fallon running around either starving or killing people.
It was that realization of the unimportance of her thoughts that made her turn to him and blurt out:
"I think I'm gay, too. Or… or something. I don't know, I've been really confused, lately."
"It's not Fallon, is it?" Something about the way that Liam asked made Kirby realize that it wasn't a question borne from disgust, but from concern. She'd been attached to Fallon for as long as Liam had known her.
"I… maybe. I don't really know."
"It's okay," Liam insisted, putting his hand on her knee reassuringly. "Sometimes it's unexpected people, right?"
Kirby looked him in the eye, and saw the tiny hint of sadness there, and remembered Culhane - and Liam's reaction to his death. Surging forward, she wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders and hugged him.
Squeezing her back, she felt him let out a tiny, shuddering breath - the closest she was sure she'd ever see him to crying - and tucked his chin over her shoulder.
"My ears are burning!"
Fallon's words, suddenly so close by, shocked Kirby out of her comfortable state and she wrenched away from Liam, whirling around to the source of her voice.
"What're you doing here?" Kirby asked, trying to sound as stern and authoritative as possible as Fallon stepped out of the trees and began striding towards them.
"Time's up."
Leaping to her feet as a surge of hunger - so sharp it was like being stabbed - hit her in the gut, Kirby immediately stepped in front of Liam as he scrambled to stand as well.
"Fallon, no!"
"What am I, your stupid iguana that you lost ?" Fallon hissed, striding closer and closer before slowing to a stop in front of them. "Seriously, move. I gave you so much time, and instead of working on it, you're out here making out with your ex? Fuck you, Anders."
"That's not what we - Fallon, just go home ."
"No." Lifting herself up onto her toes, Fallon looked over Kirby's shoulder and smiled at Liam. "Start running. I love a little head-start seasoning."
"Fallon, this is insane ," Kirby insisted, trying to keep her voice calm in hopes of keeping the other girl under control.
"No, you know what's insane? You broke up with your dumbass boyfriend and didn't even ask me to come to this dance with you. You're such a shitty friend, you know that?"
" I'm a shitty friend?" Kirby exclaimed, outrage overcoming her desire to mediate. "Are you kidding me? You are literally trying to kill my boyfriend."
" EX- boyfriend!" Fallon corrected.
"First you kill the guy that's just trying to help us get you home safe, and then you kill one of my only friends other than you, and now you're trying to kill Liam. What the hell is wrong with you? Are you that jealous that I have anyone in my life other than you?"
" I'm jealous of you?" Fallon snorted, "That's funny. What exactly would I be jealous of? I'm fucking indestructable, you stupid whore."
"No, you're not," Kirby pointed out. "Not when you're like this."
"Yeah, actually," Fallon snarked, "I am. Look."
Lifting her hand to her mouth, Fallon flipped both Kirby and Liam off, then bit down hard on the tip of her finger. Even through the wind and their conversation, the 'crack' sound was clear, and blood immediately poured down Fallon's chin onto her dress. Liam let out a yell of disgust as Fallon spit the partial digit onto the grass before them.
Whining in pain, Fallon shook her hand and winced, as if she'd simply crushed it in a car door or broken one of her nails too close to the base. With a few deep breaths, she messily wiped the blood from her face and smeared it on the back of her arm.
"See? Good as new. Almost."
Wiping more of the blood from her injured hand on her dress, she held up her hand - and sure enough, the bone had already began to sprout anew from the end of her finger, slowly beginning to grow back.
"Does it always take so long?" Kirby asked. She tilted her head to the side and kept her tone taunting and light, despite the urge to throw up from what she'd just seen.
"Just because I won't eat you doesn't mean I won't kick your ass," Fallon threatened.
"What… the fuck is going on!" Both girls turned to Liam, and Kirby remembered needing to keep him safe. "Is it true?"
He looked at Fallon, next, and Kirby felt her blood boil as the brunette smiled sweetly, tilting her head to the side and batting her eyes.
"You're goddamn right, sweetheart. Now, are you going to run, or not?" Fallon smirked. "Ooh! We should do a time trial! My record right now is that kid by the lake. I think that was under three minutes. Kirby, you want to keep time?"
"Liam," Kirby insisted, "Run. For the school."
He took off without any more prodding, and just as Fallon was about to grab for him, Kirby grabbed her wrist, wrenching her back.
"No, no, we should talk."
"Kirby, I don't have time for this. And neither do you. Now, it is in your best interest to let me take care of Liam, before he gets help and this entire thing goes up in smoke. Are we clear?"
"Fallon," Kirby pleaded, trying to dig her heels into the ground and hold her back. "You can't do this. Please. We'll work something else out."
"Ugh, get… off of me!" Shoving Kirby hard, Fallon wriggled free and took off after Liam. The dirt was hard, and cold, and Kirby knew that she'd have more than a few bruises if she ended up surviving the night.
Getting up and brushing herself off, she took off after them both.
Even though Fallon was weak, and had clearly slowed down, the supernatural aspect to her skillset still gave her a good advantage over Liam. Kirby could feel the sympathetic hunger wrenching in her stomach and knew that Liam had to be terrified.
She could almost see the appeal in chasing him. Almost. She knew that the part of her that thought so was simply Fallon, though, not herself.
It was hopeless to even try to stop her, now, and Kirby knew it.
Tears blurred her vision as she ran, barely paying attention to the stitch in her side or the harsh, sharp pain in her chest as she tried to catch her breath. She was massively overexerting herself, and without the survival-instinct adrenaline rush that Liam had, or the demonic speed that Fallon had, she watched as more and more distance grew between her and the pair of them.
Then, Fallon caught him.
Kirby had never heard that sound, before. Not from Liam, not from anyone. A scream, a chorus of crunching, and then sobbing. It was so much more raw than it sounded in the movies. It was so much more clear than it had sounded at the carnival.
She caught up, then, instinctively diving onto Fallon and wrestling her off of Liam. They'd rarely ever played that way, and they'd certainly never fought like it. As Fallon scrambled onto her back and grabbed for Kirby's arms, her hips, wherever she could reach to try to shove her off, Kirby balled one hand into a fist and swung on her with all of the force she could manage.
She'd never punched anyone, before. She thought it was a pretty good first attempt.
Fallon's head rocked to the side and she spat blood, fresh wet blood mixed with the caking, dried blood on her face from biting off her own finger earlier. Kirby felt the bony digit digging into her wrist as Fallon fought against her, still not quite fully formed.
Beside her, she was vaguely aware of Liam trying to sit up. His breathing and coughing sounded distinctly wet , and somewhere in the back of her mind, Kirby knew he didn't have a chance.
"It just kills you whenever I have something you want, doesn't it?" Kirby demanded, wrenching her arms free from Fallon's grip and pressing her forearm down to her neck.
She watched Fallon try to choke out words between laboured, ragged breaths, letting her wrestle her arm free to finally speak.
"It kills you that I can have whatever you have."
Screaming in what could only be described as pure rage, Kirby hit her again, and then again, screaming until her throat burned. It reminded her of that night that she'd crashed Fallon's car in the forest. She'd been so worried for her back then.
In the distance, she heard the sounds of the back doors of the school slamming open, and people talking curiously amongst themselves. Climbing off of Fallon quickly, Kirby leapt to her feet and waved her arms desperately trying to catch their attention.
"Here! Over here! Someone help!"
She heard Fallon take off behind her, but ignored it in favour of dropping into the grass beside Liam and trying to survey the damage.
His sobbing had dulled to hiccuping and panting for air, his own blood and tears soaking his face as he reached out for Kirby.
"Hey, it's okay."
Something about her own voice reminded her of how Liam had sounded when she'd returned his coming-out sentiment. It wasn't going to be okay - maybe she wasn't, either. Maybe he'd said that to make her feel better, just like she was doing for him, now.
"I didn't believe you," he gasped, reaching up and trying to take her hand. It was only then that she realized how broken his arm was, and the unfortunate angle that his shoulder was resting at. The center of his white shirt was blood soaked, and she knew that his chest cavity hadn't survived Fallon's tackle. There was no way he had more than a few minutes.
"I wouldn't have believed me, either," she insisted, shrugging off his jacket and draping it over him like a blanket when he started to shiver. In the distance, the disjointed voices seemed to notice them, and people began running towards the field. "Just relax."
"I'm so - so sorry."
"Shh." Her own vision became so blurred with tears that she gave up on looking at him entirely, squeezing her eyes shut and leaning down to press her forehead against his. His skin was freezing to the touch.
He was gone by the time they were approached, and she fought through the screams of shock and exclamations of horror and disgust to answer the repetitive question that everyone had.
What happened? Who did this?
Fallon.
She hadn't been wrong - time was up.
The woods behind the elementary school hadn't changed a bit.
Kirby hadn't been in them in years, but like muscle memory, she knew every root and branch, ducking and overstepping with perfect precision, without even looking where she was going.
Fallon had always known the woods better than Kirby had. Now that their connection had become so strong, that was helpful.
She made her way into the clearing and stopped, glancing around curiously. The leafrollers. They were back, hanging from every single branch in sight, just around eye level. It wasn't the season for them, though. Why were they out, now, in such huge numbers?
It seemed like a divine sign, so Kirby marched on.
"I didn't know if you'd show up."
Turning around slowly, Kirby watched Fallon appear before her and approach her stiffly. She was hurt.
"Fallon…" She couldn't keep the broken exhaustion out of her voice. She'd thought about what she'd do to her when she finally got her hands on her, but now she just felt tired.
Fallon softened noticeably, and reached for her, and it was only then that Kirby noticed the additional scrapes and cuts that she must have gotten during her fight with Liam. It felt wrong to worry about her minor injuries when Liam had paid for losing the fight with his life, but it was reflexive.
"Come here."
Fallon eyed her warily for a moment before stumbling a few steps closer and into her arms. She felt so frail, again. For a moment, Kirby felt guilty for not letting her get her strength up, before remembering exactly how she did it.
"Fallon, you can't go back there."
"I know we can't," Fallon mumbled, and her change of wording didn't slip past Kirby unnoticed.
"You could run," Kirby suggested. "I… everyone knows it was you. But maybe if you go now, you could make it."
"Don't make me leave you," Fallon sighed, pulling back to look at her. "Let's just stay here."
"Where, in the forest?" Kirby asked, glancing around.
"Yeah. We always wanted to when we were little, anyway."
"Yeah, the important thing being when we were little. Fallon, they're going to take you away, and lock you up, or kill you, or something . I need you to leave before anything happens to you."
"Do you forgive me?" Fallon asked, very suddenly, her tone sharp and serious.
"I - what?"
"Do you. Forgive me."
Kirby thought of Evan - and Trixie being left behind, then Michael, and his family, and Liam, and then Liam himself. Her eyes burned and she dropped Fallon's gaze to wring her hands together.
"Please, Kirby? I'm sorry."
"I can't."
"But I said that I'm sorry ."
"I know you did, Fallon." Kirby's voice was sharp, almost cutting into the end of the other girl's sentence. "But that isn't… that isn't enough, this time."
Fallon's features hardened, and she pushed herself off of Kirby as she stepped away.
" Fine. Fuck you. You'd only slow me down, anyway."
She reached up and tore her necklace off, flinging her half of the Best Friends pendant at Kirby's feet.
"Will you tell me why you did it?"
Fallon scoffed.
"You think you deserve that? No. I'm done confiding in you. I am so sick of putting more into this friendship than you do."
"That isn't fair. Or true," Kirby insisted. "I would have done anything for you."
"Yeah?" Fallon taunted, pacing back and forth. "Is that because you're that good of a friend or because you have some weird unresolved feelings for me? Still ?"
"It's because I love you. You know that. You have to know that."
Fallon shook her head, setting her jaw and staring up at the sky through the clearing instead of immediately answering. When she looked at Kirby again, her eyes were misty.
"Please tell me why, Fallon."
"I already told you," Fallon hissed defensively. "I was hungry."
"But why Evan? Why Culhane? I don't get the common thread."
Fallon stared at her for a moment and everything clicked into place. Evan's scent on her, Culhane taking up space in her social calendar.
But it still didn't explain the freshman from the high school by the lake.
"What about the MGH kid?"
Fallon shuffled her feet into the dirt of the forest floor, coming a little closer.
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Because I know you," Kirby reminded her. "And I know you don't do anything without thinking it over."
"If I tell you, are you going to tell me why you ran out of my house like it was on fire when I tried to kiss you? Even though I know you've been thinking about it since, like, forever?"
It was a desperate bargain, which only told Kirby how badly Fallon really wanted to know. She hadn't realized how much it had been eating away at her. Fallon was very much the 'no, you tell ME first' type. To offer information without any guarantee of a return on her investment was the move of a distinct but rare 'backed into a corner with no where to go' Fallon.
"Okay," Kirby agreed.
"The reroute to get to school made me cut our morning phone calls short. When they thought their mystery serial killer had moved north, they let up. Your turn."
She was trying not to give Kirby a chance to properly process what her explanation meant, but she did anyway. It was love. It was obvious love, wrapped up in a fucked up, over the top self serving gesture.
"I was scared about what kissing you meant, and I knew that you were trying to mess with me."
Fallon's face fell a little.
"I wasn't… messing with you. Jesus, Kirby, what kind of monster do you think I am?"
Kirby thought of the books still waiting for her at home on her bed. Demonology . The Satanic Occult. Virgin sacrifices and succubi, the way that Fallon's personality was still right there. Really, only her diet had changed.
"I don't want to leave without you," Fallon repeated. "But I will if you make me. You know it'll just be the same thing in the next town, though."
"I really don't think you're trying hard enough to get a handle on this thing," Kirby insisted. She thumbed the knife in her back pocket softly, wondering if Fallon already knew it was there.
"You have no idea what I've been through. What I'm still going through. Right this minute."
"Maybe not," Kirby hummed. "But I can guess. I know you're tired, and you probably just want to go home. And you're hungry, and rethinking not killing me."
Fallon's eyes flashed and she came closer still - close enough that Kirby could feel her cold breath on her ear when she leaned in.
"Why would I do a thing like that?"
"Because you know how this ends."
Fallon took her by the waist and for a moment she expected the other girl to throw her to the ground like she had with Liam. Instead, she kissed her. Just once, at first, and then over and over as she pulled her closer still.
Her arms wrapped around her like she was holding on for dear life, and then slid down before stopping abruptly. Fallon pulled back, hard, and ripped the knife from Kirby's pocket. Scrambling to grab it back despite the haziness in her mind, Kirby wrestled the blade back and glared at the other girl.
"What the fuck, Kirby! Were you going to stab me? You know how I feel about being stabbed!"
"No!" Kirby insisted. "I didn't - I didn't want to have to use it."
"Give it to me."
"No."
"Kirby, give me the knife." The brunette lunged forward and grabbed for it, letting out a yelp of pain as the blade slid cleanly across her palm, leaving an angry red slit in its place before she began leaking blood onto the forest floor.
She gave pause for only a moment to observe it before lunging at Kirby again and knocking her to the ground.
"I told you I'm indestructible!" Fallon hissed, having managed to pin Kirby's arms and beginning to try to pry the knife away.
"We both saw you in the field!" Kirby snapped back. "You might be able to heal eventually, but you'll bleed out before you do."
"So you were going to kill me? You are a liar." Fallon gasped as Kirby freed one hand, gripping the knife more evenly now. "You didn't deserve Liam, did you?"
She wasn't sure what came over her. Maybe it was like those stories on the news of middle aged mothers lifting entire cars off of their children in moments of high adrenaline, or maybe Fallon really was just getting tired and couldn't hold Kirby off for any longer. She kicked herself free and pushed Fallon back, raising the blade up angrily.
The girl underneath her barely resembled her best friend, anymore. She was sickly looking, with dark circles and a dead sort of look in her eyes that didn't belong on any living creature.
True to her word, and wanting it to be quick, Kirby pushed Fallon's head back with one hand and slid the blade cleanly across her throat, following the line of an indent from where her abandoned half of their matching necklaces had been.
She held her still but had to look away to sob into her own arm, dropping the knife into the grass as Fallon's hands on her arms slackened and then fell limply at her sides.
She had told Fallon that she'd never make a clean getaway, and now she knew that she wouldn't either. Her time was limited, and she'd have to run quickly.
She felt empty. There was nothing left for her, anyway. Liam was gone. The hunger suddenly subsided and she knew that Fallon was completely gone, too. Climbing off of her and refusing to look back, Kirby brushed herself off and made her way towards the other side of the clearing to head back into the trees and find her way out of the forest.
With her limited time left, she'd at least make sure that she did right by everyone. Evan, Culhane, Liam, Fallon, even the stranger from the other high school.
She had visits to pay and people to tell the news to - starting with Redsnake , and Nick.