Yo girl, feel a bit punchy?
She's not looking so well
Still, you've earned that red scrunchie;
Come join Heather in hell!
-Yo Girl; from the Off-Broadway Musical, Heathers
God, why is the feeling getting worse?
That feeling in Blake's stomach was getting worse. The heaviness seemed to have spread all throughout her abdomen, making her nauseous and uncomfortable. Her and Quinn were no longer in the park; in fact, they were far away from it. So why did the feeling get worse?
"The feeling's still there?" Quinn asked, her voice quiet.
The duo were currently walking around a block, hardly looking or even interacting with the people around them. Quinn was trying to find a good place to keep Blake until the feeling went away, but there seemed to be a lack of private areas.
"It's been getting worse," Blake hissed. She was close to doubling over, that was how overwhelming it was getting. What was it supposed to mean? Was there a purpose behind it? Was it like any of Blake's other powers? It was hard to say. If Quinn knew anything about it, she wasn't saying. Which really sucked because knowing the reasoning behind the heavy-nauseous feeling would be very helpful.
"Once we find someplace quiet, I'm sure it'll go away," Quinn sighed.
In a place like this, I doubt it, Blake thought.
The two continued walking in silence, ignoring the people around them while hurriedly trying to find the promised secluded area. The task proved to be difficult, considering the area they were living in was a decent sized city. There were people pretty much everywhere, going in every direction in hopes of getting to their destination. Blake found the citizens' hurried pace, their constant need to be outside, frustrating. Why cities had to be so overpopulated was beyond her understanding, but she felt like she'd get it one day. Quinn always said it was because of the teen's dreary outlook on life, maybe even a bit of naivete, that made her not comprehend certain things. Either way, it didn't really matter.
Cities, in Quinn's mind, seemed to be the best place to lay low. With the number of people who lived in them, it was easy to blend in. Plus, it gave the two of them new experiences in understanding human culture. With Quinn having originated from the Ghost Zone, and Blake's strange upbringing, it meant they were able to find a kind of common ground between the humans and themselves. Even if, in some ways, the two couldn't reveal their true selves to anyone else. Besides, who in their right mind would believe ghosts and half-ghosts really existed? Without a shadow of a doubt, Quinn and Blake would be ostracized for their beliefs in such things.
Blake just didn't like the number of people that seemed to populate everything. Humans seemed to be everywhere, even in the most isolated parts of the world. There was no escaping them, and it sucked. Blake liked to think of herself as a very introverted kind of person, for one because of her half-ghost status, and second because of how she was brought up. Humans, in her old life, were seen as inferior, not even compared to the dirt beneath Blake's feet. Maybe it was a bit egotistical, thinking that way, but the teen couldn't really see herself changing her point of view. In her mind, humans were very predictable.
Probably because of their similarities in ghosts, Blake had thought. Only, in some ways, ghosts were very different than humans. From what Blake understood about her mixed heritage, humans fought a lot more when it came to mediocre things. Land, oil, money — ghosts didn't fight like that. A specific piece of land were given to ghosts, so they didn't have to worry about fighting over it. Ghosts also didn't seem to obsess over money, at least not the kind of payments humans had. There was a different kind of currency in the Ghost Zone, but it wasn't viewed as highly as humans viewed theirs.
"This way." Quinn's voice snapped Blake out of her thoughts. Looking over at her companion, the teen felt her brows furrow at the determined look on her friend's face. Without so much as a warning, though, Quinn firmly grabbed Blake's upper arm and forced her into a filthy alleyway. The suddenness of it shocked the teen, forcing her to unconsciously try to yank herself from her friend's grip.
"What're you doing?" Blake hissed. She did everything in her power to try and free herself, but Quinn's grip only seemed to tighten with every pull.
With a sharp hush, Quinn threw a heated look Blake's way. It was bad enough the duo were hurrying down some alleyway in a big city, but having to deal with a half-ghost teen's confused outbursts? That was definitely not what Quinn wanted to deal with.
"Seriously, why're we going down some alley?" Blake exclaimed.
"I think you're forgetting we're trying to keep a low profile here," Quinn seethed. "If we're going to get out of this safely, then you need to be quiet, understand?"
Feeling her cheeks heat up, Blake nodded. She couldn't say she understood what was going on, but if it meant finding safety and seclusion, then it'd be best to just go along with it.
u.u
Living on the run was not an ideal living situation for a fourteen year old girl. In fact, it wasn't — and shouldn't — be an ideal living situation for anyone. Having to deal with feelings of constant fear and helplessness; always having to look around, hoping to never run into any trouble — it was a nightmare. Blake chose to live that way because she couldn't deal with the outlandish, horrifying expectations her home life wanted from her. She'd done everything in her power to please her family, but it wasn't good enough. It was never good enough. Quinn had been the only one in her home life who seemed to show any sympathy towards her. It was reassuring, but also had Blake feeling horrible. Why should anyone feel bad for her? She didn't want anyone feeling bad for her.
That's how Blake interpreted sympathy — someone feeling bad for someone else. That feeling was unacceptable in her eyes. Absolutely unacceptable. In no way, whatsoever, should anyone feel bad for her. Sure, her home life hadn't been the best, and her family had been very dysfunctional, but sympathy was the last thing Blake wanted from others. She viewed that emotion as weakness, or at least a foundation for weakness. It didn't do anyone any good feeling that way. Blake believed it made people feel and behave with too much vulnerability. Her family had been very thorough on how they felt on vulnerability. Blake picked up on it right away and made it her way of life. It's what kept her going.
But Quinn. . .she seemed to overlook all of that. She wasn't bothered by Blake's indifferent attitude. Well, maybe she was a little concerned, but she learned to hide it. One of the fourteen year old's abilities seemed to be empathic in nature, so hiding emotions was an important skill to have. Quinn had to overlook a lot of Blake's differences in order to build some kind of relationship with her. In no way was it easy, but it paid off well in the end. The González family made the shapeshifting ghost a guardian. In all honesty, it was a huge honor to be given that title. All the hard work put in to having some kind of bond with Blake had paid off. The González family trusted Quinn enough to be around her.
It wasn't until Blake's teen years that things started to really change. The girl's parents became stricter, pulling the reigns on everything their daughter did. Quinn picked up on it almost immediately. The things Blake had to endure was gut-wrenching. The idea of running away was a good one, but Quinn couldn't help but feel worried about what her ward would be forced to go through on the streets. That's why she followed the teen. Out of concern and out of sympathy. In no way should a child be meant to feel so horribly in their lifetime. It wasn't right. Not in the slightest.
u.u
"You haven't found her yet."
". . .No, sir. We lost her just outside of Wisconsin."
"Tell me; how hard is it to track down and locate a fourteen year old girl?"
"I-It, uhm, shouldn't be that hard, sir."
"You're right. It shouldn't. And yet, my daughter still hasn't been found."
"W-We have some of our best trackers locating the girl and her guardian at this moment. Sir."
A scoff. "I'd hardly call that useless ghost a guardian. She allowed Blake to run."
There was a long pause. An uneasy feeling slowly filled the room, one that was too thick, too tangible, to ignore. It was a very overwhelming sensation.
"I'll give you one last chance to locate my daughter. If you fail me again, I will personally ensure you pay for your failures."
"O-Of course, sir. I won't let you down."
With the sound of scurrying footsteps and the door opening and closing, the feeling of uneasiness remained for a moment longer. It was almost funny, how easy it was to manipulate emotions. People were so emotional, driven almost mad by what they felt. That was one of the main reasons his empire was growing so fast, why he had so many followers. Their emotions were so easily controlled.
But Blake. . .she had to go and run. She had to become rebellious. When she came back into his care, she'd feel the wrath of what she'd done to her family. The embarrassment, the shame — she'd feel every little bit of what her family had to endure in her absence.
That was a promise.
(A/N):
Be sure to leave constructive criticism where you think it's due. I'd love to know what you guys think could use improvement. If I don't know what's bothering you guys in this story, I won't know how to make it better. I don't know if that made sense, but I think you guys get the idea, right?
Nothing in this fandom belongs to me.* All I own are my OCs and my subplots. If you've got ideas for OCs or subplots, be sure to leave a review or PM me and I'll add it in as soon as possible.
As a head's up for you guys, if you see random asterisks/"*" in random places in future chapters, just ignore them. For me, that's how I keep myself focused. It helps me with my ideas and keeping everything flowing. So, that's the main reason why I have them in random spots like that.
If you guys have any ideas on Blake's background, be sure to leave reviews.
Leave random facts in the review section, if you want. It can be on new stuff or old stuff; it's completely up to you.
Thank you guys so, so much.
Be kind to one another, okay?
Sloane Johnson
