Well, it appears nobody has figured out Riley's condition yet (except for the people I told through PMs). Also, as for the Disgust thing: I KNOW she's modeled after a broccoli, but when I wrote it as a name, it didn't feel quite like the others. The thing was, it wasn't quite as subtle a name as the other emotions. With the others, you can see the thing they're based on in the design (you can see a brick in Anger, for example, and a star in Joy), but Disgust's model isn't quite like that. Aside from being green, she barely resembles a broccoli. She could resemble a whole different number of green things, like a blade of grass or a leaf. So, when thinking of a new name, I came up with Pixie (I'm a fan of fae creatures), and I felt it worked better as a name.

No responses, yet. Next chapter, certainly.


Yellowjacket didn't want to stand to make the others wait now that they had arrived to call her. They were the closest thing to a meaning she had to life; they were her friends, and she didn't want to disappoint them.

Scraping towards the door - Yellowjacket found it harder to walk right nowadays - she rested a wobbly hand on the doorknob, and turned it open. Once the door was open, she was faced with three familiar people.

The first one was Sawbones, the leader. He was a rusty looking man, with dust on his face and head, and white hair and a rugged short beard. His eyes looked worn out, but she could tell his gaze was sharp. Yellowjacket never did know his age, but she could tell he was old; older than those two people she had seen when she was born. Another thing that made him stand out was that he always held butcher knives in his hands, no matter the situation. His body was covered in scars, letting Yellowjacket know he had seen many tough times in his long life.

The next was Ghoul. She was rather young, probably less than half Sawbone's age. Her skin was painted gray to resemble the undead, which only stood out against her pitch black hair that was blacker than night. Her clothing was always in tatters, which Yellowjacket assumed stemmed from a fit of pique induced from her transformation.

The third, which Yellowjacket hardly paid any attention to you, was Noose, who, oddly enough, didn't wear an actual noose. He was simply a balding, middle-aged man who looked out-of-shape and wore standard businessman clothing. He could've passed off as a normal guy, if it weren't for the fact that his skin was white as chalk. Yellowjacket didn't acknowledge him much compared to the others, but deep down, she felt safest when she was with him.

Yellowjacket stood uncomfortably facing the three. She knew that they had took her in, to an extent, but she still didn't have a true close bond with any of them.

Ghoul stuck an arm out to grab hold of Yellowjacket's cheek. She was the most prone to embracing Yellowjacket, among other things. The younger girl thought it was supposed to be comforting, even if her thoughts betrayed that feeling.

"Yellow...jacket..." Ghoul whispered out to her. The three began to lead Riley through the hallways and down the stairs. They kept passing by portraits of Yellowjacket and those two people she used to know. Yellowjacket continued to stare at the portraits, hoping to jog her memory. However, with all the times she'd passed by the portraits, she knew how futile it was.

As the others urged her out of the house, she knew fully well what they wanted.

They wanted her to aid them in hunting down the Freaks.

Yellowjacket wasn't quite sure why everybody always wanted to hunt down Freaks. She felt that maybe it was because they were afraid of them, as many were scared of things that were different. They didn't kill them, just convert them to be like them, though that was what Yellowjacket believed to be true.

Yellowjacket herself was somewhat scared of the Freaks. In the nearly a year she had been like this, she had seen a lot of people get killed by the Freaks. She somewhat agreed with the others when they hunted them down. Maybe they were just trying to keep things safe in the city.

She was cut out from her thoughts when Noose suddenly picked her up, slung her over his shoulder, and the three carried her off down the streets to carry out their plans.


An hour later, Yellowjacket found herself crouched over on the sidewalk, staring down at a puddle on the pavement. It was about then that she was confronted with her new appearance.

Her skin had turned gray, and her formerly bright blue eyes had turned cold as snow. Blue streaks were lined in her skin, and her veins were showing. Her hair had turned white, and her nails had grown longer to resemble claws.

Yellowjacket despised how she looked, which is why she had smashed all the reflective surfaces in her house. Now, however, she was forced to confront her appearance for the time being.

Yellowjacket started to sob loudly. For quite some time, she carried on like this, hoping that somebody would notice. She briefly looked up and turned to stare at the trio hiding in the woods. They silently urged her to continue. With a sigh, Yellowjacket continued to cry.

She wasn't actually sad; at least, not as much as she was letting on. It was just part of Sawbone's plan to draw out more Freaks.

Surely enough, they came. A group of them, appearing well-hidden in a nearby building, soon began to shuffle out of their hiding spot, drawn by the sobbing Yellowjacket was emitting.

Yellowjacket instinctively covered her face so they wouldn't see her unusual features as they approached. She started to cry louder in order to draw them closer.

"Hey, girl?" One of them asked. "Are you alright?"

Yellowjacket secretly marveled at the stupidity of the Freaks. With all the times she had pulled off this gambit, she would've thought the Freaks would have gotten used to it. Nevertheless, to be more convincing, she began to slow her crying to a stop. In the bushes, the others hid under it, ready to ambush the Freaks.

"Hey, this is no time for you to be out here, alone," One of the Freaks pointed out, now just above Yellowjacket.

Yellowjacket stopped crying. She drew in her breath, ready to let loose.

Then, before any of the Freaks could do anything, Yellowjacket let out a scream.


Has anyone figured out what has happened yet? If not, it gets explained next chapter. Anyways, read and review as always.